Animals
Alligator
Alligators are reptiles.
Alligators have been living on Earth for millions of years and are sometimes described as ‘living fossils’.
There are two different species of alligator, the American alligator and the Chinese alligator.
American alligators live in south-eastern areas of the United States such as Florida and Louisiana.
Chinese alligators are found in the Yangtze River but they are critically endangered and only a few remain in the wild.
Like other reptiles, alligators are cold-blooded.
Alligators can weigh over 450 kg (1000 lb).
Alligators have a powerful bite but the muscles that open the jaw are relatively weak. An adult human could hold the jaws of an alligator shut with their bare hands.
Alligators eat a range of different animals such as fish, birds, turtles and even deer.
Alligator eggs become male or female depending on the temperature, male in warmer temperatures and female in cooler temperatures.
Like crocodiles, alligators are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’.
Badger
Badgers are part of the family Mustelidae this is the same family as otters, ferret, polecats, weasels and wolverines.
There are 11 species of badger, grouped into 3 types, the Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (Honey badger) and Taxideinae (American badger).
Badgers are found in North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe. There are species in Japan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. The honey badger is found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, Turkmenistan, and India.
Badgers are nocturnal mammals.
Badgers have stocky bodies with short legs that are suitable for digging. They digs burrows underground called a sett. Their sett are often a maze of tunnels and chambers for sleeping around 6 badgers, setts are kept very clean.
The badger has an elongated head with small ears and a distinctive black and white face, their body has greyish fur with black and white areas underneath.
Badgers can grow to nearly a meter in length. The European badger is larger than the American badger and the Honey badger.
Badgers on average weigh around 9 - 11 kg (20 - 24 lbs).
The badger can run up to 30 km/h (19 mph) for a short period of time.
A male badger is called a boar, the female is called a sow and the young are called cubs.
A group of badgers is called a cete, although they are often called clans. There are usually 2 - 15 badgers in a cete.
The honey badger is a carnivorous species that has the reputation of being the most fearless and vicious of all mammals.
Badgers were eaten in Britain during World War II and were once part of the Native American and settlers diets in the US. Russia still eats badger meat today.
Badgers have featured in lots of British literature over the years, such as Brian Jacques' Redwall series, "Tommy Brock" in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod, "Bill Badger" in Mary Tourtel's Rupert Bear, "Mr. Badger" in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows and "Trufflehunter" in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
Bat
Bats are flying mammals.
While others can glide, bats are the only mammals capable of continued flight.
There are over 1000 different bat species.
Bats are nocturnal (active at night).
Bats ‘see’ in the dark using a special skill called echolocation. Bats make noises and wait for the sound waves to bounce back off objects (an echo), if it doesn’t bounce back then they can safely fly forward. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back to them.
Most bats feed on insects, while others eat fruit, fish or even blood!
There are 3 species of vampire bats which feed solely on blood.
Vampire bats have small and extremely sharp teeth which are capable of piercing an animal’s skin (humans included) without them even noticing.
Vampire bats can carry rabies, making their bites potentially dangerous.
Some bats live by themselves while others live in caves with thousands of other bats.
Bats can live for over 20 years.
Pteropus bats (also known as flying foxes or fruit bats) are the largest in the world.
Bee & Wasp
There are 9 different families of bees and around 20,000 known species.
Some common types of 'social' hive inhabiting bees include the Honey bee, The Africanized Honeybee, (or 'killer bee') and the Bumble bee.
'Solitary' bees that make their own single nest include the Carpenter Bee, Leafcutter bee, Mason bee, Digger Bee and Mining Bee.
The every day bee that we associate with most is the honey bee (or honeybee). There are 7 species of honey bee and 44 subspecies.
Honey bees live as large colonies in honeycomb structures built from beeswax called hives. There are 3 types of bees in a colony, drones, workers, and queens.
Beeswax comes from abdomen glands of a worker bee, they use the wax to form the walls and caps of the comb.
Honey is made from the nectar and sweet deposits that bees collect from plants and trees. Honey is stored in honeycomb as a food source for the colony.
Bees have a long proboscis (type of tongue) that helps them to get the nectar out of flowers, they collect pollen in pollen baskets on their body.
Worker bees are female, they collect pollen and nectar to feed the colony, they clean the hive, make the honey, take care of the offspring and groom / feed the queen. Worker bees live from 1 month in summer up to 9 months over winter.
Drones are male, their one job is to mate with the queen, they live for 40 - 50 days.
The queen bee's only job is to lay eggs, they lay up to 1,500 eggs a day. The queen can live for 2 - 5 years, and lay about 1 million eggs over her lifetime.
Bees have two pairs of wings, the larger fore wings and the smaller hind wings.
The smallest bee is a type of stingless worker bee that's about 2.1 mm long. The largest bee is a type of leafcutter bee whose females can reach 39 mm.
There are over 250 known species of bumble bee.
Only the queen bumblebee survives the winter, so there's no need for bumblebees to store large quantities of honey in the hive like honey bees do.
There are over 100,000 species of wasp. Two common types of wasp are the yellowjacket wasp and the hornet.
Most wasp species are 'parasitic' which means they use the venom from their stings to paralyze pray and lay their eggs within the host, so larvae will hatch.
Wasps can build their nests in a variety of places but they usually pick sunny areas, in holes underground along riverbanks, or attached to the side of walls and trees, or underneath floors, wasp can be agitated and dangerous near nests.
A bee's buzz is not produced by the beating of its wings but by vibrating muscles.
Only female bees (queen and worker bees) can sting. A honey bee can only sting once, as barbs rip the stinger out of the bee and it will die. Bumblebee's and wasps stingers don't have barbs, so they can sting multiple times without injury.
Bird
Birds have feathers, wings, lay eggs and are warm blooded.
There are around 10000 different species of birds worldwide.
The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It also lays the largest eggs and has the fastest maximum running speed (97 kph).
Scientists believe that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.
Birds have hollow bones which help them fly.
Some bird species are intelligent enough to create and use tools.
The chicken is the most common species of bird found in the world.
Kiwis are endangered, flightless birds that live in New Zealand. They lay the largest eggs relative to their body size of any bird in the world.
Hummingbirds can fly backwards.
The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world, with a length of just 5 cm (2 in).
Around 20% of bird species migrate long distances every year.
Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home from long distances away and have been used for thousands of years to carry messages.
Camel
There are two species of true camel. The dromedary, is a single humped camel that lives in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa area. The bactrian, is a two-humped camel that lives in areas of Central Asia.
There are four camel-like mammals that live in South America, llama and alpaca are called "New World camels", while guanaco and vicuna are called "South American camels".
Camels have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years. Used mostly for transport or to carry heavy loads, they also provide a source of milk, meat, and hair/wool.
Camels live on average for 40 to 50 years.
Camels are 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at shoulder level and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump.
Camels are capable of running as fast as 65 km/h (40 mph) for a short period of time, and can maintain a speed of around 40 km/h (25 mph).
Dromedary camels weigh 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 lb) and bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb).
Camels do not actually hold liquid water in their humps. The humps contain fatty tissue reserves, which can be converted to water or energy when required. They can survive up to six months without food or water by using up these fatty stores.
Camels are well suited to the hot sandy deserts they roam in. Their thick coat insulates them from heat and also lightens during summer to help reflect heat.
A camels long legs help its body to be high from the hot desert surface and a pad of thick tissue called a pedestal raises the body slightly when the camel sits so cool air can pass underneath.
A large camel can drink around 30 gallons (113 liters) in just 13 minutes, making them able to rehydrate faster than any other mammal.
Long eyelashes, ear hair, and closable nostrils keep sand from affecting the camel, while their wide feet help them move without sinking into sand.
Camels have long been used in wartimes. Romans used camels for their ability to scare off horses who are afraid of their scent, and in recent times camels have been used to carry heavy gear and troops across hot sandy deserts.
There are estimated to be over 14 million camels in the world. Camels introduced to desert areas of Australia are the worlds largest populations of feral camels.
Clownfish
The clownfish is also known as the anemonefish.
There are 28 - 30 recognized species of clownfish.
Clownfish are found in warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans including the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Clownfish have a symbiotic (long-term mutual benefit) relationship with sea anemone which is a fish-eating plant-like animal that has poisonous tentacles.
Sea anemones benefit from clownfish who clean them by eating its parasites and dead tentacles, help circulate the water around them, attract potential prey with their bright colors, and provide nutrients from their droppings.
Clownfish in return benefit from sea anemone, who provide food scraps and who's venomous tentacles protect the clownfish from any attack by other fish.
The clownfish builds up an immunity to sea anemones lethal sting over time and because of a layer of mucus on the clownfish's skin.
Clownfish species include yellow, orange, reddish and blackish varieties with most covered in patches or bars of white color.
The largest clownfish can reach 18 cm (7.1 in), and the smallest 10 cm (3.9 in).
All clownfish are born as males. When the dominant female of a group dies the largest male will turn itself into a female, this change cannot be reversed back.
Clownfish live up to 10 years in the wild but on average up to 6 - 8 years.
Females lay around 1000 eggs, the male clownfish will guard the eggs.
Clownfish make up over 40% of the global marine ornamental trade. The fish are either bred in captivity, or captured from the wild.
The main character in the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo, was a clownfish.
Crab
Crabs are decapods from the crustacean family.
Decapod means "ten-footed". Crabs have 10 legs, however, the first pair are its claws which are called chelae.
Crabs have a thick external skeleton called an exoskeleton. It is a shell made of calcium carbonate and provides protection for the soft tissue underneath.
Crabs live in all the world's oceans, in fresh water, and on land. There are over 4500 species of crabs.
Other animals with similar names such as hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs, horseshoe crabs and crab lice, are not true crabs.
Crabs usually have a distinct sideways walk. However, some crabs can walk forwards or backwards, and some are capable of swimming.
The collective name for the group of crabs is a cast.
Crabs communicate with each other by drumming or waving their pincers.
Male crabs tend to often fight with each other over females or hiding holes.
The Pea Crab is the smallest known species at just a few millimetres wide. The largest species is the Japanese Spider Crab, with a leg span of up to 4 m (13 ft).
Crabs are omnivores (meaning they eat both meat and plants), they feed mainly on algae, but also bacteria, other crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and fungi.
Some crab species can naturally autotomise (shed) limbs such as their claws, which then regenerate after about a year.
Of all marine crustaceans caught be humans each year, crabs make up 20%. This adds up to a total of 1.5 million tonnes annually.
The most consumed species of crab in the world is the Japanese Blue Crab.
Deer
Deer are part of the Cervidae family that include moose, reindeer, elk and other species.
Male deer grow new antlers each year.
Animals such as antelope resemble deer in a number of ways but have horns instead of antlers, the difference being that horns are not grown and replaced like antlers are.
During the mating season male deer will often use their antlers to fight for the attention of female deer.
Many species of deer have been hunted over the years for their antlers.
A male deer is usually called a ‘buck’.
A large male deer is often called ‘stag’.
A female deer is usually called a ‘doe’.
A young deer is usually called a ‘fawn’.
A group of deer is known as a ‘herd’.
Deer have long legs typically suited to the environments they live in.
They can jump high and swim well.
Most deer are born with white spots but lose them within a year.
Deer take their first steps within half an hour of their birth.
Young deer will usually stay with their mother for around a year.
Eagle
Eagles are large, powerful birds of prey.
Eagles have large, hooked beaks.
Eagles have excellent eyesight.
Eagles have powerful talons which help them catch prey.
Eagles build their nests on high cliffs or in tall trees.
There are over 60 different species of eagle.
Eagles feature prominently on the coat of arms of a large number of countries, such as Germany, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and Austria.
Golden eagles have been known to hunt foxes, wild cats and even young deer and goats.
Female golden eagles usually lay between one and four eggs each breeding season.
Bald eagles aren’t actually bald.
Flamingo
Flamingos are a type of wading bird that live in areas of large shallow lakes, lagoons, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, and sandy islands.
The word "flamingo" comes from the Spanish word "flamenco" which came from the earlier Latin word "flamma" meaning flame or fire.
