12 Weirdest Relatives in the Animal Kingdom
From families containing whales and dolphins and hippos … to unlikely cousins that include rhinos and horses … here are 12 weirdest relatives in the animal kingdom! Subscribe to Epic Wildlife goo.gl/6rzs5u Let's Connect -- www.epicadamwildlife.com/ -- www.facebook.com/epicadamwildlife -- www.twitter.com/epicwildlife -- gplus.to/epicwildlife #3 Elephants and Rock Hyraxes So we just told you about the relationship between the pachyderms and manatees. But elephants are also related to some creatures you might never imagine … at least, not from a size perspective. The Rock Hyrax is a squat mammal weighing about 10 pounds and resembles a badger. They, along with elephants and manatees shared a common ancestor which evolved into marine mammals. But that common ancestor also adapted to life on land in Africa … over time, their bodies became smaller as they eventually evolved into today’s Rock Hyrax. More direct ancestors of modern day elephants also stayed on the open plains, as they attained their massive size. There was obviously quite a size difference that was created between these relatives over time. We mentioned that Rock Hyrax weighs about 10 pounds … manatees can weigh up to around 3,900 pounds … and the modern day African Bush Elephant can weigh more than 13,000 pounds! #2 Giraffes and Okapis The Okapi is often cited as a type of animal mash up -- having the stripes of a zebra, and the neck and head reminiscent of a giraffe. They are in fact closely related to giraffes … despite a great difference in height and size. Giraffes average more than 18 feet tall and weighing more than 2600 pounds … while Okapis go about 5 feet tall at the should and weigh close to 800 pounds. Yet these two critters are the only extant members of their family ‘giraffidae’ (jer-AFF-ih-dee). The Okapi possesses physical traits similar to its larger cousin … including stubby horns atop their head known as ‘ossicones’ … And a long blue tongue, used to feed off the leaves and buds on trees. The blue coloration acts as a type of sunscreen to prevent tongue-burn. Did you know that both animals share a common ancestor with cows and deer. So no matter how much the Okapi’s stripes might remind you of a zebra, there’s no biological connection! (Honorable mention - Elephant Shrew) Before getting to our number one selection, here’s a quick reminder to like and to subscribe to our channel. It also gives us a chance to pass along this honorable mention. It’s one of the strangest pair of animal relatives on the list, too. Earlier, we told you about how elephants are related to animals including manatees and the smallish Rock Hyrax. But the big beasts are related to an even smaller critter …The elephant shrew, which is less than 6 inches long and weighs less than half a kilogram. It’s not officially classified as a true shrew … but it is recognized as a close relation to the elephant and its kin. They belong to a clade of mammals called ‘Afrotheria’ … which are animals that either currently exist in Africa, or have an origin on that continent. #1 All in the Family (Humans and Common Chimps) Of course, when you use the word primate, it doesn’t just apply to apes and monkeys … because humans are primates, as well. In fact, we are included with chimps, gorillas and orangutans in the same family of ‘Hominidae’ (HOM-in-ih-day), or the great apes. Yes, we are apes, too. So who do we count among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom? Experts tell us that we are most closely related to the common chimpanzee, as judged by anatomy and genetics. The difference between our DNA and theirs is about 1 percent … that is, 99 percent of our DNA is the same. It’s thought that while our Hominidae clade is around 13 million years old … our last common ancestor existed somewhere between 5 to 10 million years ago. Some of our similarities include socializing, using language and facial expression to communicate, bipedal locomotion, and the ability to make tools. Did you know they even like to to take some ‘me-time’ to settle back and solve puzzles for entertainment? They share some of our flaws, too … including displays of overt aggression, and a willingness to harm other chimps to keep their territory. Sound familiar?
