A survey done in Australia examined the benefits of dog ownership for preschoolers. They found that children as young as 2-years-old can have social-emotional benefits from this relationship.

“Our findings showed that young children who walked or played with their family dog more were more likely to have pro-social behaviours such as sharing and cooperating,” said Hayley Christian, a senior research fellow with the Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia for This Dog’s Life.

The researchers surveyed parents of preschoolers, asking many different questions about physical activity and social-emotional development. The results show that preschoolers who played with dogs a few times per week and went on family walks with them at least once a week appear to be pro-social. There’s a 30 percent less chance for them to have problems with peers compared to kids without a dog.

The post Dogs Can Help in Preschoolers’ Development appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

But this 2016 study shows them in a different light — there’s one thing in which they are very like humans and it’s pretty unexpected. The study conducted in Berlin, Germany found that rodents respond to tickling similarly to humans, by “producing noises and other joyful responses.”

The researchers spent three years studying the rats’ behavior when tickled. They found that the rats giggled and laughed and sometimes even chased the hand that was tickling them, looking for more.

The experiment was about more than just figuring out how rats react to tickling. The researchers hoped it would shed light on brain activity in humans that creates emotions associated with tickling. What they found is that the joy and laughter can happen when the somatosensory cortex — the area that responds to touch — is stimulated.

The main reason why rats and other rodents are often used for lab testing is that they resemble humans in their behavior and genetics.

The post A Study Shows That Rats Are Ticklish appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The researchers discovered four other species there, but this latest one is “one of the largest penguin species ever found,” as confirmed by Paul Scofield, co-author of a new report in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology and senior curator at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, as BBC writes.

The penguin is dubbed Crossvallia Waparensis and its height is estimated to be around five feet two inches and its weight is estimated to be around 154-176 pounds. As you can tell, this is considerably larger than any current penguin species and actually closer to human size. The scientists believe it managed to grow so big thanks to a lack of predators.

It’s assumed that the species lived for around 30 million years before the big sea mammals arrived on the scene. The study authors assume that it was the competition with marine mammals that ultimately led to this penguin species’ extinction.

The post A Penguin as Big as Humans Once Lived in New Zealand appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

“Indoors, Huck said, most cats’ No. 1 activity would almost certainly be sleeping,” writes The Washington Post. “But these cats’ lives were recorded when they were outdoors, and they had a higher priority: Their top activity was ‘resting’ — not sleeping, but not exactly up and at ’em. Another preferred pastime was ‘exploring,’ which Huck said amounts to sniffing at plants or things…”

Watch the video below that shows some of the footage filmed during the experiment.

The post Video Shows What Cats Do When Nobody’s Looking appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The accuracy was measured by Arizona State University researchers. They gathered DNA from over 900 dogs and compared the results.

“The level of genetic diversity in the shelter dogs exceeded our expectations,” the study’s lead author Lisa Gunter said. “We found 125 distinct breeds.”

While the shelters commonly reported they had around 25% of purebred dogs, the actual number was closer to 5%.

The post Animal Shelters Often Misidentify Dog Breeds appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Recent research has shown that apes, dogs, and rats are able to laugh. Darwin observed this behavior in chimps as far back as 1872, when they were being tickled or played with. Recently, dogs have been observed making distinctive sounds during play, which were later analysed and recognized as laughter. Even other dogs associated this sound with pleasure.

It’s pretty awesome to know that we share the ability to laugh with our furry friends. Now we just need to figure out what they find funny!

The post Do Animals Laugh? appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The researchers analyzed the specimens of six different alligator and crocodile species and found that crocodiles have longer fibres in the limb muscles, which gives them more rotation and range in the limb. Alligators, on the other hand, have larger muscle fibres which help them generate greater force, but they can’t gallop.

The post Why Do Crocodiles Gallop? appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Professor Shigeru Watanabe from Keio University studied what happens when pigeons face artwork for years. In his 1995 study, he showed pigeons paintings by Monet and Picasso. They were trained to peck whenever they saw these paintings, and it turned out the birds are able to tell the difference between these artists. Not only that, but they were also able to generalize the difference in style and apply it to other artists.

But what about good and bad art?

Professor Watanabe, along with students and professors from his university, determined if specific artworks were “good” or “bad” for the purpose of this research. Once the pigeons learned which pieces were good and which were bad, they had no problems categorizing new pieces they had never seen before.

The post Pigeons Can Tell the Difference Between Good and Bad Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Apparently, they anchor themselves to the ocean floor using their own mucus, and contort into strange shapes and positions to catch plankton.

Click play to see yourself how garden eels feed themselves (and how cute they look while doing so!)

The post This is How Garden Eels Eat appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

For a long time, we believed that humans are unique for the ability to have a conversation where two or more parties are equally involved and know (seemingly instinctively) when to speak and when to listen. Turns out, this type of communication is everywhere around us.

A scientific review published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that many species communicate with their peers by taking turns on when to speak. With some animals, the “conversation” is not even based on sound, but done with hand gestures (bonobo) and feather colors (birds).