There are six species of flamingo in the world. Two are found in the Old World and four species live in the New World - Americas.
The most widespread flamingo is the Greater flamingo found in areas of Africa, Southern Europe and South, Southwest Asia. The Lesser flamingo is the most numerous and lives in the Great Rift Valley of Africa through to Northwest India.
The four species in the New World include the Chilean flamingo, found in temperate South American areas, the Andean Flamingo and James's flamingo found in the high Andes mountains in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina and the American flamingo of the Caribbean islands, Belize and Galapagos islands.
The Greater flamingo is the largest species, at up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and weighing up to 3.5 kg (8 lbs). The Lesser flamingo is just 90 cm (3 ft) tall, weighing 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs).
In the wild flamingos live 20 - 30 years and sometimes over 50 years in captivity.
Flamingo legs can be longer than their entire body. The backward bending "knee" of a flamingo's leg is actually its ankle, the knee is out of sight further up the leg.
Quite often flamingos will stand on one leg, with the other tucked under the body. Its not fully understood why they do this but it is believed to conserve body heat.
The flamingo is a filter-feeder, holding its curved beak upside down in the water it sucks in the muddy water and pushes the mud and silt out the side while tiny hair-like filters along the beak called lamellae sieve food from the water.
The pink to reddish color of a flamingo's feathers comes from carotenoids (the pigment that also makes carrots orange) in their diet of plankton, brine shrimp and blue-green algae.
Flamingos are social birds, they live in colonies of sometimes thousands, this helps in avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and is better for nesting.
Flamingo colonies split into breeding groups of up to 50 birds, who then perform a synchronized ritual 'dance' whereby they stand together stretching their necks upwards, uttering calls while waving their heads and then flapping their wings.
The flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas.
Grasshopper
Grasshoppers are an insect from the suborder Caelifera and the order Orthoptera.
Locusts are actually species of short-horned grasshoppers, they often gather in large swarms and can destroy entire fields of crops, because a single grasshopper can eat half its body weight in plants per day. In just the U.S. they cause about $1.5 billion in damage to grazing lands each year.
There are around 11,000 known species of grasshopper found around the world, often inhabiting grassy fields, meadow and forest areas.
Grasshoppers have two antennae, 6 legs, two pairs of wings and small little pinchers to tear off food such as grasses, leaves and cereal crops.
Some species of grasshopper species make noises by either rubbing their back legs against the forewings or body, or by snapping their wings when flying.
Grasshoppers grow to around 2 inches (5 cm), with some growing as big as 5 inches (12.7cm). Female are usually larger than males.
Grasshoppers are often colored in a way that camouflages them in their local habitat, green ones in grassy fields, sandy colored in dirt and desert areas.
Grasshoppers can jump about 25cm high and around 1 meter long. If humans could jump as far as grasshoppers do, relative to size, then we could leap more than the length of a football field.
The grasshopper can jump as far as it does because its hind legs act like miniature catapults. It bends its legs at the knee, mechanism within the knee works like a spring, storing up energy. When the grasshopper is ready to jump, it relaxes the leg muscles, allowing the spring to release flinging it into the air.
Grasshoppers are commonly eaten in African, Central and South American countries, the insect is a very good source of protein.
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents from the subfamily Cricetinae.
There are 25 species of hamster.
Hamsters have thick silky fur, short tails, small ears, short legs, wide feet and large eyes.
Hamsters usually live in burrows underground during the day, they are crepuscular which means they come out at twilight to feed.
Wild hamsters feed mainly on seeds, fruits, vegetables and sometimes insects.
Hamsters are very good diggers, they will create burrows in the soil that can be over half a meter deep, containing various rooms for different purposes.
Hamsters have large cheek in which they carry food back to their burrows. Full pouches can make their heads double or triple in size.
Hamsters do not have good eyesight, they are nearsighted and also colour-blind.
The hamster relies on scent to find their way. They have scent glands which they rub on objects along a path.
Depending on the species hamsters can be black, grey, honey, white, brown, yellow, red, or a combination of these colors.
Hamsters are great as pets because they are easy to breed in captivity, easy to care for and interact well with people. They are also used as laboratory animals.
The Syrian hamster is the most popular and well known breed kept as pets. All Syrian hamsters as pets are believed to have descended from one pair in 1930.
Syrian hamsters live 2 - 3 years in captivity, and less in the wild. Other popular pet types such as Russian dwarf hamsters live about 2- 4 years in captivity.
Hamsters range in size from the largest breed, the European hamster at 13.4 in (34 cm) long, to the smallest, the dwarf hamster at 2 - 4 in (5.5 - 10.5 cm) long.
Hedgehog
There are 17 species of hedgehog.
They are found in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and were introduced in New Zealand by settlers.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, often sleep during the day in a nest or under bushes and shrubs before coming out to feed at night.
Hedgehogs are not related to other spine covered creatures such as the porcupine or echidna.
The spines of a hedgehogs, are stiff hollow hairs, they are not poisonous or barbed and cannot be easily removed, they fall out naturally when a hedgehog sheds its baby spines and grows adult spines a process called "quilling".
Hedgehogs have about 5,000 to 6,500 spines at any one time.
Most hedgehog species will roll into a tight ball if threatened, making it hard for its attacker to get past the spiky defences.
A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet.
Hedgehogs communicate through a combination of snuffles, grunts and squeals.
Hedgehogs have weak eyesight but a strong sense of hearing and smell. They can swim, climb and run surprising quickly over short distances.
For their size hedgehogs have a relatively long lifespan. They live on average for 4 - 7 years in the wild and longer in captivity.
Hedgehogs in colder climates such as the UK will hibernate through winter.
If hedgehogs come in contact with humans they can sometimes pass on infections and diseases.
The hedgehogs is a pest in countries such as New Zealand where it has been introduced, as it does not have many natural predators and eats native species of insects, snails, lizards and baby ground-nesting birds.
Horse
Horses can sleep both lying down and standing up.
Horses can run shortly after birth.
Domestic horses have a lifespan of around 25 years.
A 19th century horse named ‘Old Billy’ is said to have lived 62 years.
Horses have around 205 bones in their skeleton.
Horses have been domesticated for over 5000 years.
Horses are herbivores (plant eaters).
Horses have bigger eyes than any other mammal that lives on land.
Because horse’s eyes are on the side of their head they are capable of seeing nearly 360 degrees at one time.
Horses gallop at around 44 kph (27 mph).
The fastest recorded sprinting speed of a horse was 88 kph (55 mph).
Estimates suggest that there are around 60 million horses in the world.
Scientists believe that horses have evolved over the past 50 million years from much smaller creatures.
A male horse is called a stallion.
A female horse is called a mare.
A young male horse is called a colt.
A young female horse is called a filly.
Ponies are small horses.
Insect
The number of insect species is believed to be between six and ten million.
Insect bodies have three parts, the thorax, abdomen and head.
Insects have two antennae.
Insects have three pairs of legs.
Some insects, such as gerridae (water striders), are able to walk on the surface of water.
Bees, termites and ants live in well organized social colonies.
Only male crickets chirp.
Insects are cold blooded.
Silkworms are used as the primary producer of silk.
Most insects hatch from eggs.
Some cicadas can make sounds nearly 120 decibels loud.
The life cycle of a mosquito features four stages, egg, larva, pupa and adult.
Female mosquitoes drink blood in order to obtain nutrients needed to produce eggs.
Spiders are not insects.
Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica.
Ants leave trails and communicate with each other using pheromones as chemical signals.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish live in the sea and are found in all oceans.
Some jellyfish live in fresh water.
Jellyfish look a little like umbrellas.
Jellyfish can be large and brightly colored.
They can often be transparent (see-through) or translucent (semi-translucent).
Some can be very hard to see, nearly invisible to the human eye.
Although the word is mentioned in their name, jellyfish are not fish.
A group of jellyfish is called a ‘bloom’, ‘swarm’ or ‘smack’.
Large blooms can feature over 100000 jellyfish.
Jellyfish don’t have brains.
Jellyfish use their tentacles to sting. Most are harmless to humans but stings from some species, such as the box jellyfish, can be very painful and sometimes kill.
Box jellyfish are almost transparent (see-through).
Jellyfish eat plankton. Some sea turtles eat jellyfish.
Koala
Koalas are native to Australia.
Koalas are not bears.
Koala fossils found in Australia have been dated as long ago as 20 million years.
Koalas eat eucalypt leaves and almost nothing else.
The brain size of modern koalas has reduced substantially from their ancestors, possibly as an adaptation to the low energy they get from their diets.
The closest living relative of the koala is the wombat.
Koalas have sharp claws which help them climb trees.
Koalas have similar fingerprints to humans.
Koalas have large noses that are coloured pink or black.
Outside of breeding seasons, koalas are quiet animals.
A baby koala is called a ‘joey’.
Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for around six months and remain with them for another six months or so afterwards.
Koalas cannot be kept legally as pets.
Meerkat
The meerkat, also called a suricate, is a mammal in the mongoose family and is the only member of the mongoose family that doesn't have a bushy tail.
Meerkats live in areas of clumpy grassland and deserts in the southern area of the African continent, including the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa.
A family group of meerkats can be called a 'mob', 'gang' or 'clan'. These groups usually contain around 20 meerkats but sometimes have as many as 50.
Meerkats live on average 7 - 10 years in the wild, and 12 - 14 years in captivity.
Adult meerkats are about 25 - 35 cm (9.8 - 13.8 in) tall when standing upright.
The meerkat uses its tail to balance when standing upright. They often stand up in the morning to absorb heat on their bellies after a long cold desert night.
Meerkats are very good at digging, they have long, strong, curved claws that they use for digging burrows.
Within their territory the clan usually have up to 5 different burrows that they sleep in at night. The burrows have multiple entrances and can be 5 m deep.
Meerkats mainly eat insects but also lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, centipedes and fungi. They are immune to certain types of snake and scorpion venom.
Meerkats have excellent eyesight, they can spot predators in the air from more than 300 m away. They have great peripheral vision and the dark patches around their eyes cut glare from the hot desert surface.
A clan of meerkats will always have one "sentry" on guard to watch out for predators while the others forage for food.
If the meerkat on guard spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles in one of six different ways. For example if the threat is of low, medium or high urgency and if the predator is in the air or on the ground.
For a high-urgency land predator alarm call, meerkats will scatter down their nearest burrow entrance. For a high-urgency aerial predator alarm call, they will crouch down and may look skyward.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes from the Culicidae family, they are a midge-like fly.
The word "mosquito" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for "little fly".
There are over 3,500 known species of mosquitoes worldwide.
Most species of mosquito are considered to be a major nuisance and pest because they consume the blood of humans and animals.
Mosquitoes cause more deaths than any other animal in the world. They are carriers of diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever which can be transmitted to humans and animals when the mosquito feeds on blood.
Only the female mosquito feeds on blood and when they are not trying to produce eggs, females are happy to stick to eating nectar from plants like the male does.
When a female feeds on blood their abdomen expands and can hold up to 3 times its own body weight in blood.
Mosquitoes prefer O-type blood, people with high body heat, pregnant women and heavy breathers. Many of these reasons are because mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide (CO2) from up to 100 feet away. Which is a reason why they circulate around our heads where we exhale CO2.
Females live for two weeks to a month while males usually live for just a week.
Like other flies, mosquitoes go through four lifecycles stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Female mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in stagnant water, even very shallow puddles are suitable.
Some mosquito can fly for up to four hours continuously at 1 - 2 km/h (0.6 - 1 mph), they are however one of the slowest flying insects.
Mosquitoes can beat their wings between 450 and 600 times per second!
Fish, dragonfly and other aquatic insects are predators of mosquitoes.
Octopus
There are around 300 species of octopus, usually located in tropical and temperate ocean waters. They are divided into finned deep-sea varieties that live on the ocean floor and finless, shallow water varieties found around coral reefs.
Octopuses have two eyes in a globe-shaped head (mantle) off which protrude eight long limbs called tentacles that have two rows of sucker senses.
Octopuses can squeeze into tight spaces as they are invertebrates which means they have no skeleton, (some species have a protective casing in their mantles).
