-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
facts.txt
166 lines (166 loc) · 15 KB
/
facts.txt
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
Aardvarks are animals
Aardvarks have very long noses
Amazingly, the aardvarks closest living relative is probably the African elephant
Aardvarks require a fairly large territory and will travel up to 10 miles in a night as they search for food
Aardvarks use their remarkable claws to dig for aardvark cucumbers
Aardvarks may actually dig a hole on the spot and dive in to hide from predators
Lions, hyenas, leopards and African wild dogs all prey on aardvarks, but not without a fight
Aardvarks live in many different types of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, rainforests, woodlands and thickets throughout Africa in the areas south of the Sahara
Aardvarks tend to avoid very rocky terrain because rocks are difficult to dig in
Aardvarks live in burrows that range from 6.5 to 42 feet (2 to 13 meters) long
Aardvarks are solitary animals and only come together to mate
Aardvarks are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day
During the night aardvarks spend their time working on their burrows or finding food
Aardvarks may cover distances of 2 to 5 km (1.2 to 3 miles) each night
Aardvark's tough skin protects them from the bites of their meal
Aardvarks can eat up to 50,000 insects each night
Aardvarks swallow their food whole, without chewing it. Instead, food is ground up in a muscular area of its lower stomach
Aardvarks rarely drink water and receive most of their moisture from the insects they eat
Female aardvarks have a gestation of seven months and give birth to one young at a time
Aardvark babies are called calves or cubs
Aardvark cubs weigh around 4.4 lbs. (2 kg) when they are born
Aardvarks are the most feared African animal? They kill more people annually than all the other large predators combined! [Sourced from user ThimeeX],
Aardvarks dig into ant and termite mounds and lick up bugs with their long tongues
Aardvarks eat almost exclusively ants and termites, though they sometimes supplement their diets with other insects like the pupae of scarab beetles
Giraffes and humans have the same number of bones in their neck
A giraffe's age can be calculated from its spots. The darker the spots, the older the giraffe
A giraffe’s tongue is so long that it uses it to clean its ears. The color of the tongue is black. This is one of the weird animal facts about the giraffe
Giraffes rarely lay down; they even sleep and give birth standing up
Giraffes are the only animals born with their horns
Some Reindeer have knees that make a clicking sound when they walk. It helps them keep together in a blizzard
A Reindeer’s nose warms the air it breathes before it gets to its lungs
Reindeer eat moss because it contains a chemical that stops their body from freezing
Reindeer eyeballs turn blue in winter to help them see at lower light levels
The Sun Bear has the longest tongue of all bear species – 8 to 10 inches long
If the Sun Bear is grabbed or bitten around its head, it can turn round inside the wrinkly skin on its head and bite the predator
The Sun Bear is also known as “Dog Bear” due to its glossy fur, short snout, and small size
Sun Bears bark to scare away predators and to declare territory
A sun bears claws grow throughout its lifetime and the length of its claws can be used to estimate their age
Female red kangaroos have three vaginas
When two kangaroos meet for the first time, they touch their nose and sniff each other
Male Kangaroos smell the urine of females to see if she is ready to mate
The Kangaroo’s ancestors lived in trees. Today there are eight different kinds of tree kangaroos
Kangaroo babies pee and poop in their mother’s pouch, which she cleans with her paws and mouth
Snakes smell with their tongue
Snakes have ears inside their heads
Some snakes can survive without the meal for up to two years
Snakes don’t have eyelids
To get food, arctic fox sometimes follow the polar bear and eat their droppings
Most of the people think that arctic fox is just white, but in summer, their fur turns dark and blend in with the environment
Both mother and father Arctic fox stay together to raise their babies
Elephants are scared of bees
Elephants only sleep 2 to 3 hours each day
An elephant can smell water from 12 miles away
Elephants remain pregnant for 2 years
The world’s most expensive coffee brands are made from the dung of Thai elephants
A hippo can hold their breathe for 4-5 minutes
Hippopotamuses give birth in water
Hippos rest in water to keep their temperature down because they don’t have sweat glands
Hippos eat 150 pounds of grass daily
Frogs sleep with their eyes open
It’s hard to sneak up on a frog. They can see in all directions at once
Frogs don’t drink water. They absorb it through their skin
Male frogs use croaking to attract female frogs
