The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: DreamvalleyMLP on May 16, 2023, 09:34:54 AM

Title: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on May 16, 2023, 09:34:54 AM
...that eye balls can actually be tattooed?

Share your fun did-you-knows in this thread! The nuttier, the better!

How long before this derails and people discuss the actual possibility of a did-you-know fact?
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 16, 2023, 09:46:03 AM
In Africa more people are killed by hippos than any other animal.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Ponyfan on May 16, 2023, 10:06:26 AM
A 10 gallon hat only holds 3/4 of a gallon of water.   :tumble:



Ponyfan
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on May 16, 2023, 11:50:42 AM
In Africa more people are killed by hippos than any other animal.

Aren't they super slow?

As for the gallon thing; not even gonna try...
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Pokeyonekenobie on May 16, 2023, 12:01:06 PM
Hippos are super territorial.

Did you know that an Okapi looks like a cross between a moose and a zebra but is actually related to the giraffe?  And their tongues are so long they can lick their own ears.  :)

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Heart Of Midnight on May 16, 2023, 07:38:24 PM
...that eye balls can actually be tattooed?

Share your fun did-you-knows in this thread! The nuttier, the better!

How long before this derails and people discuss the actual possibility of a did-you-know fact?

I know at least one person in Finland whose eyeballs are tattooed black. Pretty fierce looking! :heart:  :blink:

---

The most dangerous animal in Finland (the one that has killed the most people) is a dog. Second comes a wasp and then a horse. Some may think that the number one would have been a wolf or a bear. The last time a wolf killed a person was at the end of the 19th century, and a bear at the end of the 20th century.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Mewtwofan1 on May 16, 2023, 10:14:42 PM
Sloths, armadillos and anteaters are closely related. They are all part of the Xenarthra family.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 17, 2023, 03:57:07 AM
If you make a small hole with your index finger and thumb and look through it, you can see better.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on May 18, 2023, 01:38:39 PM
...that if you check in a bag at an airport with an hour or less before departure, it has a 50/50 shot of making it on the plane? Bag security is more likely to pull and check the ones that are entered at the last minutes before departure, regardless of when the plane leaves. Be on time!
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: pinkkittywinks on May 18, 2023, 01:41:05 PM
In Africa more people are killed by hippos than any other animal.

Aren't they super slow?


On land they can charge at you at 30 MPH. In the water they can easily flip a boat or canoe. They are very aggressive animals, even more so when they have a baby or in the dry season when the water levels are low and they are competing for space.

I had a friend who lived in Africa for a number of years and she told me a few stories about the animals she encountered daily.

There was no running (piped) water where she was living so they used to bath/do washing at a place called the "swimming spot". It was the "swimming spot" not because there where no crocodiles, but because the water was clear so you could see them coming.....  :shocked:

Love pkw xxx
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Carrehz on May 18, 2023, 02:02:16 PM
...that if you check in a bag at an airport with an hour or less before departure, it has a 50/50 shot of making it on the plane? Bag security is more likely to pull and check the ones that are entered at the last minutes before departure, regardless of when the plane leaves. Be on time!

Yipes, I didn't know this! I'm flying for the first time myself in a couple of months (well technically second/third time, but I can't remember the first one any more) so this is good to know. Thanks!

Hmm, let's see, what can I share... A group of ferrets is called a business. :nerdy: And a group of cats is a "clowder".
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on May 18, 2023, 02:10:15 PM
...that if you check in a bag at an airport with an hour or less before departure, it has a 50/50 shot of making it on the plane? Bag security is more likely to pull and check the ones that are entered at the last minutes before departure, regardless of when the plane leaves. Be on time!

Yipes, I didn't know this! I'm flying for the first time myself in a couple of months (well technically second/third time, but I can't remember the first one any more) so this is good to know. Thanks!

Hmm, let's see, what can I share... A group of ferrets is called a business. :nerdy: And a group of cats is a "clowder".

You're welcome.
On the flip side, if you have a great insurance via the airline, you could get reimbursed for the new clothes you have to buy in case your bag gets delayed. Don't do this though...

Post Merge: May 18, 2023, 02:11:44 PM

Sloths, armadillos and anteaters are closely related. They are all part of the Xenarthra family.


...that armadillos give birth to (sometimes multiple sets of) identical twins, always?
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 19, 2023, 03:09:54 AM
^ They can also choose when to become pregnant. They save the sperm and release it themselves when they want babies. This ensures that when food is plenty and there is no danger, the babies can be safe. I believe, without looking it up, that they can save sperm for up to four years.