An octopus has a hard beak, like a parrot beak, which they use to break into and eat their pray such as crabs and shellfish.
Octopuses have three hearts.
The largest octopus is believed to be the giant Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini which weigh about 15 kg (33 lb), and has an arm span up to 4.3 m (14 ft).
Octopuses are believed to be highly intelligent compared to other invertebrates.
An octopus's main defence against predators such as sharks is to hide and camouflage itself by using certain skin cells to change its color. This can also be used to talk with or warn other octopuses.
Another defence is to make a fast escape. Octopuses can eject a thick, blackish ink in a large cloud to distract the predator while the octopus uses a siphon jet propulsion system to quickly swim away headfirst, with arms trailing behind.
A last ditch defence is for the octopus to shed a tentacle similar to how a gecko or lizard can discard a tale. An octopus is able to regenerate a lost tentacle.
Octopuses have very good eyesight and an excellent sense of touch.
A female octopus can lay on average about 200,000 eggs, however, fending for themselves only a handful of the hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
Octopuses usually live for 6 - 18 months. Males only live a few months after mating, and females die of starvation shortly after their protected eggs hatch.
Humans eat octopus in many cultures and it is also a popular fish bait.
Owl
There are around 200 different owl species.
Owls are active at night (nocturnal).
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Most owls hunt insects, small mammals and other birds.
Some owl species hunt fish.
Owls have powerful talons (claws) which help them catch and kill prey.
Owls have large eyes and a flat face.
Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees.
Owls are farsighted, meaning they can’t see things close to their eyes clearly.
Owls are very quiet in flight compared to other birds of prey.
The color of owl’s feathers helps them blend into their environment (camouflage).
Barn owls can be recognized by their heart shaped face.
Parrot
There are around 372 different parrot species.
Most parrots live in tropical areas.
Parrots have curved bills (beaks), strong legs and clawed feet.
Parrots are often brightly coloured.
Parrots are believed to be one of the most intelligent bird species.
Some species are known for imitating human voices.
Most parrot species rely on seeds as food. Others may eat fruit, nectar, flowers or small insects.
Parrots such as the budgerigar (budgie) and cockatiel are popular as pets.
Some parrot species can live for over 80 years.
There are 21 different species of cockatoo.
Cockatoos usually have black, grey or white plumage (feathers).
New Zealand is home to some very unique parrots including the kea, kaka and kakapo.
Keas are large, intelligent parrots that live in alpine areas of New Zealand’s South Island. They are the world’s only alpine parrot and are known for their curious and sometimes cheeky behaviour near ski fields where they like to investigate bags, steal small items and damage cars.
Kakapos are critically endangered flightless parrots, as of 2010 only around 130 are known to exist. They are active at night (nocturnal) and feed on a range of seeds, fruit, plants and pollen. Kakapos are also the world’s heaviest parrot.
The flag of Dominica features the sisserou parrot.
Penguin
Penguins are flightless birds.
While other birds have wings for flying, penguins have adapted flippers to help them swim in the water.
Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Galapagos Penguin is the only penguin specie that ventures north of the equator in the wild.
Large penguin populations can be found in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.
No penguins live at the North Pole.
Penguins eat a range of fish and other sealife that they catch underwater.
Penguins can drink sea water.
Penguins spend around half their time in water and the other half on land.
The Emperor Penguin is the tallest of all penguin species, reaching as tall as 120 cm (47 in) in height.
Emperor Penguins can stay underwater for around 20 minutes at a time.
Emperor Penguins often huddle together to keep warm in the cold temperatures of Antarctica.
King Penguins are the second largest penguin specie. They have four layers of feathers to help keep them warm on the cold subantarctic islands where they breed.
Chinstrap Penguins get their name from the thin black band under their head. At times it looks like they’re wearing a black helmet, which might be useful as they’re considered the most aggressive type of penguin.
Crested penguins have yellow crests, as well as red bills and eyes.
Yellow eyed penguins (or Hoiho) are endangered penguins native to New Zealand. Their population is believed to be around 4000.
Little Blue Penguins are the smallest type of penguin, averaging around 33 cm (13 in) in height.
Penguin’s black and white plumage serves as camouflage while swimming. The black plumage on their back is hard to see from above, while the white plumage on their front looks like the sun reflecting off the surface of the water when seen from below.
Penguins in Antarctica have no land based predators.
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal that has a very unusual appearance, it is duck-billed, has a beaver-like tail, lays eggs, has otter-like fur and webbed feet.
The platypus is only found in eastern Australia in small rivers and streams within the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
When descriptions, drawings and even live specimens of platypus were first taken back to Europe for study by British scientists many believed the animal was a hoax, a beaver's body sewn together with a duck's bill as some sort of joke.
Platypuses and echidnas are the only two mammals in the world classed as monotremes which means that they lay eggs instead of giving birth. Females platypus lay 2 - 4 eggs, incubating them for two weeks.
The back foot ankle spur of a male platypus contains a venom that is powerful enough to kill small animals such as dogs. The venom is not lethal to humans, but it can cause severe pain, that sometimes lasts for weeks.
The average length of a male platypus is 50 cm (20 in), the smaller females average 43 cm (17 in) in length. Platypus weigh 1 to 2.4 kg.
Platypuses can live more than 12 years in the wild. Their natural predators include snakes, water rats, hawks, owls, eagles and sometimes crocodiles.
The platypus is an excellent swimmer, diving under water on average for around 30 seconds to forage for food before coming up for air.
Platypus close their eyes and ears when under water, so in order to feed on worms, insects, and freshwater shrimp, they use their sense of electroreception and dig up muddy river beds with their bill to detect the electric fields of prey.
The platypus uses pouches in its cheeks to carry prey back to the surface where it is eaten. The platypus eats about 20% of its own weight in food each day.
The platypus is usually nocturnal, coming out at night or twilight to feed, sometimes they are also active on overcast days.
The platypus sleeps on average up to 14 hours per day.
The platypus was hunted for its fur until the early 20th century. It is now an Australian protected species.
The platypus is the state animal of New South Wales (NSW).
The platypus has been used as a mascot for national events in Australia and is featured on the Australian 20 cent coin.
Pony
Ponies are small horses.
Ponies have thicker manes and tails than horses.
They also have proportionally shorter legs, thicker necks and shorter heads.
Well trained ponies are good for children while they are learning to ride.
As well as for riding, ponies are used in driving and working roles.
Young ponies are called foals.
Shetland ponies are small but very strong.
Pound for pound, ponies are stronger than horses.
Miniature horses are even smaller than ponies.
Hackney ponies were first bred to pull carriages.
Ponies are easy to look after, requiring half the food that a horse would if it was the same weight.
Reptile
Nearly all reptiles lay shelled eggs.
Reptiles breathe air.
Reptiles are covered in scales or have a bony external plate such as a shell.
Nearly all reptiles are cold blooded.
The first reptiles are believed to have evolved around 320 million years ago.
The size of reptile’s brains relative to their body is much smaller than that of mammals.
Reptiles use a variety of methods to defend themselves from dangerous situations, such as avoidance, camouflage, hissing and biting.
Crocodiles and alligators are reptiles.
Turtles and tortoises are reptiles.
Lizards and snakes are reptiles.
Lizard and snake species make up the largest number of different reptiles.
Tuataras found in New Zealand are reptiles.
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory animals of the class Arachnida, making them cousins to spiders, mites and ticks.
Scorpions have eight legs, a pair of pincers (pedipalps) and a narrow segmented tail that often curves over their back, on the end of which is a venomous stinger.
The scorpion uses their pincers to quickly grab prey and then whip their poisonous tail stinger over to kill or paralyze the prey. The tail is also used as a useful defence against predators.
Scorpion species range in size from 0.09 cm to 20 cm.
Scorpions can be found on all continents except for Antarctica.
There are over 1750 known species of scorpion. While humans generally fear the scorpion and its poisonous sting only about 25 of the species have venom capable of killing a human.
Under UV light such as a black light scorpions are known to glow due to the presence of fluorescent chemicals in their exoskeleton.
The scorpion is nocturnal, often hiding during the day under rocks and in holes in the ground before emerging at night to feed.
Scorpions can eat a massive amount of food in one meal. Their large food storage organs, together with a low metabolism rate and an inactive lifestyle means that if necessary they can survive 6-12 months without eating again.
Areas of China have a traditional dish of fried scorpion, and scorpion wine features in Chinese medicine.
The scorpion is one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac, with the Scorpio constellation identified in the stars.
Scorpions moult, they shed their exoskeleton up to 7 times as they grow to full size. They become vulnerable to predators each time until their new protective exoskeleton hardens.
Sheep
There are over 1 billion sheep in the world.
China has the largest number of sheep in the world.
Adult female sheep are known as ewes.
Adult male sheep are known as rams.
Castrated adult male sheep are known as wethers.
A group of sheep is known as a herd, flock or mob.
Young sheep are called lambs.
Sheep have a field of vision of around 300 degrees, allowing them to see behind themselves without having to turn their head.
Sheep are herbivores that eat vegetation such as grass.
The digestive system of sheep features four chambers which help break down what they eat.
Sheep like to stay close to others in a herd which makes them easier to move together to new pastures.
In 1996, a sheep named Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from a somatic cell.
Domesticated sheep are raised for a number of agricultural products including fleece and meat.
Snail
Snail is a common name for gastropod molluscs that can be split into three groups, land snails, sea snails and freshwater snails.
Snails can have lungs or gills depending on the species and their habitat. Some marine snails actually can have lungs and some land based snails can have gills.
Snail-like animals that do not have a shell are usually called slugs.
Most snail species have a ribbon-like tongue called a radula that contains thousands of microscopic teeth. The radula works like a file, ripping food up into tiny pieces.
The majority of snails are herbivores eating vegetation such as leaves, stems and flowers, some larger species and marine based species can be predatory omnivores or even carnivores.
The giant African land snail grows to about 38 cm (15 in) and weigh 1 kg (2lb).
The largest living sea snail species is the Syrinx aruanus who's shell can reach 90 cm (35 in) in length and the snail can weigh up to 18 kg (40lbs)!
Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 m (50 yards) per hour. Making the snail one of the slowest creatures on Earth.
As they move along snails leave behind a trail of mucus which acts as a lubricant to reduce surface friction. This also allows the snail to move along upside down.
Depending on the species snails can live 5 - 25 years.
The common garden snail is regarded as an agricultural and garden pest as it eats the leaves and stems of crops.
The snail is a delicacy in French cuisine called escargot. The snail is also eaten in many other countries of the world, often as a fried meal.
In English, the expression "a snail's pace" is a term used to describe a slow, inefficient process and "snail mail" is now commonly used when referring to sending regular mail rather than that sent by email.
Spider
Spiders are arachnids, not insects.
Other members of the arachnid family include scorpions, mites, ticks and harvestmen.
Spiders have 8 legs while insects have 6.
Spiders don’t have antennae while insects do.
Spiders are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
There are around 40000 different species of spider.
Most spiders make silk which they use to create spider webs and capture prey.
Abandoned spider webs are called cobwebs.
Most spiders are harmless to humans but a few spider species, such as the black widow, can bite humans and inject venom. Deaths from spider bites are rare however.
An abnormal fear of spiders is called ‘arachnophobia’.
Tarantulas are large and often hairy spiders, the biggest species have been known to kill mice, lizards and birds.
Most tarantula species pose no threat to humans.
The largest specie of tarantula is the Goliath Birdeater.
Giant Huntsman spiders have leg-spans of around 30cm (12 in).
Stingray
Like their cousin the shark, stingrays do not have bones, their skeletons are instead made of cartilage.
Stingrays are a group of rays, consisting of eight families including the sixgill stingray, deep water stingray, stingarees, round rays, whiptail stingrays, river stingrays, butterfly rays and eagle rays.
There are around 70 species of stingrays in the world.
Stingrays are commonly found in tropical and subtropical coastal ocean waters, a few species live in freshwater rivers.
Most varieties of stingrays have one or more barbed venomous stingers on their tail which are only used in self-defence.
Stingrays flat bodies allow them to dig in and hide from predators on the sandy ocean bottom.
