Animal Facts

Hippopotamuses have adapted to utilize two unique acid secretions in their skin.

The first is called "hipposudoric acid" and the second is called "norhipposudoric acid".

Since these are strong acids, they deter the growth of bacteria on the skin.

In addition, hipposudoric acid is colored bright red while norhipposudoric acid is colored bright orange.

The combination of these two acids provides hippopotamuses with a sunscreen effect because these colors absorb dangerous, cell-destroying ultraviolet light.

Hippopotamus milk is most likely pink due to the combination of these acidic secretions with off-white milk (red + white = pink).

Tags: Hippo, Milk, Strange, Useless

Fact Page: Hippo milk is pink.
Date Added: 2011-01-09 06:49:34
Fact Category: Animal Fact

The scorpion's body is covered with a hard layer of chitin, which forms an armor to protect against desiccation and predators. The scorpion's exoskeleton contains a number of raised ridges and valleys, called "apodemes", which serve as attachment spots for the internal muscles. These muscles are attached in such a manner that they can curl the limbs and pull them inwards, but cannot pull them outward. To straighten its appendages, a scorpion must force blood into them, using hydraulic pressure to push them into a straightened position.

Now if the tail is held in readiness to sting, as one would expect, then there is probably some tension between the hydraulic pressure tending to straighten it out and the muscles, which would ten to curl it toward the body. Now alcohol could cause a sudden dehydration of the body fluids along the back, leading to a loss of hydraulic pressure. Then the already-tensed muscles would pull the tail into a tight curl, inadvertently causing the stinger to strike the scorpion. Whether the stinger is capable of penetrating the tough carapace on the top of the scorpion's main, cephalothorax section is another issue entirely.

Another possibility is that the alcohol simply causes a sharp contraction of the muscles exposed to it, which the hydraulic pressure would be unprepared to counter.

Tags: Scorpion, Alcohol, Insect, Bug, Interesting

Fact Page: Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death.
Date Added: 2011-02-27 08:54:54
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Hummingbird, Penny, Weight

Fact Page: A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
Date Added: 2010-06-29 19:43:50
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Horns, Animal, Bull, Cow, Watusi, World Record, Interesting, Fascinating, Weird, Strange, Amazing

Fact Page: Lurch, a Watusi bull, had the largest horns in the world.
Date Added: 2013-01-18 09:13:48
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Flemish Giant, Rabbit, Rodent, Mammal, Animal, Large, Size, Interesting, Fascinating

Fact Page: The largest breed of rabbit is the Flemish Giant.
Date Added: 2012-10-02 06:59:06
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Cat, Animal, Funny, Toilet, Weird, Interesting, Cool

Fact Page: It's possible to train your cat to use the toilet as a litter box and even flush afterwards.
Date Added: 2012-09-09 05:18:36
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Penguins live in extremely cold temperatures covered almost entirely by snow and the dark color of their poop is visible from space.

http://io9.com/5898236/penguin-poop-can-be-seen-from-space?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook

Tags: Penguin, Poop, Poo, Animal, Interesting, Funny, Weird, Strange, Space, Satellite

Fact Page: Penguin poop can be seen from space.
Date Added: 2012-05-01 02:50:38
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Bird, Parrot, Animal, Interesting, Name, Parent

Fact Page: Parrot parents "name" their children with a signature call.
Date Added: 2012-03-27 12:23:17
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Egg, Chicken, World Record

Fact Page: The most yolks ever found in one chicken egg was nine.
Date Added: 2012-03-21 07:52:16
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Goldfish, Fish, Pregnancy, Name, Funny, Animal

Fact Page: On some poorly researched trivia lists it is stated as a fact that a pregnant goldfish is called a twit. This is not true as goldfish lay eggs.
Date Added: 2012-03-06 23:48:48
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Pig, Speed, Interesting, Animal, Livestock, Farm

Fact Page: Domestic pigs average a top speed of about 11 miles per hour.
Date Added: 2011-12-26 06:31:25
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Dream, Sleep, Cow, Agriculture, Interesting, Fascinating, Animal

Fact Page: Cows can sleep standing up, but they can only dream lying down.
Date Added: 2011-11-22 12:19:15
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Jumping, Cat, Animal, Interesting

Fact Page: A cat can jump FIVE TIMES as high as it is tall!
Date Added: 2011-11-16 02:21:31
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Cow, Milk, Agriculture, Lifetime, Interesting, Fascinating, Dairy, Animal, Farm

Fact Page: A cow produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
Date Added: 2011-10-20 10:18:17
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Speed, Cat, Animal, Interesting, Feline

Fact Page: A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.
Date Added: 2011-10-20 09:46:38
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Animal, Deer, Car, Driving, Scary, Interesting, Hunting

Fact Page: Drivers kill more deer than hunters do.
Date Added: 2011-10-13 20:54:56
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Unicorn, Horse, Animal, Fantasy, Legendary

Fact Page: A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
Date Added: 2011-10-08 10:47:42
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Elephant, Animal, Longevity

Fact Page: The oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years.
Date Added: 2011-09-30 07:34:06
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Slug, DNA, Human, Evolution

Fact Page: We share 70% of our DNA with a slug.
Date Added: 2011-09-30 07:15:59
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Gorilla, Animal, Human, Cold, Common Cold, Illness, Ape

Fact Page: Gorillas can catch human colds and other illnesses.
Date Added: 2011-09-29 21:51:40
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Tiger, Animal, Roar, Interesting

Fact Page: The sound of a tiger's roar can travel a distance of up to 2 miles (~3 km).
Date Added: 2011-09-08 09:19:55
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Balloon, Animal, Blue Whale, Whale, Breathe, Interesting, Strange

Fact Page: It has been calculated that a single breath from a mature blue whale can inflate up to 2,000 balloons.
Date Added: 2011-07-15 20:15:25
Fact Category: Animal Fact

Tags: Animal, Jellyfish, Dinosaur, Shark, Sea

Fact Page: Jellyfish as a species are actually older than dinosaurs and sharks.
Date Added: 2011-07-10 13:02:54
Fact Category: Animal Fact