Weird and Crazy Animal Facts

[Nexus]

A post in another thread got me stuck, again on the interesting - not so "well-known" traits of animals.

There are a lot of wild and crazy things that many of us are in the dark about.

Maybe we can dispel common misconceptions, or provide real and interesting facts about animals in this thread.

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Ok, I will start with a misconception example...

Many people like to say that the daddy long legs is the most poisonous spider in the world! It's just because that it has such tiny fangs or little venom that it can't hurt people.

This is actually false, but a very common myth. In fact, daddy long legs are not venomous, do not have fangs, and are not even actual spiders.
**

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And here is a wild and crazy factoid on animals that many people seem to be surprised to hear...

What types of animals can you name that lay eggs? Birds - check. Reptiles - check. Fish - check. Insects - check.

How about mammals? There are two surviving species of egg-laying mammals. The platypus and echidna are the last of the Prototherians, or egg laying mammals.

In fact, there are three groups of mammals. The placental mammals, like humans. The marsupial mammals, like kangaroos. And the protherians, like the platypus.
**

[Wicked]

**
Many people like to say that the daddy long legs is the most poisonous spider in the world! It's just because that it has such tiny fangs or little venom that it can't hurt people.

This is actually false, but a very common myth. In fact, daddy long legs are not venomous, do not have fangs, and are not even actual spiders.
**

It gets even weirder when you realize "daddy long legs" is such a generic term, that depending on where you are from, it may be referring to one of three different creatures that commonly go by that moniker (and probably about a thousand more).

Crane fly - Which to me always looked like a giant mosquito. They are not venomous, not a spider, and not even an arachnid.

Harvestman- Which is what I grew up calling a Daddy Long Legs. They look like a little brown bean on long wobbly legs. They are arachnids, but they are not spiders. Also not venomous.

Pholcid house spider, aka cellar spider, aka Daddy Long Legs- These are indeed spiders, but there is nothing to support the myth that so plagues the internet.

[Friendly Frog]

It's not so much a misconception but an interesting fact nevertheless: some poison dart frogs do not produce their own poison, but instead derive it from poisonous prey insects. Which means that those frogs bred in captivity aren't as deadly poisonous.

I've always kept that in the back of my head, wondering if I could ever use it in a story. Something like a would-be-poisonor who spends ages breeding poison dart frogs only to see their plan flounder because they hadn't fed the frogs the same prey as they would in the wild.

Here is another curious frog (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13991-horror-frog-breaks-own-bones-to-produce-claws.html[/URL]). One that is able to break its own bone to produce instant claws! Be sure to check out the images. Mindblowing stuff.

[Nexus]

It gets even weirder when you realize "daddy long legs" is such a generic term, that depending on where you are from, it may be referring to one of three different creatures that commonly go by that moniker (and probably about a thousand more).

Crane fly - Which to me always looked like a giant mosquito. They are not venomous, not a spider, and not even an arachnid.

Harvestman- Which is what I grew up calling a Daddy Long Legs. They look like a little brown bean on long wobbly legs. They are arachnids, but they are not spiders. Also not venomous.

Pholcid house spider, aka cellar spider, aka Daddy Long Legs- These are indeed spiders, but there is nothing to support the myth that so plagues the internet.


Ah, must indeed be a regional thing. Harvestmen are the daddy long legs around here. Thanks for the clarification.

Interesting fact about crane flies. They are often called mosquito hawks and there is a myth that they prey on mosquitoes. In fact, they don't even have a mouth as adults. Although crane fly larvae may eat mosquito larvae.

[Puma]

Crane flies are called gallynippers around here. I always have to laugh when people are afraid of them. Kind of cute actually.

Going to the animal kingdom - it is false that deer grow an extra tine on their antlers for every year of age. You can't tell the age of a buck by the number of points on the antlers; a buck will have the same number of points when he's two and ten. But sometimes very old bucks seem to grow a lot of very small points along the main shaft. Male deer drop their antlers after the annual rut and grow a new set for the next year.

Northern water snakes (US) are aggressive but non-poisonous. Puma

[Anna L.]

On the subject of baffling misconceptions...chinchillas are NOT dogs! They're fluffy rodents that look half bunny and half squirrel. You wouldn't believe how often people hear me say I have chinchillas and ask me if that's a variety of chihuahua or something.

