SomeFacts | Animals

Animals

Owls have excellent sight, even in low light, and extremely sharp ...

There are about 142 different species of owl in two different ...

Yes, serpent eagles feed mostly on snakes and lizards. The rough ...

An eagle kills with the four long curved claws on each of its feet. ...

The Andean condor is the the biggest bird of prey in the world. It ...

Yes, and the nest made by the bald eagle is the biggest made by any ...

The osprey feeds mostly on fish. When it sees something near the ...

As it dives to catch other birds in the air, the peregrine falcon may ...

Penguins have been timed swimming at speeds of 6 mph (10 kph), but ...

There are about 30 different kinds of cormorant and all but one can ...

Not all seabirds can swim. Frigatebirds cannot swim and avoid going ...

No, puffins belong to a different family of birds, called auks. They ...

The gannet catches fish and squid in spectacular dives into the sea. ...

There are about 45 species of gull. They live in all parts of the ...

The pelican has a pouch to help it catch fish to eat. When the bird ...

The Arctic ten makes the longest migration journey of any bird. Each ...

A tropicbird is a seabird with two very long central tail feathers. ...

The little, or fairy, penguin is the smallest penguin – it is only ...

Most of the 18 species of penguin live in or near Antarctica, but ...

There are about 85 different sorts of chameleon and most of these ...

There are about 3,000 different species of lizard. These belong to ...

There are only two poisonous lizards in the world-the gila monster ...

Snakes shed their skin, or molt, to allow for growth and because ...

Only about a third of all snakes are poisonous and fewer still have ...

There are about 2,700 species of snake in the world. They live on all ...

Rattlesnakes make their rattling noise to warn their enemies to stay ...

The komodo dragon, which lives on some Southeast Asian islands. It ...

Yes, there are about 47 different species of snake that spend their ...

The fastest-moving snake on land is thought to be the black mamba, ...

The saw-scaled carpet viper is probably the world's most dangerous ...

There are 14 species of crocodile, seven species of alligator, and ...

Most sea turtles eat a range of underwater creatures, such as clams, ...

The leatherback is the largest of all the turtles. It grows up to 64 ...

Giant tortoises grow up to 4.5 ft (1.4 meters) long and weigh as much ...

Baby crocodiles start by catching insects and spiders to eat. As they ...

Crocodiles do lay eggs and they look after them very carefully. The ...

The Nile crocodile grows up to 19.5 ft (6 meters) long, but the ...

A salamander looks like a lizard with its long body and tail, but it ...

The giant toad, which lives in parts of the southern United States, ...

There are about 2,500 species of frog and toad. They live on all ...

The spadefoot toad got its name from the hard spadelike projection on ...

Treefrogs are excellent climbers. On each of their long toes is a ...

The smallest frog, and the smallest of all amphibians, is the Cuban ...

Male frogs make their croaking calls to attract females. The frog has ...

A tadpole is the young, or larva, of an amphibian such as a frog or ...

An amphibian is a creature that lives in water and on land. ...

Adult frogs catch insects and spiders and other small creatures such ...

No, some frogs have very unusual breeding habits. The male marsupial ...

No, two of the largest sharks, the whale shark and the basking shark, ...

There are about 370 different species of shark living all over the ...

The piranha, which lives in rivers in tropical Central and South ...

No, they are not. Young flatfishes have normal bodies with an eye on ...

A stingray gets its name from the sharp spine near the base of its ...

A flying fish usually lifts itself above the water to escape from ...

Yes, they are. The electric eel's body contains special muscles that ...

The sailfish is one of the fastest swimming fish. It has been timed ...

A blue whale filters small shrimplike creatures called krill from the ...

Blue whales normally swim at about 5 mph (8 kph) but can move at ...

Whales such as humpbacks migrate-travel from place to place to find ...

Yes, they do. They make a series of sounds, including high whistles ...

A narwhal is a whale with a single long tusk at the front of its ...

Yes, they do. The baby whale comes out of the mother's body tail ...

No, whales spend their whole lives in the sea. But they do breathe ...

The sperm whale dives to at least 3,300 ft (1,000 meters) below the ...

A porpoise is a small whale with a rounded head, not a beaked snout ...

A baby blue whale is about 23 ft (7 meters) long at birth and is the ...

Seals and sea lions are mammals so they have to come to the surface ...

There are about 14 species of sea lion, 18 species of seal, and one ...

The male elephant seal is the biggest of all the seals. It is 5 ...

Yes, monk seals, which live in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and ...

The tusks of an adult male walrus can be up to 22 in (55 cm) long. ...

Yes, there is a species of freshwater seal in Lake Baikal in Russia. ...

