Animals

Improbable behaviour, endurance records, anatomies that defy intuition: what living things do best, from plankton to sperm whales.

342 anecdotes, most recent first.
Highlights

The horned puffin carries up to sixty fish in its beak

The horned puffin is a seabird whose tongue and palate are lined with small spines. This unique oral equipment allows it to align several catches while continuing its hunt. If it holds an average of ten, the quantity can climb up to sixty fish in its beak.

2026-06-08

Vultures cool themselves by defecating on their own legs

The Turkey Vulture and the Black Vulture use a singular method to fight against the heat. They practice urohidrosis, a behavior that consists of defecating on their legs in order to lower their body temperature through evaporation. This technique helps these birds of Saguaro National Park to withstand the arid climate of the Sonoran Desert.

2025-12-04

The echidna cannot sweat or pant

The short-beaked echidna is an Australian mammal that suffers from a serious thermal handicap because it lacks sweat glands and cannot pant. To compensate for this inability to withstand heat, the animal reverses its lifestyle during the hot season by sleeping during the day to hunt at night. It can also hibernate in very cold regions and easily slips everywhere by digging the ground with its powerful front paws.

2026-04-26

Mare milk is similar to human breast milk

Mare milk is an animal product similar to human breast milk. It possesses high levels of lactose as well as low levels of lipids and nitrogen. The INRA and pediatricians thus recommended it in the 1990s to replace breast milk, although more recent publications advise against animal milks for infants.

2026-10-16

The Flores man revived the myth of dwarves

The Flores man is a one-meter tall hominid that disappeared 12,000 years ago. Its discovery in 2004 revived theories linking legendary small-sized creatures to real prehistoric populations. This hypothesis relies on the fact that the species was already known through local legends before being unearthed by archaeologists.

2026-10-16

Vanilla is the only orchid cultivated for our food

Vanilla is a spice derived from certain tropical orchids placed under cultivation. It is the only orchid cultivated for food purposes alongside a few varieties of Orchis whose root is used to make salep. This cultivation requirement explains why vanilla ranks among the most expensive agricultural products in the world relative to its weight.

2026-10-15

Laminak are Basque spirits with animal feet

Laminak are fantastic beings from Basque mythology living underground, in caves or near springs. These nocturnal creatures possess a changing appearance, being able to take the form of normal-sized women whose lower body presents beastly attributes. Many places in the French and Spanish Basque Country owe their name to them, as well as the construction of several bridges or churches.

2026-10-13

Mare milk is half as fatty as cow milk

Mare milk possesses a lipid content twice as low as that of cow milk and human breast milk. This peculiarity comes from the fact that the mare is not a ruminant and absorbs its dietary lipids without modification in the small intestine. Consequently, one liter of this milk provides less than 600 Kcal, unlike ewe milk which reaches 1100 Kcal.

2026-10-13

The Green Mice gang and its money laundering technique

The Green Mice gang is a team of criminals specialized in the theft of funds. The criminals neutralized the indelible ink cartridges of the briefcases by injecting oil into them before opening them. They then cleaned the banknotes with water, which inspired this name in direct reference to the nursery rhyme.

2026-10-12

The priest who climbed barefoot to exorcise demons

Tadig Kozh is a nineteenth-century priest renowned as a great miracle worker. In the middle of the century, he led spectacular exorcism sessions in the middle of the night in the Saint-Hervé chapel. He climbed the summit of Menez Bré barefoot during full moon nights in order to order the demons to parade before chasing them away with holy water.

2026-10-12

Inaccessible Island rail chicks have silver mouths

The Inaccessible Island rail is a bird whose young are born with a surprising physical feature. Upon hatching, the chicks are entirely covered in black plumage matched with a beak and legs of the same color, while their mouth stands out due to its silver color. This characteristic is accompanied by a very rapid development, since the young specimens start walking barely two hours after their birth.

2026-10-12

The bed on bricks against the Tokolosh

The Tokolosh is a creature similar to an incubus in South African beliefs. To prevent this demon from attacking them during their sleep, virgin women adopt a specific precaution. This measure consists of placing their beds on bricks in order to keep the threat away.

2026-10-11

An incubus is said to be the father of the enchanter Merlin

The incubus is a male demon whose tales of nocturnal sexual attacks are found in folklore. Children born from these evil unions are often attributed extraordinary destinies and exceptional abilities. The enchanter Merlin thus constitutes the most famous example of a being sired by this creature according to legends.

