>Myths that have formed about the Gila monster include that the animal's breath is toxic enough to kill humans, that it can spit venom like a spitting cobra, that it can leap several feet in the air to attack, and that the Gila monster did not have an anus and therefore expelled waste from its mouth, the source of its venom and "fetid breath" (perhaps stemming from the fact that its venom in fact has an intense, specific smell).post animal myths
>>5100491I have boomer relatives in south carolina who unironically believe that flies only land to shit and can be frightened away with coins in ziploc bags of water, you can kill ants with oatmeal, young skinks blue tails are poisonous, and snapping turtles only let go if they hear thunder. There's also a myth that dragonflies can sew your lips together but i dont think even my grandma believes that one
>>5100496>dragonflies can sew your lips togetherwhat????
>>5100496Okay that dragonfly one got me laughing
>>5100491>Komodo dragons bite their prey and follow it for days waiting for it to die from infection/venom>Pythons will stop eating and lie next to their owners to measure them and see if they’re small enough to eat>The cottonmouth/copperhead/rattlesnake/whatever chased me>Tortoises attack black shoes because the colour reminds them of predators like crows>Crocodiles pretend to be drowning humans to lure onlookers inReptiles are a trove for myths
>Craneflies are deadly venomous but lack sharp enough fangs to pierce human skinI wonder how widespread this one is.I've met some true believers, after trying earnestly and at length to convince the last person I heard it from that it was bullshit, I may have found that it's best to just let the myths remain.
>>5100496>I have boomer relatives in south carolina who unironically believe that flies only land to shit and can be frightened away with coins in ziploc bags of waterThat's all true though
>>5100554>>Tortoises attack black shoes because the colour reminds them of predators like crowsWhy do they attack the black shoes then, smart guy?
>>5100566They think it’s another tortoise. Headbutting in tortoises is territorial, they don’t headbutt predators. That’s why they also attack their reflections and brown/grey shoes
>>5100564I've heard this about Opilones. Are you from a region that calls crane flies "daddy long-legs" by chance?
>>5100564This, but with daddy longlegs.
>>5100554The further from a dog/cat the animal is the more bullshit people believe about it
>>5100496>dragonflies can sew your lips togetherwould anyone care to explain how people could even come up with this misconception to begin with?
Touching baby birds makes their mother abandon themBats are blind Bulls are enraged by the color redDogs are completely colourblindOstriches bury their heads in the sand Lemmings commit mass suicideCats are smartCats are incapable of loving their ownersTouching a toad will give you wartsFoxes are solitary/loners Bunny Man isn't real (in the DC burbs, there's an "urban legend" about a humanoid creature with bunny-like ears who murders people with a hatchet; two incidents actually happened a week apart from each other in 1970 but it was just a guy in an Easter Bunny costume, he never actually murdered anyone and merely threatened three people with a hatchet in that pair of documented incidents because they were trespassing)Earthquakes are caused by angry catfish Peacock tears contain sperm Frogs/toads can shoot venom like a waterpistolHedgehogs eat apples and carry them on their spikes (Russians actually believe this shit) Hedgehogs steal milk from cows/sheep/goats/mothers Pregnant women shouldn't touch rabbits because the baby will be born deformed (Kazakh myth; usually, the deformity is a split lip/hairlip/cleft palate because bunnies' lips are like that) Cats steal babies' breath Owls are wise and/or magical and if an owl whistles outside your window, you'll be cursed/impotent/infertileSalamanders can walk through/live in/eat flames Storks bring babiesStorks affect luck; if the first stork of the year you see is in flight, you'll have a good year but if it's standing around, you'll have shit luck until the next new yearHyenas/wolves hunt by hypnotising prey (kinda weird that one myth is from Africa and the other from northern Europe)Literally all of Chinese medicineThis is a favourite from my childhood: if you have a birth, death or marriage in your family, you have to tell the bees about it or they won't make honey anymore. It's so ridiculous but lotsa Swiss and German people tell this shit to kids. Heard it more than a few times growing up
>>5100848>Cats are smartI dunno, I seen cats figuring out how to open doors
>>5100875My cat can open doors, but he doesn't understand how it works. He will jump at the frames of open door trying to "open" them.
>>5100836It's a scare tactic from Ye Olde England to get little kids to stop swearing, yapping back to their parents, and talking in church.
>>5100513>>5100519not him but my mom's aunts gaslit her into believing that dragonflies can cut you open, slurp your blood up then stitch you back up. They called them 'sewing needles'.
