In the vast expanse of nature, countless wonderful animal stories are being staged. The adage "live and learn" not only inspires us to explore the world, but also applies to the animal kingdom. In this article, we will take you through 17 interesting animal facts that will make you feel the diversity and wonder of life.
1. Snails have an amazing ability to sleep, they can sleep for up to three years.
2. Did you know that a spider's web is liquid at first! When it comes into contact with air, it quickly hardens to form a substance that is five times stronger than steel. Imagine if spiders could spit out silk as thick as a pencil, their strength would be enough to stop a flying plane.
3. Horses can outrun hulking bears, and when you make eye contact with a fierce cougar, it's determined to treat you as a meal. On the night of camping, if you hear small animals moving around, it could be a skunk, beaver or porcupine foraging around. Large animals such as bears and moose may give you unexpected starts.
4. In the insect world, there is a strange creature called the scorpiontail worm. Male scorpions show their charm by bringing food to females. They believe that the larger the amount of food, the more desirable the female. However, some males are not good at catching food, so they come up with a cunning plan: imitate the females and wait for other males to bring them gifts. They will then quickly fly away with the gift, offering it to a real female scorpion-tailed worm.
5. You might be surprised to learn that a green sea turtle can swim faster than Olympic champion Usain Bolt can sprint!
6. Greenland sharks are extremely long-lived creatures, they only reach sexual maturity at the age of 150 and can live for up to 300-500 years.
7. Some squid have very peculiar brain shapes, with a ring-shaped structure (just like the doughnuts we often eat). What's even more interesting is that their esophagus actually passes through their brains, which means that if they swallow too much food, they are at risk of brain damage.
8. Did you know that the hands of sloths have very different characteristics from our human hands. They must apply energy to open their "fists", while when relaxed they clench naturally. This unique hand structure allows the sloth to hang firmly from the tree without falling off while sleeping!
9. In ancient times, there was once a giant penguin that reached a height of 1.2 meters on Earth. Imagine these gigantic creatures walking with their heads held high on the ice sheets of Antarctica.
10. Some stores only sell gerbils in pairs because they can be lonely.
11. Did you know that if you put a seal on a boat, it is likely to get seasick like a human!
12. Narwhals are very mysterious sea creatures that the "horn" that grows out of their head is actually an overgrown canine tooth. What's even more amazing is that some narwhals can grow two "horns"!
13. Polar bears are very powerful creatures, and they store vitamin A extremely efficiently. However, this also means that they have a lot of vitamin A in their livers. In fact, the liver of a polar bear contains enough vitamin A to kill 52 adults!
14. Australia is a unique ecosystem where there aren't a lot of bees to pollinate plants. As a result, birds have become the bearers of this important task. Since birds are more likely to see red, many plants in Australia have evolved red flowers to attract bird pollination.
15. Giraffes are tall creatures with the same number of cervical vertebrae as humans do, with seven segments!
16. Porcupines are very interesting animals that they love to climb trees and hang upside down in the trees and grope the ground with their tails. Sometimes, their tails will accidentally hit a tree branch and jump off the ground for the wrong one. However, porcupines do not get injured or die because their spines contain antibiotics to prevent infection. Over time, porcupines have evolved this magical self-protection mechanism, allowing them to survive more tenaciously in the natural world.
17. We all know that crows are very intelligent birds and they have great problem-solving skills. For example, tossing a nut on the road and waiting for the red light to come on before picking up the remaining nuts is one of the signs of their cleverness. However, the social skills of the crows are just as impressive! they punish their own kind for stealing food from young crows, avoid areas where many crows die to avoid danger, and come to examine the corpses of their peers when they die and try to understand the cause of death to avoid a similar fate. Yes, the crow does understand the concept of death and tries to avoid it at all times – a wisdom that even humans can't help but be blown away by!