The main predators of stingrays are sharks, other large fish, seals, and sea lions.
Stingrays eyes are on top of their bodies, yet their mouth, gills, and nostrils are on the underside. Because of this stingrays cannot see their prey, instead they use smell and electroreceptor's to find food.
Stingrays mainly feed on molluscs, crustaceans such as crabs, clams, oysters, sea snails and small fish.
To swim, some stingray species flap their fins like a bird and fly through the water, others move their entire bodies in a wavy motion propelling them forward.
Shuffling your feet along a sandy shallow sea floor is the best way to avoid stepping on a stingray and potentially getting stung.
In the wild, a stingray can live on average to be 15 to 25 years old.
Some species of stingray found in the deep ocean can grow as long as 14 ft including the tail.
Stingrays are eaten in many cuisines around the world. In Singapore and Malaysia, stingray is grilled over charcoal, and served with spicy sauces.
The leathery skin of the ray is often used to make exotic shoes, boots, belts, wallets, jackets, and cellphone cases. In Japan, the skin is sometimes used as an under layer on Japanese swords due to its hard, rough, texture that keeps the layer on top from sliding on the handle during use.
Toucan
The family Ramphastidae includes toucans, toucanets and the smaller toucan called aracaris. There are about 40 different species.
Toucans live in tropical and sub-tropical jungle regions, they are native to southern Mexico in Central America, the northern areas of South America, and the Caribbean region.
Toucans are renown for their large colorful bills. At 8 inches (20 cm) they have the longest bill of any bird in the world in relation to their body size 25 in (63.5 cm).
Despite its size, the toucan's bill is very light as it is made of keratin (like human hair) in a honeycomb-like structure. It is believed to be this large in order to keep the bird cool in the hot climates it lives in.
This does mean the toucan's bill is not very strong, so it can't be used for digging or fighting like other bird beaks.
Toucan's have long narrow tongues up to 15 cm (6 in) long.
The relatively small wings of the toucan means they are not very good at flying and cannot stay airborne for long. This is fine by them though, they often don't move far, and usually hop between branches using curved toes and sharp claws.
Toucans mainly eat fruit, but sometimes prey on insects and small lizards.
Toucans live together in small-sized flocks, they make nests in tree hollows or holes that have often be created by their distant cousin the woodpecker.
The Toco toucan is the most widely recognized species of toucan, it has a large black-tipped orangey-yellow bill and a black bodied plumage with a white throat.
Toucans are one of the nosier jungle birds. They live for up to 20 years, and their predators include Jaguars and other big cats.
Since the 1960's, Toucan Sam, a cartoon mascot, has been used as the face of Kellogg's breakfast cereal Fruit Loops.
Venomous Snake
Venomous snakes have special glands and teeth designed to inject venom into their prey.
There are around 700 different species of venomous snakes.
Around 250 of these are capable of killing a human with one bite.
As well as for attacking prey, snakes also use venom in self defence.
The most common way to effectively treat venomous snake bites is with anti-venom.
Snake venom can contain neurotoxins that attack the nervous system.
Taipans are large Australian snakes that have high levels of venom.
Australian brown snakes are highly dangerous and easily alarmed.
Sea snakes are some of the most venomous in the world.
Coral snakes are highly venomous but not usually aggressive, only biting as a last resort.
Vipers have long, hollow fangs used to inject venom.
When cobras are threatened they rear up and flatten their necks to appear larger.
The King Cobra is the longest snake in the world with the ability to inject venom. They can grow up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft) in length.
Rattlesnakes get their name from the rattle at the end of their tails. The snake shakes the rattle to warn or scare away predators.
The most common snake bites in North America are from rattlesnakes.
Black mambas get their name because of the black color inside their mouth.
Black mambas are the fastest snake in the world.
NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant is nicknamed the ‘Black Mamba’
Ant
Ants are a social insect from the family Formicidae. They evolved from wasp-like ancestors around 110-130 million years ago after the rise of flowering plants.
Of an estimated 22,000 ant species, over 12,500 species have been identified.
Antarctica and a few remote islands are the only places with no indigenous ants.
It estimated that the total number of ants alive in the world at any one time is between one and ten quadrillion (10,000,000,000,000,000).
Ants are believed to contribute up to 25% of the total biomass weight of land based animals. That's about the same as the total biomass of the entire human race, or equivalent to approximately 1 million ants for every human.
Ant species range in size from 0.75 mm to 52 mm (0.030 in - 2.0 in).
Most ants are black or red in color but some species are green or metallic.
Ants can carry 20 times their own weight.
Ants can build small colonies of less than 100 ants through to very large colonies that occupy large areas and contain millions of individual ants.
Colonies of ants often dividing up labour, but work collectively to solve problems and support the group in a similar way to how human societies work.
"Queen" ants are the head of ant colonies, they lay thousands of eggs. Male ants called "drones" have one role which is to mate with the queen. Non-reproducing female ants form castes of "workers" or "soldiers" who find food, care for the queen and offspring, build the nest, and defend the colony or attack others.
Foraging worker ants can travel up to 200 metres (700 ft) from their nest and find their way back to the colony by following scent trails left by others.
Only female queen ants and male drones, have wings. Queen ants shed there wings after mating with a male, and seek a suitable place to begin a colony.
Queen ants can live up to 30 years, the longest of any insect. Workers live for 1 to 3 years, while male drones usually only survive a few weeks.
Ants can bite or sting, bullet ants, have the most painful sting of any insect, its not fatal to humans though like the sting of the Australian jack jumper ant.
Bald Eagle
Bald Eagles are found in North America.
The Great Seal of the United States features a bald eagle.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States.
Although their name suggests otherwise, bald eagles are not bald.
Female bald eagles are larger than male bald eagles.
Bald eagles eat mostly fish, swooping down to the water and catching them with their powerful talons.
Bald eagles live for around 20 years in the wild.
Bald eagles build very large nests, sometimes weighing as much as a ton!
The bald eagle was added to the list of endangered species in the United States in 1967 and its numbers have recovered well since.
Beaver
There are two species of beaver. The European or Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis).
Beavers are the second largest rodent in the world after the capybara.
The beaver is mainly a nocturnal animal.
The large front teeth of the beaver never stop growing. The beavers constant gnawing on wood helps to keep their teeth from growing too long.
Together beaver colonies create dams of wood and mud to provide still, deep water in order to protect against predators such as wolves, coyotes, bears or eagles, and also so they can float food and building material to their homes.
Once the dams are completed and ponds formed, beavers will work on building their homes called lodges in the middle. The dome shaped lodges, like the dams, are constructed with branches and mud. Lodges have underwater entrances, making entry tough for most other animals.
There are usually two dens within the lodge, one is for drying off after entering from the water and another, drier one, is where the family of up to four adults and six to eight young live.
There were once more than 60 million North American beaver. But due to hunting for its fur, its glands for medicine and because the beavers tree-felling and dams affect other land uses, the population has declined to around 12 million.
The beaver has a good sense of hearing, smell, and touch. It has poor eyesight, but does have a set of transparent eyelids which allow them to see under water.
Using their broad, scaly tail, beavers will forcefully slap the water as an alarm signal to other beavers in the area that a predator is approaching.
Beavers are slow on land but using their webbed feet, they are very good swimmers. A beaver can stay under water for up to 15 minutes.
Beavers are herbivores. They like to eat the wood of trees such as the aspen, cottonwood, willow, birch, maple, cherry and also eat pondweed and water lilies.
Adult beavers are around 3 feet long and have been known to weigh over 25 kg (55 lb). Females are as large or larger than males of the same age.
Beavers can live up to 24 years in the wild.
The beaver is the national animal of Canada, and features on the Canadian five-cent piece.
Beavers like to keep themselves busy, they are prolific builders during the night. Hence the saying "As busy as a beaver".
Beetle
Beetles are the common name for an order of insects called Coleoptera.
The name coleoptera comes from the Greek words koleos, meaning "sheath" (cover) and pteron, meaning "wing", so "sheathed wing". Beetles have two pairs of wings, the front pair, called "elytra", are hard, thick sheath or shell-like and protect the more normal rear pair of wings which are used for flying.
Around 40% of all known insect species are beetles, this equals about 400,000 species and some estimates suggest there could be as many as 3 - 8 million beetle species on Earth.
The order Coleoptera is the largest order in the entire animal kingdom, making up nearly 30% of all animals.
Beetles are incredibly versatile and are found nearly everywhere on Earth except for the very cold polar regions.
To avoid being attacked by predators, beetle species have many strategies such as camouflage, toxic properties, and fighting defences.
Some bigger species of beetle have even been known to eat small birds or mammals but the majority of beetles play a vital role in the ecosystems they live in because they feed mainly on debris from plants and animals.
Ladybirds (ladybugs) are one type of beetle that help to control pest populations by feeding on aphids that would otherwise eat vegetable plants.
Dung beetles are very important in many ecosystems because they feed on animal droppings, so are recycling waste material and speeding up the circulation of the nutrients back into the food chain.
Other species of beetle are seen as pests. Those that enjoy burrowing into trees to feed on the dust from wood, kill millions of trees each year. While beetles that feed on vegetables, grains and fruit can cost farmers millions in pesticides.
Humans eat more beetles than any other kind of insect. There are over 300 species known to be eaten, with most of these eaten at the larvae stage.
The scarab variety of dung beetle was a popular sacred symbol in Ancient Egypt.
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects.
A butterfly’s lifecycle is made up of four parts, egg, larva (caterpillars), pupa (chrysalis) and adult.
Butterflies attach their eggs to leaves with a special glue.
Most caterpillars are plant eaters (herbivores).
Fully grown caterpillars attach themselves to a suitable twig or leaf before shedding their outside layer of skin to reveal a hard skin underneath known as a chrysalis.
An adult butterfly will eventually emerge from the chrysalis where it will wait a few hours for its wings to fill with blood and dry, before flying for the first time.
Butterflies can live in the adult stage from anywhere between a week and a year, depending on the species.
Butterflies have four wings.
Butterflies often have brightly coloured wings with unique patterns made up of tiny scales.
Most butterflies feed on nectar from flowers.
Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet.
Scientists estimate that there are between 15000 and 20000 different species of butterfly.
Birdwing butterflies have large, angular wings and fly in a similar way to birds.
Monarch butterflies are known for their long migration. Every year monarch butterflies will travel a great distance (sometimes over 4000 km), females will lay eggs and a new generation of monarchs will travel back, completing the cycle.
Chameleon
Chameleons are a very unique branch of the lizard group of reptiles.
There are around 160 species of chameleon.
Chameleons live in warm varied habitats from rainforests through to deserts.
Almost half of the world's chameleon species are native to Madagascar, they are also found in Africa, and southern Europe to as far as Sri Lanka in Asia and have been introduced to Hawaii, California and Florida.
Special color pigment cells under the skin called chromatophores allow some chameleon species to change their skin color, creating combined patterns of pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, yellow and purple.
Chameleon change color for camouflage but this is not always the main reason. Some show darker colors when angry, or when trying to scare others. Males show light multi-colored patterns when vying for female attention. Desert varieties change to black when its cooler to absorb heat, then a light grey to reflect heat.
Chameleons have amazing eyes. The bulging upper and lower eyelids are joined and the pupil peaks out from a pinhole sized gap.
The chameleons' eyes can rotate and focus separately on 180-degree arcs, so they can see two different objects at the same time. This gives them a full 360-degree field of vision.
Chameleons actual eyesight is great they can see small insects 5-10 meters away. They can also see in both visible and ultraviolet light.
Chameleons feed by ballistically projecting their tongues often over twice the length of their body to catch prey, forming a suction cup as it hits its target.
The chameleons tongue can reach its prey in just 0.07 split seconds, with the projectile acceleration reaching over 41 g's of force.
Chameleons usually eat large insects such as locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, and stick insects, some bigger species also eat other lizards and young birds.
Chameleons are not deaf but they do not actually have ear openings.
Many species of chameleon have horn-like bumps or crests on their heads.
Species of chameleon can be as small as 15 mm (0.59 in) or as large as 69 cm (27 in).
