The Truth About Animals: Myths Debunked
- May 25, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 7, 2020
Disclaimer: The book referenced in this post is not intended to be read by children and contains mature themes. However, children are still welcome to read the article, which omits any mature themes that appear in the book.
When you think of Aristotle, you probably imagine him as a famous Greek philosopher. You’re correct: Aristotle is most known for his role as a philosopher. However, he was also known as the grandfather of zoology; he recorded countless observations of animals that still stand today. Despite being regarded as a well-respected philosopher and zoologist, even the great Aristotle was wrong at times.
A few of Aristotle's blunders (mistakes) are discussed in Lucy Cooke’s The Truth About Animals. After achieving her masters in zoology at the University of Oxford, Cooke went on to become a National Geographic adventurer and an award-winning producer. As the founder of the Sloth Appreciation Society and the author of the New York Times bestseller A Little Book of Sloth, she gave a talk about the unflattering misconceptions, or misunderstandings, of the sloth to many schools and festivals, and those talks inspired her to craft this book about common animal misconceptions. Cooke uses her subtle (hard to notice) humor to debunk myths about thirteen different animals: eels, beavers, sloths, hyenas, vultures, bats, frogs, storks, hippos, moose, pandas, penguins, and chimpanzees. Here are myths and facts about each animal discussed in the book!
Eels
Myth: Eels are spontaneously created from the ground.
Fact: Scientists are still unsure about the details of eel reproduction, but they do know that eels can survive out of the water for up to 48 hours due to their breathable skin!
Beavers
Myth: Beavers live in democracies (a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting).
Fact: Beavers work together in families of up to 6 to construct dams and lodges.
Sloths
Myth: Sloths are terrible survivors in the wild.
Fact: Sloths remain still in the trees to avoid being spotted by its ferocious predator: the harpy eagle. Any slight movement could give away a sloth's position. This tactic is a type of camouflage.
Hyenas
Myth: Hyenas are dumb scavengers.
Fact: Only certain species are primarily scavengers; the spotted hyena hunts 95% of the food it eats. Hyenas are also intelligent; they patiently tire out their prey until it's easier to catch. They can also identify and rank their packmates.
Vultures
Myth: Vultures are scavengers that can sniff out carcasses from miles away.
Fact: Vultures are primarily scavengers, but they can also hunt their food. Although most species use their sense of smell to locate food (other species use sight), their sense of smell is probably no better than a human's.
Bats
Myth: Vampire bats attack humans by biting and sucking their blood.
Fact: Vampire bats rarely attack humans; they prefer animals, especially livestock (farm animals). These bats also don't suck blood; they lap it from an open wound instead.
Frogs
Myth: The Telmatobius culeus is the size of a car.
Fact: The Telmatobius culeus is only the size of a dinner plate. However, it lives mostly in the water to avoid the intense sunlight in its habitat.
Storks
Myth: Storks shapeshift into another species of bird in the winter.
Fact: Storks migrate to warmer climates for the winter. However, storks have been migrating less and less recently since humans have been hunting them as they migrate.
Hippos
Myth: Hippos are blood-covered, fire-breathing monsters.
Fact: Hippos generate their own sunscreen. The slimy coating on their skin might resemble blood, but it protects hippos from the sun's rays and bacteria.
Moose
Myth: Moose can't bend their legs.
Fact: Moose can bend their legs farther than any other species in the deer family; it can even kick sideways!
Pandas
Myth: Pandas are cute and cuddly, so they cannot survive on their own.
Fact: Panda mothers only give birth to one cub every 3 to 5 years so that the panda population doesn't outgrow the bamboo forest. In other words, they will not run out of food, assuming human and environmental factors don't interfere.
Penguins
Myth: Penguins only live in cold climates.
Fact: Penguins live in warm climates as well. Some penguins live in the Galapagos Islands, a location close to the equator (places near the equator have warmer climates all year round compared to the rest of the world). With their thick feathers built for cold climates, penguins in this area can overheat quickly, so they hide in lava rock cracks to evade the sun’s heat.
Chimpanzees
Myth: Chimpanzees have the same expressions and signals as humans.
Fact: A chimp that is nervous, worried, or afraid will appear to be "smiling," but they are not happy.
I certainly thought that this book was very interesting. Cooke manages to be hilarious while presenting animal myths: some well-known and others not as much. She digs deep into history to expose the misconceptions that past scientists had concluded, and she takes the reader on a journey on its invalidation, or how it was proven wrong. There wasn't a chapter where I wasn't surprised by a crazy scientist's experiment or a great philosopher's seemingly-flawed logic.
It's clear that Cooke was a dedicated zoologist. She didn't only research the history of the animal; she also went on adventures to experience the animals up close. My favorite part, of course, was the animals themselves. Every time Cooke uncovered a secret, it was obvious that the animals knew all along. Humans might have invented electricity and built skyscrapers, but animals continue to mystify, or confuse, us. I hope you learned something new today! Keep a lookout for the next post!
Vocab That I Learned
Penny dropped (idiom or common saying): to finally understand something
Homunculus (noun): a very small human or human-like creature
Bespoke (adjective): custom-made
Cacophonous (adjective): consisting of a mixture of loud unpleasant sounds
Onerous (adjective): difficult and unpleasant to do or deal with
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