Another animal fact - virgin births are accelerating among reptiles. More and more snakes and lizards are cloning themselves and giving birth that way, rather than having to mate with a male. This seems to be an evolutionary "ultimate" that all animals will eventually be able to do. Bad news if you're a guy.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Ponybookworm on May 19, 2023, 06:13:36 AM
^ They can also choose when to become pregnant. They save the sperm and release it themselves when they want babies. This ensures that when food is plenty and there is no danger, the babies can be safe. I believe, without looking it up, that they can save sperm for up to four years.

Another animal fact - virgin births are accelerating among reptiles. More and more snakes and lizards are cloning themselves and giving birth that way, rather than having to mate with a male. This seems to be an evolutionary "ultimate" that all animals will eventually be able to do. Bad news if you're a guy.
Same with sharks (the virgin birth thing)
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 23, 2023, 04:36:43 AM
A female cat can have kittens fathered by different males. In fact, it's possible that a litter of kittens can all have different fathers.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on June 04, 2023, 07:51:52 AM
You can fit 14 Frances into Canada.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Loa on June 05, 2023, 04:10:17 AM
NZ has the largest parrot in the world and they are fat, flightless and less than 250 are left.
They also like to shag zoologists (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY).
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Moonbreeze on June 05, 2023, 05:10:46 AM
Did you know Platypuses glow under UV light/ Blacklight!? Their fur is biofluorescent.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Lady Frostbite on June 07, 2023, 04:33:07 AM
NZ has the largest parrot in the world and they are fat, flightless and less than 250 are left.
They also like to shag zoologists (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY).

NZ is also home to the only alpine parrot, the Kea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea)!

Cockatoos and cockatiels are directly related (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatoo). Specifically, a cockatiel is technically a miniature cockatoo! They share traits no other parrot has like awesome hair (a crest that can stand up), a gall bladder and powder down.

Australia is home to one of the most elusive birds in the world, the Night Parrot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_parrot)! It's so rare, sightings that are confirmed are few and far between. One was actually caught and tagged, nicknamed 'Pedro', confirming its existence.

There's such a thing as poisonous birds! The hooded pitohui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_pitohui) is one!
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on June 07, 2023, 10:01:41 AM
Loving all the animal facts in here!!!

Here's a few more.

-Birds are reptiles and even more fun and specific, they are dinosaurs. So those dinosaur chicken nuggets? Technically made from actual dinosaurs, since chickens are dinosaurs. Just in the shape of other non-chicken dinosaurs. :lol:

-Related to that, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to lizards & snakes.

-Jumping spiders (Salticidae) are the largest family of spiders in number of species. There are over 6,000 species of Salticids across the world! This is about 13% of spider species. And they're all super cute!

-Salticids also have the best vision among spiders (most of them have very poor vision).

-Dragonflies are the most successful predators (95% success rate catching prey).

-Horseshoe crabs are not crabs, they aren't even crustaceans. They are chelicerates, and more specifically, may even be arachnids!

-Similarly to the birds are reptiles thing, insects may very well be crustaceans!

-"Daddy longlegs" is a very confusing common name for wildlife because it is applied to many different things, largely depending on region. It can refer to the order Opiliones (harvestmen), the family Pholcidae (cellar spiders), the family Tipulidae (crane flies), or three different species of plants (Caladenia filamentosa, Stylidium divaricatum, Brassavola cucullata).

-Scientifically, "bug" refers exclusively to insects in the order Hemiptera.

-only female mosquitoes bite, specifically only gravid ones (gravid = pregnant for egg laying animals). They feed on blood to provide nutrients to the eggs. This is also not something every species does, and otherwise these animals are eating nectar (males obviously only ever eat this as they have no need for blood).

-Honeybees are not native to the US. They are livestock animals introduced for agricultural purposes, and often have negative effects of native bees, sometimes out competing them. "Save the bees" is something we should be focusing on for sure, but on native bees, not on these invasive ones.

-Wolf spider (family Lycosidae) mothers carry around their egg sacs while the eggs are developing. After they hatch, the spiderlings (also can be shortened to "slings") ride around on their mom's abdomen until they are old enough to go off on their own! Wolf spiders are the only family of spiders to do this sort of thing.

I know a lot of these are arthropod focused, but I want to be an entomologist someday, and as a result, tend to fill my brain with much more arthropod facts compared to other animals. :P

Edit - wait wait one more!

-"Fish" is not one group. If one were to make a monophyletic group containing each group we call "fish", it would just include all vertebrates.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on June 07, 2023, 02:38:51 PM
I agree with all the animal facts being so interesting!

Poisonous birds... makes me look at FairyTails in a whole different way. (I'm looking at you, creepy tropical birds)

And biofluorescent platypus!

