14 Surprising Animal Adaptations Hidden in Plain Sight

Field report

Some animal adaptations are so subtle they might escape your notice, like a moth pretending to be a leaf

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If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you know the obvious foods to avoid—there's no confusion about where that steak came from. But the other foods that contain animal products aren't so obvious.

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Bagels and Bread Products

Many bread products contain an amino acid known as L-cysteine, which is used as a softening agent. L-cysteine is derived from either human hair or poultry feathers, and it can be found in many popular brand-name products. Businesses that have acknowledged they've used L-cysteine include Lender's, Einstein Bros., McDonald's, and Pizza Hut.

If you're a nature lover, you know the obvious animal survival strategies — there's no confusion about why a porcupine has quills. But the other adaptations animals use aren't so obvious.

Animal behavior can be surprising or even counterintuitive, and some creatures that seem like they should be easy prey can harbor hidden survival tricks.

Octopus Camouflage and Color-Changing Skin

Many octopus species contain specialized cells known as chromatophores, which are used for instant color changes. Chromatophores are tiny pigment-filled sacs controlled by the nervous system, and they can be found beneath the skin of octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid. Species that have been documented using rapid color changes include the common octopus, the mimic octopus, the flamboyant cuttlefish, and the giant Pacific octopus.

Arctic Fox and Seasonal Coat Changes

Isinglass-like transparency, a remarkable trait seen in the icefish of Antarctica, allows these fish to survive in sub-zero waters. Other adaptations used for survival in extreme cold include antifreeze proteins in the blood, thick blubber layers, and compact body shapes. To check how Arctic animals survive winter, see this definitive guide to cold-weather adaptations.

Bombardier Beetle Chemical Defense

Numerous animals contain chemical defenses, a strategy derived from the ability to synthesize or store toxic compounds. It's often used as a deterrent against predators and can be found in a variety of insects, including bombardier beetles that spray boiling chemicals, poison dart frogs with skin toxins and millipedes that release cyanide, among other surprising animal defenses.

Also, many caterpillars contain toxins derived from the plants they eat. The bright warning colors are often listed as aposematic coloration. Nature maintains a vast catalog of animal chemical defenses.

Tardigrade Survival Skills

It's fairly common knowledge that electric eels generate powerful shocks, but did you know they can produce voltages up to 860 volts by using specialized electrocytes, which are modified muscle cells that function like biological batteries?

Chameleon Tongue Ballistics

Non-Dairy Creamer

Although it has non-dairy in its name, many such creamers contain casein, a protein derived from milk.

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Many products with labels that boast their heart-healthy ingredients contain omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish. For example, Tropicana's Hearth Healthy orange juice's label lists tilapia, sardine, and anchovy as ingredients, rendering it a food that contains animal products.

Peanuts

Chameleons strike again with their tongues, but luckily you can observe them in action in the wild, so you won't miss out on any of the lightning-fast prey-capturing goodness.

Honeybee Waggle Dance Navigation

Although it seems like simple movement, the waggle dance conveys precise distance and direction information about food sources to hive mates through the angle and duration of the dance.

Axolotl Regeneration

Some species of pistol shrimp, such as the tiger pistol shrimp, also possess an oversized claw that snaps shut so violently it creates a cavitation bubble that stuns or kills prey — the sound reaches over 200 decibels.

Platypus Electroreception

Refried Beans

Many canned refried beans are made with hydrogenated lard, so check labels to ensure you're buying vegetarian beans.

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Although it's rare, some foods are flavored with Castoreum, a beaver anal secretion. As gross as that sounds, the FDA classifies it asGRAS, or "generally recognized as safe," and Castoreum is typically listed as "natural flavoring." The additive is most often used in baked goods as a vanilla substitute, but it's also been used in alcoholic beverages, puddings, ice cream, candy, and chewing gum.

Worcestershire Sauce

Some animals possess senses that seem almost supernatural. The platypus isn't naturally visible underwater — it closes its eyes, ears, and nose — so it hunts using electroreceptors in its bill that detect the tiny electrical signals produced by the muscle contractions of prey in the mud. To appreciate how extraordinary this is, watch footage of a platypus foraging on a riverbed.