20 Primal Facts About Animals That’ll Make You Smile – Part 2

Hippos can sleep underwater using a reflex that allows them to bob up, take a breath, and sink back down without waking up.

The gopher tortoise is a species of turtle native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs deep burrows that provide shelter for at least 360 other animal species, often preserving their lives during forest fires.

The Spinifex Hopping Mouse has one of the most efficient kidneys of any animal and creates its own water through metabolic processes. They produce solid urine with very little water.

Goats have horizontal, slit-shaped pupils. Because goats' irises are usually pale, their contrasting pupils are much more noticeable than in animals such as cattle, deer, most horses, and many sheep.

Golden Poison Frog is one of the most toxic animals on Earth. It can kill 10 adult humans with just 1mg of its poison. Interestingly Golden Poison frogs raised in captivity and isolated from insects in their native habitat never develop venom.

There is a rare breed of pig called sheep-pig, which is capable of producing wool, just like sheep. There are many variations of these animals, the Mangalica is one of the most common breeds.

Giraffes can run extremely fast. At a gallop, they reach a speed of up to 60 km/h, which ranks them among the fastest animals in the savanna, right after the representatives of the cat family.

The world's largest known sponge was discovered off the coast of Hawaii. The animal is an unidentified genus of sponge with a bluish-white color and brain-like appearance, around the size of a minivan.

Alpheidae a.k.a the pistol shrimp is one of the loudest animals in the sea. The quick snaps it makes with its specialized claw creates a cavitation bubble moving at 60 miles per hour. When the bubble collapses it reaches temperatures of over 7,700°C and is 218 decibels loud, which is strong enough to kill small fish, and even create a tiny flash of light.

There is a jellyfish that undergoes a process called transdifferentiation. Instead of dying, they can reverse its life cycle, earning the name the Immortal Jellyfish - the only known animal to do this.