The Chinese soft-shelled turtle is the animal that is known to pee through its mouth
Octopus have 3 hearts
Cows have four stomachs
Owls have eye tubes instead of eyeballs
Turtles have been on the earth for more than 200 million years. They evolved before mammals, birds, crocodiles, snakes, and even lizards
The earliest turtles had teeth and could not retract their heads, but other than this, modern turtles are very similar to their original ancestors
Several species of turtles can live to be over a hundred years of age including the American Box Turtle
Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica
Turtles will live in almost any climate warm enough to allow them to complete their breeding cycle
While most turtles do not tolerate the cold well, the Blanding's turtle has been observed swimming under the ice in the Great Lakes region
Turtles range in size from the 4-inch Bog Turtle to the 1500-pound Leathery Turtle
North America contains a large variety of turtle species, but Europe contains only two species of turtle and three species of tortoise
The top domed part of a turtle's shell is called the carapace, and the bottom underlying part is called the plastron
The shell of a turtle is made up of 60 different bones all connected together
Most turtle species have five toes on each limb with a few exceptions including the American Box Turtle of the Carolina species that only has four toes and, in some cases, only three
Turtles have good eyesight and an excellent sense of smell
Some aquatic turtles can absorb oxygen through the skin on their neck and cloacal areas allowing them to remain submerged underwater for extended periods of time and enabling them to hibernate underwater
Turtles are one of the oldest and most primitive groups of reptiles and have outlived many other species. One can only wonder if their unique shell is responsible for their longevity
Lemurs are tree-dwelling, mainly nocturnal primates found only in Madagascar (an island off the coast of Africa) and the nearby Comoro Islands
Lemurs are small primates known as "prosimians," which means "pre-primates" or "before monkeys."
Lemurs have long, pointy noses, which contribute to their excellent sense of smell
There are over 30 species of lemur and each type of lemur looks very different
The term "lemur" is derived from the Latin word lemures, meaning "spirits of the night" or "haunter"
Lemur means "ghost" in native language of Madagascar
Crabs greatly vary in size. Smallest species, Pea Crab, reaches from 0.27 to 0.47 inches in length. Largest species, Japanese Spider Crab, has a leg span of 12 feet (from claw to claw)
Crabs are also known as decapods because they have 10 legs. First pair of legs is modified into claws, called chelae
Crabs have external skeleton called "exoskeleton". It is made of chitin and it provides protection for the soft tissue underneath it. Other name for exoskeleton is shell or carapace
Just like other Arthropods, crabs have segmented body (body divided in several parts). Unlike other animals - thorax and abdomen are fused together into a single unit called "cephalothoraxes"
Crabs have eyes on the stalks, just like snails. They can distinguish colors, but their eyes see a lot less details than human eyes
Crabs are omnivores (they eat both meat and plants). They eat different kind of algae, fungi, bacteria, other crustaceans, mollusks and worms
Crabs walk and swim sideways
Crabs breathe with the help of gills. That is why they need to stay close to the water even if they live mainly on the land
Some species of crabs are solitary, while other live in the group. Collective name for the group of crabs is "cast"
Crabs which live in the group are very cooperative. They work together to provide food and protection for their families
Crabs communicate via sound. They produce drumming and flapping sounds by using their claws and pincers
Most crabs mate when the outer temperature and the temperature of water is high. Male waves with its swimming paddles, as a part of the seduction ritual prior to mating
Squids are shaped like torpedoes with a distinct head, mantle or body, eight tentacles with suckers and two paired tentacles for capturing and eating prey. Some squids are only 24 inches long while others are more than 40 feet in length
Giant squids have big old beaks that are supposedly very sharp and resist fractures and bending
Giant Squids eyes are the largest in the animal kingdom
Female squid lay thousands of eggs at a time at the bottom of the ocean
The aardvark is the last surviving member of an odd and primitive order of ungulates (hooved animals)
Aardvarks can break into termite mounds that are hard as concrete, and can decimate an entire colony, lapping up all in their wake
Aardvark females appear to come into season once per year
By animal kingdom standards a newborn baby aardvark is quite large - often weighing over 5 pounds!
