10 misconceptions about animals you shouldn't believe in

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In fact, ants are not that strong, chameleons do not hide from anyone, and hedgehogs do not carry apples on their backs.

1. The most powerful creature in the world is an ant

Sometimes adults, wanting to test a child's intelligence, ask him a question: "Who do you think is stronger - an elephant or an ant?" When the baby, quite expectedly, says that proboscis are stronger than insects, an adult with a clever look tells that an elephant cannot lift an elephant, and an ant raises from 20 to 100 of its own masses. So in relative comparison, he is the most powerful creature in the world.

Now, this is nonsense. Elephants working in logging in Sri Lanka carry 3-4 tons of wood daily using their tusks and trunk. Let the ant lift the log with the muscles of the upper lip, then we'll talk.

But even if you make a choice, comparing the ratio of the carried weight to body weight, then the strongest creature in the world will not be an ant, but the two-horned beetle Onthophagus taurus. It is also called "kaloed-bull".

It is capable of lifting 1,141 times its own weight, which no ant can.

The beetle uses this power in fights with rivals in order to obtain the right to mate with a female. True, the most pumped-up wrestler does not always get access to the female body. Often, more frail males, ignoring the rules of fair fight, lie in wait for the female in her burrow, rape and crawl away before a powerful adversary comes to fight them.

2. A blue whale can swallow a person

In biblical mythology, the whale swallowed the prophet Jonah, and he was in his stomach for three days and three nights. But in practice, such an event is highly unlikely.

Whales are unable to swallow humans. Their throats are too narrow to eat plankton, small fish, squid, octopus, krill and other crustaceans.

In fact, as researcher John Mitchinson writes in his book The Book of General Ignorance, even a grapefruit will be difficult for a whale to cope with.

The sperm whale is theoretically capable of swallowing a person, but these giants swim so deep that most of the divers do not get there. And killer whales, for example, can attack people in extreme cases, but they only kill them, not eat them.

3. Chameleons are masters of camouflage

It is believed that chameleons change color to disguise - to become invisible on rocks, trees or rocks. Therefore, actors transforming into other people, or military equipment with advanced camouflage, are compared to these animals.

But in reality, chameleons use their ability to change skin color not to ambush or hide from predators. This is how they communicate with each other - they show their aggression or, conversely, peacefulness.

Color change also helps to control body heating - this is how chameleons avoid heatstroke.

As for predators, these lizards do not hide from them (except for very small ones, like Smith's dwarf chameleon). On the contrary, they are painted in bright colors and intimidate the aggressors with their eerie appearance.

4. The leader leads the pack of wolves

In all books and films, wolf packs are ruled by the strongest and most experienced wolf-leader, and the rest obey him unquestioningly. Think of Akela from The Jungle Book. And as the leader gets older, the younger candidate challenges him to become the new alpha.

But real wolves in the wild live more like human families: there is no clear division into ranks. And there is no alpha male in charge. Adult wolves lead their young puppies while they are inexperienced, and then, when they grow up, give up leadership to them. The struggle for dominance in the pack does happen, but it is situational in nature - just small random skirmishes between family members.

5. Old elephants have a special place to die

When an aged elephant feels that it will soon die, it leaves its relatives and goes to the elephant cemetery to find peace there. It is a distant, gloomy place, dotted with the skulls and tusks of the once mighty giants.

It sounds scary, beautiful and even poetic, but elephant graveyards are just another myth. The old proboscis do not look for any special places to die there. Sometimes they separate from the group because they lack the strength to migrate with the rest. Then they try to stay closer to water and thickets in order to survive. And if such elephants die, then their bones remain lying at the watering hole.

And if other elephants stumble upon the skeleton, they will carefully sniff and examine it - perhaps to understand if there is a danger nearby.

But these animals do not know how to identify the skulls of their relatives, so their actions are not at all a touching farewell to the dead.

Sometimes elephants die together, and then their bones lie in large piles. This is due to drought or lack of food. And sometimes - because of the actions of poachers who poison elephants with cyanide.

