10 Things You Didn't Know About Animals Brain

Giant squids have brains that have shape of doughnuts. Not only that, but their esophagus runs directly through the hole in their brain. Because of this, squids have to bite their food into small pieces so the meal can fit through the esophagus. If the food is too big, it can scrape against their brain and cause damage.

So giant squids have brains the shape of doughnuts. Not only that, but their esophagus runs directly through the hole in their brain. Because of this, squids have to bite their food into small pieces so the meal can fit through the esophagus. If the food is too big, it can scrape against their brain and cause damage.

A leech's internal structure is divided into 32 separate segments, and each of these segments has its own brain. In addition to that, every leech has nine pairs of testes — but that's another post for another day.

A leech's internal structure is divided into 32 separate segments, and each of these segments has its own brain. In addition to that, every leech has nine pairs of testes — but that's another post for another day.

The life of a sea squirt is as follows: it comes into this world as an egg that quickly turns into a tadpole-looking thing. It has one eye, a spinal cord, a tail, and a primitive brain that helps it move around. Once it finds its forever home (ocean floor, rock, boat), it attaches itself to said home. It then proceeds to eat its own brain, absorbing its tadpole-like body, and eventually turning into this creature.

The life of a sea squirt is as follows: it comes into this world as an egg that quickly turns into a tadpole-looking thing. It has one eye, a spinal cord, a tail, and a primitive brain that helps it move around. Once it finds its forever home (ocean floor, rock, boat), it attaches itself to said home. It then proceeds to eat its own brain, absorbing its tadpole-like body, and eventually turning into this creature.

So, one ostrich eyeball is the size of a billiard ball (around two inches in diameter). Now imagine two of those in an ostrich's head. Its eyeballs are so large that there is only a little room for its brain. So because science is science and evolution is weird, an ostrich's brain is smaller than its eyes — which makes sense considering it runs in circles to "escape" from predators.

So, one ostrich eyeball is the size of a billiard ball (around two inches in diameter). Now imagine two of those in an ostrich's head. Its eyeballs are so large that there is only a little room for its brain. So because science is science and evolution is weird, an ostrich's brain is smaller than its eyes — which makes sense considering it runs in circles to "escape" from predators.

The starfish's anatomy is super fascinating. Starfish use sea water (instead of blood) to pump nutrients throughout their bodies. And its central nervous system is distributed throughout its legs (or arms, who am I to say?), so it technically doesn't have a localized brain.

The starfish's anatomy is super fascinating. Starfish use sea water (instead of blood) to pump nutrients throughout their bodies. And its central nervous system is distributed throughout its legs (or arms, who am I to say?), so it technically doesn't have a localized brain.

Male stickleback fish have bigger brains than their female counterparts. WOMP. Scientists don't know exactly why this is, one theory is that because the male is responsible for impressing the lady fish, building the nest, and taking care of the eggs, they have developed bigger brains. (The female is only responsible for laying eggs and inspecting the male's nest. Listen, I don't know. I'm not a scientist so don't come at me with this.)

Male stickleback fish have bigger brains than their female counterparts. WOMP. Scientists don't know exactly why this is, one theory is that because the male is responsible for impressing the lady fish, building the nest, and taking care of the eggs, they have developed bigger brains. (The female is only responsible for laying eggs and inspecting the male's nest. Listen, I don't know. I'm not a scientist so don't come at me with this.)

Even though a sperm whale has the biggest brain of any animal, its brain is not exceptionally big compared to its massive body size. An average sperm whale's brain weighs 17 pounds. For comparison, a human's brain weighs around three pounds, or about two percent of its body weight. A sperm whale can reach up to 45 tons (90,000 pounds!) so their brain only accounts for 0.00019 percent of their body weight.

Even though a sperm whale has the biggest brain of any animal, its brain is not exceptionally big compared to its massive body size. An average sperm whale's brain weighs 17 pounds. For comparison, a human's brain weighs around three pounds, or about two percent of its body weight. A sperm whale can reach up to 45 tons (90,000 pounds!) so their brain only accounts for 0.00019 percent of their body weight.

A spider's brain is so gigantic that its head doesn't have room for it. All of that extra brain actually spills over into the spider's legs…as if spiders weren't terrifying enough. Scientists believe that this might explain arachnids’ amazing ability to spin webs.P.S. If you want an actual picture of a spider, you creep, Google it. I wanted to spare everyone the sight of an actual spider.

A spider's brain is so gigantic that its head doesn't have room for it. All of that extra brain actually spills over into the spider's legs…as if spiders weren't terrifying enough. Scientists believe that this might explain arachnids’ amazing ability to spin webs.

Whales use half of their brains for sleeping and the other half for breathing. The part of the brain that controls breathing stays awake while the other half catches some z's. Not only that, but the whale keeps one eye open (on the side of the brain that's awake) and the other closed while sleeping. It's called uni hemispheric sleep, and dolphins, beluga whales, and sea lions do it, too!

Whales use half of their brains for sleeping and the other half for breathing. The part of the brain that controls breathing stays awake while the other half catches some z's. Not only that, but the whale keeps one eye open (on the side of the brain that's awake) and the other closed while sleeping. It's called uni hemispheric sleep, and dolphins, beluga whales, and sea lions do it, too!

Just take a moment to picture a woodpecker slamming its face into a tree over and over and over. Well, because it does this as a way of life, it has a unique spongy skull and neck muscles that protect the brain from the repetitive impact. In addition to that, a woodpecker has a third eyelid to ensure its eyeballs literally don't pop out of its head.

Just take a moment to picture a woodpecker slamming its face into a tree over and over and over. Well, because it does this as a way of life, it has a unique spongy skull and neck muscles that protect the brain from the repetitive impact. In addition to that, a woodpecker has a third eyelid to ensure its eyeballs literally don't pop out of its head.

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