Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [zoology]

Use this tag for questions involving animal biology; evolution, ecology, physiology, behavior, genetics, and marine biology.

Zoology the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems.

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Does wearing a mask on the back of one's head protect against tiger attacks?

Today while visiting the tiger exhibit at my local zoo, I read that in areas where tiger attacks on humans are common, people will often wear a mask on the back of their head to ward of tiger attacks, as tigers only ever attack from…
Flimzy
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Is the total biomass of ants roughly equal to the total biomass of humans?

According to About.com The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to the total biomass of all the people on Earth. Is the above statement just a myth or its in fact real? Are there any hard facts to prove this?
saiy2k
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Do dolphins attack dangerous sharks?

I've heard numerous anecdotal claims of people being rescued from shark attacks by dolphins. One source mentions that such rescues happen "surprisingly often", and cites three unreferenced incidents, including one where a pod of dolphins supposedly…
Beofett
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Can dogs love their owners?

A common assumption about household pets is that there is a mutual endearment between owner and pet. Searching the internet finds handfuls of people asking the same question and there are plenty of editorial comments on whether our fluffy friends…
MrHen
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If cows were a country, would they rank 3rd in greenhouse gas emissions?

According to GatesNotes.com: If all the cattle in the world joined together to start their own country, they would rank behind only China and the United States in greenhouse gas emissions. But they’d have some competition from the cement industry,…
JonathanReez
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Do squirrels fed by humans develop cancer and heart disease?

In Michael P Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers's book Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon (a chronicle of deaths in the Grand Canyon by a biologist and a medical doctor), in the section about squirrels biting humans who are feeding them, it is…
Charlie Brumbaugh
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Do roosters let hens eat first?

I recently saw this Reddit comment claiming that roosters are seen as gallant because they let their hens eat first: In France, the Rooster is seen as a symbol of gallantry. This is because, (supposedly,) if the Rooster finds a food source he…
March Ho
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Do fleas jump lower after being covered by lid? If so, do their offspring adjust to this lower height?

This is one of the popular experiments mentioned in motivational books. Here is summary from a motivational webpage: At the beginning of the experiment a number of fleas are placed in a jar. The natural reaction of the fleas is to jump out. After…
wasyl
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Does animal experimentation delay results in medical research?

There is currently a vehement debate in the Italian media about animal rights activism and experimentation on animals. Caterina S., a person with four genetic diseases, publicly demonstrated her support for animal experimentation by stating that she…
Sklivvz
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Do bullfrogs sleep?

Today I came across this picture: So I searched a bit about it. In this wiki answer it is stated that: Bullfrogs do sleep. They sleep underground from 2- 4 weeks. Sounded ok, but in this website, frogmatters, it1 says the opposite, thus…
Alenanno
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Are 100 million sharks killed by humans per year?

I've read from several sources that humans kill 11,000 sharks per hour or 100 million per year, for example : The Humane Society of the United States, quoting Jean-Michel Cousteau Look at what is happening to the great sharks. We humans are…
didest
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Do sharks never sleep?

My friend was saying that shark never sleeps. Because to keep it afloat, it has to continuously swim, so that it can't sleep. This claim is repeated in the Ocean of Know: They certainly need to conserve their energy because they never really sleep…
user
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Can dolphins accidentally detonate naval mines?

According to animal rights activists, U.S. Navy's usage of dolphins to locate naval mines is questionable, as they may cause mine to explode: The ethics behind using these mammals during war is still in question though, as they are reportedly…
vartec
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Do European deer still stick to their sides of the Iron Curtain?

I found such a claim in an article here: http://nowiknow.com/the-thin-red-deer-line/ But that was a long time ago, especially if you’re a deer — they only live about ten or so years in the wild. There are few, if any, who are old enough to have…
Przemysław Czechowski
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Have badgers eaten coyotes?

Wikipedia claims that badgers sometimes eat coyotes: In North America, coyotes sometimes eat badgers and vice versa, but the majority of their interactions seem to be mutual or neutral.[19] American badgers and coyotes have been seen hunting…
Arcanist Lupus
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