The aardvarks nostrils are lined with coarse hairs and equipped with flaps of skin that close up during a vigorous dig to prevent dust from entering the lungs
Aardvark is the first word in the English dictionary, but the name is from the old Afrikaans dialect meaning "earth pig"
Aardvarks are sometimes called "ant bears", "earth pigs", and "cape anteaters"
Aardvarks teeth are lined with fine upright tubes and have no roots or enamel
The aardvarks Latin family name "Tubulidentata" means "tube toothed"
Baby aardvarks are born with front teeth that fall out and never grow back
Aardvarks are living fossils not having changed for millions of years
Aardvarks will occasionally stand, and even take a step or two, on their hind legs
Aardvarks can use their powerful tails as a whip-like weapon of defense
In total there is said to be around 400 million dogs in the world
The domestic dog has been one of the most popular working and companion animals throughout human history
Although experts often disagree, there is scientific evidence which shows that the domestication of dogs could have occurred more than 15,000 years ago
The most popular breed of dog in the world by registered ownership is the Labrador
Dogs have superior hearing to humans, capable of hearing sounds at four times the distance
Domestic dogs are omnivores, they feed on a variety of foods including grains, vegetables and meats
Cats and humans have been associated for nearly 10000 years
Cats conserve energy by sleeping for an average of 13 to14 hours a day
A group of cats is called a clowder
a male cat is called a tom
a female cat is called a molly or queen
The heaviest domestic cat on record is 21.297 kilograms (46 lb 15.2 oz)
Cats have powerful night vision, allowing them to see at light levels six times lower than what a human needs in order to see
Tigers can reach a length of up to 3.3 metres (11 feet) and weigh as much as 300 kilograms (660 pounds)
Tiger cubs leave their mother when they are around 2 years of age
A group of tigers is known as an ‘ambush’ or ‘streak’
Rare white tigers carry a gene that is only present in around 1 in every 10000 tigers
There are more tigers held privately as pets than there are in the wild
Tigers that breed with lions give birth to hybrids known as tigons and ligers
Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. Instead they have a skeleton made up of cartilage; the same type of tough, flexible tissue that makes up human ears and noses
Some sharks remain on the move for their entire lives. This forces water over their gills, delivering oxygen to the blood stream. If the shark stops moving then it will suffocate and die
Sharks have outstanding hearing. They can hear a fish thrashing in the water from as far as 500 metres away
Although most species of shark are less than one metre long, there are some species such as the whale shark, which can be 14 metres long
A pup (baby shark) is born ready to take care of itself. The mother shark leaves the pup to fend for itself and the pup usually makes a fast get away before the mother tries to eat it
Not all species of shark give birth to live pups. Some species lay the egg case on the ocean floor and the pup hatches later on its own
A shark always has a row of smaller teeth developing behind its front teeth. Eventually the smaller teeth move forward, like a conveyor belt, and the front teeth fall out
The Killer Whale (also known as Orca) is actually a type of dolphin
Female dolphins are called cows, males are called bulls and young dolphins are called calves
Dolphins live in schools or pods of up to 12 individuals
The average male lion weighs around 180 kg (400 lb) while the average female lion weighs around 130 kg (290 lb)
The heaviest lion on record weighed an amazing 375 kg (826 lb)
Lions can reach speeds of up to 81 kph (50 mph) but only in short bursts because of a lack of stamina
The roar of a lion can be heard from 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) away
Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore
In the wild, lions rest for around 20 hours a day
There are only about 700 mountain gorillas and they live high in the mountains in two protected parks in Africa. Lowland gorillas live in central Africa
for the first few months after birth the mother Gorilla holds the baby gorilla to her chest, not her back
An adult male gorilla is called a silverback because of the distinctive silvery fur growing on their back and hips
Young male gorillas usually leave their family group when they are about 11 years old and have their own family group by the age of 15 years old
Young female gorillas join a new group at about 8 years old
Gorillas are herbivores. They spend most of their day foraging for food and eating bamboo, leafy plants and sometimes small insects
Adult gorillas can eat up to 30 kilograms of food each day
An adult gorilla is about 1 meter tall to their shoulders when walking on all fours using their arms and their legs
A gorilla can live for 40 – 50 years
Instead of drinking water, frogs soak it into their body through their skin
Frogs breathe through their nostrils while also absorbing about half the air they need through their skin
Frogs use their sticky, muscular tongue to catch and swallow food. Unlike humans, their tongue is not attached to the back of its mouth. Instead it is attached to the front, enabling the frog to stick its tongue out much further
The common pond frog is ready to breed when it is only three years old
Frogs can see forwards, sideways and upwards all at the same time. They never close their eyes, even when they sleep
Aardvarks do eat ants. Sometimes.