Are there any animals with big butts? Most of us probably don’t give our nonhuman relatives’ rear ends much thought, but it’s about time we did because the animal kingdom has some incredibly strange and frequently useful backsides!
Although disputed, many animals have evolved their rear ends to serve as practical tools, defensive weapons, and amorous attractions.
Ours are primarily used for sitting. We’ll present the most bizarre and amazing animals with big butts that have amazing purposes in our blog post.
Let’s get started!
1. Baboons
Our list of animals with big butts begins with baboons. When you first visited the zoo, do you recall asking why the baboon’s butt appeared so strange compared to every other animal there?
The baboon’s bottom may seem peculiar, but it has developed for a precise function: when a female baboon is sexually receptive, her backend swells to incredible proportions.
This has turned into a kind of competition where ladies would fight for men’s attention in groups.
Male baboons compete for the largest and best of their female counterparts, recognizing the larger bottoms of their peers.
Expanding their rear takes a lot of energy since it adds significant body weight—often up to 14 percent.
A female will show her rump to possible suitors when she is ready to mate, which happens around every 37 days.
During their “courtship,” these animals with big butts will mate with several men because they are typically quite promiscuous.
Interestingly, a female’s posterior size and color do not always suggest a more fertile mate.
According to research, male baboons are drawn to females who have had multiple ovulation cycles or numerous cycles after their last children were born, even if they are still attracted to those gorgeous red rear ends.
2. Wombat
The wombat is also one of the animals with big butts. Like many animals from “down under,” the wombat is a fascinating mammal.
It has a fascinating explanation for being the biggest mammal to dwell underground—it has much to do with its butt!
A cartilaginous, extremely durable backside has evolved in the wombat, giving it the appearance of an armored rear end.
To defend itself from predators, it blocks its burrow using its tough rear to its advantage.
Since these animals with big butts are not the fastest in the world, they require protection for themselves and their progeny.
Even though its exposed buttocks are tough compared to the rest of its body, you might be worried that they could cause issues for the wombat’s tail.
However, since its tail is only 2 centimeters (1 in) long, you shouldn’t worry.
Although primarily used for defense, the wombat can wield a powerful weapon with its buttocks.
When a wombat is pursued into its burrow, it can use its butt to smash the pursuer’s skull against its roof or walls. Predators like dingoes and the Tasmanian devil fall under this category.
3. Skipper Caterpillars
Most people may think exclusively of butterflies when they picture caterpillars, ignoring the creepy creatures entirely. They are, after all, typically the more appealing forms of the little pests.
The skipper caterpillar’s defensive mechanism, known as scat firing, may cause you to look twice or away quickly. For those unaware, “scat” refers to animal feces, sometimes known as “poop.”
These animals with big butts can shoot their excrement to deter potential attackers and prevent it from becoming a tasty meal for a bird or an erroneous human.
It can shoot excrement 40 times its body length away from itself at a speed of up to 1.3 meters per second (4.3 feet per second).
Around 75 meters (240 feet) would be the equivalent distance for a human who is 183 centimeters tall (6 feet).
This is not only a remarkable example of genetic evolution, but it also has an intriguing mechanism.
4. Pygmy Sperm Whales
There are two terms that you never want to encounter while swimming in the ocean near a pygmy sperm whale: “defense mechanism” and “anal syrup.” Putting the words “anal” and “syrup” together makes for a nasty encounter.
The pygmy sperm whale is pretty much what it sounds like: a smaller species of sperm whale.
Most of these animals with big butts can deter predators simply by showing up since their size makes them unlikely candidates for the occasional attack.
The pygmy sperm whale decided on a different route and stayed at a maximum size of approximately 3.5 meters (11 ft).
Needing to come up with a method to keep itself safe, the pygmy sperm whale decided on a bladder at the end of its intestines that contains around 11 liters (3 gals) of the aforementioned anal syrup.
When threatened, the whale will violently secrete this cloud of reddish-brown goo and swoosh it around with its tail to make a large cloud of the noxious fluid.
Unsurprisingly, this deters predators and allows the whale to escape its attacker.
This method is similar to the ink spray that an octopus or a squid might use to keep itself safe from predators. It is only seen in this small class of whales.
5. Dragonfly Nymphs
Dragonfly Nymph is also on our list of animals with big butts. The immature dragonfly begins life as an underwater nymph (similar to a mosquito).
Unlike its bloodsucking cousin, though, the dragonfly has an interesting adaptation in the form of its butt.
To swim, the dragonfly nymph forces a jet of water from its anus and shoots itself forward. It also breathes out of the same anus using specially adapted gills inside.
Although that is all very interesting, its most amazing feature is that it cannot eat without its butt! Its labium (mouth-grabber) is hydraulically activated.
After taking in water through its anus, the dragonfly clenches, compressing its abdominal and thoracic muscles against the water-laden rectal chamber.
This increases the pressure in the dragonfly’s internal body cavity and pushes out its jaws. Then the mouth-grabber shoots out at an incredibly fast speed with up to 1 pound of pressure, which might not seem like a lot until you consider that these little guys are only 1–3 centimeters (0.5–1.5 in) long.
