27 Wonderful Animal Facts That Will Put A Smile On Your Face

What a wonderful world we live in.

1. Sea otters hold each other’s paws when they sleep so they don’t drift apart.

Sea Otters Hold Hands

2. Cows have best friends and get stressed when they are separated.

Cows Have Best Friends
pbs.org

3. Millions of trees grow every year thanks to squirrels forgetting where they put their nuts.

Squirrels Forget Where They Bury Nuts
Maria Morri

4. Butterflies can taste with their feet.

Butterfly

5. Some jellyfish live forever.

Turritopsis Nutricula Jellyfish

The Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish has the ability to transform its cells back into a youthful state. Scientists are currently studying it in hopes they can apply these amazing qualities to human life.

6. When rabbits jump and twist out of excitement, it is called a “binky.”

Rabbit Binky

When rabbits ‘binky’, this is an expression of joy. They will run, jump into the air, twist their body and flick their feet.

7. Humpback whales have their own “pop” music.

Humpback Whale

It turns out, mating tunes evolve and get passed around different whale populations. According to one scientist, “This is the first time that such broad-scale and population-wide cultural exchange has been documented in any species other than humans.” It’s like going viral underwater.

8. Gentoo penguins propose to their mates with a pebble. They usually mate for life.

PENGUIN PEBBLES DPPA

9. Seahorses are monogamous life mates and travel holding each other’s tails.

Seahorses Mate For Life
Nathan Rupert

10. Male pups will intentionally let female pups “win” when they play-fight so they can get to know them better.

Puppies Playing

11. Monkeys value equality.

Monkey Union

A TED talk recently discussed an experiment in which two monkeys were given different rewards for the same work. Let’s just say the monkey who got the rock instead of the grape was not so pleased.

12. Worms communicate by snuggling.

13. Elephants show remarkable empathy, even to other species.

Tarra and Bella

Elephants are known to mourn their dead, but it turns out they will often put themselves in harms way to help another animal as well. Pictured above is the beautiful story of Tarra and Bella, best friends despite their stature. When the dog, Bella sadly passed away, Tarra found Bella and carried her back home to bury her. Amazingly, as Tarra was grieving, the other elephants gathered around, bringing food to comfort her.

14. Fish use tools.

Watch as this fish uses a rock to open up a clam.

15. A cat‘s nose is ridged with a unique pattern, just like a human fingerprint.

Cat's Nose

16. There’s a wild cat called the Pallas’ Cat that makes the funniest expressions.

Pallas's Cat (4)

17. Dolphins have names for one another.

Dolphins

Recent research shows that dolphins can call out to one other specifically, by mimicking the distinct whistle of the dolphin they want. They do it to identify objects as well. This is the only animal who can do this outside of humans.

18. Cows produce more milk when listening to smooth jams.

Cow

19. Aside from nesting, common swift spend their entire lives in air, living on insects they catch in flight.

Common Swift

20. A group of porcupines is called a “prickle of porcupines.”

Porcupines

21. A group of flamingos is known as a “flamboyance of flamingos.”

Flamboyance Of Flamingos

22. A group of pheasants can be known as a “bouquet of pheasants.”

Bouquet Of Pheasants

23. And baby puffins are called “pufflings.”

Puffling

24. Chimp babies play with dolls.

Baby Chimpanzee

Chimps have been observed playing “make believe” with sticks, cradling them, scolding them, mock feeding them, much the way that young children do with dolls.

25. Rats laugh.

Rat

26. There’s a beluga with a fine appreciation for the arts.

27. There’s an animal called the quokka and it’s the happiest animal in the world.

Quokka

Share these beautiful facts about the animal world with others below.