The post Many Animals Speak in Turns, Just Like Humans appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

A survey done in Australia examined the benefits of dog ownership for preschoolers. They found that children as young as 2-years-old can have social-emotional benefits from this relationship.

“Our findings showed that young children who walked or played with their family dog more were more likely to have pro-social behaviours such as sharing and cooperating,” said Hayley Christian, a senior research fellow with the Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia for This Dog’s Life.

The researchers surveyed parents of preschoolers, asking many different questions about physical activity and social-emotional development. The results show that preschoolers who played with dogs a few times per week and went on family walks with them at least once a week appear to be pro-social. There’s a 30 percent less chance for them to have problems with peers compared to kids without a dog.

The post Dogs Can Help in Preschoolers’ Development appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

But this 2016 study shows them in a different light — there’s one thing in which they are very like humans and it’s pretty unexpected. The study conducted in Berlin, Germany found that rodents respond to tickling similarly to humans, by “producing noises and other joyful responses.”

The researchers spent three years studying the rats’ behavior when tickled. They found that the rats giggled and laughed and sometimes even chased the hand that was tickling them, looking for more.

The experiment was about more than just figuring out how rats react to tickling. The researchers hoped it would shed light on brain activity in humans that creates emotions associated with tickling. What they found is that the joy and laughter can happen when the somatosensory cortex — the area that responds to touch — is stimulated.

The main reason why rats and other rodents are often used for lab testing is that they resemble humans in their behavior and genetics.

The post A Study Shows That Rats Are Ticklish appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The researchers discovered four other species there, but this latest one is “one of the largest penguin species ever found,” as confirmed by Paul Scofield, co-author of a new report in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology and senior curator at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, as BBC writes.

The penguin is dubbed Crossvallia Waparensis and its height is estimated to be around five feet two inches and its weight is estimated to be around 154-176 pounds. As you can tell, this is considerably larger than any current penguin species and actually closer to human size. The scientists believe it managed to grow so big thanks to a lack of predators.

It’s assumed that the species lived for around 30 million years before the big sea mammals arrived on the scene. The study authors assume that it was the competition with marine mammals that ultimately led to this penguin species’ extinction.

The post A Penguin as Big as Humans Once Lived in New Zealand appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

“Indoors, Huck said, most cats’ No. 1 activity would almost certainly be sleeping,” writes The Washington Post. “But these cats’ lives were recorded when they were outdoors, and they had a higher priority: Their top activity was ‘resting’ — not sleeping, but not exactly up and at ’em. Another preferred pastime was ‘exploring,’ which Huck said amounts to sniffing at plants or things…”

Watch the video below that shows some of the footage filmed during the experiment.

The post Video Shows What Cats Do When Nobody’s Looking appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The accuracy was measured by Arizona State University researchers. They gathered DNA from over 900 dogs and compared the results.

“The level of genetic diversity in the shelter dogs exceeded our expectations,” the study’s lead author Lisa Gunter said. “We found 125 distinct breeds.”

While the shelters commonly reported they had around 25% of purebred dogs, the actual number was closer to 5%.

The post Animal Shelters Often Misidentify Dog Breeds appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Recent research has shown that apes, dogs, and rats are able to laugh. Darwin observed this behavior in chimps as far back as 1872, when they were being tickled or played with. Recently, dogs have been observed making distinctive sounds during play, which were later analysed and recognized as laughter. Even other dogs associated this sound with pleasure.

It’s pretty awesome to know that we share the ability to laugh with our furry friends. Now we just need to figure out what they find funny!

The post Do Animals Laugh? appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

The researchers analyzed the specimens of six different alligator and crocodile species and found that crocodiles have longer fibres in the limb muscles, which gives them more rotation and range in the limb. Alligators, on the other hand, have larger muscle fibres which help them generate greater force, but they can’t gallop.

The post Why Do Crocodiles Gallop? appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Professor Shigeru Watanabe from Keio University studied what happens when pigeons face artwork for years. In his 1995 study, he showed pigeons paintings by Monet and Picasso. They were trained to peck whenever they saw these paintings, and it turned out the birds are able to tell the difference between these artists. Not only that, but they were also able to generalize the difference in style and apply it to other artists.

But what about good and bad art?

Professor Watanabe, along with students and professors from his university, determined if specific artworks were “good” or “bad” for the purpose of this research. Once the pigeons learned which pieces were good and which were bad, they had no problems categorizing new pieces they had never seen before.

The post Pigeons Can Tell the Difference Between Good and Bad Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

Apparently, they anchor themselves to the ocean floor using their own mucus, and contort into strange shapes and positions to catch plankton.

Click play to see yourself how garden eels feed themselves (and how cute they look while doing so!)

The post This is How Garden Eels Eat appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.

For a long time, we believed that humans are unique for the ability to have a conversation where two or more parties are equally involved and know (seemingly instinctively) when to speak and when to listen. Turns out, this type of communication is everywhere around us.

A scientific review published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that many species communicate with their peers by taking turns on when to speak. With some animals, the “conversation” is not even based on sound, but done with hand gestures (bonobo) and feather colors (birds).

The post Many Animals Speak in Turns, Just Like Humans appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.