Evolution Facts

Jellyfish as a species are actually older than dinosaurs and sharks.

Ants began farming about 50 million years before humans thought to raise their own crops.

Neanderthal brains were roughly 10% larger than modern human brains on average, with cranial capacities reaching up to 1,600 cubic centimeters compared to our average of 1,350cc.

Koalas are the only non-primates with fingerprints, and their prints are so remarkably similar to human fingerprints that even careful analysis under a microscope cannot distinguish between them.

All Humans Are 99.9% Genetically Identical and 98.4% of human genes are the same as the genes of a chimpanzee.

Goosebumps are a vestigial reflex from our furry ancestors - when your hair stands up, it would have trapped air for insulation, but modern humans have too little body hair for this to provide any real warmth.

The most powerful electric eel is found in the rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru, and produces a shock of 400-650 volts.

Male monkeys lose the hair on their heads in the same way men do.

The raccoon dog is a wild animal in East Asia which looks like a raccoon but is actually a dog.

Hummingbirds can't walk.

Greyhounds have the best eyesight of any breed of dog.

Scientists trained a group of fish to walk on land and, over a period of 8 months, their body shape adapted to the terrestrial lifestyle.

Fingers prune underwater not because of them absorbing the water or washing away the oil, but because of an evolutionary trait caused by the brain to enhance the grip of your fingers underwater.

The oldest stone tools found are dated from 2.7 - 2.9 million years ago. The species that made these tools is unknown.

Until around 50,000 years ago, a species closely related to modern humans called Homo floresiensis lived on the Indonesian island of Flores. They used fire and crafted sophisticated stone tools, yet stood only about 3.5 feet tall and weighed around 25kg.

At one 'feeding', a mosquito can absorb one and a half times its own weight in blood.

A 2010 British study found that a protein called OC-17, found only in chicken ovaries, is necessary to form chicken eggshells - adding scientific weight to the 'chicken first' argument in the ancient debate.

Sharks have been on the planet longer than trees.

Blonde hair is not exclusive to Europeans. Melanesians of the south Pacific evolved a different gene for blonde hair.

The ancestor of all domestic cats is the African wild cat, which still exists today.

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.