2026-10-11

The green iguana is threatened by trafficking and cooking

The green iguana is a reptile highly prized as a pet and for its meat in Latin America. This popularity leads to massive captures, targeting in particular gravid females in Guatemala and Honduras. The state of Oaxaca in Mexico thus retains only 5 percent of its original population.

2026-10-11

Iguanas fall from trees in Florida during cold snaps

The green iguana is a reptile that has become an invasive species in southern Florida. In January 2008, exceptionally cold nights plunged these animals into a state of dormancy and caused them to fall from their trees. Dozens of specimens thus littered the bike paths before waking up upon the return of warmth.

2026-10-11

The iguana is cut open alive for its eggs

The green iguana (Iguana iguana) is a large arboreal reptile highly sought after for its meat and its eggs. Its meat is particularly appreciated in Central America, South America, and the West Indies despite the ban on its hunting. To recover its eggs, gravid females are directly cut open alive in order to extract them from their belly.

2026-10-11

Up to 90 iguanas per hectare in certain habitats

The green iguana is an arboreal reptile that can reach very high population densities in suitable environments. A study conducted in Belize revealed that these animals particularly favor plants of the Citharexylum genus and mimosas. Under these optimal conditions, it is thus possible to encounter no fewer than 90 specimens per hectare.

2026-10-11

The green iguana sometimes shares its nest with a crocodile

The green iguana is an oviparous reptile that digs a burrow to lay its eggs in the dry in February. It happens however that this animal shares the nest of other formidable species to ensure its egg-laying. In Panama, such cases have been observed with an American crocodile, and in Honduras with a spectacled caiman.

2026-10-11

Young iguanas eat feces to digest plants

The Iguana iguana is an arboreal reptile whose diet changes radically during its life. At birth, young iguanas do not possess the enzymes or microorganisms essential for breaking down plant cellulose. They must ingest the feces of adults in order to acquire this essential microbial flora that will allow them to become strictly herbivorous.

2026-10-11

The head color of iguanas changes according to their status

The green iguana is a territorial animal whose males clash during the breeding season. During these ritual fights, the winner manages to climb onto the back of its opponent to bite the folds of its neck. The head of the dominated male then takes on a dark green hue while that of its aggressor turns white in a few minutes.

2026-10-11

The green iguana sees ultraviolet light with its eyes

The green iguana is an arboreal reptile equipped with specific ocular cells called double cones. This specificity provides it with excellent color perception and helps it distinguish the ultraviolet range. This visual ability allows it to expose itself effectively to sunlight in order to absorb the UVA and UVB rays essential for synthesizing its vitamin D.

2026-10-11

The green iguana has a unique tooth replacement method

The green iguana replaces its teeth in a very particular way by hollowing out the old ones from the inside. The tooth bud of the new tooth grows directly at the base of the worn tooth and inside it. This internal growth thus allows the new tooth to gradually replace the old one. This reptile also possesses flattened teeth equipped with several tubercles that are attached to the inner edge of the jaw.

2026-10-11

The green iguana threatens the ecological balance in the United States

The green iguana is a species of arboreal and herbivorous lizard measuring up to two meters long for a weight of 5 kg. The animal possesses a vast natural range in South and Central America, but it has also established itself elsewhere through escape. Populations are thus found in the United States, notably in Florida, Hawaii and Texas, where it disrupts the local ecosystem.

2026-10-11

Gandhi turned to veganism due to his refusal of milk

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is the famous Indian political and spiritual activist. He completely abandoned the consumption of dairy products out of compassion for cows, after being haunted by the barbaric methods of the Calcutta govâls to milk their animals. He thus became a vegan, going so far as to state in his writings that milk could not constitute human food.

2026-10-11

The name of the deceased is forbidden until their reincarnation

On the island of Fais, the name of a deceased person is totally banned from conversations after their death. This prohibition ceases only when the name is given to a newborn in the family. The relatives thus hope to find the character of their ancestor in the infant.

2026-10-11

The Kalmyk horse travels one hundred kilometers without eating

The Kalmyk horse is an equine breed recognized for its remarkable sobriety, mobility, and endurance. It can thus travel about one hundred kilometers without feeding thanks to its robustness and rustic origins. This capacity was notably noted by Houel to illustrate the animal's resistance to fatigue.

2026-10-10

A secret underground chamber exists beneath the Pyramid of Khafre

The Pyramid of Khafre contains a completely underground and empty lower chamber with a chevron-vaulted ceiling. It is accessible through an entrance once hidden at the foot of the north face, connected to a corridor formerly blocked by large limestone blocks and a granite portcullis. Traces of humidity prove that it was once flooded to a height of thirty centimeters.

2026-10-09