Normally with the What’s Up Wednesday series, I round up interesting blog posts from the preceding week to share with you. Much of the time, these posts have something to do with working from home or otherwise leading a better life. Today’s speedlink is a little different, as I’ve gathered up some fun facts about animals instead. How many of these do you already know?
We start off with Dr. Stanley Coren, who happens to be from my alma mater. Most people assume that dogs don’t sweat, but that’s not strictly true. While most of the cooling happens by panting with an open mouth, dogs sweat through their foot pads when they’re hot too. That’s why you’ll see their paw prints on hardwood floors after a vigorous walk. Interestingly enough, a dog’s fur can also act as an insulator, keeping them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Heading out into the wild, Anupum Pant teaches us that crocodiles are biologically immortal. Most other animals “age” in that they become slower and weaker in old age. This is called senescence and crocodiles do not exhibit this phenomenon. In this way, a crocodile never actually dies of “old age” the way many other animals do. They’ll die from other causes. Another animal that displays “negligible senescence” is the lobster, as well as certain species of turtles and tortoises.
Most people would assume that the typical mother kangaroo can only handle one offspring at a time. And they’d be wrong. Birgit points out that a mother kangaroo can raise three joeys at the same time: one older one who lives outside the pouch, one younger one who spends most of her time inside the pouch, and an embryo in suspended development waiting for its time in the pouch. Petting kangaroos and wallabies in Australia remains one of my fondest memories from that trip.
One of the most characteristic features of a tiger is its stripes. Although it may appear that only the fur is striped, Mark C. tells us that tigers have striped skin too. The orange and black carries right through, though it’s not entirely clear why this is the case. Some have said that a similar striped pattern is the “default” appearance for the domestic tabby, but house cats don’t (typically) have striped skin. Similarly, while a zebra may have black and white striped fur, its skin is completely black.
With such a massive trunk, elephants must have a superior sense of smell, right? As Ross Pomeroy explains, the sense of smell on an elephant is up to four times as sensitive as a bloodhound and they may be able to smell water from miles away. Given how far they must trek to get fresh water, this is a survival essential. That trunk, with its over 40,000 muscles (the human body has a total of 639 muscles), is powerful enough to lift up to 770 pounds. It can be used as a snorkel when crossing rivers too.
Thanks Michael, for the mention 🙂