Had to look it up a visual :)
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Ponyfan on June 08, 2023, 07:11:20 PM
A giraffe has the same number of vertebrae in its neck as humans.

orcas/killer whales are not actually whales.  They are dolphins.

Ponyfan
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: mlp4me on June 15, 2023, 07:15:13 AM
The first snowplow in the United States was used in Wisconsin in 1847.

The Sputnik satellite crashed in a farm field near Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1962.

Some of the most popular attractions of Wisconsin are the buildings that were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This was a native of Wisconsin and one of its most ever prominent citizens.

The first American Girl doll was created in Middleton, Wisconsin in 1986.

It was in Ripon, Wisconsin that the Republican Party was founded.

In the 1800s, Ed Bermers was the proprietor of a soda fountain shop in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. At the time, serving soda on Sunday was illegal for religious reasons. A customer by the name George Hallauer came to the shop one Sunday. He wanted a dish of ice cream. He asked to try the sauce on top used for ice cream sodas. That was the birth of the *first ice cream sundae*, and it cost just a nickel.

Wisconsin isn’t just known for all the nice things. It also has a history of gangsters. They used to like Waukesha County a lot, specifically Oconomowoc. Some notable members included John Dillinger, Al Capone, Baby Face Nelson, and Bugs Moran.
I've visited some cabins in northern WI where these guys hung out near where my mother-in-law was living...

https://thefactfile.org/wisconsin-facts/
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: BlackCurtains on June 15, 2023, 07:23:45 AM
^ My dad was a Teamster! :D

More Wisconsin facts - My hometown Kenosha is the only Kenosha in the whole world. It means 'great fish' after the pike that can be found all over, including Lake Michigan.

The name Wisconsin is a butchered word that was originally Native then "translated" by the French, then finally went back to resembling the first name. The meaning is uncertain but "a winding river" seems to be the closest meaning.

Wisconsin has rare bioluminescent lizards.

Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Ponyfan on June 19, 2023, 11:21:30 AM
I was reading in a magazine that people with latex allergies shouldn't drink mulberry tea, because mulberry trees have latex in them.


Ponyfan
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: kestral_kitsune on June 20, 2023, 04:28:52 PM
humans have stripes

They're called Blaschko's Lines and are in our genetic code and can only be seen under UV light! They're usually a V Pattern that kind of swirls down our backs and wraps up our neck and around our arms. Supposedly cats can see our stripes!
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Pokeyonekenobie on June 21, 2023, 07:15:43 AM
humans have stripes

They're called Blaschko's Lines and are in our genetic code and can only be seen under UV light! They're usually a V Pattern that kind of swirls down our backs and wraps up our neck and around our arms. Supposedly cats can see our stripes!

I wonder if we have our own stripe patterns like Zebras.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Pokeyonekenobie on June 22, 2023, 08:14:16 AM
I found a book of "quite interesting facts" in the library.  It includes gems like:

The offspring of a polar bear and a grizzly bear is called a pizzly bear.

Splenda was an insecticide that became a sweetener when an assistant misheard an order to "test" it as "taste" it.  (Maybe that's why it gives me hives!)

Lalochezia is using swearing to relive stress or pain.

and Play-Doh was originally designed as wallpaper cleaner.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: kestral_kitsune on June 22, 2023, 06:55:58 PM
did you know deviled eggs are just handheld egg salad.



-runs for it-
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: mlp4me on June 23, 2023, 09:36:19 AM
^ My dad was a Teamster! :D

More Wisconsin facts - My hometown Kenosha is the only Kenosha in the whole world. It means 'great fish' after the pike that can be found all over, including Lake Michigan.

The name Wisconsin is a butchered word that was originally Native then "translated" by the French, then finally went back to resembling the first name. The meaning is uncertain but "a winding river" seems to be the closest meaning.

Wisconsin has rare bioluminescent lizards.


OOO GITD lizards for the win!

(ADD moment, regarding glowing things I saw my first firefly of the season last night!)
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: Ponybookworm on June 23, 2023, 05:00:36 PM
Some sharks also have bioluminescence, especially deep sea sharks. They add it to their countershading
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: DreamvalleyMLP on July 02, 2023, 09:36:08 AM
...that it's best to not feed ducks bread?

It fills their belly without providing them nutrients. Next time you go duck feeding at the park take some peas, bird seed pellets, grains,... instead of leftover bread.
Title: Re: Did you know...
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on July 02, 2023, 04:55:33 PM
...that it's best to not feed ducks bread?

It fills their belly without providing them nutrients. Next time you go duck feeding at the park take some peas, bird seed pellets, grains,... instead of leftover bread.


This is a very important one, thank you! That said, it is ideally best not to feed wildlife as it can encourage bad behavior on their part.
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal