Animals
Exploring "Why" questions about Animals
295 articles
Why do ducks and some other birds fly in patterns?
V-shape formations are more aerodynamically efficient for the group. The air directly behind a wing is pushed downwards (called downwash), and the air behind and to the side of a wing is pushed upward
Why do animals shed fur all their lives, but when you make a fur coat, it doesn’t shed?
Because fur on an animal works like hair on a person - it grows and sheadding is a built in way to keep it clean and maintained. Along with grooming habits like licking. A fur coats fur does not grow,
Why do we say “pork,” “beef,” and “venison,” for example, but “chicken,” “lamb,” “duck,” etc…
That, to me, is one of the most fascinating quirks of English, and it comes down to the Norman invasion in the 1100s. When the Normans (ie: the French) took over, they were the ruling class. Our food
Why are names for race horses weird and hardly make any sense?
Race horse names have to be completely unique. You aren't allowed to give your race horse a name that anyone has ever used for another horse in the entire history of horse racing. As a result, most of
Why don’t (most) animals care when you watch them mating?
the only reason we have shame towards it is because we are told from an early age that this is shameful. That is all there is to it
Why is chocolate poisonous to dogs?
There's a stimulant drug in chocolate called theobromine. We can process it easily, dogs can't.
Why are you asked in an interview “why do you want this job?”
More money is always the answer, but that's not the question. Why this particular job instead of the thousands of other jobs on the job listing site? Why did you apply for this job, what about this jo
Why do animals scatter away from humans but allow other creatures to hang around or pass through?
They aren't reacting to you as a human. They are reacting to you as a threat. Animals, especially herd animals have what are called fixed reaction patterns and react to movement that is too slow, as s
Why do dinosaurs have feathers when they were so huge and didn’t fly? What were they adapted to be used for?
Feathers are basically a modified scale. They serve many functions including communication (standing on end, movement, color), insulation from both heat and cold, and flight. The use most dinosaurs wo
Why are preorder sales suddenly seem so important to video game companies?
Sound financial planning - money now is ALWAYS better than money later. Look it up.