Cow
Cattle are herbivores that eat vegetation such as grass.
Cattle stomachs have four chambers which help break down what they eat
There are well over 1 billion cattle in the world.
Cattle are sacred in India.
There are an estimated 300 million cattle in India.
Young cattle are generally known as calves.
Adult females are generally called cows.
Adult males that are not castrated are generally called bulls.
Cattle are red/green color blind.
In the sometimes controversial sport of bull fighting, bulls are angered by the movement of the cape rather than its red color.
Cattle are farmed for a number of agricultural products including meat and dairy products.
Meat from adult cattle is known as beef.
Meat from calves is known as veal.
Cattle trained to be draft animals are known as oxen (ox).
Crocodile
Crocodiles are reptiles.
The physical characteristics of crocodiles make them good predators.
Crocodiles are fast over short distances.
Crocodiles have sharp teeth.
Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal in the world.
The muscles that open crocodiles jaws however are not so powerful, reasonably strong people could hold a crocodiles jaw closed with their bare hands.
Like other reptiles, crocodiles are cold-blooded.
Crocodiles can survive for a long time without food.
Most crocodiles live in fresh water rivers and lakes but some live in salt water.
Crocodiles eat a variety of fish, birds and other animals.
Crocodiles release heat through their mouths rather than through sweat glands.
The saltwater crocodile is the largest species of crocodile.
Some crocodile species can weigh over 1200 kg (2600 lb).
Like alligators, crocodiles are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’.
Duck
The duck is a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. They are related to swans and geese.
Ducks are mostly aquatic birds living in both fresh water and sea water and found on every continent except for Antarctica.
A male duck is called a drake, a female duck a hen, and a baby duck a duckling.
Ducks are omnivores. They feed on aquatic plants, small fish, insects, worms, grubs and more. People often feed domesticated ducks bread.
Diving ducks and sea ducks search for food fairly deep underwater. To be able to stay underwater more easily, diving ducks are quite heavy.
Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water, on land, or by ducking their head underwater. Along the edge of their beak is a comb-like structure called a pecten, that enables them to hold slippery food and filter nutrients out of the water.
A common urban legend is that a ducks quack does not echo. This has however, been proven to be false.
Ducks are curious and friendly creatures they have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years. All domestic ducks are descended from either the Mallard or the Muscovy duck.
The most common and recognised species of duck is the Mallard or Wild duck. It is a dabbling duck that lives in the Americas, Europe, Asia, North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia.
The male Mallard has a glossy green head, grey wings and belly, while the female has a brown-speckled plumage. Mallard ducks have a moulting season, they are vulnerable during this time as the moulting stops them flying.
Mallard ducks live 5 to 10 years in the wild and 8+ years in captivity.
Paradise Shelducks of New Zealand often have one mating partner for life.
All ducks have highly waterproof feathers due to the feathers interlocking nature and waxy coating.
Ducks have many economic uses. Their feathers, particularly their underlying 'down' feathers, are used in many products, while the white Pekin duck is the most common variety raised for eggs and meat.
Ducks have featured as popular cartoon characters over the years, such as Walt Disney's Donald Duck and Warner Brothers, Daffy Duck.
Fish
Fish are vertebrate animals that live in the water. Vertebrate means they have a spinal cord surrounded by bone or cartilage.
Fish have gills that extract oxygen from the water around them.
There are over 30000 known species of fish.
Some flatfish use camouflage to hide themselves on the ocean floor.
Tuna can swim at speeds of up to 70 kph (43 mph).
Relative to their body size, fish have small brains compared to most other animals.
Fish are covered in scales which are often covered in a layer of slime to help their movement through water.
Cleaner fish help out other fish by removing parasites and dead skin from their scales.
Although jellyfish and crayfish have the word ‘fish’ in their name, they aren’t actually fish.
Over 1000 fish species are threatened by extinction.
Mermaids are mythological creatures with the tail of a fish and the upper half of a woman.
Giant Panda
The giant panda is native to China.
It has a black and white coat that features large black patches around its eyes.
Pandas are an endangered species. Population estimates vary but there may be around 2000 left living in the wild.
A giant panda cub weighs only around 150 grams (5 oz) at birth.
Adult males can weigh up to 150 kg (330 lb).
Giant panda have a lifespan of around 20 years in the wild.
Female pandas raise cubs on their own (the male leaves after mating).
The diet of a panda is made up almost entirely of bamboo.
Giant pandas eat as much as 10 kg (22 lb) of bamboo a day.
Giant pandas are good climbers.
The scientific name for the giant panda is ‘ailuropoda melanoleuca’.
An animated movie from 2008 named ‘Kung Fu Panda’ features a giant panda called ‘Po’.
Guinea Pig
The guinea pig or 'cavy' is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia.
Despite being called 'guinea pigs' they are not in the pig family or from Guinea.
Guinea pigs originated in the Andes mountains of South America. They do not exist naturally in the wild, instead are domesticated descendants of a closely related species the Cavia aperea.
The guinea pig is an important creature for many indigenous South American people, especially as a food source. But also for customary medicine or religious ceremonies.
The guinea pig has been a popular household pet in Western societies since they were first bought back by European traders as long ago as the 16th century.
They are still very popular as pets today due to their quiet nature, their openness to humans through handling and feeding, and the relative ease of caring for them.
Guinea pigs purr when they are happy, often, like a cat it is when they are being held or petted. They make a whistle noise when they are excited, usually on seeing their owner or when its feeding time.
Grass is the guinea pig's main diet of food, they also need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.
Guinea pigs on average weigh 0.70 to 1.2 kg (1.5 - 2.5 lbs), and are 20 to 25 cm (8 - 10 inches) long.
Guinea pigs live on average for 4 - 5 years but sometimes as long as 8 years.
In the early 20th century the guinea pig was used in scientific experimentation, they have now mainly been replaced in laboratories by mice and rats. Although the term 'guinea pig' is still commonly used in English as a metaphor for something being experimented on.
The guinea pig is a popular traditional food dish in many South American countries most notably Peru and Bolivia and areas of Ecuador and Colombia.
Hare
Hares are similar to rabbits but there are a number of key differences.
Hares are usually larger than rabbits and have longer ears.
Rabbits give birth to their young in burrows while hares give birth in more open areas.
Hares are born with fur and their eyes open.
Hares are not kept as house pets.
Hares usually live by themselves or in pairs.
Young hares are called leverets.
Like rabbits, hares are herbivores (plant eaters).
A group of hares is known as a ‘drove’.
Hares can run at speeds up to 72 kph (45 mph).
Hippo
Hippopotamuses are found in Africa.
The name hippopotamus means ‘river horse’ and is often shortened to hippo.
The hippopotamus is generally considered the third largest land mammal (after the White rhinoceros and elephant).
Hippopotamuses spend a large amount of time in water such as rivers, lakes and swamps.
Resting in water helps keep hippopotamuses temperature down.
Hippopotamuses give birth in water.
Hippopotamuses have short legs, a huge mouth and a body shaped like a barrel.
The closest relations of the hippopotamus are surprisingly cetaceans such as whales and dolphins.
Scientists believe this family of animals diverged in evolution around 55 million years ago.
Although hippos might look a little chubby, they can easily outrun a human.
Hippos can be extremely aggressive, especially if they feel threatened.
They are regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.
Hippos are threatened by habitat loss and poachers who hunt them for their meat and teeth.
A male hippopotamus is called a ‘bull’.
A female hippopotamus is called a ‘cow’.
A baby hippo is called a ‘calf’.
A group of hippos in known as a ‘herd’, ‘pod’, ‘dale’ or ‘bloat’.
Hippos typically live for around 45 years.
Hippos eat mostly grass.
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are New World birds found only in the Americas, mainly South America.
There are more than 340 species of hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are one of the smallest kinds of bird in the world. With most species 7.5 - 13 cm (3 - 5 in) in length. The Bee hummingbird is the smallest at just 5 cm (2 in). The largest is the Giant Hummingbird reaching over 20 cm (8 in).
They are called hummingbirds due to the sound created by their rapidly beating wings.
Depending on the species a hummingbird's wings can flap on average around 50 times per second, and can reach as high as 200 times per second. This allows them to fly faster than 15 m/s (54 km/h or 34 mph).
The hummingbird can hover, fly forwards, backwards and even upside down.
Hummingbirds drink the nectar of flowers which gives them a good source of glucose energy, they will catch insects every now and again for a protein boost.
A hummingbird's bill varies dramatically depending on the species. Most have a fairly long, thin bill that allows them to reach down to the nectar of a flower. With the bill slightly open they use their tongue to quickly lap up the nectar inside.
Apart from insects, hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of all animals due to the need to keep their wings rapidly beating. Because of this the hummingbird visits hundreds of flowers each day and consuming more than their own weight in nectar each day.
Because they need to conserve energy hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, they spend the majority of their time perched digesting their food.
To conserve energy overnight a hummingbird enters a hibernation-like sleep state called torpor.
Depending on the species hummingbirds live on average 3 to 5 years. But have been known to live as long as 12 years.
Most hummingbirds of the United States and Canada migrate over 3000km south in fall to spend winter in Mexico or Central America. Some South American species also move north to these areas during the southern winter.
Before migrating, the hummingbird will store up a layer of fat equal to half its body weight in order to slowly use up this energy source while flying.
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat in the Panthera genus, the jaguar's scientific name is Panthera onca.
The jaguar is the 3rd largest of the big cats after the tiger and the lion and it is the largest of all the big cats in the Americas.
Jaguar's are only found in the Americas. Their range extends from Arizona in South-west United States, Mexico, through Central America, into most Amazon River Basin countries in South America and as far south as northern Argentina.
The jaguar's preferred habitat is dense rainforest, but they are also found across other forested areas and open plains.
With its spotted coat the jaguar most closely resembles the leopard which is found in Asia and Africa, however, the jaguar is larger and has a stockier build than the leopard, it also has less but bigger rosettes (spots) with small dots in the middle. While the jaguars behavioural habits more resemble that of a tiger.
Like the tiger, jaguars enjoy water and are good at swimming.
Jaguars roam, hunt and live alone, only coming together to mate. They leave a scent to mark their territory. Female territories may overlap and range in size from 25 - 40 km2. While males territories are double that size, a male will aggressively protect his area (and the resident females within it) from other males.
The jaguar stalks and ambushes its prey, often leaping into water or from a tree.
Jaguars are carnivores, they prey on over 80 species of animal of all sizes, such as deer, pigs, capybara, foxes, fish, frogs and even large anaconda snakes.
The jaguar has a very powerful jaw, its bite exerts more force than that of a lion.
Male jaguars are about 10-20% larger than females. On average jaguars weigh between 124 - 211 lbs (56–96 kg) and are 4 ft to 6.5 ft (1.2 to 1.95 m) in length.
Jaguars live in the wild for 11-15 years, in captivity they can live over 20 years.
Many ancient American cultures such as the Maya and Aztec, featured the jaguar in their mythologies, it was often regarded as a symbol of strength.
Argentina's national rugby team badge includes a jaguar. However, a historical error resulted in the team being nicknamed to this day, Los Pumas (the pumas).
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are marsupial animals that are found in Australia as well as New Guinea.
There are four different kangaroo species, the red kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and antilopine kangaroo.
Kangaroos can hop around quickly on two legs or walk around slowly on all four.
Kangaroos can’t walk backwards.
Kangaroos have very powerful legs and can be dangerous at times.
Kangaroos can jump very high, sometimes three times their own height.
Kangaroos can swim.
Most kangaroos eat grass.
Baby kangaroos are known as ‘joeys’.
A group of kangaroos is called a ‘mob’, ‘troop’ or ‘court’.
The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial in the world.
Kangaroos usually live to around six years old in the wild.
Australian airline Qantas uses a kangaroo as their symbol.
Lizard
Lizards are reptiles.
Some lizards can detach their tails if caught by predators.
The upper and lower eyelids of chameleons are joined, leaving just a small hole for them to see through. They can move their eyes independently however, allowing them to look in two different directions at the same time.
Chameleons have long tongues which they rapidly extend from their mouth, too fast for human eyes to see properly.
