[Animals] 12 wild and wondrous animal facts we learned in 2022

[BirSaNN]

Here's 12 amazing (and somewhat disgusting) animal facts.

Animals constantly surprise the scientists that research them. With each new study, researchers seem to uncover a never-before-seen survival strategy, physical superpower or mental capability that animals possess. From self-medicating chimps to the snake clitorises, here are 12 stories from 2022 that deepened our understanding of the animal kingdom and its wondrous weirdness. 

1. Chimps treat each other's wounds

Scientists captured footage of chimpanzees applying crushed bugs to skin wounds on themselves and others in their community. The team thinks the chimps are trying to treat each other's wounds, although the researchers aren't sure what insects the animals used. The bugs may act as antibiotics, antivirals, pain-relievers or inflammation reducers, they theorize. 

2. Scientists finally found the snake clitoris 
 

Researchers recently described the structure of the snake clitoris for the first time. The forked organ, known as a "hemiclitoris," can be found in at least nine snake species. Although the snake "hemipenis" had previously been studied, no one had described an equivalent structure in female snakes, which led some scientists to speculate that the hemiclitoris had either been reduced to a stunted evolutionary remnant or didn't exist at all. 

3. Bees may change the weather 

Swarming honeybees can produce as much atmospheric electricity as a thunderstorm, a study found. The denser the cloud of bees, the larger the electrical field it can generate. The researchers say it's unlikely that the insects are actually producing lightning storms, but they can still have other effects on the weather. 

4. Octopus mom self-destruction

As their clutches of eggs near hatching, most octopus moms will abandon their brood and begin to tear themselves apart, even going so far as to eat their own flesh. Recently, scientists discovered the changes that take place in an octopus mom's body that seem to drive her into this frenzy of self-destruction. 

5. Dolphins drink each other's pee? 

Bottlenose dolphins taste-test their peers' pee in order to differentiate the identity of one dolphin from another, a study recently suggested. Dolphins also learn to recognize each other's signature whistles, so by using their senses of taste and hearing together, the marine mammals can quickly recognize friends and spot unfamiliar dolphins in their midst. 

link: https://www.livescience.com/12-animal-discoveries