Yucky Animals

About the book

Yucky Animals is the latest title in the Disgustology (Asquerosología) series published by iamiqué, a nonfiction collection that has been captivating readers in Argentina and across Latin America for over a decade.

Combining a playful tone with a scientific approach, the book invites readers to explore the animal kingdom through its “yuck” factor: boogers, feces, vomit, and bodily fluids are no longer taboo but instead serve as a starting point for learning about biology, ethology, and ecology. Gorillas that eat their own snotty mucus, rabbits that consume their own poop as a way to get nutrients, animals that spit or eject blood to defend themselves. Disgust is the hook; knowledge is the reward.

iamiqué’s distinctive editorial design combines expressive illustrations with easy-to-read texts, making the book ideal both for independent readers and for children who are yet to discover the pleasures of science books.

The Disgustology series has proven that gross-out humor and scientific curiosity transcend cultural boundaries, responding to a global demand for nonfiction that engages even the most reluctant readers.

Excerpt

YUCKY ANIMALS

In this book, we encourage you to take a closer look at the animal kingdom through a very human feeling—the one that makes you look away and say “ew,” “pff,” “yikes,” “ugh,” “yuck,” or any of the countless sounds people have invented to express disgust.

But before you dive into its yucky pages, a word of warning! This isn’t about judging the animals featured here nor about viewing them through a “human lens.” Quite the contrary: the idea is for you to enjoy them, understand them, and learn from them, so they can finally join the list of nature’s wonders.

Rotting meat

Thanks to its enormous wings and keen eyesight and sense of smell, the vulture soars high in the sky in search of animal carcasses. Once it spots one, it descends and begins a meticulous process of dismemberment: it inserts its head into the anus or ears of the carcass and, using its sharp, pointed beak, tears apart the muscles, intestines and tendons. Nothing is wasted!

When the feast is over, it washes its paws with its own urine, which acts as a powerful disinfectant. Meanwhile, its stomach starts to produce extremely acidic juices that kill the bacteria and germs from the rotten meat. This not only protects its own health but also prevents the spread of diseases, which is essential for the balance of the ecosystem. 

The animal that takes the leftovers from the feast is the bearded vulture. Also known as “bonebreaker,” this bird can swallow bones up to 30 centimeters long, and is at the end of the food chain. Its name reflects a clever strategy: if it comes across a very large bone, it grabs it with its powerful talons, flies up and drops it onto the rocks. This breaks the bones into smaller pieces, making them easier to swallow. Bon appétit!

*Calling a spade a spade

Animals that rely on rotting meat for food are called scavengers. Hyenas, coyotes, and jackals are part of this group, but they supplement their diet with meat from other animals they hunt.

Scavenger efficiency

Condors live in the Andes mountain range and, along with albatrosses, are among the largest flying birds in the world. To find carcasses, their primary diet, they can glide for hours on end with almost no flapping, that is, without using energy, thanks to a very efficient flying strategy that takes advantage of air currents.

Human blood

Although it’s commonly said that mosquitoes bite, only the female mosquitoes are actually capable of doing so. They pierce human skin with a long snout located on their head, which they use to suck blood. A tiny drop of blood that causes a huge amount of discomfort! But why do those pesky little mosquitoes suck our blood? Interestingly, they need some of our proteins to produce their eggs. And why does it itch when they bite us? When they pierce our skin, they inject an anticoagulant liquid that makes the blood flow, causing that always-unwelcome itch.

Three or four days after feeding on enough blood, the female mosquito looks for a damp area—water or mud—where she lays her eggs. Each female can lay an average of 65 eggs every four days!

There are more than 3500 species of mosquitoes in the world, and some of them transmit very severe diseases. Aedes aegypti (a mosquito with black-and-white stripes on its body and legs), for example, spreads dengue, malaria, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. Bring on the repellents and vaccines!

*Calling a spade a spade

Both male and female lice are hematophagous, which is a fancy way of saying they feed on blood. A female can lay about six eggs a day, and each louse lives up to 30 days; meaning that if you don’t deal with them as soon as they settle on your scalp, within a week the population will grow to hundreds… thousands of lice!

Blood-Sucking Painkillers

For many years, doctors used leeches to suck blood from patients. Whaaaaaat?! This uncomfortable treatment, known as bloodletting, was based on the assumption that losing blood would relieve certain types of pain. Want to give it a try? No, thank you!

Dog World

Maybe this has happened to you: you’re walking down the street with your dog, it stops in front of another dog’s poop, gives it a quick sniff, and—yuck! —swallows it. Eww! Coprophagia is normal behavior in puppies and, in most cases, is given up as they grow into adults. Even so, you need to pay attention, because it could be due to a health problem or a symptom of stress, boredom, or a need for affection.

It may also happen that your beloved dog eagerly devours its own vomit. Although it’s a sickening sight, this behavior is normal: it may be about not leaving any traces (a genetic trait) or trying to recover some nutrients through digestion. Either way, it’s disgusting.

If you check their fur, you might find ticks or fleas. Be careful! Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, which causes muscle pain and liver problems. Fleas, on the other hand, bite a lot and can cause skin infections. Don’t wait until your pet is scratching frantically—your vet will recommend the best treatment for each case.

Cat World

Have you ever tried to give your cat a bath? Mission impossible! Cats hate water, so they clean themselves—and sometimes each other—with their tongues. Between meows and naps, they lick their paws, backs, genitals, ears… A very peculiar—and rather disgusting—way of washing, no doubt.

And there’s more: every now and then, your beloved cat will throw up a kind of hairball made of fur, dirt, and saliva. This little treat that comes out of its stomach is proof that the cat is in good health, since vomiting those organic clumps allows it to rid itself of all the debris and fur it swallows during its self-grooming sessions. Now you know what those little balls (that seem like poop, but aren’t) you may find on the carpet or, perhaps, on your bed are. What a treat!

Another disgusting fact about cats is that after giving birth, female cats eat their own placenta—and then everything is as clean as a whistle!

Stop picking your nose!

Licking one’s own snot isn’t a habit exclusive to humans: other primates, like gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos, do it too. This super-classy behavior, picked up from mom and dad, is called mucophagy (muco: snot, and phagia: eating). Of course, to eat your boogers, you have to fish them out first. And to do that, you have to pick your nose. The act of picking your own nose (never someone else’s!) even has a name: rhinotillexis (rhino: nose, and tillexis: the habit of picking). Complicated names for simply disgusting actions.

Speaking of picking, when monkeys groom each other, they look for lice, ticks, and dirt in their fellow monkeys’ fur. Besides being hygienic, this grooming behavior strengthens group bonds and reaffirms the group hierarchy. And, as a bonus, it’s a good deal for the groomer: as it finds lice and other little bugs, it pops them into its mouth and… chomps down a protein-packed snack! A disgusting-yet-lovable custom that provides little to no nourishment, but is enjoyed with great pleasure. Yum, yum!

The aye-aye, a primate found only in Madagascar, also has a habit of picking its nose. The third and fourth fingers of this strange animal have exceptionally long and thin phalanges, a feature that is essential to its diet. These “tools” allow the aye-aye to extract the pulp from certain fruits, as well as larvae and insects hiding under tree bark—and even the boogers from its own nose!

If humans had a finger the same size as the aye-aye’s fourth finger, it would measure about 30 centimeters. Simulations using 3D models, created from CT scans, show that when this animal inserts that finger into its nostril, it passes through the entire interior of the nose and can reach all the way to its pharynx. That’s one thorough cleaning!

 

 

Translated by Lucía Ronco - Edited by Marita Propato