Chameleons generally eat insects.
Some chameleons have the ability to change color. This helps them communicate with each other and can also be used for camouflage.
Geckos have no eyelids.
Geckos have unique toes which allow them to be good climbers.
Iguanas have a row of spines which run down their back and tail.
Green iguanas are popular pets.
The Komodo dragon is the largest type of lizard, growing up to 3 metres (10 feet) in length.
They are found on a number of different Indonesian Islands.
Komodo dragons are carnivores (meat eaters) and can be very aggressive.
Monkey
There are currently 264 known monkey species.
Monkeys can be divided into two groups, Old World monkeys that live in Africa and Asia, and New World monkeys that live in South America.
A baboon is an example of an Old World monkey, while a marmoset is an example of a New World monkey.
Apes are not monkeys.
Some monkeys live on the ground, while others live in trees.
Different monkey species eat a variety of foods, such as fruit, insects, flowers, leaves and reptiles.
Most monkeys have tails.
Groups of monkeys are known as a ‘tribe’, ‘troop’ or ‘mission’.
The Pygmy Marmoset is the smallest type of monkey, with adults weighing between 120 and 140 grams.
The Mandrill is the largest type of monkey, with adult males weighing up to 35 kg.
Capuchin monkeys are believed to be one of the smartest New World monkey species. They have the ability to use tools, learn new skills and show various signs of self-awareness.
Spider monkeys get their name because of their long arms, legs and tail.
The monkey is the 9th animal that appears on the Chinese zodiac, appearing as the zodiac sign in 2016.
Mouse
A mouse or plural mice is a small mammal from the rodent order of animals.
Mice have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, and a long almost hairless tail.
There are more than 30 known species of mice.
The house mouse is the best known type of mouse and is a popular pet variety. Other mouse species seen in and around the house are the field mouse, the American white-footed mouse and the deer mouse.
Mice are usually nocturnal animals. They have poor eyesight but make up for this with their very good hearing and smell.
Mice have a number of predators including cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, and snakes.
In the wild, mice are herbivores that eat all kinds of fruit and grains from plants.
Mice tails can grow as long as their bodies.
Mice use their whiskers to sense changes in temperature and to help feel the surface they are walking along.
Mice build very complex burrows with long entrances and many escape routes. They are very clean and tidy rodents with their burrows often having separate areas for storing food, sleeping and going to the toilet.
A mouse eats 15 - 20 times a day. Therefore they usually build their homes close to food sources, tending to only travel up to 8 m from their burrows to find food.
Mice and rats are the most commonly used animals in laboratories for scientific experiments.
The mouse is a delicacy in eastern Zambia and northern Malawi, where they are eaten as a source of protein.
Because they have so many predators mice usually only live for about six months in the wild. In a lab or as a pet they can live for up to two years.
In 1928, Walt Disney's Micky Mouse was the first mouse character to be used in children cartoons and animation. Mouse characters have remained popular since with other such as Speedy Gonzales, Jerry from Tom and Jerry, and Stuart Little.
Otter
The otter is a carnivorous mammal in a branch of the weasel family called Lutrinae.
There are 13 species of otter found all around the world.
Some otter species spend all their time in the water while others are land and water based animals.
An otter's den is called a 'holt' or a 'couch'.
A group of otters are called a 'bevy', 'family', 'lodge', or 'romp', or, when in water the group is called a 'raft'.
Otters live up to 16 years in the wild.
Otters are very active hunters, spending many hours a day chasing prey through water or scouring the rivers and the sea bed. They mainly eat fish but also frogs, crayfish and crabs, some species carry a rock to help smash open shellfish.
Otter species range in size from the smallest Oriental small-clawed otter at 0.6 m (2 ft) and 1 kg (2.2 lb). Through to the large Giant otter and Sea otters who can reach 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and 45 kg (99.2 lb).
Four of the main otter species include the European otter, the North American river otter, the Sea otter, and the Giant otter.
The European otter or Eurasian otter, are found in Europe, Asia, parts of North Africa and the British Isles.
The North American river otter was one of the most hunted animals for its fur after Europeans arrived. Sea otters have also been hunted in large numbers for their fur.
Unlike most marine mammals, otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber. Instead air is trapped in their fur which keeps them warm.
The Giant otter is found in South America around the Amazon river basin.
The otter is a very playful animal and are believe to take part in some activities just for the enjoyment. Some make waterslides to slide down into the water!
Otters are a popular animal in Japanese folklore where they are called "kawauso". In these tales the smart kawauso often fool humans, kind of like a fox.
Panther
The animal known as a "panther" actually refers to 3 different types of big cats, leopards (Panthera pardus) or jaguars (Panthera onca) that have a black or white color mutation and a subspecies of the cougar (Puma concolor).
The "black panther" is a black jaguar of the Americas or a black leopard of Asia and Africa. In fact, the black panther actually has normal rosettes (spots), they are often just too hard to see because the animal's fur is so dark.
Melanism is the name of the dark color pigmentation mutation in a jaguar or leopard that cause the fur to be blackish, it occurs in about 6% of the population.
The opposite of melanism is albinism which is an even rarer mutation that can occur in most animal species. The extremely rare "white panther" are albino leopards, jaguars or cougars.
Because the melanism gene is a dominant gene in jaguars, a black jaguar may produce either black or spotted cubs, while a pair of spotted jaguars can only have spotted cubs.
Apart from color the black panther is believed to be less fertile than normal-colored big cats and also much more unpredictable and aggressive.
Black panthers are great swimmers and are one of the strongest tree climbing big cats, often pouncing on prey from a tree, they are capable of leaping up to 20 feet to catch their prey which includes medium sized animals like deer and monkeys and smaller rabbits and birds.
Black panthers have good hearing, extremely good eyesight, and a strong jaw.
The black panther is often called 'the ghost of the forest'. It is a smart, stealth-like attacker, its dark coat helps it hide and stalk prey very easily, especially at night.
The light tan colored Florida panther is one of over 30 subspecies of cougar (Puma concolor) found in North America.
The Florida panther has adapted to the subtropical forests and swamp environments of Florida, however they are very rare animals, as of 2013 it is believed only 160 Florida panthers remain in the wild.
Peacock
"Peacock" is commonly used as the name for a peafowl of the pheasant family. But in fact "peacock" is the name for the colorfully plumaged male peafowl only. The females are called peahens, they are smaller and grey or brown in color.
The name of a baby peafowl is a peachick.
Peacocks are best known for their amazing eye-spotted tail feathers or plumage. During a display ceremony the peacock will stand its tail feathers up to form a fan that stretches out nearly 2 m in length.
This colourful display is believed to be a way to attract females for mating purposes, and secondly to make the peacock look bigger and intimidating if he feels threatened by predators.
There are 3 varieties of peafowl, the Indian, the Green and the Congo.
The most common type of peafowl found in many zoos and parks around the world is the Indian peafowl. The head and neck of which is covered in shining, blue feathers arranged like scales. It is native to South Asia areas of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India (where it is the national bird).
The Congo peafowl is native to central Africa. It doesn't have a large plumage like other varieties. It is the national bird of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Green peafowl is native to Southeast Asia, it has chrome green and bronze feathers. It lives in areas such as Myanmar (its national symbol) and Java. It is regarded as an endangered species due to hunting and a reduction in its habitat.
White varieties of peacocks are not albinos, they have a genetic mutation that causes the lack of pigments in the plumage.
Peacock feathers accounts for 60 percent of the bird's total body length and with a wingspan measuring 5 feet, it is one of the largest flying birds in the world.
A peafowl can live to over the age of 20 years, the peacocks plumage looks its best when the male reaches the age of 5 or 6.
Peacocks have spurs on their feet that are primarily used to fight with other males.
Peafowl are omnivorous, they eat many types of plants, flower petals, seeds, insects and small reptiles such as lizards.
In Hindu culture, Lord Karthikeya, the god of war, is said to ride a peacock.
Pig
Pigs are intelligent animals.
Like humans, pigs are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.
A pig’s snout is an important tool for finding food in the ground and sensing the world around them.
Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.
There are around 2 billion pigs in the world.
Humans farm pigs for meat such as pork, bacon and ham.
Some people like to keep pigs as pets.
Wild pigs (boar) are often hunted in the wild.
In some areas of the world, wild boars are the main source of food for tigers.
Feral pigs that have been introduced into new areas can be a threat to the local ecosystem.
Pigs can pass on a variety of diseases to humans.
Relative to their body size, pigs have small lungs.
Polar Bear
Polar bears live in the Arctic.
Polar bears have black skin and although their fur appears white, it is actually transparent.
It is the largest carnivore (meat eater) that lives on land.
Polar bears use sea ice as a platform to hunt seals.
Seals make up most of a polar bears diet.
Male polar bears can weigh up to 680 kg (1500 lb).
Female polar bears usually only weigh about half as much as males.
Polar bears spend most of their time at sea.
Scientists estimate that there are around 20000 polar bears.
Polar bears have 42 teeth.
The scientific name for the polar bear is ‘ursus maritimus’.
Polar bears keep warm thanks to nearly 10 cm of blubber under the skin.
Polar bears have an excellent sense of smell, with the ability to detect seals nearly a mile away (1.6 km).
Polar bears can reach speeds up to 40 kph (25 mph) on land and 10 kph (6 mph) in water.
The polar bear was the mascot for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.
Rabbit
A female rabbit is called a doe.
A male rabbit is called a buck.
A young rabbit is called a kit (or kitten).
Rabbits live in groups.
The European rabbit lives underground, in burrows. A group of burrows is known as a warren.
More than half of the world’s rabbits live in North America.
Rabbits have long ears which can be as long as 10 cm (4 in).
Rabbits have a lifespan of around 10 years.
Rabbits are herbivores (plant eaters).
Pet rabbits that live inside are often referred to as ‘house rabbits’.
Rabbits reproduce very quickly. This can be a major headache for people living in agricultural areas where rabbits are seen as pests.
Rabbits are born with their eyes closed and without fur.
Rhino
The name rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’ and is often shortened to rhino.
There are five different species of rhinoceros, three native to southern Asia and two native to Africa. They are the Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros.
All five species of rhinoceros can grow to weigh over 1000 kg (2200 lb).
White rhino can weigh over 3500 kg (7700 lb).
White rhinoceros are generally considered the second largest land mammal (after the elephant).
Three of the five rhinoceros species are listed as being critically endangered.
Rhinoceros have thick, protective skin.
Relative to their large body size, rhinoceros have small brains.
Rhinoceros horns are made from a protein called keratin, the same substance that fingernails and hair are made of.
Rhinoceros are often hunted by humans for their horns.
Rhinoceros are herbivores (plant eaters).
A group of rhinoceros is called a ‘herd’ or a ‘crash’.
Despite their name, White Rhinoceros are actually gray.
Seal
Seals are semiaquatic marine mammals. They have four flippers, so are in a category of animals known as pinnipedia which means 'fin-footed'.
The pinnipeds group contains 3 families: phocidae, the earless or true seal (eg. common seal), otaridae, eared seals (eg. fur seals and sea lions) and odobenidae (walrus).
Seals are believed to have evolved from land based, bear or otter-like ancestors.
There are around 33 species of seals.
Seals are found in most waters of the world, mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic but also in some areas of the tropics.
Seals have a layer of fat under skin called blubber, which keeps them warm in cold water. Their slick fur coat is streamlined for gliding through water.
A seal's whiskers help it to detect prey in dark murky waters.
Seals live on average for 25 - 30 years, females usually live longer than males.
Seals range in size from about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and 45 kg (100 lb) such as the earless Baikal seal and eared Galapagos fur seal, up to the 5 m (16 ft) and 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) southern elephant seal.
The seal is a carnivorous mammal that usually feeds on fish, squid, shellfish, crustaceans or sea birds. Some, like the leopard seal, eat other species of seals.
Seals mainly live in the water, they only come ashore to mate, give birth, moult or escape from predators such as orca whales and sharks.
Because they can spend months at sea, seals can sleep underwater.
Some seal species can hold their breath for nearly two hours underwater by slowing their heart beat and conserving oxygen.
