10 – Crocodiles Eat Stones,
- You might not think an animal that eats rocks is all that intelligent, but crocodiles know what they’re doing.
- They swallow stones to pack on quick weight, allowing them to dive deeper and to balance themselves in water.
- Munching on pebbles also crushes their food down, aiding with the digestion process.
9 – Sea Star Abilities,
- Starfish might look like the harmless dummies of the sea, but they actually have a sinister dark side. Actually they’re so fucking terrifying it’s a wonder no one’s made a horror movie about them.
- They’ll eat anything they can get a hold of: whether it’s fish, oysters or snails. And although they don’t have teeth or jaws they can catch and digest prey by shooting their sticky, acidic stomaches right out of their bodies. It sometimes takes days for a starfish to consume its prey. And I bet it enjoys every sadistic second.
- Oh, and if a creature tries to take down a starfish they had better make damn well sure they kill it. ’Cause if they don’t a starfish can regrow entire limbs and the last thing you want is a pissed off starfish with revenge on its mind.
8 – Dolphin Sleep Habits,
- Dolphins have the ability to sleep with only half of their brain shut off. This means they can rise to the surface during sleep for some delicious oxygen.
- By sleeping with one eye open, they stay conscious enough to avoid predators and travel to the surface, but their brain still gets the rest it needs.
- Then when one side has gotten enough rest, they swap and close the other eye. Efficient!
7 – Liquified Cucumbers,
- When it comes to defence mechanisms, sea cucumbers can do some seriously next level shit.
- For example, when they’re threatened they can shoot their own guts out at predators. Of course life wouldn’t be worth living without guts, so they regenerate them later.
- Even cooler: if they’re in a really tight spot, they can break down the bonds holding their cells together and literally turn to liquid. This way they can just float past any threat and then become solid again when it’s safe. They have to be careful doing this, though, because sea cucumbers can actually liquefy themselves to death.
6 – Chitons’ Magnetic Teeth,
- You might think there’s nothing all that interesting about a tiny mollusc. Well, that’s ’cause you haven’t heard of the chiton, a faceless invertebrate that roams the ocean floor munching on algae-encrusted rocks with its ridiculously hard teeth.
- The chiton’s a bit like Wolverine in that it can make its own teeth out of magnetite – AKA the hardest material made by a living organism on the planet! The only thing stronger is a Metapod that’s used harden.
- Scientists are hoping to use the Chiton’s special ability to revolutionise the manufacturing of materials.