9 Traits Show That Many Living Creatures Are More Like Humans Than We Know / Unbelievable

“We are rational animals”. This was a typical phrase in biology classes when we talked about the difference between humans and other animals. However, have you ever stopped to think about what makes us similar to other creatures in nature? We had this curiosity and went to investigate. We typically find human behavior and characteristics that bring us very close to other living creatures such as dogs, birds, fish and even plants. Want to know more? Follow us!

Anyone with a puppy at home has probably noticed facial expressions and behaviors that indicate excitement and sadness, but can you believe that chickens and turkeys have emotions too? For example, chickens like to be cuddled and love to be social. They are also great at creating and storing memories, remembering people’s faces.

Although many do not believe that it is possible – or even desirable – to spend their entire lives with the same person, the animal kingdom is full of examples that there are those who instinctively “enjoy” this lifestyle. This applies to some birds, such as parrots and swans, which share their lives with the same partner. But they’re not alone on the monogamous team — the range is wide.

Because gray wolves and some fish, even termites, are loyal to their mate. The owls are a highlight. They have a family concept similar to ours: the couple work together to care for and feed the young. And look, they are a symbol of wisdom. Is it Mother Nature’s “little nudge” for those who doubt walking down the aisle?

Anyone who has watched the path of ants around the house must have felt that sometimes they stop to talk to each other. And maybe this is not just an impression. Studies have already shown, for example, that bees speak their own language and send messages to other members of the hive through dance.

Prairie dogs, which look like a cute stuffed animal, are another example of communication sophistication. Noticing the presence of a predator, they not only report it to the pack, but describe the speed, color, shape and size of the threat.

Gorillas and chimpanzees, although they have a lot in common with humans, never cease to amaze us. It sounds like fiction, but many have even had the privilege of visiting an exhibition of paintings by a chimpanzee who paints canvases with a touch of contemporary art.

Apart from this very specific feature, however, primates are able to develop their own form of communication and express themselves with gestures that are very similar to humans. So much so that there was once a gorilla who learned sign language. An American study showed that chimpanzees have a sophisticated language with nearly 400 unique sound combinations capable of formulating coded communication between species.

Many of us have heard that puppies look like their owners. Science can now accept this, as research has shown that cooperation between guardians and pets can lead to a form of mimicry on the part of dogs. However, the similarities do not end there.

The same study found evidence in pets of personality traits that would typically be considered human. This means that furries can have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), be gifted, smarter, and even suffer from stress and anxiety. More human, impossible!

There is a lot of talk about the opposable thumb and its benefits – almost exclusively for humans – in handling objects and achieving fine motor skills. However, the absence of fingers does not seem to be an obstacle for some animals that manage to solve their routine problems in a very sophisticated way. This is the case with the Caledonian crow.

They enjoy surprising intelligence, even though they don’t have a brain structure like ours. Instead of a neocortex (responsible for cognition), they only have a dense cluster of neurons, which enables feats. They build their own tools for catching food, for example.

Many body structures of different living creatures are similar, there is no disagreement about that. But vision tends to be very different between species. Thus, for example, bees, horses and humans have different eye anatomy. However, science has already discovered animals that are very different from us and whose eye structure is similar to ours.

This applies to sharks and dolphins. In the first, the structure of the eye is so similar to ours that its corneas can sometimes be used in human cornea replacement surgeries. Impressive, right?

Many of you remember biology classes when we learned that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in their cells, right? And those who learn it right know they carry our DNA. Therefore, we can imagine that this formation would be different for each species, because we have such special characteristics. However, this is not the case.

In addition to humans, there are animals and very different creatures that have the same number of chromosomes in their cells. One of them is the Chinese Muntjac, that adorable deer pictured above. Nilgai which is an Asian antelope and Parhyale — crustacean used in scientific research because all also have 23 pairs of chromosomes in the cell’s nucleus.

And since we’re dealing with chromosomes—and they’re made up of our DNA—some impressive comparisons are made. As inexplicable as it may seem, half of our DNA in humans is identical to that of a banana. Besides fruits, we still have similarities in this respect with chickens (65%), snails (70%) and another vegetable, daffodil, 30% compatibility.

And the comparison doesn’t end there. It has already been proven that we have 90% of our genetic load just like mice and 60% identical to fruit flies, and many biological processes are similar to ours. Therefore, these two species are widely studied as models for understanding human diseases.