Nature In All Her Weird Glory – Hippos, Scorpions and Giraffes

Natural Selection
January 15, 2018

Multipurpose Hippo Jaws

Did you know that hippos can actually hear through their jaws? When above the water they have their famous snort and grumble as a way of communicating, but once they’re under the water surface they use clicks that are more like orca language than anything else. These clicks are detected through an auditory nerve that’s in their jaw, rather than the ear.

Shining Scorpions

Shine a black light onto a scorpion and it’ll sparkle away for you. When lit up by ultraviolet rays, these testy arachnids will glow a shade of neon blue. That’s because the UV light gets converted by proteins in their exoskeletons into a blue light. The most recent theories suggest that this might be to gauge the amount of moonlight shining onto them.

Giraffes Under Pressure

Giraffes always look pretty chilled, but they actually have the highest blood pressure of any animal in the world! A giraffe leaves the vet’s office with stats of around 240 over 160. This is actually because their brain is just so darned far from their heart.