What is a crazy or weird nature fact?
Ask a Biologist Monday 4/18/22
Answers from Biologists:
Bobcats predate deer in Florida-they kills and hide the carcass and then return to eat for 3-5 days.
Coastal wolves eat sea otters, chiton, intertidal fish species, so many things!
The Mola mola is the largest bony fish in the world despite their primary diet being jellyfish.
The largest living organism is a fungus.
Some jaguars that range in coastal areas like to eat nesting sea turtles.
Peromyscus species will “foot drum” and hit their paws against dead leaves (or a trap).
There have been a number of different animals (that aren’t mammals or birds) that can perform pathogenesis (self-fertilization).
Opossums body temperature is so low that it’s extremely rare for them to have rabies.
Bats give bl$wjobs.
River otter families will use bird-like chirping noises to find each other when lost.
Male angler fish bite and fuse themselves onto the much larger females like a parasite.
The smallest and the fourth largest mammal both communicate via echolocation.
Ketamine is produced by Pochonia chlamydosporia fungi as an anti-parasitic.
Whale sharks are the largest non-mammalian creature-average size is 32 feet, 20k lbs.
Crested auklets smell like tangerines.
The toxin in the Destroying Angel mushrooms inhibits RNA polymerase.
Cactus ferruginous Pygmy owls in Arizona have exhibited incestuous breeding pairs.
Hoary bats have penis spines, the longest of which are ~1cm (6% of their body length).
Pallid bats can eat scorpions and are immune to the venom.
Deer will occasionally snack on birds (and dead salmon).
Wombat feces are in the shape of cubes. 80-100 each night!
Black bears can eat up to 20,000 calories a day when preparing for winter.
Garden spiders will eat their old webs as an added source of protein.
Armadillos have identical quadruplets.
Burrowing owls can make rattlesnake sounds when frightened.
Common dolphins watch gray whales mate. They actively follow to watch.
A narwhal’s horn is their tooth sticking through their head.
Some species of whiptail lizards are parthenogenic, meaning they are all female.
Most types of skunks can spray multiple times (up to 7).
Badgers and coyotes have been found to cooperatively hunt.
You can sex a beaver by squeezing its butt glands.
Polar bears are marine mammals.
Some wildlife at Chernobyl has adapted to continuously get rid of radiation to survive.
Opossum nipples are in a bullseye configuration.
Walruses have the largest baculum (penis bone) in the animal kingsdom.
Porcupines have an average of 30,000 quills.
The furthest inland a shark has been seen was near St. Louis, over 7000 miles from the ocean.
An adult Hawaiin petrel (‘Ua’u in Hawaiian) can fly over 6000 miles in one trip to collect food for their trip.
Sperm whales echolocate at 200 decibels per second, making them the loudest animal.
Copperheads smell like cucumbers.
Barred owls can crack turtle shells with their beaks.
Amphisbaenians…the fact that they exist!
Echidna males have a 4 headed penis but only use 2 at a time.
Saw whet owls have pink party pants that only show up under UV light (used to determine age).
Turkey vultures vomit when they feel threatened.
Bedbugs reproduce through traumatic insemination where the male just stabs and hopes.
Giraffes will munch animal bones to get extra calcium.
Crocodile penises look like the Tremors worm and a tulip had a baby.
