10 completely erroneous facts about animals
Since childhood, we have learned a lot about animals - from a school course, books or TV shows. But sometimes it happens that our ideas about animals, like many other concepts, are not entirely correct. While mass media do an excellent job of entertaining the viewer, they often give the wrong information when it comes to learning new things. In this issue, we will look at ten common and tenacious myths about animals.
Toads
This is a surprisingly common misconception, and a lot of people are using Google to find out if there is any truth in this statement. And the truth is that there is no truth at all in it. This myth is most likely related to the fact that parents usually tell their children not to touch toads that have just been found in the mud. However, it turns out that warts can be picked up almost anywhere, they are caused by the human papillomavirus — but it has nothing to do with toads. However, parents can still find a good reason for their children not to touch toads: toad skin contains bufotoxin, which can cause irritation.
Goldfish
Another common myth says that goldfish have a very short memory and that they are very stupid. It turns out that goldfish are actually quite intelligent creatures and probably would not be happy with such attempts to denigrate their intelligence. The memory of goldfish is actually quite developed, they are able to remember some events for weeks and are trained to perform complex tasks. Among the complex tasks they were trained in: pushing levers, ringing bells — in other words, they are almost as smart as rats.
Cheetahs
There is some truth in this statement, because the cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, at short distances it reaches a speed of 109 km/h, which exceeds the speed limit on many US roads. However, the cheetah is not the fastest animal on the planet, this title belongs to the bird. The needle-tailed swift is the fastest living creature on the planet: when flying horizontally, it is able to reach speeds of more than 111 km / h. A close relative of this bird was even faster, but the record is not officially taken into account by scientists, because the way in which this measurement was carried out was not recognized as scientific. In addition, the fastest fish in the world, sailboats, essentially share second place with cheetahs, swimming at a speed of 109 km/h.
Haymaking Spiders
Many people believe that haymaker spiders are extremely poisonous. At the same time, there is a misconception that their mouths are too small to bite a person. These popular misconceptions were refuted by the famous "mythbusters" with the help of an experiment in which a spider successfully bit through Adam's hand. The "destroyer" admitted that he felt nothing but a very weak instantaneous burning sensation at the bite site. The analysis showed that these spiders are not poisonous and are safe for humans.
Ostriches
This is one of those myths that is incredibly ingrained, mainly thanks to numerous cartoons and cartoons that make us take this "ostrich habit" for granted. We've all heard that when someone doesn't want to deal with a problem, they "dive headfirst into the sand like an ostrich," supposedly what birds do when danger is near. Meanwhile, ostriches tend to run away if they feel the approach of danger, and are also quite able to protect themselves with powerful blows of their beak or legs. In reality, when there is a potential danger, ostriches simply lower their heads lower so that they are harder to notice.
Bulls
Testing the bull on mechanical matadors with rags of different colors (stationary and oscillating), the experiments showed that the bull becomes angry from the oscillating rag, and not from the red color or the silhouette of a person. Finally, the expert performed a "death trick", standing motionless on the platform in a red suit while two professional cowboys teased the bull. In general, despite the fact that bulls distinguish colors (they have dichromatic vision), they react to movement.
Snakes
The snake spell is one of the most interesting and at the same time dangerous tricks. Snake charmers play the flute, and the snake swings to the music, enchanted by the soothing notes. Well, except that everything in the last sentence is not true. It turns out that snakes do not hear what people are doing, they can feel vibrations, and in the process of incantation, snakes actually react to movements made by fakirs, and not to the sound of a flute. It turns out that, like many street performers, snake charmers are more worried about making their performance spectacular. We should also not forget that fakirs can treat their creeping artists badly: many snakes undergo a dangerous and painful procedure - the removal of fangs.
Koalas
Many people, mentioning the nice little furry creatures that live on eucalyptus trees in Australia, call them "koala bears". This definition is quite clear, because these animals are really very similar to miniature bears, but in fact they are marsupials. A koala is considered a marsupial because it has a pocket, which bears lack. It turns out that koalas are actually much closer to wombats than to bears.
Dogs
Many have heard this expression and not only remembered it, but also took it for granted. Studies were conducted on old dogs, and it was found that with proper training, they were able to learn new tricks, just like young dogs.
Dolphins
There is one thing that is usually said with confidence: dolphins will always support a person in the ocean, save them from sharks and help them find their way to shore. The reality is not so rosy — sometimes dolphins can be murderers! Recently, scientists have made some very disturbing discoveries about dolphins and how they tortured a baby dolphin to death. The fact remains that dolphins harm their own kind.