Bizarrely close connections

Certain animals have such features which tends to lead us into thinking that they are the relatives of this species. But, in reality they belong to other species in other way i.e. by order, sub-order etc. though not by their actual family. This post will reveal about such species.

One of the planet's weirdest animals, tapirs have such bizarre features that we get confused whether they are pigs (by their body) or elephants (by their elongated snout). But, in reality they are neither pigs nor elephants. Like rhinos, their closest relatives are horses by their biological order i.e. Perrisodactyla (Odd-toed ungulates) which contain horses, zebras, donkeys, rhinos and tapirs.  It would sound awkward as they do not resemble horses in any way.


As it is known that hyenas are the one of the eminent scavengers of the animal kingdom. We would tend to think they share a close relation to dogs. Surprisingly, their closest relatives are mongooses and civets by their sub-order Feliformia (cat-like carnivores).

Now, two more examples of bizarre connections. The first example is about big cat species which are tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard. Leave aside cat family. Lets go by sub-family now. Seven years back, a research has been conducted on them about their relations to each other. Researchers conducted the genetic analysis of these species. The results baffled them like anything. It had revealed that these species are related to each other in a totally different way. Their findings state that tigers are more closely related to snow leopards. Lions share a very close relation to leopards and jaguars. Its indeed a mind-blowing revelation done by these researchers.

We would believe that there are no closest living relatives of elephants. But, unbelievably there are. Yes, tapirs don't belong ti this clan. Two of them are smaller than us. And, the other is a large aquatic creature. Hyraxes (small herbivores resembling rodents) share a very close connection to elephants by their clad. Similarly, another animal called elephant shrew (in pic) aren't shrews but are elephant's closest relatives. Thanks to their movable tiny trunk on their face which gives a part of their name.

Sirenians which consist of slow- moving aquatic mammals  like manatees, dugongs  too have a close connection to elephants than to pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses). It is too weird to hear about elephant's closest relatives.

At the end of this post, we now know who are the closest living relatives of the above animals.

Small wonders

It is indeed true that young animals are cute, adorable etc. But even during their babyhood, they possess jaw- dropping characteristics or talents which would stump us.

One needs to think before concluding that there are no remarkable methods animals boast to give birth. Giraffe calves fall down during birth from a height of around 6 ft. Shockingly, they don't get wounded. It might sound gross but there is a frog species whose tadpoles pop out through its back.


It would be incorrect to think that all young animals weigh less. A typical weight of a blue whale calf is around the same weight as an adult hippo.


When we were young, some of us have engaged in nail biting for fun. Similar is the case with elephant calves who do suck their own trunks for the same reason.


In case of us and other animals, babies and adults have the same color. But fascinatingly, babies of lot many animal species boast different colors which slowly change as they approach adulthood.

In case of herbivores, tapir calves boast white stripes upon brown skin which fades as they near adulthood. Similarly, the orange colors of calves of bison (shown in pic) and wildebeest start fading upon nearing adulthood.

Now in carnivores, the spots on the skins of lion and puma cubs keep fading when turning into adults. Spotted hyenas are pale black as cubs which gradually turn into yellowish orange when reaching towards adulthood.

Many birds do boast this uniqueness. The most ideal example is that of a flamingo. Flamingo chicks are born white which beautifully turn into pink as adults if they get more and more shrimps to feed on. Even adult flamingos do remain white as snow if there is shrimp scarcity. 









Thus, we are now aware that baby animals do have remarkable lives.