8 Examples of Strange Animal Behaviour

1. GENTLE CROCODILES Nile crocodiles, although physically and morally capable of killing humans, are tender guardians of their own babies. Newborn crocodiles average 28 cm (11 inches) in length and weigh 100 grams (3½ ounces) - tempting prey for a wide range of predators. To protect them when they emerge from their shells, a mother crocodile delicately picks up the hatchlings with her deadly jaws and slips them into a pouch inside her mouth. Then she carries the chirping babies to the water where they are greeted by a roaring chorus from the adult males. 2. TRANSFORMER FROGS The female gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus), which flourished in Queensland, Australia, until its recent extinction, swallowed her fertilised eggs, transformed her stomach into a uterus, carried the developing tadpoles in her stomach, and then gave birth to fully formed young through her mouth. 3. FARMER ANTS Aphids produce a sugary excrement, which has come to be known as honeydew, by licking the leaves and stems on which it has fallen. But some ant species have learned to gather the aphids into their nests, feed them, and then when the ants are hungry, to stroke the aphids with their feelers so that they produce the honeydew, which the ants then drink fresh. 4. INCESTUOUS MITES The female mite known as Histiostoma murchiei creates her own husband from scratch. She lays eggs that turn into adults without needing to be fertilised. The mother then copulates with her sons within three of four days of laying the eggs, after which the sons die rather quickly. 5. NON-NURTURING CUCKOOS Female cuckoos deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, who then incubate the eggs and raise the offspring until they are able to fly away on their own. Curiously, each individual cuckoo mother chooses the same species to adopt all of her children and is able to lay eggs that resemble the eggs of the foster family. 6. CODEPENDENT ANGLER FISH As soon as they mature sexually, male angler fish begin a desperate search to find a mate in the dark water 6,000 feet below the surface. As soon as they locate likely prospects, certain species of angler fish attach themselves to the females - literally. The male latches on to the much larger female and never lets go for the rest of his life. In fact, their vascular systems become united and the male becomes entirely dependent on the female's blood for nutrition. In exchange, the male provides the female with sperm. 7. CHILD-LABOURING ANTS Several species of tree ants in southeast Asia have evolved a bizarre method for building their nests. While one brigade of ants holds together two leaves, another brigade grabs hold of ant larvae and squeezes out of their young bodies a sticky thread that is used to hold together the edges of the leaves. 8. TORTURING, MURDEROUS WASPS Ichneumon wasps are the sort of beings that inspire horror films. At the worst, an ichneumon mother picks a victim, usually a caterpillar, and injects her eggs into the host's body. Often she also injects a poison that paralyses the victim without killing it. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae begin eating the caterpillar. Because a dead caterpillar would be useless to developing wasps, they contrive to keep the unfortunate victim alive as long as possible by eating its fatty deposits and digestive organs first and saving the heart and central nervous system for last. Taken from "The Book of Lists" by David Wallechinsky & Amy Wallace