Exploring Nature’s Marvels: 45 Intriguing Facts about Amazing Plant and Animal Species – Part 2

A rare species of tree snail discovered in Australia in 2009 was named Crikey Steveirwini. The discovering scientist noted its khaki appearance and decided the only appropriate name was one that would honor the late Crocodile Hunter and his signature catchphrase.

27. Out of thousands of Frog species, only one goes “RIBBIT”, but it has become a global cliche of how a frog sounds because that particular frog specie (Pseudacris regilla) resides on the West Coast of the USA, where Hollywood is, and were recorded for sound effects in classic Hollywood movies.

28. In 2012, scientists found 1,458 new species of bacteria living in human bellybuttons. Everyone’s bellybutton ecology is unique like a fingerprint, and one volunteer’s belly button harbored bacteria that had previously been found only in soil from Japan, where he had never been.

29. There is a species of butterfly named the Julia Butterfly that licks the eyes of caimans and turtles so that it can drink their tears.

30. A study showed that plants have the potential to store memory. Mimosa pudica is plant species that closes up it leaves when touched. In an experiment it was repeatedly dropped. At first, it closed on every drop but over time remained open because the drops did not harm them. It retained this memory even a month later.

There is a species of scorpion (Ananteris balzani) that loses its tail when threatened, just like a lizard. Trouble is, its anus is located at the end of its tail, meaning it may survive for up to eight months sans anus, and without ever defecating again.

32. Dayak fruit bat is a species of bat in which males naturally produce milk.

33. Kea is a species of predatory parrot that is found in New Zealand. It is infamous for killing sheeps using their beaks and damaging parked vehicles.

34. Neotrogla is fly-like insects native to Brazil. They are the first species that are known to have swapped genital structures. Copulation lasts 40-70 hours during which the female uses spines on her gynosome (penis) to latch onto the male and if forced apart, his abdomen can be ripped apart from his body.

35. The Suriname toad species gives birth from their back by having eggs embedded into their skin.

Seahorses are among the only species in which the male gives birth and takes care of the young.

37. The Sun Bear is the world’s smallest bear species that grows to only 28 inches tall. Sun bears are shy and reclusive and may bark if startled. They prefer to spend their time away from people (and predators), sunbathing and sleeping in trees.

38. Bats often use pitcher plants as a toilet and plant are also benefited by it. Some species of bats take a nap and a dump inside a pitcher plant and the pitcher plant gets nutrients from the feces.

39. The male of a tiny Australian marsupial species called the antechinus goes into a mating frenzy once in its short life and has sex with as many females as possible until his body disintegrates.

40. There is a species of moth called the Bagworm moth. They build cocoons out of sticks and small twigs. These cocoons can sometimes look like small log cabins. After metamorphosis, the female of the species spends their whole lives, of a few weeks, in the little home they made.

There is a species of fungus, Fusarium oxysporum, that has the ability to dissolve gold and excrete it onto its surface, encrusting itself in gold.

42. One species of freshwater turtle has actual flippers like a sea turtle. Called the pig-nosed turtle, it lives in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Extremely aggressive, little studied, and difficult to keep in captivity, it is rarely seen in aquariums.

43. A species of pied hoverfly named Scaeva pyrastri has copied the appearance of a wasp but it’s white. They do this to fool their natural enemies into not eating them because wasps are poisonous.

44. There is a species of wild pigs (Babirusa) with tusks that grow up and inwards, curving directly towards their forehead. If the male's tusks aren't worn down by regular use, they will grow until they pierce the skull, killing the boar.

45. Veery is a species of migratory songbirds that can predict hurricane season intensity better than the most powerful computer models.