Did you know that sea otters hold hands when they sleep and elephants can smell water from 3 miles away? Animals are fascinating creatures with incredible abilities along with many strange lifestyle quirks. We will most likely never collect all the interesting facts, but we know that each animal possess unique qualities that play a crucial role in their everyday survival. Animal Channel has collected 20 incredibly weird and cool animal facts to share with all of our animal lovers. Enjoy!

#1 Just as baby humans suck on their thumbs for comfort, baby elephants do the same with their trunks. Elephants can also smell water from 3 miles away.

#2 The way to an Adelie penguin’s heart is the gift of a pebble. These tuxedo-looking penguin species are common along the coast of Antarctica. During courtship, the male Adelie penguin presents a single pebble to the female as a gift. If the female accepts the pebble, they mate for life.

#3 Underneath their thick blanket of white fur, polar bears have black skin.

#4 The closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus rex– the “King of tyrant lizards”– are chickens, followed by ostriches and alligators.

#5 Just as the French do, Prairie dogs greet one another with kisses.

#6 Male giraffes try a mouthful of the female’s urine to decide if she would be a good mate.

#7 For survival purposes, Octopi have three hearts and blue blood.

#8 Sloths only have 25% muscle mass. Due to their lack of muscle, they are not capable of shivering when cold.

#9 Here’s a fun fact for musicians, those pesky house flies always hum in the key of F.

#10 The duck-billed platypus hunt with their eyes closed underwater. They detect their prey’s electrical impulses with their sensitive bill.

#11 Axolotls, also known as aquatic salamanders, are genetically blessed. They are weirdly adorable and are able to regrow lost limbs. They can even grow extra limbs!

#12 Tigers have stripes on both their fur and skin. Similar to human fingerprints, no two tigers share the same stripes.

#13 The talons on an eagle is more powerful than a rifle’s bullet.

#14 Sea otters hold hands when they sleep to prevent from drifting apart.

#15 To cope with the winter darkness, the eyes of reindeers turn blue to help them see at a lower light level.

#16 While mating, dragonflies and damselflies form a heart with their tails.

#17 Turkeys are one of the rare animals that can reproduce asexually.

#18 The bite of a grizzly bear is so ferociously strong that it could crush a bowling ball.

#19 Kiwis are almost completely blind and rely on their sense of smell to survive.

#20 If you ever find yourself trapped in between the grip of a crocodile’s jaw, push your thumb into its eyeball and it will instantly let you go. We hope you never need to put this fun fact into use.

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By Annie Kim

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Annie Kim is a contributing writer at Shareably. She is based in Los Angeles and can be reached at [email protected].