Jakarta –
Every year, researchers come up with new discoveries about the strange, interesting, sometimes hilarious behaviors they exhibit animalalso throughout 2022.
The strange behavior of animals is often difficult to understand, but after research it turns out that this behavior is part of the species’ adaptation to the environment or a self-defense mechanism.
Here are seven discoveries of strange animal behavior in 2022, cited by detikINET American scientistTuesday (13/12/2022).
Octopuses throw each other
Octopuses living in crowded conditions off the coast of Australia can communicate with each other by throwing objects. Underwater cameras capture cephalopods scooping up shells, mud and seaweed with their tentacles or hands and hurling them at each other using a jet of water from a siphon.
Researchers have even observed octopuses receiving a toss and ducking to avoid being hit. Scientists don’t know exactly what motivates the behavior, but they suspect it’s a form of communication.
Spider sexual cannibalism
Some male spiders who wish to reproduce have difficulty having intercourse because they can end up being eaten by their partners. This practice is called sexual cannibalism.
However, males of the orb-weaver spider species (Nephila pilipes) have found a way to avoid a tragic end after intercourse. They store energy in their forelimbs to catapult themselves to avoid starving females in seconds.
“Imagine a 1.8-meter-tall man catapulting 530 meters in one second,” said study lead author Shichang Zhang, a behavioral ecologist at China’s Hubei University.
“That’s what these male spiders do. And they live to mate another day,” he added.
Sea sponges eat fossils
The researchers were in for a big surprise when their underwater cameras showed the presence of deep-sea sponge colonies. They cover extinct volcanoes and are found in extreme conditions on the floor of the frozen Arctic Ocean.
How do these creatures survive in an area notorious for its food shortage? It turns out they had bacteria that helped them digest long-extinct fossil tube worms.
Aye-aye extreme nose picking
Not just humans who like to pick their nose. Some animals also have this habit. An aye-aye, a type of lemur, is seen on camera “gouging” its nose.
However, he picks his nose terribly. This animal does it with its 7 cm long middle finger. These hands are usually used in night hunting to dig insects into logs.
When inserted into the aye-aye’s nose, the finger can reach down the throat! Scientists aren’t sure why aye-aye picks her nose so much. Presumably the aye-ayes only do it because they can.
Installing microbial slime traps
Technically, myxoplankton are not an animal species. However they are living organisms and have many peculiarities. Myxoplanktons are protists, which are basically eukaryotes, meaning organisms with one or more cells that have a nucleus and organelles. They get energy through photosynthesis and eat other microbes.
This year, scientists discovered a species of myxoplankton called Prorocentrum cf. balticum which forms bubbles of mucus around its body during the night, then attracts its prey (microbes) into these bubbles. The bubbles are rich in carbon that settled on the ocean floor after the slime was poured out.
The cockatoo rummaged in the trash
In Australia, parrots are very adept at opening garbage cans and rummaging through them with their beaks and paws. Upset to see the streets littered with cockatoo-caused rubbish, residents tried to find a way to outwit them animal this, by the way, put heavy stones on the lid of the garbage can.
But since then, cockatoos have learned to beat this strategy. Cockatoos have shown that they can learn and adapt, forcing humans to look for more sophisticated ways to counter them.
The sheep walk in a circle
The herd virus in Mongolia goes in circles for twelve days non-stop, leading scientists to investigate. A scientist says there are possible explanations for this phenomenon.
“Sheep appear to be in the pen for long periods of time, and this can lead to stereotypical behaviors, with repeated repetition due to the frustration of being in the pen and confined conditions,” said Matt Bell, a professor at Hartpury University. Department of Agriculture in Gloucester, England.
Others speculate that a disease that causes some animals to appear confused and start spinning around in circles is called listeriosis. This disease can irritate one side of the brain and cause sheep to behave strangely.
Sheep behavior like this is not the first time it has happened. In Sussex, England, a flock of sheep caused a similar stir last year when they were seen standing in concentric circles.
Scientists have also long studied why some animal others like sharks and turtles move in circular patterns. However, they had yet to come to a conclusion as to why.
Watch a video “Hundreds of wild animals in Kenya are in danger“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(rns/afr)