About once a year a female seal, called a cow, gives birth to one pup on land.
Humans have traditionally hunted seals for their meat, blubber and fur coats, however seals are now protected by international law. They are still commonly kept in captivity though and sometimes trained to perform tricks and tasks.
Sloth
Sloths are a medium-sized mammal. There are two types of sloth the two-toed sloth and the three-toed sloth, they are classified into six different species.
All sloths actually have three toes, but the two-toed sloth has only two fingers.
Sloths are part of the order Pilosa so they are related to anteaters and armadillos.
Sloths are tree-dwelling animals, they are found in the jungles of Central and South America.
A sloth's body is usually 50 to 60 cm long. Skeletons of now extinct species of sloth suggest some varieties used to be as large as elephants.
Sloths mainly eat the tree buds, new shoots, fruit and leaves, of the Cecropia tree. Some two-toed sloths also eat insects, small reptiles, and birds.
Sloths have a four-part stomach that very slowly digests the tough leaves they eat, it can sometimes take up to a month for them to digest a meal. Digesting this diet means a sloth has very little energy left to move around making it one of the slowest moving animals in the world.
Sloths can move along the ground at just 2 m (6.5 ft) per minute! In the trees they are slightly quicker at 3 m (10 ft) per minute.
The slow-movement and unique thick fur of the sloth make it a great habitat for other creatures such as moths, beetles, cockroaches, fungi, and algae. In fact, this green colored algae provides a camouflage so sloths can avoid predators.
Sloths can extend their tongues 10 to 12 inches out of their mouths.
The sloth has very long, sharp, and strong claws that they use to hold on to tree branches. The claws are also their only natural defense against predators.
Sloths usually only leave the tree they live in to go to the toilet once a week on the ground. This is when they are most vulnerable to being attacked by their main predators such as jaguars, the harpy eagle and snakes.
Two-toed sloths are nocturnal, being most active at night. While three-toed sloths are diurnal which means they are most active during the day.
It used to be thought sloths slept for 15 to 20 hours a day. However, its now believed they only sleep around 10 hours a day.
In the wild, sloths live on average 10 - 16 years and in captivity over 30 years.
Snake
Snakes are carnivores (meat eaters).
Snakes don’t have eyelids.
Snakes can’t bite food so have to swallow it whole.
Snakes have flexible jaws which allow them to eat prey bigger than their head!
Snakes are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
Snakes have internal ears but not external ones.
Snakes used in snake charming performances respond to movement, not sound.
There are around 3000 different species of snake.
Snakes have a unique anatomy which allows them to swallow and digest large prey.
Snakes are covered in scales.
Snakeskin is smooth and dry.
Snakes shed their skin a number of times a year in a process that usually lasts a few days.
Some species of snake, such as cobras and black mambas, use venom to hunt and kill their prey. Read more venomous snake facts.
Snakes smell with their tongue.
Pythons kill their prey by tightly wrapping around it and suffocating it in a process called constriction.
Some sea snakes can breathe partially through their skin, allowing for longer dives underwater.
Anacondas are large, non-venomous snakes found in South America that can reach over 5 m (16 ft) in length.
Python reticulates can grow over 8.7 m (28 ft) in length and are considered the longest snakes in the world.
Squirrel
Squirrels are rodents.
There are around 280 different species of squirrel.
Most squirrels are small and have big eyes and bushy tails.
Their large eyes help them skilfully climb trees and avoid predators.
Squirrels eat mostly nuts, fruits and seeds.
Squirrels are born blind.
Flying squirrels can’t fly like birds but they can glide between trees.
Flying squirrels have been known to glide for distances of up to 90 metres (295 ft).
Chipmunks are small squirrels with stripes.
Chipmunks have cheek pouches which help them carry food.
Many chipmunk species hoard food such as nuts, berries, egg and grains for the winter.
Toad
Toads and frogs are both in the order Anura.
While toads and frogs are biologically the same there are some key differences between them. Toads are associated with a drier, wart-covered, leathery skin, and shorter legs than frogs. They also can live further away from water.
Toads are found on all continents except Antarctica and are also not present on isolated islands like New Zealand, New Guinea, and Madagascar.
A group of toads is often called a knot.
The common toad (or European toad), is a large-sized species of toad that is found throughout Europe, extending from Siberia into North Africa.
The cane toad that is native to South and Central America was introduced in Australia to combat the pest beetles of sugarcane plantations. However, the cane toad itself is now seen as a widespread pest in the country.
Like frogs, toads also start out life in water as fish-like tadpoles.
Toads have a pair of parotoid glands on the back of their heads. These glands and the skin in general, contain a poison which the toad excretes if feeling stressed or threatened. The poison has different effects on different animals, some find it irritating to eyes and mouth, while it may be fatal to others.
Some species such as the cane toad are more toxic than other species.
Contrary to popular believe you will not get warts by touching the bumpy wart-like skin or glands of a toad. The poison does not usually affect humans, however you should always wash your hands after touching a toad.
Toads may also play dead, or puff themselves up to appear bigger if they feel threatened by predators.
Toads do not have teeth, so they do not chew their food, instead swallowing it whole.
Toads are usually nocturnal. They burrow beneath the earth in the day and come out at night to feed on insects.
Toads will hibernate throughout the winter months.
In the wild, most toads species live on average 3 to 5 years. They have been recorded living as old as 39 years in captivity.
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles.
Turtles have a hard shell that protects them like a shield, this upper shell is called a ‘carapace’.
Turtles also have a lower shell called a ‘plastron’.
Many turtle species (not all) can hide their heads inside their shells when attacked by predators.
Turtles have existed for around 215 million years.
Like other reptiles, turtles are cold blooded.
The largest turtle is the leatherback sea turtle, it can weigh over 900 kg! (2000 lb)
Turtles lay eggs.
In some species of turtle the temperature determines if the egg will develop into a male or female, lower temperatures lead to a male while higher temperatures lead to a female.
Some turtles lay eggs in the sand and leave them to hatch on their own. The young turtles make their way to the top of the sand and scramble to the water while trying to avoid predators.
Sea turtles have special glands which help remove salt from the water they drink.
Many turtle species are endangered.
Zebra
Zebra are part of the equidae family along with horse and donkeys.
Every zebra has a unique pattern of black and white stripes.
There are a number of different theories which attempt to explain zebra’s unique stripes with most relating to camouflage.
Wild zebras live in Africa.
Common plain zebras have tails around half a metre in length (18 inches).
Zebra crossings (pedestrian crossings) are named after the black and white stripes of zebras.
Zebras run from side to side to being chased by a predator.
Zebras have excellent eyesight and hearing.
Zebras stand up while sleeping.
Zebras eat mostly grass.
The ears of a zebra show its mood.
A zebra named Marty starred in the 2005 animated film Madagascar.
Dog
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.
Dogs perform many useful tasks for humans including hunting, farm work and security as well as assisting those with disabilities such as the blind.
Although experts often disagree, there is scientific evidence which shows that the domestication of dogs could have occurred more than 15,000 years ago.
There are hundreds of different breeds of dogs.
Examples of these breeds include: Bulldog, German Shepherd, Collie, Golden Retriever, St Bernard, Greyhound, Bloodhound, Chihuahua, Labrador, Great Dane, Rottweiler, Boxer and Cocker Spaniel.
The most popular breed of dog in the world by registered ownership is the Labrador. With their gentle nature, obedience, intelligence and near limitless energy, Labradors make for excellent family pets and reliable workers. They often assist police and are a common choice as guide dogs.
Dogs have formed such a strong bond as pets, workers and companions to humans that they have earned the nickname "man's best friend".
Humans help train various dog breeds to enter in competitions such as breed shows, agility and obedience contests, racing and sled pulling.
Dog have superior hearing than humans, capable of hearing sounds at four times the distance.
Dogs have a remarkable sense of smell, they are capable of differentiating odors in concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.
The average life span for a dog is around 10 to 14 years.
Those involved in dog breeding refer to males as ‘dogs’, females as ‘bitches’, dogs younger than a year old as ‘puppies’ and a group of offspring as a ‘litter’.
Domestic dogs are omnivores, they feed on a variety of foods including grains, vegetables and meats.
Cat
Cats are one of, if not the most, popular pet in the world.
There are over 500 million domestic cats in the world.
Cats and humans have been associated for nearly 10000 years.
Cats conserve energy by sleeping for an average of 13 to14 hours a day.
Cats have flexible bodies and teeth adapted for hunting small animals such as mice and rats.
A group of cats is called a clowder, a male cat is called a tom, a female cat is called a molly or queen while young cats are called kittens.
Domestic cats usually weigh around 4 kilograms (8 lb 13 oz) to 5 kilograms (11 lb 0 oz).
The heaviest domestic cat on record is 21.297 kilograms (46 lb 15.2 oz).
Cats can be lethal hunters and very sneaky, when they walk their back paws step almost exactly in the same place as the front paws did beforehand, this keeps noise to a minimum and limits visible tracks.
Cats have powerful night vision, allowing them to see at light levels six times lower than what a human needs in order to see.
Cats also have excellent hearing and a powerful sense of smell.
Older cats can at times act aggressively towards kittens.
Domestic cats love to play, this is especially true with kittens who love to chase toys and play fight. Play fighting among kittens may be a way for them to practice and learn skills for hunting and fighting.
On average cats live for around 12 to 15 years.
Cats spend a large amount of time licking their coats to keep them clean.
Feral cats are often seen as pests and threats to native animals.
Tiger
The tiger is the biggest species of the cat family.
Tigers can reach a length of up to 3.3 metres (11 feet) and weigh as much as 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
Subspecies of the tiger include the Sumatran Tiger, Siberian Tiger, Bengal Tiger, South China Tiger, Malayan Tiger and Indochinese Tiger.
Many subspecies of the tiger are either endangered or already extinct. Humans are the primary cause of this through hunting and the destruction of habitats.
Around half of tiger cubs don’t live beyond two years of age.
Tiger cubs leave their mother when they are around 2 years of age.
A group of tigers is known as an ‘ambush’ or ‘streak’.
Tigers are good swimmers and can swim up to 6 kilometres.
Rare white tigers carry a gene that is only present in around 1 in every 10000 tigers.
Tigers usually hunt alone at night time.
Tigers have been known to reach speeds up to 65 kph (40 mph).
Less than 10% of hunts end successfully for tigers
Tigers can easily jump over 5 metres in length.
Various tiger subspecies are the national animals of Bangladesh, India, North Korea, South Korea and Malaysia.
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.
Shark
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!
If a shark was put into a large swimming pool, it would be able to smell a single drop of blood in the water.
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.
Great whites are the deadliest shark in the ocean. These powerful predators can race through the water at 30 km per hour.
Unlike other species of shark, the great white is warm-blooded. Although the great white does not keep a constant body temperature, it needs to eat a lot of meat in order to be able to regulate its temperature.
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.
Dolphin
Compared to other animals, dolphins are believed to be very intelligent.
Dolphins are carnivores (meat eaters).
The Killer Whale (also known as Orca) is actually a type of dolphin.
Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well known 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.
Dolphins often display a playful attitude which makes them popular in human culture. They can be seen jumping out of the water, riding waves, play fighting and occasionally interacting with humans swimming in the water.
Dolphins use a blowhole on top of their heads to breathe.
Dolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing as well as the ability to use echolocation for finding the exact location of objects.
Dolphins communicate with each other by clicking, whistling and other sounds.
Some dolphin species face the threat of extinction, often directly as a result of human behavior. The Yangtze River Dolphin is an example of a dolphin species which may have recently become extinct.
Some fishing methods, such as the use of nets, kill a large number of dolphins every year.
Lion
Lions are the second largest big cat species in the world (behind tigers).
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.
Most lions found in the wild live in southern and eastern parts of Africa.
Lions are very social compared to other cat species, often living in prides that feature females, offspring and a few adult males.
Male lions are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive manes. Males with darker manes are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses).
Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore.
Lions in the wild live for around 12 years.
When lions breed with tigers the resulting hybrids are known as ligers and tigons. There are also lion and leopard hybrids known as leopons and lion and jaguar hybrids known as jaglions.
