Category Ask the Psychologist

African elephant is the largest land animal. Topping 13 feet (4 m) at the shoulder, African elephants are just a bit bigger than their Asian cousins. You can tell the two species apart by their ears: Africa elephant ears are shaped like their home continent.

An African elephant’s large ears also serve many purposes. The ears’ large surface area helps radiate excess heat under the harsh African sun. The ears are also often used to communicate visually. Flapping their ears can signify either aggression or joy. And finally, elephants’ ears, used in conjunction with the soles of their feet and their trunk, aid in the ability to hear sounds over long distances. On average, an elephant can hear another elephant’s call at 4 km (2.5 mi.) away. Under ideal conditions, their range of hearing can be increased to 10 km (6.2 mi.).

Picture Credit : Google

Whale shark is the largest fish. It grows up to 46 feet long (14 m), rivaling a humpback whale in size. Its mouth can open large enough to swallow a human whole. (Reflex, these gentle giants eat only pinhead-size plankton). As thick as the walls of a bank vault, whale sharks skin is six inches (15 m) deep – the thickest of any animals’ – and covered in constellations of yellow spots. Marine biologists photograph these spots to identify whale sharks. Like fingerprints, the spots are unique to each animal.

Picture Credit : Google

Ostrich is the largest bird. These flightless birds grow up to nine feet tall (2.7 m). They also lay the largest egg of any bird. One ostrich egg can weigh as much as two dozen chicken eggs.

Ostriches mainly feed on seeds, shrubs, fruits, flowers and small insects. They also swallowed pebbles for grilling foods in gigerium. Interestingly, ostriches can hold up to 1.3 kilograms of pebbles and sand within their gigerium. Ostriches can also live without water for several days.

The powerful long legs help ostriches for attacking the predators. Ostriches usually live in groups that contain 10 to 50 birds. A female ostrich lays up to 60 eggs in a year. On average, an ostrich egg measure 5.1 inches in diameter and up to 1.4 kg in weight.

Picture Credit : Google

This one’s easy. Nothing tops the titanic size of the blue whale, the largest animal that ever lived. The largest specimens grow to the length of a basketball court. A blue whale’s heart is as big as a compact car. Its tail flukes are as wide as a soccer goal. Folds in the skin of the whale’s throat allow it to stretch like a pelican’s, ballooning to monstrous proportions as it consumes tiny shrimplike crustaceans called krill – up to four tons (3.6 t) per day! Once found in every ocean except the high Arctic, blue whales were hunted nearly to extinction. The species began to bounce back after hunting was outlawed in the 1960s, but only a tiny fraction their original numbers remains.

Picture Credit : Google

Of course not, but they sure seem like they do! Cats possess grace and a sense of balance that borders on the supernatural. Their most stupendous superpower is the “righting reflex”: the ability to spin in midair and land on their paws no matter which way they fall. Cats that take a tumble from great heights also spread their legs and bodies to slow the descent. This natural parachute combined with their righting reflex has helped kitties survive accidental falls from skyscrapers.

Picture Credit : Google

Ah, now here’s a question that has dog and cat owners fighting like, well, cats and dogs. Without a doubt, both of these treasured pets and clever, but research has shown that, mutts edge out kitties when it comes to overall smarts. Pooches have bigger brains, learn to understand hundreds of human words, and can be trained for all sorts of important jobs. Cats have a far less impressive work resume (they’re much more difficult to train), although they can learn tricks and are experts at manipulating their masters with one perfectly pitched meow (studies have shown that cats learn which noises get our attention). Researchers believe that dogs became brainer as they evolved alongside humans and had to cope with our demands and problems. Social animals tend to be smarter.

Picture Credit : Google