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NEWS & CULTURE

The Smartest, Dumbest, And Weirdest Animals – A Collection

Joe Scott | November 6, 2026



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We’ve covered a lot of stories over the years involving the strange and wonderful animals that we share this planet with. So in this month’s compilation, let’s take a look at some of the most fun and bizarre animal stories from the channel. Enjoy!

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro
0:52 – The 7 Smartest Animals In The World
24:00 – When Stupidity Is A Survival Strategy
39:00 – Sponsor – Brilliant
41:00 – Why Whales Explode
50:21 – So Apparently “Toads Found In Rocks” Is A Thing
1:05:44 – Cephalopods: Aliens From Earth
1:20:45 – 5 Cryptids That Could Actually Exist
1:34:55 – 5 Mythical Creatures That (Kinda) Actually Existed
1:53:03 – Scientists Are Figuring Out How To Talk To Animals With AI
2:16:04 – Why Resurrecting Extinct Animals Is Actually A GREAT Idea
2:31:59 – The First Animal In Space May Surprise You
2:52:39 – Weirdest Senses Animals Have That You Don’t
3:09:08 – Would Humans Have Survived Without Dogs?

Written by Joe Scott

Comments

This post currently has 46 comments.

  1. @Wizard101IsMyPassion

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    2:00:00 I don’t really understand why people want to use ai to communicate with animals. I understand the sheep example, but it’s already fairly easy to communicate with some species. It’s mostly body language for a lot of them, and us, as well. Majority of our communication isn’t verbal. People are always surprised by how well animals trust me from the jump. It’s because I follow their lead. Cats are a bit easier to communicate with vocally. They have a tonal language, much like Chinese. Some species are one sided, but you can read their body language and act accordingly. This is how I go about interacting with insects. As long as you’re not allergic, bees are pretty friendly and it’s nice to have a few perch on your fingers.

  2. @ghoulishartist

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    My mom said it was impossible for my cat Buttercup to open my bedroom door, because we had round knobs. That cat would be shut out of my room at night, and I'd wake up with her curled up on my back. No one had let her in during the night.
    We had a green tree iguana who potty trained himself. Only using the tile floor in the bathroom or kitchen as he got bigger, near the toilet, or near the trash, as to not inconvenience anyone.

  3. @sgqueeny8392

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    If you think Jake is dumb, I raise Ollie. My 13 year old springer spaniel. He will bark at an OPEN door and I have to close it and re open it to prove the door is open. He also repeatedly asks for cucumber. Every time we are chopping it he begs for it. We give him the cucumber and he spits it out because he doesn't like it. This has been going on for 13 years and he still hasn't figured out he doesn't like cucumber

  4. @ald7282

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    for the cancer sniffer dogs: some nonprofits use giant pouched rats to help diagnose tuberculosis! in isolated rural communities, lab access is often extremely limited, so having the rats flag potential infections to be verified with traditional testing is both quicker and way more cost effective than testing everyone in an exposure area. giant pouched rats can also be used to clear minefields, they are remarkable (and very cute) animals.

  5. @TotalContemplation

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    I had a wolf dog who tried to talk to us. She'd say "hello", and understood right from wrong. My Uncle was her human. She was his dog. And, one day, when I was a small child, he was tickle-torturing me. Bear Dog (she was huge) did not take kindly to my screams of "stop", and the maniacal laughing, which could probably have been mistaken for crying. So, she immediately got in between us, and with her back to me, she growled at my Uncle until he backed all the way off, then she stayed with me a while to make sure I was going to be okay.

    Even though she was his dog, she understood that what he was doing was inappropriate, or at least it seemed that way to her, and you can't blame her for thinking so.

    She was an amazing dog. So incredibly smart, loving, loyal, and courageous. I miss her so much.

  6. @wilhelm1217

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    My big orange cat that my roommate and I got at a shelter for free is incredibly smart. He knows how to open doors and cabinets so we have to hide his treats in a cabinet he cant climb up to. He also recognizes his reflection, the reason I know this is because he would paw at my mirror at first I thought he he did it because he though there was another cat and I though it was cute. I was wrong he dose it to get our attention he knows that we find it cute so he dose that when he needs something. He also knows that I control the lazier pointer because when I don't let him catch the lazier enough he looks at me and starts mewing.

  7. @delila1830

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    I went out on my back stoop for a smoke and hear the neighbors cat chirping so I looked over the fence.

    She had a chipmunk by the tail and was letting it run while she crept along behind it holding it's tail and chirping.

    Then she threw it in the air and caught it by it's tail. Then she swung it in the air 3 times like she was gonna throw it again, meowing each time like she was counting. On the 3rd meow she let it go and threw it in the air and caught it by it's tail again.

    Then she let it run in front of her while holding it's tail in her teeth and followed it all around the yard. The chipmunk got free somehow (or she let it go) and ran out the fence.

    She meowed one little meh 🤷 meow and layed down to clean herself.

    Unbelievable.

  8. @avsgriffy

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    I had a cat/dog team. The cat had the ability to open the cupboards, jump to the top shelf, and knock out the treats. The dog had the ability to tear the packages open. Then they feasted together

  9. @usernamedJay

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    One time a pigeon tried to steal my dirt bike. Luckily I caught her at the end of the driveway. She tried to say it was hers but I didn't believe her. I'm not that stupid. Also pigeons can't talk.

  10. @dontactlikeUdonkno

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    All mammals and the vast majority of animals on Earth have bilateral symmetry, eyes above their mouth, arms at the top of the thorax or front of the body (like crab claws), legs at the lower part of the thorax and abdomen… I think in another timeline, the genius of evolution would solve the different problems based on the exact same pressures. Convergent evolution may be a literally universal thing… There are so many things that are completely not close genetically, that look and are shaped as crabs. Think of a better way than the human form that you can navigate, create and operate technology, manipulate the world basically at will. If an alien were like an octopus, how the hell would they be able to create what the bipedal form… and if they were underwater–fire is pretty basic to everything we have developed.

    Maybe more arms would be good, or more legs to be faster, but that can be unnecessary (and lost due to evolution optimizing energy use), but the general form would be similar lol

  11. @AbsentCoffee

    November 6, 2026 at 4:31 am

    as the owner of a cat that willingly uses buttons like those dog videos i can confirm there is more to it than just well edited videos. my cat will reply to questions will respond to me will ask questions. hes got "yes, no, mom, dad, i love you, please clean my litter box, food, water, help, i need my window opened, and his fac… "its bed time now lets go to sleep"

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