Vikings used to feed virgin girls with mushrooms (Amanita muscaria) and used to drink their urine before battles to get them into their berserker rages. This is a widely-discussed and intriguing phenomenon first proposed by Swedish professor Samuel Odmann. He based this claim on reports that fly agaric was used by Siberian shamans. The evidence that supports this theory is the fact that Amanita muscaria is quite common in Scandinavia. Also, Amanita is considered to be toxic and has unpredictable side effects. However, once ingested kidneys pass potent quantities of Psychoactive agent while filtering out other chemicals, reducing side effect. This urine can be used to get high without side effects. As for girls being a virgin, it may have been done to give a religious angle to the whole process.(1,2)
7 The inside of your cheeks is made of the same tissue as the inside of the vagina.
Your mouth is basically a vagina! The reason is stratified squamous epithelium. This epithelium lines both vagina and mouth on the inside. This epithelium is best suited for areas of constant abrasion as it is the thickest tissue, and cells can be easily sloughed off replaced. Tissues from mouth have been successfully transplanted during a surgical procedure to help young girls who are missing vagina. This fact may help explain the mysteries of oral sex. Now, don’t go on putting your finger in your mouth to cop a feel!(1,2)
8 The Lyrebird can mimic the sounds of chainsaws and motorized cameras, and it uses this ability to lure in the ladies.
Lyrebirds are either two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds. They are famous for their vocal repertoire and mimicry. A lyrebird’s song is the most distinctive aspect of his behavior. Lyrebird’s song includes its own noises as well as the noise of anything that comes in contact with it. Moreover, Lyrebird perfectly mimics the sound of other birds, animals as well as chainsaws, rifle shots, fire alarms, mobile phone ring tones, etc. Although they sing through entire year, their intensity is maximum during breeding season (June-August). The lyrebird’s syrinx is most complexly muscled among all passerines (song birds). Also, females are less skillful than males in mimicry. Also a young one takes almost a year to perfect their mimicked repertoire.(source)
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9 There is a species of octopus called Argonaut that stores up sperm in his penis/testicle, and when he finds the perfect mate, he literally detaches his penis and gives it to her.
Image credit: D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook/Minden Pictures/Corbis via
Argonaut octopuses have quite a few quirks. They don’t have a true cephalopod shell since their females secrete paper thin egg case to maintain buoyancy. Male Argonauts don’t have shells. Argonauts show sexual dimorphism. Females grow up to 10 cm (30 cm, including shell) while male rarely crosses 2 cm. As for reproduction, males have a modified tentacle called Hectocotylus which stores Spermatophores. During mating, male Argonauts usually give their sperm-loaded Hectocotylus to females and swim away to safety. The detached hectocotylus swims to reach the pallial cavity (octopus vagina) of females successfully ready to use whenever they need sperm. Also, unlike other male octopus, male Argonauts don’t die after mating and grow hectocotylus again for the next mating season. As for females, they can get pregnant many times and even store more than one hectocotylus in their mantle.(1,2)
10 Crows have accents depending on the region they come from.
If you thought only humans had to deal with accents, then you are wrong. Even birds sing in dialects that are distinct to avian ear. There are local differences in the songs of a particular species. Hence, you may not be able to distinguish a Boston crow from a Mississippi crow by its accent, but crows can. There are many theories regarding the significance of this accent variation. Birds usually choose a mate with the same dialect to preserve local genes and adapt better to the local environment. Also, females can get a feel about the biological fitness of the males from their accents. The female cowbirds responded more frequently to a local dialect than a male with “foreign” accent in a research. Birds sure like to keep it close!(source)
