cerperal
Well-Known Member
Clearly this is a made up story, there's no such thing as an active binturong
Completely agree in all seriousness - they're bloomin' huge!
What animal looks different in real life to what you expected?
- Thread starter Grant Rhino
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Clearly this is a made up story, there's no such thing as an active binturong
Completely agree in all seriousness - they're bloomin' huge!
I saw the greater Indian hornbill today and they are absolutely enormous! I thought they would be half the size of that. They seem to be as big as a peacock though.
Tad bit of an overstatement
Tad bit of an overstatement
No - I was serious.
I’ve just looked up the sizes in “Birds of the Indian Subcontinent” by Richard Grimmet, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp (Helm Fieldguides: London, 2016), and they give the following:
Great Hornbill: 95 - 105 cm
Indian Peafowl (female): 90 - 100 cm
Indian Peafowl (male): 180 - 230 cm
So it’s only the tail making the peacock bigger (which the peacock drops anyway). The hornbill is around the size of the peahen - which surprised me.
Platypus were much smaller than I imagined. I saw them in the wild and the adults were tiny compared to what I expected.
By contrast, Common wombat were about four times the size of what I thought they would be.
I’ve heard the same from several others and see Platypus have been mentioned by a few people throughout this thread.
By contrast, Common wombat were about four times the size of what I thought they would be.
I’ve heard the same from several others and see Platypus have been mentioned by a few people throughout this thread.
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I thought Tricolored Herons would be the size of an Ardea, but apparently they're the same size as a Snowy Egret.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
For me, Spotted hyenas were way larger than I expected, getting up to 65-75kgs. I think I assumed they were the same size as most "large" dogs at only around 50kg. The thing that shocked me the most was the size and width of their heads, which dwarfed any dogs and was larger than my own. I knew they had a powerful bit prior to seeing them up close but that didn't translate in my head to having an enormous bulky head .
Common eland always shock me with how large they are too. I think I associate them with 'antelope' so am always stunned by their enormity and heftyness.
Black-and-white colobus is another species way larger than expected imo, more similar in size to a baboon than a macaque.
On the other hand, Giant Pandas, were quite small and especially slim in person. I expected them to be more rotund
.Common eland always shock me with how large they are too. I think I associate them with 'antelope' so am always stunned by their enormity and heftyness.
Black-and-white colobus is another species way larger than expected imo, more similar in size to a baboon than a macaque.
On the other hand, Giant Pandas, were quite small and especially slim in person. I expected them to be more rotund
I was surprised by how big Aye-Ayes are. For some reason I expected them to be closer to the size of lorises.
The Lion King gave a false impression on the size of spotted hyenas. I pictured something like a coyote. Eland remind me of elk. I agree, much larger than I imagined. Black and white colobus were like I pictured and giant pandas also much smaller. Another one I don't think I mentioned were bull African bush elephants. Everyone knows elephants are big but their sheer size is impressive. I also never realized how much bigger they were than cows. Black mambas are terrifyingly large as well. I saw one of those in the wild last summer.For me, Spotted hyenas were way larger than I expected, getting up to 65-75kgs. I think I assumed they were the same size as most "large" dogs at only around 50kg. The thing that shocked me the most was the size and width of their heads, which dwarfed any dogs and was larger than my own. I knew they had a powerful bit prior to seeing them up close but that didn't translate in my head to having an enormous bulky head
Common eland always shock me with how large they are too. I think I associate them with 'antelope' so am always stunned by their enormity and heftyness.
Black-and-white colobus is another species way larger than expected imo, more similar in size to a baboon than a macaque.
On the other hand, Giant Pandas, were quite small and especially slim in person. I expected them to be more rotund
TheChulloChampion
Member
Aardwolves. I thought they were a lot smaller!
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I thought Grandidier's Vontsiras would be about the same size as the closely related Bokybokies that I am used to seeing, but they are quite considerably larger. On the other hand, I thought Marbled Polecats were around the same size as a ferret, but they are close to a third the size.
I was also very surprised by the appearance of a Walrus. I grew up near to a natural history museum/zoo of sorts known as the Horniman Museum, which is famous for its notoriously overstuffed mounted walrus, and I assumed that a real walrus would be essentially identical to the mount. However, their skin was far more wrinkly and bumpy, the 'whiskers' were far more abundant and the size of their tail flippers as they fanned them out while diving was surprising.
I was also very surprised by the appearance of a Walrus. I grew up near to a natural history museum/zoo of sorts known as the Horniman Museum, which is famous for its notoriously overstuffed mounted walrus, and I assumed that a real walrus would be essentially identical to the mount. However, their skin was far more wrinkly and bumpy, the 'whiskers' were far more abundant and the size of their tail flippers as they fanned them out while diving was surprising.
TheGytrash
Well-Known Member
American bison trip me up every single time. They're not bigger or smaller than I expected, their proportions are just... off. Absolutely massive head and shoulders, but they look like they skipped leg day at the gym. I guess I used to think that the smaller hindquarters were due to perspective, with the face being closer to the camera. But no, they just look like that in real life.
I always thought their tails were so tiny as well. Their proportions are strange.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
Malayan tapir and okapi both surprised me by how large they are. Okapi continue to do so every time I see them.
White-bellied pangolin is a bit smaller than I expected.
Tayra is nothing like I expected based on pictures. I was under the impression they were fairly rough and ugly looking and probably nocturnal (lack of research on my part) so I assumed I wouldn’t get to see much activity from them. Turns out they were super active, super fluid, and not remotely as ugly as I expected. I’ve been obsessed with them ever since.
On the flip side compared to a lot of people in this thread, takin were pretty much exactly what I expected them to be.
White-bellied pangolin is a bit smaller than I expected.
Tayra is nothing like I expected based on pictures. I was under the impression they were fairly rough and ugly looking and probably nocturnal (lack of research on my part) so I assumed I wouldn’t get to see much activity from them. Turns out they were super active, super fluid, and not remotely as ugly as I expected. I’ve been obsessed with them ever since.
On the flip side compared to a lot of people in this thread, takin were pretty much exactly what I expected them to be.
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
North Island Brown Kiwi, I really thought they would be smaller, like slightly larger than a quail. On the reverse I always imagined Albatrosses as these massive condor sized birds, but the Waved Albatrosses I got to see were the size of a turkey.
Same, but I think I was so young at the time that I hadn't really heard of takin before, so them being large oxen sized animals has always been normal to me.
On the other hand, I didn't expect Reeve's Pheasants to be so jawdropping in real life, I've seen so many images of the common ornamental pheaants in aviculture that I thought seeing something wouldn't be all that impressive but there's a good reason they're ornamental birds!! (The aviary at Willowbank is also quite nicely planted which adds to the experience I suppose).
Campbell Teal was also a neat thing to see in life for the first time, I saw it snuffling around almost kiwi-like in a way, also they have very dumpy bodies when walking around leading them to being quite saggy and thus dragging their tail around on the ground which I didn't expect.
Reeve's pheasants are beautiful birds. Pheasants in general are beautiful.
