Amazing animals, walruses have adapted to life in the harshest conditions. Evolutionary processes have made them perfectly adapted to living in the cold waters of the Arctic seas, in which they spend a fair amount of their lives. But they only seem clumsy and even funny – if these animals are inadvertently angered, they turn into the most dangerous opponents capable of crushing everything in their path.
Interesting facts about walruses
- This animal can have up to 700 whiskers on its face.
- Walruses lose their hair as they age. The skin of old individuals is usually completely naked.
- They feed mainly on fish and shellfish, but on occasion they do not disdain carrion.
- Despite their apparent clumsiness, walruses are quite flexible – so, they are able to scratch the back of your head with your own back flippers.
- Getting out of the water to the shore, they cling to a hard surface with their tusks and pull themselves up on them.
- The old name for walruses «odobenus» translated from ancient Greek as «walking on teeth».
- Up to a quarter of the total mass of these animals is fat, which protects them from the cold.
- The thickness of the fat layer of an adult walrus reaches 10-12 centimeters.
- Males are usually larger than females, and an adult animal sometimes reaches a weight of 2 tons.
- After lying in the sun for a couple of hours, walruses turn pink. This effect is observed due to the expansion of the blood vessels penetrating their skin under the influence of sunlight.
- Only two species of animals dare to hunt walruses – polar bears and killer whales (interesting facts about killer whales).
- One walrus tusk weighs up to 5 kg.
- Diving under water, these animals are able to hold their breath for 15-30 minutes.
- Walruses breed slowly. On average, their cubs are born once every three years, and they are almost always born one at a time.
- As pack animals, walruses prefer to huddle in groups that can number up to 2,000 individuals.
- Endangered Atlantic walruses are listed in the Red book.
- In total, about 250 thousand of these animals have survived in the world.
- Hunting for walruses is prohibited in all countries in whose waters they are found.
- The length of the tusks an adult walrus can reach 1 meter.
- The fossilized remains of walruses were discovered in San Francisco Bay, that is, in warm regions. They are about 28 thousand years old, and this find suggests that these animals once lived in a hotter climate.
- Female walruses have 4 nipples on their chests, but the fifth nipple is surprisingly common.
- These animals can sleep right in the water, but only males. They have special air bags in the neck area, inflating which, the walrus can sleep vertically in the water, in a float position. True, they do this infrequently – it can be dangerous in the water.
- A newborn walrus cub weighs about 70 kg.
- These animals live up to 30 years, but in the wild their life expectancy is usually shorter because of natural enemies.
- The colder the water in which the walrus swims, the slower its heart beats. However, they can control their own heart rate.
- For unknown reasons, sometimes adult walruses leave the herd and live alone.
- Walrus skin thickness depends on the specific area on the body. So, in the region of the nape, it can be up to 8-10 cm in thickness.