6. Manatees
At first appearance, you might perceive the manatee’s anus to be rather typical, and by all accounts of marine creatures, it is. Of course, this cute animal, often nicknamed a sea cow, is hiding a secret.
For good reason, the manatee has evolved to have one of any mammal’s most muscular and weirdest diaphragms.
It must be able to hold onto and eventually release gas to preserve buoyancy. Basically, the manatee farts a big volume of held-in gas to dive deeper or rise to the surface.
Think about how you swim deeper by releasing air from your lungs. This is essentially the same process, although these animals with big butts love to push the air out of their butt.
This capacity is unique to this lumbering marine animal as most other mammals have collapsible lungs and blowholes, allowing them to adjust their buoyancy and deal with pressure increases.
The manatee followed a completely different course and thought it would be best to fart through the Earth’s rivers and oceans as it slowly and pleasantly wandered around.
Fortunately for those so motivated, the Internet is jam full of this exact occurrence.
7. Sea Cucumbers
Most people who have seen a sea cucumber would not imagine that it was a vicious attacker or had an unusual anus.
But it most certainly does. Sea cucumbers have an interesting ability to defend themselves against would-be attackers.
These animals with big butts can constrict their bodies to discharge their internal organs out of their anuses onto predators—in many cases, entangling those predators!
This is both horrible and amazing, and some organs are toxic. They contain a poison called holothurin, which can kill various fish species.
This procedure is known as evisceration, which translates to “disembowelment” or the removal of viscera or internal organs.
I know what you’re thinking: “These animals with big butts don’t need these organs?”
Luckily, in as little as 6 to 10 weeks, our repulsive underwater friends can fully rebuild practically any internal organ flung toward their enemies.
8. Yellow Swallowtails
The Chinese yellow swallowtail is next on our list of animals with big butts. Most people would agree that the rear end is one of the worst locations to put the ability to “see.”
The Chinese yellow swallowtail appears to have missed this memo, as evidenced by the development of two fascinating photoreceptors at the tip of its buttocks.
Although they are not eyes in the conventional sense, these photoreceptors can detect light and various objects, which helps the butterfly mate and lay eggs.
The butterfly uses a method of light detection known as chromatic contrast. Assisting the male and female participants in coitus in correctly aligning their genitalia is one of the primary functions of this talent.
The butterflies initially found this challenging, so they evolved a pair of simple eyes for this function.
This is largely because of the habitat in which the butterflies marry, and it is not without justification.
The photoreceptors on their backs enable them to detect contrast shifts, mostly in the blue color spectrum.
This helps them distinguish their possible mates from almost everything else because they can only mate in the light. Both sexes can precisely align their genitalia, and you can guess the rest.
9. Fitzroy River Turtles
The Fitzroy River turtle in Australia has evolved to breathe through its anus, even though most turtle species take in air through their nostrils. When most people learn this, their first thought may be, “Why?”
This small, delicate, and now protected turtle has learned to breathe out of its butt for a good reason.
The Fitzroy River turtle is less prone to predators and more capable of feeding itself because of its ability to stay underwater for much longer than any of its cousins.
The turtle can take in oxygen via the water thanks to a specially designed cloaca that resembles an anus. Up to 41% of the oxygen in water can be extracted by it and stored for use in breathing.
As a result, unlike other turtles, it can stay underwater for up to three weeks without having to breathe through its nose.
This tiny, endangered turtle is known as a “bum breather” because of its capacity.
Similar cloacae on other turtle species enable them to absorb trace amounts of water oxygen for respiration, but the Fitzroy River turtle’s levels of oxygen intake rarely surpass 4 percent, which makes it a genuinely unique species.
10. Trapdoor Spider
The trapdoor spider is one of the few animals with a beneficial evolutionarily designed back end.
Most of these species’ hunting techniques involve excavating a little hole with a hinged trap door that they hide beneath.
When a gullible victim happens to pass by, the spider darts out of its burrow and devours its meal.
Certain species of spiders from the Cyclocosmia genus have evolved, so they don’t even need a hinged trap door.
The spider’s primary defensive strategy involves blocking its burrow’s entrance with its tough disk-shaped back, reinforced by ribs and grooves.
These animals with big butts also use this characteristic to disguise their burrow from potential predators.
The spider’s distinctive abdomen is essentially all seen in the wild because it will cover its hole if it senses danger.
The tough disc most likely developed to protect the spider from wasp predators, who may otherwise sting and drag it out of its burrow.
11. Giraffes
Ending our list of animals with big butts are giraffes. Giraffes have discovered alternative uses for their rear ends.
However, it’s not exactly an evolutionary adaptation that makes their butts very helpful.
The reason giraffes have such long necks is explained by the fact that they utilize their buttocks as cushions and twist themselves into what appears to be an incredibly painful position. (I’m sure you assumed it meant eating leaves from tall branches!)
It’s fascinating to observe the sleeping habits of these large-butted animals.
They sleep less than any other mammal in the animal kingdom and rest their heads on the same object they use to urinate.
It has been noted that giraffes only need to sleep thirty minutes every twenty-four hours. To do this, they take quick, intensive power naps lasting roughly five minutes each.
It is believed that they act in this way to evade predators. They are supposedly less likely to be attacked since they are always moving rather than lazing around all night, as other animals with big butts are inclined to do.
