Random Untrue Myths About Animals (16 items)

(#16) The Leader Of A Wolfpack Is The Alpha

The myth: The leader of a wolfpack is known as the alpha.

The truth: This myth is so perpetuated, humans have adopted the terms "alpha" and "beta" to describe personality types. But in reality, dogs don't use the social hierarchy of alphas and betas to determine who is in charge. Packs are actually a lot like human families, where teams of adults - be it moms, dads, aunts, uncles, etc. - raises the younger pups. The older a wolf is, the more authority it has in the pack. Birth order determines how independent a pup is between its brothers and sisters - that is, until it has a family of its own.
(#1) Baby Birds Will Be Rejected By Their Mothers If Handled By People

The myth: Baby birds will be rejected by their moms if they come into contact with humans.

The truth: While it may be for the best to leave baby birds alone, the enduring notion of the birds' subsequent rejection simply isn't true. This myth is rooted in the misconception that mother birds won't recognize their babies' scent after they've been picked up by humans, but in reality birds have a poor sense of smell and don't notice the difference. Baby birds are often found alone because they're learning to fly. In part, the myth may have been a result of well-meaning adults who didn't want children picking up baby birds and potentially injuring them.
(#8) Lemmings Commit Mass Suicide When Migrating

The myth: Lemmings are suicidal.

The truth: During the filming of a 1958 Disney "documentary" White Wilderness (which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature), filmmakers staged footage of lemmings jumping to their death after faking scenes of mass migration. A Canadian documentary called Cruel Camera that came out years later found the lemmings used for White Wilderness were flown from Hudson Bay to Calgary, where they did not jump off the cliff, but in fact were launched off the cliff using a turntable.

Lemmings do not hurl themselves off cliffs. They do migrate, and sometimes during these migrations they will fall off cliffs or into rivers - accidentally, like many other migratory species.
(#6) Daddy Longlegs Are The Most Poisonous Spiders

The myth: Daddy longlegs are poisonous.

The truth: There's probably a lot you don't know about this spider. For one thing, the spider you think is a daddy longlegs might actually be something else. There is a daddy longlegs spider, but in England the creature with this name isn't a spider at all. The long-legged cellar spider is an example of a daddy longlegs and is probably the reference point for this myth.

The thing is, there's no record of a pholcid spider ever biting a human and causing any kind of reaction. If they were really poisonous, the only way we would know is if we had milked them and injected the venom into humans. This has not been done. And there are no toxicology studies of any kind showing the effects of pholocid venom on any mammal.
(#5) Toads Give You Warts

The myth: Toads give you warts.

The truth: This myth probably came into existence when mothers wanted a way to have their children stop picking up animals outside for fear they might carry disease. The lumpy toad - or any toad, for that matter - won't give you warts. These lumps help toads live in dry climates, unlike most frogs, which require moisture. This trait also helps toads blend into their environment with textures made possible by the wart-like protrusions. Those bumps may be a unique physical characteristic, but they can't be transferred to humans.
(#10) Possums Hang From Their Tails In Trees

The myth: Possums hang from their tails.

The truth: Opossums do have partially prehensile tails, true. And young ones can hang upside down for short times, but why would they? There's no point. Why don't you curl your legs over a bar and hang upside down all the time? Or sleep that way? Absolutely not. This fact probably comes from the fact that possums typically live in and around trees.