Biology Questions
Animal Biology Topics
It's fairly common for people looking at elephants to notice that they have liquid seeping from the corners of their eyes. Some advocacy groups say elephants are crying because they're sad, but scientists say that elephants don't have tear ducts. If the latter is true, where is that liquid coming from, and why?
While hippos are members of the Order Artiodacyla, the even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of hippos are actually cetaceans. Like hippos, the oldest known ancestors of cetaceans have also been described as having feet.
How do penguins not freeze their feet off in cold weather, or burn them on hot rocks?
You can see the void when your cat yawns because it has evolved to have a) a jaw that drops down like a level arm to crush and tear food with the back teeth and b) minimal lips / cheeks that can pull back to get out of the way of getting tasty things in contact with the carnassial teeth.
Unlike the rest of mammals, who have separate urinary and excretory tracts, marsupials and monotremes have a cloacal opening through which all waste is expelled from the body. In marsupials, the penis is located between the cloaca and the scrotum, but is rarely seen because it is retracted into the body when not erect.
RACHEL GARNER
Rachel is an educator and animal science writer. With prior professional experience in zookeeping, visitor education, shelter behavior management, and more, she works to translate pertinent field-specific knowledge into comprehensive explanations about current animal related topics.