My favourite animal fun fact is… Octopuses have nine brains! One controls the head and the other eight, each tentacle.
Don’t cheat 
! Don’t google.
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wow!!
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Depending on how you measure it, the most venomous animal in the world is the geography cone snail. Cone snails also have the most diverse venom compounds of all animals, with individuals having over 100 different types. Most are neurotoxins, but some have been recently discovered to contain insulin (sort of gives fish prey a sugar crash). We’ve been able to recreate this protein in the lab and turn it into a drug that acts faster than human insulin.
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True fact. In addtion the geography cone snail is highly dangerous; live specimens should be handled with extreme caution. C. geographus has the most toxic sting known among Conus species and there are reports for about three dozen human fatalities in 300 years.
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This is one I just recently found out on one of those EV Nautilus videos on YouTube: a seafloor worm where numerous tiny males live inside the body of one female.
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Giraffes and okapis are the only mammals that can lick their own eyeballs.
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After learning about Manatees having fingernails I immediately messaged all of my friends so that they could be aware of it as well. One of my favorite random animal facts to fling at people.
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Species of fireflies exhibit different patterns of light flashes. Female fireflies flash their lights to attract males of their species to mate with. Females in the genus Photuris exploit this. They mimic the flash patterns of other nearby species to lure in males, then kill and eat them. I think that’s pretty fascinating!
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It really is fascinating cause I didn’t know that 
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Some aphids feed on the roots of plants, rather than the aboveground parts, I guess providing extra protection from predators. Some ants lovingly care for underground colonies of these aphids so they can lick their honeydew. Some ladybugs have myrmecophilous larvae that when newly hatched, hitch a ride on one of these ants, are carried back to the underground nest, and then happily feast on their aphids.
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I just found this out today about butterflies:
“Butterflies first appeared somewhere in Central and western North America.”
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/butterfly-tree-of-life-reveals-an-origin-in-north-america/
(PS I really didn’t cheat–I read this article earlier and ran across this thread just now. 
)
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I’ve actually seen the giraffes do that at the zoo!
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The Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax funebris) is brown in color but covered in a layer of mucus, making it look green.
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One of my favourites is the anemone crab, This little crab lives on coral reefs and somehow persuades a species of stinging anemone to grow on each of it’s claws. It uses these to ward off threatening predators. The anemones benefit because they are moved around and have access to more food.
Sorry, you said not to google, but I needed to find a link. That was all I did, promise.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/crabs-anemones-pom-pom-clones-fight
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- There is a species of crab that lives inside sea urchin anuses. (It was an iNat Observation of the Week several years ago…)
- There is a species of fish that lives inside sea cucumber anuses. (Sometimes more than one shares the same anus.)
- Platypus envenomation results in hyperalgesia (sensitivity to pain) and - if I remember correctly - this can’t be quelled by morphine.
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I have a LOT.
bobwhite coveys sleep in a circle, tails pointed in, heads facing out. In addition to being a great way to watch for predators, they look like a cute quail wreath!
Badger skulls have hinged jaws, so if the jaw comes off, the badger had an injury or maybe was really young. The hinged jaws make their bites really strong.
Opossums carry their nesting material in their tails. Apparently, they also tend to get frostbitten tails in the winter because they don’t tuck their tails next to their bodies. They had to amputate frostbitten tailtips many times at the wildlife clinic I volunteer at. Bottom line, opossums are kind of dumb. I love them, but the stupid things they do amaze me.
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I got a 3D pen a few years ago, that flashes green. A male firefly got inside and fell in love with my pen. He flew all around me, thinking it was a female.
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Adult saturniid moths lack digestive tracts and have vestigial mouthparts, thus are unable to feed and slowly starve to death. They generally only live a week or two as adults as a result.
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I… I don’t know how I feel about knowing this.
When I was a really little kid, (3-5) I loved watching this documentary about deadly animals. My favorite part was when some lady got stung by one. I don’t know why I loved that so much, but I always made my parents turn it on for me. I later had a fascination with tornadoes, so maybe scary things were cool to me? Like how little kids like trucks and dinosaurs? It’s cool that they can make a drug with conesnails.
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