>>5100875Cats are as smart as a mammal their size normally is. The myth is “smarter than dogs” which they absolutely aren’t. Their brains are smaller and less complex. They think and do less. They need less mental stimulation. Its cut and dry. They are merely more persistent with independent action while dogs give up quickly. Dedicated retard vs lazy midwit. A more contentious myth is pigs being smarter than dogs. Neurologically they’re equal and for every skill pigs surpass dogs in, they lag in another, or dont actually surpass dogs but more readily display their full ability when dogs get nervous and hesitant. The science backing this one is really dogshit too, no pun intended. >dogs do not like using their noses to manipulate joysticks. they are not self aware. pigs are because i trained a pig to play a joystick game with its nose. >-a jewish ethologist trying to make his culture look right
>>5100554Don't forget how people constantly mistake turtles and crocodilians as "amphibians" instead of reptiles. It drives me nuts every time I see somebody refer to them as such even though they obviously aren't with basic observations outside them living in water.
There is a parasitic fish native to the Amazon Basin known in the region as the Candiru, it sucks off blood from the gills of larger fish and bores into the carcass of dead ones.The species became very popular worldwide for reportedly entering the urethras of men who swam in the Amazon River.Some even claimed that *not* entering the river wasn't enough and that the Candiru was literally able to swim up the piss stream just to lodge itself inside the victim's urethra. This is allegedly what happened to a 23 year-old man in 1997 (picrel is the cystoscopy's aftermath).The doctor who operated on him speculated that the fish showed that kind of behavior because human urine contains urea, a substance released by fish gills.There is a load of evidence against this myth, however:>urethras are way too small, so opening it and getting in would be very hard for an animal with no appendages>swimming up a stream of liquid is a very difficult feat>the evidence we have points to the Candiru using vision as its primary method of identifying victims, not smellThere are many other incongruences in the doctor's account.
>>5100848>Storks bring babiesStopped reading right there, what have you been smoking to think this is a myth?
>>5100848>Peacock tears contain spermThis reminded me of something. I was watching some cooking reality show with my parents and one of the contestants (female) remarked how when cooking eggs she always have to "remove all the sperm" (probably refering to chalazae). I was something like 12 at the time, yet still find it incredible how an adult could say something so retarded. As I grew older I discovered, that what might seem common knowledge to us, who are interested in biology, might not be for an average layman.
>>5101303>(female)>laymanthats really not that surprising
>>5101111I know it too, it used to be the simpler, more naive version of the birds-and-bees for kids asking where babies come from
>>5101303she's right though the sperms are gross
>>5100848>Hyenas/wolves hunt by hypnotising preythis one is the most plausible one because this is something mustelids actually fucking doso it's less fully outlandish behavior and more a case of wrong animal for it
>>5101333>because this is something mustelids actually fucking doCitation necessary.
>>5101030Crocodiles do have a body shape more like salamanders and turtles do appear as slimy as frogs so out of all the misconceptions this one makes the most sense.Kinda sad we don't have many huge amphibians anyway.
"Spotted Hyenas are hermaphrodites and can change sex at will or need".This myth exists due to the females possessing a hypertrophic clitoral/vaginal structure, called a pseudopenis or "glans clitoridis". It is about as large or larger as the male's penis, is erectile, and contains the vagina, which opens at the tip, through which the male mates, and the female gives birth.It does not contain the urethra.Birthing can be fatal to the mother, as sometimes a pup will become stuck in it. This risk is highest with her first birth, which usually results in the pseudopenis rupturing. This can be seen in the survivors as a pink scar where it healed.They even have a false scrotum, though smaller than the male's real scrotum, and only contains fatty tissue.
>>5100848>Pregnant women shouldn't touch rabbits because the baby will be born deformedNot that far off, a pregnant woman probably shouldn't be around any animals.
>>5101030Are you sure you're not just hearing "amphibious"? because they ARE amphibious, as in "lives in both water and land", and amphibians were named after their amphibiousness.
>>5101311you're an idiot, that's not what a myth is.
>>5101396>myth (noun): an ancient story or set of stories, especially explaining the early history of a group of people or about natural events and facts>"What's that, son? Where do babies come from? Well, I'm going to explain this natural event to you with an old story."Yep, sure sounds like a myth to me
>>5101402myths have to be things people believe, retard...
>>5101394No, I already know the difference in the term amphibious and amphibian. I only recount people flat out calling them amphibians, people being confused when they are told they're reptiles or them "correcting" people.
>>5101354There was a prehistoric crocodile-like creature that was an actual amphibian funny enough and even existed before true crocs. In a way crocodiles aren't even true crocodiles when think about this.
>>5101111nice digits it's true though. Very old people have been brought by pterosaurs
>>5101440Alright, I was skeptical because I have heard people complain about this exact situation before but never experienced it myself.
>>5101416>Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Hanukkah Harry and Thelma the Thanksgiving Theropod aren't mythsThen what are they?
>>5101455you know what I think you're actually rightIt just doesn't sound right to me but I guess it's just me