The largest male walruses are more than 10 ft (3 meters) long and ...

The ringed seal is one of the smallest seals. The male grows to about ...

No, they are born on land. Seals and sea lions spend most of their ...

The biggest, the steller sea lion, is about 90 in (230 cm) long and ...

The Weddell seal, which lives in Antarctic waters, is one of the ...

A Californian sea lion has been timed swimming at 25 mph (40 kph). On ...

A layer of fatty blubber under the skin helps to keep seals and sea ...

Chimpanzees live in forest and grasslands in West and Central Africa. ...

Most monkeys are found in warm areas near the equator, but some ...

Yes, in very large families that may include between 25 and 100 ...

Howler monkeys not only shout louder than other monkeys-they are ...

About 133 species in three main groups. One group lives in Africa and ...

Yes. The chimpanzee can get food by poking a stick into an ants' ...

Yes they do. Although fruit is the main food of chimpanzees, they ...

Orangutans live in Southeast Asia in the rain forests of Sumatra and ...

Apes are the most advanced animals in the primate group, which also ...

The smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset, which lives in South ...

Gorillas eat plant food, such as leaves, buds, stems, and fruit. ...

A wombat is a small bearlike marsupial with a heavy body and short ...

A kangaroo bounds along on its strong back legs at up to 40 mph (65 ...

Bandicoots are a group of small marsupials that live in Australia and ...

No, the platypus is not a marsupial, but it is an unusual animal and ...

A koala eats about I lb (500 g) of eucalyptus leaves every day, which ...

The Tasmanian devil is the largest of the carnivores, or flesh-eating ...

Kangaroos eat grass and the leaves of low-growing plants, just like ...

There are about 60 different species of kangaroo and wallaby. All ...

The water opossum, which lives in South America, is an excellent ...

Most female marsupials have a pouch, but not all. Some very small ...

The smallest marsupials are the mouselike ningauis, which live in ...

Most of the 260 or so species of marsupial live in Australia and New ...

A newborn baby elephant weighs up to 264 lb (120 kg) and stands up to ...

The hippo spends most of its day in or near water and comes out on to ...

Despite their ferocious appearance and huge horns, rhinos are ...

An okapi is a relative of the giraffe that lives in the African rain ...

A giraffe has seven bones in its neck, just like other mammals, ...

A male giraffe stands up to 18 ft (5.5 meters) tall to the tips of ...

A fully grown elephant eats 220 to 440 lb (100 to 200 kg) of plant ...

An elephant's tusks grow throughout its life, so the oldest elephants ...

A tiger's stripes help it hide among grasses and leaves so it can ...

No, civets belong to a separate family, which also includes ...

Pet cats and wild cats have exactly the same body structure and ...

The snow leopard is a big cat that lives in the Himalaya Mountains. ...

Jaguars live in the forests of Central and South America. They are ...

Like domestic cats, lions are actually asleep for a surprisingly ...

There are about 35 species of wild cat, ranging from the tiger to the ...

The mongoose is a fast-moving little hunter. It will kill small ...

A panther is simply a leopard with a black coat instead of spots. It ...

A meerkat is a type of mongoose, which lives in Africa. Meerkats form ...

The cheetah is the fastest running cat and one of the speediest of ...

Dingoes are wild dogs that live in Australia. They are descended from ...

Although adult bears are so big, they have tiny babies. A huge polar ...

Yes, there are two kinds of bear that live in jungle, or rain forest. ...

Polar bears can swim well and spend long periods in the freezing ...

Wolf cubs learn how to hunt by watching their parents and other pack ...

In areas where there are plenty of large animals to catch, a pack may ...

For many years experts argued about whether this animal should be ...

The polar bear, which lives in the Arctic. Fully grown males are up ...

There are about 35 species in the dog family, including foxes, ...

Foxes, such as the red fox, are hunting animals. They kill and eat ...

Giant pandas live in bamboo forests in the mountains of central ...

The main food of the giant panda is bamboo. An adult panda eats up to ...

A guinea pig is a rodent. Wild guinea pigs, also known as cavies, ...

No, but they can glide some distance from tree to tree. When the ...

A fully grown beaver measures up to 67 in (1.7 metres) long, ...

The largest rodent in the world is the capybara, which lives in South ...

The two sharp teeth at the front of the rodent's jaw-called ...

There are more than 1,600 different species of rodent, including ...

Beavers eat plant food. In spring and summer they feed on fresh green ...

One of the smallest rodents is the pygmy mouse of North America. This ...

There are two groups of porcupines. New World porcupines live in ...

Dormice do sleep through the winter. This hibernation may start in ...