Who remembers Goose from Captain Marvel? I know you all will agree that, without Goose the Cat, Captain Marvel would not only be incomplete but also the mission would have been way harder to complete. And he was the answer to all our questions regarding the scar on Nick Fury’s face.

From 1963 with the first appearance of Nick Fury, Marvel fans have wondered a lot about the secret behind his eye patch. And now we know it is all because of Goose. What if we tell you that not only in films but in our real lives as well, we have some super animals with amazing abilities?

Years after years, we have been entertained and forced to stick on our couches by the animals on TV with mind-blasting animal abilities. Be it the swankiest super animal Rocket Raccoon or game to movie star Sonic the Hedgehog, the inspiration behind giving common other animals uncommon animal abilities must have had its roots in real-life examples.

Through this article, we will take you to the unseen world of the top 5 amazing abilities that will blow your mind. Most of them we wish were taught to us in school (I would’ve paid more attention in class at least, duh). This interesting list comprises of different creatures, from shrimps that use bullets for hunting to mature jellyfish that unleashed the secret of immortality, read ahead to find them all.

1. Hippopotamus, Sunscreens? Nah. Blood Sweat? Yes!

The hippopotamus is considered to be one of the cutest animals on earth. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Many of you already know they are one of the most dangerous animals found in Africa.

They can smash you to death if you come between them and water. They are ferocious enough to give you the worst nightmare of your life. Having sensitive skin, they stay most of the day in water to avoid direct harsh sunlight.

But ever thought what if their skin gets waterlogged due to staying so long underwater? And even though the time they spend on land is relatively less, but how does their skin remain protected during the time on the ground? No, they don’t apply some sunscreen; instead, they have inbuilt sunscreen.

Yes, you read it right. Hippos secrete a pinkish fluid from special glands presented in their body. These fluids turn blood red on direct exposure to the Sun, hence called “blood sweat.” You might think all mammals sweat, how can Hippos’ blood sweat be listed under amazing animal abilities? Just because they turn blood red? No, the thing is not as easy as you think.

When we or any other mammal sweat from our sweat glands, the sweat evaporates eventually. And the skin becomes as dry as earlier.

Hippos’ blood vessels do not evaporate. It is not the usual sweat. It is a unique mixture of water, moisturizers, and water repellent compounds. Yep, that’s their secret of being protected from getting waterlogged as well.

The secret recipe to make such sunscreen is still a mystery to be solved. But secreting sweat is undoubtedly one of the most fantastic animal abilities.  Want to know more about Hippos? Check out their full details here.

2. Lyrebird; the Jim Carrey of The Animal Kingdom with Some Unique Animal Abilities!

Do you think parrots have spectacular animal abilities in mimicry? Of course, they do. How about you try teaching a parrot the sound of your car alarm? Sounds funny?

But that’s a kid’s job for lyrebirds. Yes, these Australian natives can mimic your car alarm. They are not the only birds only capable of mimicking sounds of car alarms but also the sounds of chainsaws, camera clicks, human speech, and even other birds’ voices—ideally any sound in the world. You just name it!

They are like the photocopy producers of any sound in the world. These are the only animals whose incredible abilities lie in their extraordinary power of mimicry.

During the season of mating, the male bird flaunts off his marvelous feathers and starts singing. They make sounds that can attract female ones. From beat-boxing to drone sounds, they have a wide variety of sounds in their throats.

How and why they produce so many sounds is still a mystery to scientists. And ironically, some sounds they produce like the sound of chainsaws and construction, threaten their species.

They do have their sound that sounds like metal music. But if you are in lyrebird’s territory and hear the sound of gunshots, don’t panic. It’s none other than the Jim Carrey of the animal kingdom, showing off super animal abilities.

3. Flying Snake; The Name Is Enough to Give Chills!

Gone are the days to think the flying squirrel is the example of one of the most fantastic animal abilities in the world. This era is of more amazing animal abilities. Sounds interesting, right? Or maybe scary?

Suppose you are on a spine-chilling adventure in the dense forests of South-East Asia. You are facing a lot of bizarre animals: venomous snakes, rats, bats, flying snakes.

Flying snakes? No way! But the harsh truth is if you are in the region, we mentioned you might be lucky enough to encounter flying snakes. Or we can say unlucky enough?

