Animals are the exquisite part of this Earth which phenomenally helps in keeping up nature’s cycle. Animals are a major part of human life, we have grown up with different species of animals, we rely on them, and we learn from them. Every animal species is unique in its own way. They have different lifestyles, eating habits, and structures. This planet is filled with incredible facts about various types of animals. Below is a list of unique and important facts about animals that we must know which are incredibly exceptional.

1 Elephants are not meant to carry heavy loads on their back due to their unique spinal structure, as a result, they can suffer severe spinal injuries.

Elephants are vulnerable when carrying heavy loads on their back because of their unique spinal structure. As a result, they can suffer severe spinal injuries that will haunt them for the rest of their life.

Despite the size of an elephant, their skeleton structure is fragile, and carrying heavy loads/people on their back can often lead to permanent spinal injuries. When you notice their spine shape, it’s not like other mammals.

They have sharp, bony protrusions that expand upwards from the spine. The tissues protecting these bony protrusions are not protected from weight and pressure coming from above and against them. The chairs that are placed above the elephant’s back damages their skin and cause painful lesions on their body. (source)

2 Bats are multi-taskers. They play multiple roles in ecosystems as predators, prey, and pollinators. Their poop is also useful as it acts as a bridge between sunlight and caves, a medium for plants to spread seeds, and also a historical component in gunpowder.

Bats are truly considered multi-taskers. They are among the gentlest of animals and provide many productive ecological and economic benefits. They play a huge role in the ecosystem.

Most bats eat night-flying insects, including many agricultural pests. They play an important part in controlling the insect population. It is believed that at least one-third of the world’s food depends on the pollination carried out by insects, birds, but also, bats.

They play a prime role in the ecosystem as prey, predators, pollinators, arthropod suppression, material and nutrient distribution, recycling, and seed dispersal. Bat droppings (poop) are called “guano” which is considered one of the richest fertilizers and acts as a bridge between sunlight and caves.

Bat’s guano contains a high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium which also acts as a historical component in the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials. (source)

3 Chameleons are vulnerable. They can’t walk quickly, they don’t have a vicious bite, nor their skin is loaded with poison. They cheat predators or defend themselves by only staying hidden.

The defending technique of chameleons from predators is just phenomenal. According to the National Wildlife Federation, chameleons are gifted with the ability to blend in with the color of their environment to protect themselves.

Green chameleons usually live in the trees and similarly, brown chameleons live on the ground to blend themselves with their surroundings. They walk extremely slowly, so the best defense strategy for them is to camouflage themselves. Then, they wait for their prey to come to them by sitting quietly, and then they use their long sticky tongues to secure food.

They have mitten-like feet which help them to have a strong grip on the ground or branches. Chameleons are neither venomous nor poisonous, that is the reason they stay hidden to cheat their predators. (source)

4 A new study shows “rollie pollies” or “pill bugs” remove toxic heavy metals from soil and protect groundwater while stabilizing soils. Pill bugs are natural gifts for this earth.

A very unique quality that pill bugs possess is their ability to remove toxic heavy metals from the soil which reestablishes healthy soil. They are considered as a useful tool to clean soil that is contaminated with pollutant contents like cadmium, arsenic, and lead.

These rollie pollies can eat these toxic metals and crystallize the ions in their guts which ultimately changes into spherical deposits in their mid-gut. Due to this feature, rollie pollies can also survive in the most contaminated sites.

This quality of stabilizing soils of pill bugs ultimately benefits the groundwater most because they protect them from toxic, heavy metals from draining into the groundwater. They also protect well water from contamination by stabilizing soils. (source)

5 The fingerprints of a koala and humans are so alike, that koala fingerprints are misjudged as a human fingerprint in a crime scene. Their resemblance is even closer than the fingerprints of humans and chimps.

These doll-sized marsupial creatures that climb trees with babies on their back have fingerprints similar to humans. Their fingerprints were first identified back in 1975 when British police suspected them of being present at a crime scene.

The loopy whirling ridges on koala fingers can not be distinguished from humans, even after a detailed microscope analysis. Koala fingerprints resemblance is even closer than the fingerprints of close human relatives such as chimps and gorillas.

Here are the scanned electron microscope images of the epidermis covering the fingertips of an adult male koala on the left side and an adult male human on the right side. (source)