6. South American catfish get into bathers' penises

In all sorts of "interesting facts" on the Internet, you can read about the terrible Candiru catfish (or mustached vandellia), which lives in the Amazon in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. These small underwater inhabitants, the length of which is no more than 15 centimeters in length, parasitize on other fish. They swim into their gills, thrust sharp thorns into them and drink blood. And when they get drunk, they leave the owner.

They tell terrible tales that these catfish swim into the anuses, vaginas and urethra of people who dare to swim in their habitats.

They are believed to be attracted to the smell of urine. Representatives of some tribes in 1855 told about this to the French naturalist Francis de Castelnau. They argued that it was dangerous to relieve the natural need in the Amazon water: the fish would allegedly rise up the stream of urine and penetrate the urethra. Needless to say, this will happen in spite of Would the candiru fish really eat your genitals? to all the laws of physics?

In general, later studies have shown that the smell of urine does not attract catfish, they cannot get into the urethra due to their size, and in general they do not show much interest in human genitals. We could only count on something if we had gills.

And the scary stories about a parasitic fish swimming in the bladder and spawning in the scrotum were most likely just stories.

7. Spiders, scorpions and centipedes are insects

This is a very common misconception. For most people, an insect is all small, unpleasant living creatures that have more than four limbs. Except for crayfish and crabs, of course, because they live in water and are delicious with beer.

But from a zoological point of view, spiders, scorpions and centipedes are not insects. Yes, these are also invertebrates belonging to the arthropod type. But they are very different from insects in structure and number of body parts, paws, eyes, lack of wings and other features.

Arthropods are divided into classes: insects, crustaceans, arachnids and millipedes. And you should not confuse them with each other.

8. Porcupines shoot needles

For some reason, some people are sincerely convinced that a porcupine is capable of shooting with its needles. Allegedly, it is enough for him to shake his backside, and arrows will fly into the face of the attacking predator. And this myth is firmly entrenched in comics and video games.

In fact, the porcupines, Spines and Quills, naturally don't. The needles are easily separated, and if a predator tries to grab a rodent (yes, these cuties are rodents), it will be covered all over with them and risk even earning suppuration. But they themselves will not fly into the enemy.

You might as well try to attack someone with your hair from your head.

There are enough animals in the world who can shoot all sorts of unpleasant things - poison, water, urine and even their own poisoned blood, but porcupines are not one of them.

9. Hedgehogs carry apples on their backs

There is another misconception about thorny creatures - this time not about exotic porcupines, but about hedgehogs that are quite familiar to us. By the way, they are not relatives at all: the former are rodents, and the latter belong to the hedgehog from the order of insectivores.

This delusion lies in the fact that hedgehogs allegedly purposefully place apples, mushrooms and other food on their backs. Some believe that animals in this way make food supplies, taking them to their burrows or simply carrying them with them. Others even suggest that hedgehogs are trying to get rid of parasites by soaking needles with apple juice.

This myth is so old that even Pliny the Elder wrote about it, but nevertheless it is just a story.

Hedgehogs are predators. They can occasionally consume fruits and berries, but prefer insects, slugs, and meat and cat food. And they don’t carry food on their backs and don’t make any reserves for the winter - except for reserves of subcutaneous fat.

The theory that apple juice helps hedgehogs get rid of parasites is unsupported. They use their own saliva with much greater efficiency. Although this behavior can also be an attempt to mask your scent.

So if an apple, mushroom or leaf is stuck on the hedgehog's needles, then it happened by accident and the animal simply could not shake it off.

10. Goldfish have a bad memory

When we want to reproach someone for his forgetfulness, we say: "Yes, you have a memory like a goldfish!" However, the paradox is that these creatures have a very good performance and everything is in order with cognitive abilities.

Studies show that fish are no more stupid than land animals, and in some ways even superior to them. They are able to remember the surrounding space, recognize people's faces and even count.

It has been experimentally proven that goldfish can remember the place where a person fed them for at least three months and find it unmistakably. Scientists taught them to push the lever, but only at a given time and for a reward with food. The fish were up to the task, proving that they can even determine what time it is. Not bad for a creature credited with three minutes memory.