Hi Vrak. Thank you very much for your help - you were quite correct.
I guess wowhead isn’t always right heh - it lists Furious Bite being learned at level 14 for Wolves, Acid Bite learned at level 1 for Hydras… and so forth.
What weirded me out was when I last played that Hunter, I would have sworn the Beetle and Hydra I tamed already had their Special Abilities, so I was sure something changed.
I’ll go submit some feedback to consider adding something in either the Stable UI or the Pet tab of the Spellbook to indicate the levels those additional abilities will be learned/unlocked, in order to potentially/hopefully prevent future confusion.
Thank you again! 