Humans are members of the great ape family Hominidae, and the physical similarities between us and our primate cousins are clear.
We have the same arrangement of internal organs and roughly the same number of bones, we lack external tails, and we even get the same diseases.
While cats give off a solitary vibe, often appearing much more aloof than their canine counterparts, felines are actually very social creatures.
They form bonds with littermates, establish colonies, and may develop just as strong a connection with their pet parents as dogs do.
When is a goat not a goat?
When it can be spotted on a rail-thin rock crevasse at an altitude of 13,000 feet in the northwestern United States and Canada.
That animal, while seemingly possessing the stubbornness attributed to the goats found at petting zoos, is actually the biologically distinct mountain goat, the lone extant species of the genus Oreamnos.
Many experienced hikers are familiar with the phrase “leaves of three, let it be.”
That’s because poison ivy and oak can be identified by their three-leaf clusters.
Although not the most glamorous of methods, sweating is a biologically ingenious way to keep cool.
Our sweat glands employ energy. In this case, heat to evaporate water off our skin, which in turn cools us down.
It’s generally a good idea to keep your distance from lions, which is why it’s reassuring to know that hearing one doesn’t necessarily mean it’s nearby.
A lion’s roar is so loud, in fact, that it can be heard from more than 5 miles away.
Some species of trees that line city streets predate the dinosaurs by millions of years, but when it comes to the truly ancient, you need to look to the oceans.
Sea-dwelling creatures have a many-millions-of-years head start on any terrestrial life-forms.
Take, for instance, the shark. This apex predator of the sea has been stalking the world’s oceans for upwards of 450 million years.
A baby red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is about the size of a jelly bean.
Born after about 34 days of gestation, it’s less than an inch long or 100,000 times smaller than its adult height (roughly 4 feet).
The most distinguishing feature about an octopus is its set of eight appendages — after all, they’re right there in the name.
But don’t confuse that tangle of limbs for tentacles, because octopuses don’t have those — they have arms.
Compared to other members of the animal kingdom, humans are pretty good at tasting things.
Our primate biology gives us the ability to detect five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (or savory).
Manipulating fire is an ability unique to humans. Well, humans and “firehawks.”
In 2017, scientists from Penn State Altoona analyzed tales surrounding the fire-spreading habits of three Australian raptors: black kites (Milvus migrans), whistling kites (Haliastur sphenurus), and brown falcons (Falco berigora).
The small, swallow-like bird found in Europe and Africa can remain in flight for 200 days.
During this time they are migrating. And during this time they eat insects, groom themselves, and even sleep while airborne.
It is generally understood that ocean water gets colder the farther one gets from the warming rays of the sun, but there’s an exception.
Hydrothermal vents can pump out fluids at temperatures above 700 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt lead.
Climate change isn’t just raising the temperature of the world’s oceans. It is also changing their color.
As the oceans absorb the excess heat generated by greenhouse gases, that heat is altering the aquatic life in their waters.
Immortality is the dream of ancient mystics and futuristic transhumanists alike.
But for humans and most other animals on Earth, the promise of such longevity remains out of reach.
That is, unless you are a jellyfish known scientifically as Turritopsis dohrnii, nicknamed the “immortal jellyfish.”
The Earth has been around for a while, about one-third as long as the universe itself. By comparison, Homo sapiens are the new kids on the block.
Earth’s story began at the outset of the Hadean eon, about 4.6 billion years ago. It took 600 million years just for the Earth’s crust to take shape.
In fact, the story of the dinosaurs didn’t even end on that unfortunate spring day 65 million years ago, because dinosaurs still live among us. We just call them birds.
The Appalachian Mountains aren’t the world’s largest mountains.
And though they stretch from Canada to Alabama, they aren’t even the world’s longest (that honor goes to the mid-ocean ridge, a chain 40,389 miles long).
Humans have a few biological advantages compared to other species. The most obvious is our big brains, which have empowered us to become the dominant species on Earth.
But another feature that is often overlooked is our chins — yes, we’re the only animals on Earth with true chins.
