Animals

The rarest shark in the Gulf of Mexico is 5 inches long, glows in the dark, and shoots clouds of luminous fluid from tiny pockets near its fins — basically a living flashbang grenade.

Quokkas are known as the world's happiest animal because they always look like they're smiling. But when a predator shows up, mothers eject their baby from the pouch and let it flop around on the ground as a distraction while they run away.

Lemurs chew toxic millipedes and rub the secretions on their fur to repel mosquitoes, but the side effects accidentally send them to another dimension.

Researchers used machine learning to decode 15,000 Egyptian fruit bat calls. Over 60% were arguments — about food, sleeping positions, personal space, and unwanted mating advances. They even change their calls depending on who they're talking to. Basically, bats have names.

A single weaver ant can pull 60 times its own body weight. But in a group of 15, each ant pulls 103 times its weight. Humans get lazier in groups. Ants get stronger.

A male cat named Xiaopi had to be put on a glucose drip after mating with five female cats in a single night at a pet hotel in China. The hotel staff had let the unneutered Russian Blue roam freely overnight, and CCTV footage captured the marathon session.

Green vine snakes aren't dangerous. They just stare at you like you've disappointed them.

During the Gobi Desert ultramarathon, a stray dog ran over 77 miles alongside British runner Dion Leonard. After the race, she went missing, but with 20 volunteers and a two-week search, Dion found her and now happily lives with him in Edinburgh.

A group of flamingos is called a 'flamboyance.' These pink birds form groups of up to a million individuals and perform elaborate synchronized dances to attract mates.

In scientific experiments, rats consistently chose to free their trapped companions from cages, even when chocolate was offered as an alternative. They would then share the chocolate with their freed friend.

The mantis shrimp has 16 types of color receptors compared to humans' 3, but despite this they're actually terrible at distinguishing between similar shades. Scientists believe they use colors more like a barcode scanner than a camera.

All clownfish are born male. When the dominant female in a group dies, the dominant male will transform into a female to take her place—making Finding Nemo's plot biologically impossible.

There’s a rare breed of chicken called Ayam Cemani that’s completely black. They have black plumage, legs, nails, beak, and even black meat, bones, and a black tongue!

The penis of a barnacle may reach up to eight to nine times its body size.

Demodex are microscopic arachnids living in nearly everyone's facial pores. Scientists believed for decades that they had no anus and burst when they died, releasing accumulated waste. A 2022 genome study proved this wrong—they do have anuses and excrete normally.

The largest natural bridge on Earth, the 'Fairy Bridge', was virtually unknown to the rest of the world until it was observed on Google Earth.

In 2011, a penguin covered in oil and starving on a beach near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was rescued by a pensioner. Ever since then, Dindim the penguin travels 5,000 miles every year to visit him.

There's a caterpillar that looks like Caterpie from Pokémon.

Researchers find new emperor penguin colonies by looking for their poop from a satellite in space.

Dogs often turn in circles before lying down, a behavior inherited from wild ancestors who trampled grass to create comfortable beds and check for snakes or insects.