These mildly venomous snakes can glide from one treetop to another seamlessly. No, they don’t have any wings like an organ or internal organs, unlike flying squirrels. They are superb gliders and can leap at least 100 meters at once. Want to know more about them? Click here to get more fascinated by their fantastic animal abilities.

4. Pistol Shrimp; Who Said Bullets Are for Human Uses Only?

I know you think Lara Croft and John Wick were among the bests with guns. But did you know that even the animal kingdom has its own Lara Croft and John Wicks with some furious animal abilities?

We are talking about the shooters of the animal world, Pistol Shrimps. You might be used to crave for ordinary shrimps on your dinner table. But be aware the shrimps with built-in pistols are here.

Pistol Shrimps are only 1-2 inches long with unusually big claws, aka guns. Yes, they snap their slaws with incredible speed and boom! Gun enthusiasts know the average sound of a gunshot is around 150 decibels.

But can you guess the sound made due to Pistol Shrimps’ snap? An unbelievable 218 decibels! More than enough to rupture your eardrums. So how do they use their super animal abilities?

When they snap their boxing glove looking claws, the water around it jets out at an incredibly high speed of 105 feet per second.  The pressure created due to this high velocity surpasses the vapor pressure of the water.

Tiny bubbles swell due to the low pressure consisting of high temperatures. As hot as 4700 degrees Celsius. Yes, almost as hot as the surface of the Sun.

I know you might be thinking this heat can melt everything around the Shrimp, but thankfully the reaction doesn’t last for more than a split of second as soon as the bubble collapses.

Moreover, these high-speed bubble bullets generate shockwaves and luminosity, the process called “sonoluminescence.” Calling the bubble bullets of high speed as they can hit the target with a fantastic rate of 60 miles per hour.

If you are swimming in the tropics, the chances are high that you can hear mild sounds of snaps from deep beneath you.  These small hunters of the deep ocean can often be found with two built-in pistols, aka two unusually large claws.

And their mind-blowing animal abilities can kill small fishes, used as a communication method among their species, and even break shells.

For more information about the real gunslingers of the animal world, visit here.

5. Immortal Jellyfish; It’s Time to Reveal the Secret of Immortality!

The name is enough to make you confusingly interested to know more about the species. Most of you know the story of Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh, where the former told the latter that the secret of being biologically immortal lies in the floors of the deep ocean. Who knew the mythological story would come true in real life as well?

Let’s go back to 1988. A 20-year-old German marine-biology student Christian Sommer went to Rapallo, Italian Riviera, to spend his summer vacation.

Yes, this is the same place where Friedrich Nietzsche said whatever goes, comes back again. Sommer was studying hydrozoans and collected Turritopsis dohrnii unknowingly. This is a species of jellyfish that surprised Sommer by refusing to die even after weeks.

Similar to any ordinary jellyfish, this species, too, starts its life cycle from Polyp and reaches the stage of death. But unlike others, with a mysterious yet fantastic ability, it turns back to Polyp instead of dying. It is something like reversing the lifecycle and turning back into a baby from an adult.

They reproduce just like any other jellyfish by meeting of free-floating eggs and sperm. But surprisingly, they regenerate into exact copies of themselves and refuse to die.

But they use their superb animal abilities only in extreme conditions like existence threats. Can their animal abilities be used to make humans immortal as well? We have to wait until the scientists first reveal the secret of their immortality.

And if you want to see these Benjamin Buttons of the sea, you can visit Shin Kubota of Kyoto University. He has petted a number of the immortal jellyfish who, unlike Benjamin Buttons, can rejuvenate as much as they want.

There’s another fact about them that will drop your jaw even more. Some other interesting creatures you may find interesting would be the dung beetle, sea cucumbers.

These jellyfish stay in the ships’ ballast water, and they are spread all over the world’s oceans. Maybe someday you can find them on the nearby beach of your state! Who knew the most wanted secret of immortality would lie on the floors of deep ocean?

So that was our list of top 5 animal abilities that surely have blown your mind. If you want us to include more such creatures in our list, feel free to drop a comment below.

Suggested reads: Amazing Facts About How Fast Does a Bullet Travel

Last Updated on August 4, 2023 by Laveleena Sharma