While animals are capable of doing some pretty odd things, there are plenty of animal beliefs that are purely myth.
Whether they’ve come from popular idioms or popular culture, there are plenty of rumours that have shifted into the realm of reputation.
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Animal myths
Goldfish have a three second memory
If you have a poor memory, you might have had the phrase ‘memory like a goldfish’ directed at you. But, despite multiple studies disproving this, the idiom has still stuck.
In 2022, scientists from Oxford University trained goldfish to travel 70cm and back using food as a reward, demonstrating that the fish could accurately judge distance.
Further research into their space representation, navigational skills and object constancy abilities has also been carried out, with similarly impressive results.
Camels store water in their humps
Camels are found in some of the hottest environments on Earth, and can go a week without drinking any water. So, it might’ve been this that led to the idea that they store water in their humps.
However, their humps actually store fat. This has several functions: it provides them with sufficient energy to tackle long distances; regulates their body temperature; and prevents them from getting too thirsty.
- How did the camel get its hump?
- Desert animals that thrive in some of the world's most hostile, inhospitable places – often in extreme temperatures
Dogs can’t look up
You can probably blame the ‘rom-zom-com’ Shaun of the Dead for this one. In a scene from the 2004 film, Simon Pegg’s character utters the line ‘Yeah, well Big Al also says dogs can’t look up’ and an internet myth was created.
While they don’t have quite as much head movement as humans, dogs (both domesticated and wild) can still look up.
Ostriches bury their head in the sand
To ‘bury your head in the sand’ is to ignore something you don’t want to face up to and references a supposed habit of ostriches.
The head-burying myth may have stemmed from the way ostriches have to bend down to dig their nests. When ostriches are faced with an actual problem (a predator), they can flatten themselves against the landscape or run away.
- Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand?
- Flightless birds: how did some birds lose their ability to fly?
Humans eat eight spiders a year in their sleep
It’s a widely-held belief that we swallow eight spiders a year in our sleep. While it’s unclear where this came from, it’s more likely that we swallow no spiders at all.
There’s no such thing as a fish
If you listen to the popular podcast by the QI Elves, you’ll be familiar with this phrase. Early biologists initially categorised many water-dwelling animals as fish. Later, these animals were re-categorised into other groups such as reptiles or mammals.
This left behind a collection of animals in this ‘fish’ group. However, while it remains a fairly diverse and populous group, we still use this term as one of the main classes of vertebrates. But as Helen Scales explains, things get a bit more complicated when you consider that many vertebrates evolved from fish.
