– (João Pirolla/)
10) STINKY BALLAD
Animal galago
Local Africa
Nicknamed “little nocturnal monkeys”, the galagos spend most of the day curled up in the hollow part of the trees. When the sun goes down, they unfurl the tail and prepare for the night by licking all the fur until it is smooth and shiny. To complete the ritual, they urinate on their own paws so that their footprints, bathed in the strong and typical odor of their urine, delimit the territory and keep predators away.
9) SEA DUMP
Animal beach cockroach
Local South America and Japan
Known by scientific name bathymonus, this crustacean is an evolution of shrimp, the famous garis of the ocean. The difference is that, in addition to being bigger, the beach cockroach has a more disgusting diet. Plankton, sea sponges and the rest of fish and other dead animals are on your menu. Even so, some say that its meat tastes similar to that of crab. Does anyone care?
8) THIRST FOR BLOOD
Animal vampire bat
Local America
The small “vampire bat”, one of the only mammal species able to fly, feeds on the blood of other animals and also of people. Despite the large and sharp incisor teeth, its attack is subtle and hardly wakes the victim. Their saliva has a strong anticoagulant, which delays wound healing, allowing them to feed again from the same source. No one is capable of turning into a vampire with its bite, but it is possible to contract rabies.
7) DIE HARD
Animal naked mole rat
Local Southern Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia
With pink and very wrinkled skin, the ugliest mouse on the planet lives underground, is blind and has teeth that never stop growing. Your queen has mesmerizing urine, which makes everyone susceptible to her command. The cute males who approach to mate get the most beating. But they don’t feel pain: the species is immune to any kind of torture, even acid or fire. Strange is little!
6. PARTY IN THE SALON
Animal Giraffe
Local Africa
Giraffes’ long tongues, up to 50 cm long, are not only used to reach food at the top of trees, but also to clean the inside of their nostrils. Another indiscreet lick of these animals is the one that the male gives the female when he wants to make love: he pokes a region located on her rear with his mouth and induces her to urinate. Then he tastes the pee to detect olfactory cues that indicate ovulation. If the pee nectar is approved, the mating rite begins.
5) GOLDEN RAIN
Animal Hedgehog
Local Europe and South America
When a male hedgehog wants to date a female, he approaches her with his penis already erect, rears up and… starts urinating on her. Obviously, the girl doesn’t like to be showered with pee and gets even more pissed off. Only after the rage passes does she lower the thorns. The male does the same and then initiates the sexual act. Less experienced females can hurt their mates if they don’t control the spikes.
4) CORPSE A LA CARTE
Animal three-banded armadillo
Local Interior of Brazil, Suriname, eastern Andes and Argentina
Although its basic diet is made up of ants, insects and leaves, this species of brownish armadillo received the simple nickname of “dead pope”. As it usually digs burrows up to 2 m deep, it manages to enter graves and eat the remains of corpses, especially in small towns, places where cemeteries tend to have precarious and unprotected buildings.
3) WELL CHEWED
Animal domestic pigeon
Local across the planet
As newborn pigeons are too weak to forage for their own food, it is their parents (yes, male pigeons) that go after the food. They eat grains, seeds, bran and whatever else is found in the garbage, regurgitate it in their own crop and take it back to the nest so that the young can feed on this delicious mixture. The ritual is repeated until the chicks are able to fly.
2) NUTRITIVE FECES
Animal Rabbit
Local across the planet
In the case of “cuddly” rabbits, coprophagy, as the act of eating their own feces is called, is a survival strategy. They make two types of waste, both ball-shaped: one drier and the other wetter, the cecotrophs. These are produced in the cecum (junction of the small and large intestine), where there are bacteria and fungi that provide essential nutrients for their health. Therefore, these feces are eaten immediately after being eliminated and protect animals from various diseases.
1) POOP SOUP
Animal Koala
Local Australia
As soon as it is born, this harmless-looking gray critter needs to eat its mother’s feces (straight from the source!) to survive. In maternal excrement, which actually consists of a kind of intestinal soup, microbiota is present, a type of bacteria that helps to recycle nutrients. It is capable of digesting the cellulose present in the vegetable fibers found in the eucalyptus leaves that will make up the animal’s diet throughout its life. As the newborn koala still cannot chew, it is only through this poop soup that he will feed himself in the initial months of his life.
SOURCES Celso Martins, professor of veterinary medicine at the Methodist University of São Paulo (Umesp); Diego Kenne, biologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS); documentary Animals Behaving Badly, from the Discovery Channel; and website wild biology