On the weird side, chinchillas cannot be allowed to get wet. Their fur is so thick it can't dry well and may rot.

[Puma]

That really is weird about chinchilla fur. I didn't know that (but I did know what they are.) Puma

[slcboston]

On the subject of baffling misconceptions...chinchillas are NOT dogs! They're fluffy rodents that look half bunny and half squirrel. You wouldn't believe how often people hear me say I have chinchillas and ask me if that's a variety of chihuahua or something.

I would hope - HOPE, I say - that this is related to word and not the animal. Because I don't know how anyone who has ever seen one would ever begin to mistake them for a dog.

:Wha:

[slcboston]

In fact, there are three groups of mammals. The placental mammals, like humans. The marsupial mammals, like kangaroos. And the protherians, like the platypus.
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Thank you. I did not know the term for the egg-bearers, and now I do.

Much appreciated.

:D

[Jessianodel]

Many people like to say that the daddy long legs is the most poisonous spider in the world! It's just because that it has such tiny fangs or little venom that it can't hurt people.

This is actually false, but a very common myth. In fact, daddy long legs are not venomous, do not have fangs, and are not even actual spiders.

I seem to remember the mythbusters testing this - that while they are not spiders and are not the most venomous, they do have venom and can bite you - it's just that the bites are so small the venom injected is not enough to really hurt at all.

[Nexus]

I seem to remember the mythbusters testing this - that while they are not spiders and are not the most venomous, they do have venom and can bite you - it's just that the bites are so small the venom injected is not enough to really hurt at all.

No. Harvestmen do not have venom nor do they have fangs. They are the most common animal called daddy long legs.

[slcboston]

The Mythbusters tested actual spiders, as you can see here:

Daddy Long Leg myth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1DzkM0zqDQ)

So I think we can see here that we have an issue with terminology. The kind of thing most of us are discussing here, I think, is one of these:

Harvestman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones)

which, as the article states, despite being an arachnid is not a spider.

If you look carefully in the video at the body of what they collect, it has two parts, as a spider does, unlike the harvestman. As the article also goes on to state, some people refer to the common cellar spider as a "daddy long legs." (I don't, mind you, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.)

So while the Mythbusters did indeed test - and get bitten - by what they refer to as "daddy long legs," this is not the same thing we all think of.

Although for me this raises an interesting question of whether the terminology used is dependent on region. We have both harvestmen and the cellar spiders here, but it is the harvestmen we refer to as daddy long legs.

[buzhidao]

Most cat penises have barbs on them.

The male platypus is venomous--has a spur on its heel that injects venom. (Doesn't kill people but apparently results in serious swelling and pain; can kill smaller animals)

Humans are the only primates lacking bacula (penis bones). Walruses have the largest bacula.

Horses are incapable of vomiting.

Many types of venom are being investigated for treatment of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, clotting problems, Parkinson's, and a plethora of other things. A protein from the venom of the copperhead has been used to create a treatment that stops the growth of cancer cells (experimental stage I think).

There is a certain point on the back of a cobra's head that you can apply pressure to and render the snake rigid and immobile for a short period of time.

Lemurs get high off millipede poison.

Callitrichids (marmosets and small New World monkey types) are polyandrous; they live in large groups in which only one female mates with many males and reproduces (almost always twins) and the rest of the group cares for the offspring.

A komodo dragon's bite is almost always fatal without medical treatment because of the lethal bacteria that inhabit its mouth.

There are several parasites that can turn their hosts into zombies (http://discovermagazine.com/photos/04-zombie-animals-and-the-parasites-that-control-them), control their behavior--and usually get them to kill themselves.

The snapping shrimp can clap its claws together so fast that it shoots jets of water at 60 mph followed by a bubble of vapor. The bubble collapses and creates a sort of sonic boom...an explosion of noise that can stun or kill prey.

...I like weird animal facts :)

[Puma]

Learned something I didn't know - a common bussard in Germany would be identified as a type of hawk in the US. They are birds of prey. US buzzards are very different - mostly carrion eaters. Photos of European bussard in link.

http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/bussard

US buzzards are also known as turkey vultures. Link below.

http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com/cat/3/18

US buzzards return north in the spring from winter migrations on schedule - just like the swallows at Capistrano (check out buzzards at Hinckley Ohio). Puma