Incredible animal facts you probably didn’t know

How’s your animal trivia? Read on to see how well you know these (mostly) cuddly species.
Koalas

These slow-moving, eucalyptus-eating marsupials are beloved for their sweet demeanours and distinctly non-human adorableness. However, they do share one feature in common with homo sapiens: fingerprints. What’s more, their fingerprints – analysed under a microscope – are virtually indistinguishable in the way they loop and whorl from our own. Researchers assert that koalas adapted this feature – which is also present in primates such as chimpanzees – so they can grasp the branches they climb to forage for leaves.
Elephants

According to Live Science, elephants have “many admirable qualities,” including a fantastic sense of smell, a seeming near-immunity to cancer, and “complex social lives”. Despite all this, here’s a crazy animal fact: elephants are unable to jump. That’s because they have what an evolutionary researcher at the Royal Veterinary College in London calls “wimpy lower-leg muscles” and inflexible ankles, conditions that also make it a challenge for them to run for more than a short distance.
Not all elephants have such idyllic lives. Check out this story about three malnourished, drug-addled Thai elephants.