Lionesses are better hunters than males and do most of the hunting for a pride.
In the wild, lions rest for around 20 hours a day.
Gorilla
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.
You may have seen baby gorillas being carried on the back of their mothers, but for the first few months after birth the mother holds the baby gorilla to her chest.
An adult male gorilla is called a silverback because of the distinctive silvery fur growing on their back and hips. Each gorilla family has a silverback as leader who scares away other animals by standing on their back legs and beating their chest!
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.
Gorillas are considered to be very intelligent animals. They are known for their use of tools and their varied communication. Some gorillas in captivity at a zoo have been taught to use sign language.
Gorillas are endangered animals. Their habitat is destroyed when people use the land for farming and the trees for fuel. Gorillas are also killed by poachers and sometimes get caught in poacher’s snares meant for other animals.
Frog
A frog is an amphibian. They lay their eggs in water. The eggs hatch into a tadpole which lives in water until it metamorphoses into an adult frog.
Tadpoles look more like fish than frogs, they have long finned tails and breathe through gills.
An amphibian can live both on land and in water.
Although frogs live on land their habitat must be near swamps, ponds or in a damp place. This is because they will die if their skin dries out.
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 in the wild face many dangers and are lucky to survive several years. In captivity however, frogs can live for much longer.
Frogs can see forwards, sideways and upwards all at the same time. They never close their eyes, even when they sleep.
Remarkably, frogs actually use their eyes to help them swallow food. When the frog blinks, its eyeballs are pushed downwards creating a bulge in the roof of its mouth. This bulge squeezes the food inside the frog's mouth down the back of its throat.
Cheetah
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can reach a top speed of around 113 km per hour.
A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 113 km in just a few seconds.
Cheetahs are extremely fast however they tire quickly and can only keep up their top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue.
Cheetahs are smaller than other members of the big cat family, weighing only 45 – 60 kilograms.
One way to always recognise a cheetah is by the long, black lines which run from the inside of each eye to the mouth. These are usually called “tear lines” and scientists believe they help protect the cheetah’s eyes from the harsh sun and help them to see long distances.
Cheetahs are the only big cat that cannot roar. They can purr though and usually purr most loudly when they are grooming or sitting near other cheetahs.
While lions and leopards usually do their hunting at night, cheetahs hunt for food during the day.
A cheetah has amazing eyesight during the day and can spot prey from 5 km away.
Cheetahs cannot climb trees and have poor night vision.
With their light body weight and blunt claws, cheetahs are not well designed to protect themselves or their prey. When a larger or more aggressive animal approaches a cheetah in the wild, it will give up its catch to avoid a fight.
Cheetahs only need to drink once every three to four days.
Giraffe
A male giraffe can weigh as much as a pick up truck! That’s about 1400 kilograms.
Although a giraffe’s neck is 1.5 – 1.8 metres, it contains the same number of vertebrae at a human neck.
A giraffe's habitat is usually found in African savannas, grasslands or open woodlands.
The hair that makes up a giraffes tail is about 10 times thicker than the average strand of human hair.
The distinctive spots that cover a giraffe’s fur act as a good camouflage to protect the giraffe from predators. When the giraffe stands in front of trees and bushes the light and dark colouring of its fur blends in with the shadows and sunlight.
It is possible to identify the sex of the giraffe from the horns on its head. Both males and females have horns but the females are smaller and covered with hair at the top. Male giraffes may have up to 3 additional horns.
Giraffes are ruminants. This means that they have more than one stomach. In fact, giraffes have four stomachs, the extra stomachs assisting with digesting food.
Drinking is one of the most dangerous times for a giraffe. While it is getting a drink it cannot keep a look out for predators and is vulnerable to attack.
Male giraffes sometimes fight with their necks over female giraffes. This is called “necking”. The two giraffes stand side by side and one giraffe swings his head and neck, hitting his head against the other giraffe. Sometimes one giraffe is hit to the ground during a combat.
A female giraffe gives birth while standing up. The calf drops approximately 6 feet to the ground, but it is not hurt from the fall.
Giraffes have bluish-purple tongues which are tough and covered in bristly hair to help them with eating the thorny Acacia trees.
Elephant
There are two types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant (although sometimes the African Elephant is split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant).
Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world.
Both female and male African elephants have tusks but only the male Asian elephants have tusks. They use their tusks for digging and finding food.
Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months.
An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day.
Elephants have large, thin ears. Their ears are made up of a complex network of blood vessels which help regulate their temperature. Blood is circulated through their ears to cool them down in hot climates.
Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat.
The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth.
An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 metres long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephant’s trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles, but no bones.
Female elephants spend their entire lives living in large groups called herds. Male elephant leave their herds at about 13 years old and live fairly solitary lives from this point.
Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.
Elephants are herbivores and can spend up to 16 hours days collecting leaves, twigs, bamboo and roots.
Leopard
Leopards are part of the cat family, Felidae. The scientific name for a leopard is Panthera pardus.
Leopards are well known for their cream and gold spotted fur, but some leopards have black fur with dark spots. These black leopards are often mistaken for panthers.
Adult leopards are solitary animals. Each adult leopard has its own territory where it lives and, although they often share parts of it, they try to avoid one another.
A leopard’s body is built for hunting. They have sleek, powerful bodies and can run at speeds of up to 57 kilometres per hour. They are also excellent swimmers and climbers and can leap and jump long distances.
A leopard’s tail is just about as long as its entire body. This helps it with balance and enables it to make sharp turns quickly.
Leopards are mostly nocturnal, hunting prey at night.
Leopards protect their food from other animals by dragging it high up into the trees. A leopard will often leave their prey up in the tree for days and return only when they are hungry!
Female leopards give birth to a little of two or three cubs at a time. By the time a cub is two years old it will leave the company of its mother and live on their own.
When a female leopard is ready to mate she will give a scent and rub her body on the trees to leave her smell there. Male leopards either smell the females scent or hear her call to know that she is ready to mate.
Some people believe that the bones and whiskers of leopards can heal sick people. Many leopards are killed each year for their fur and body parts and this is one reason why the leopard is an endangered animal. While they were previously found in the wild in a number of areas around the world, their habitat is largely restricted to sub-Saharan Africa with small numbers also found in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, China and Indochina.
Whale
Many whales are toothless. They use a plate of comb-like fibre called baleen to filter small crustaceans and other creatures from the water.
There are 79 to 84 different species of whale. They came in many different shapes and sizes!
A baby whale is called a calf. Whales form groups to look after calves and feed together. These groups are often made up of all female or all male whales.
Whales that are found in both Northern and Southern hemisphere never meet or breed together. Their migration is timed so that they are never in breeding areas at the same time.
The arched lower lip of a whale can often make it look like it is smiling! However, this isn’t a “real” smile as the blubber in the head of the whale prevents the muscles of the face from reaching the surface.
You can tell the age of a whale by looking at the wax plug in its ear. This plug in the ear has a pattern of layers when cut lengthwise that scientists can count to estimate the age of the whale.
Whales love to sing! They use this as a call to mates, a way to communicate and also just for fun! After a period of time they get bored of the same whale song and begin to sing a different tune.
Sometimes whales make navigation mistakes during migrations. Although they may have made the mistake days before, they don’t realise it until they becoming stranded.
Whales support many different types of life. Several creatures, such as barnacles and sea lice, attach themselves to the skin of whales and live there.
Wolf
Wolves are excellent hunters and have been found to be living in more places in the world than any other mammal except humans.
The wolf is the ancestor of all breeds of domestic dog. It is part of a group of animals called the wild dogs which also includes the dingo and the coyote.
Most wolves weigh about 40 kilograms but the heaviest wolf ever recorded weighed over 80 kilograms!
Adult wolves have large feet. A fully grown wolf would have a paw print nearly 13 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide.
Wolves live and hunt in groups called a pack. A pack can range from two wolves to as many as 20 wolves depending on such factors as habitat and food supply. Most packs have one breeding pair of wolves, called the alpha pair, who lead the hunt.
Wolf pups are born deaf and blind while weighing around 0.5 kg (1 lb). It takes about 8 months before they are old enough to actively join in wolf pack hunts.
Wolves in the Arctic have to travel much longer distances than wolves in the forest to find food and will sometimes go for several days without eating.
When hunting alone, the wolf catches small animals such as squirrels, hares, chipmunks, raccoons or rabbits. However, a pack of wolves can hunt very large animals like moose, caribou and yaks.
When the pack kills an animal, the alpha pair always eats first. As food supply is often irregular for wolves, they will eat up to 1/5th of their own body weight at a time to make up for days of missed food.
Wolves have two layers of fur, an undercoat and a top coat, which allow them to survive in temperatures as low at minus 40 degrees Celsius! In warmer weather they flatten their fur to keep cool.
A wolf can run at a speed of 65 kilometres per hour during a chase. Wolves have long legs and spend most of their time trotting at a speed of 12-16 kilometres per hour. They can keep up a reasonable pace for hours and have been known to cover distances of 90 kilometres in one night.
More fun animal facts:
Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million relatives.
The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can be detected over 800 kilometres away.
Horses and cows sleep while standing up.
Giant Arctic jellyfish have tentacles that can reach over 36 metres in length.
Locusts have leg muscles that are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.
Hummingbirds are so agile and have such good control that they can fly backwards.
Instead of bones, sharks have a skeleton made from cartilage.
Insects such as bees, mosquitoes and cicadas make noise by rapidly moving their wings.
The horn of a rhinoceros is made from compacted hair rather than bone or another substance.
Sharks lay the biggest eggs in the world.
Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.
Unlike humans, sheep have four stomachs, each one helps them digest the food they eat.
Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears fur (which is transparent), it actually has black skin.
As well as being a famous Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal that is only found in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.
The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks.
Mosquitoes can be annoying insects but did you know that it's only the female mosquito that actually bites humans.
Cats use their whiskers to check whether a space is too small for them to fit through or not.
Alligator
Alligators are reptiles.
Alligators have been living on Earth for millions of years and are sometimes described as ‘living fossils’.
There are two different species of alligator, the American alligator and the Chinese alligator.
American alligators live in south-eastern areas of the United States such as Florida and Louisiana.
Chinese alligators are found in the Yangtze River but they are critically endangered and only a few remain in the wild.
Like other reptiles, alligators are cold-blooded.
Alligators can weigh over 450 kg (1000 lb).
Alligators have a powerful bite but the muscles that open the jaw are relatively weak. An adult human could hold the jaws of an alligator shut with their bare hands.
Alligators eat a range of different animals such as fish, birds, turtles and even deer.
Alligator eggs become male or female depending on the temperature, male in warmer temperatures and female in cooler temperatures.
Like crocodiles, alligators are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’.
Badger
Badgers are part of the family Mustelidae this is the same family as otters, ferret, polecats, weasels and wolverines.
There are 11 species of badger, grouped into 3 types, the Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (Honey badger) and Taxideinae (American badger).
Badgers are found in North America, Ireland, Great Britain and most of Europe. There are species in Japan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. The honey badger is found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Desert, Turkmenistan, and India.
Badgers are nocturnal mammals.
Badgers have stocky bodies with short legs that are suitable for digging. They digs burrows underground called a sett. Their sett are often a maze of tunnels and chambers for sleeping around 6 badgers, setts are kept very clean.
The badger has an elongated head with small ears and a distinctive black and white face, their body has greyish fur with black and white areas underneath.
Badgers can grow to nearly a meter in length. The European badger is larger than the American badger and the Honey badger.
Badgers on average weigh around 9 - 11 kg (20 - 24 lbs).
The badger can run up to 30 km/h (19 mph) for a short period of time.
A male badger is called a boar, the female is called a sow and the young are called cubs.
A group of badgers is called a cete, although they are often called clans. There are usually 2 - 15 badgers in a cete.
The honey badger is a carnivorous species that has the reputation of being the most fearless and vicious of all mammals.
Badgers were eaten in Britain during World War II and were once part of the Native American and settlers diets in the US. Russia still eats badger meat today.
Badgers have featured in lots of British literature over the years, such as Brian Jacques' Redwall series, "Tommy Brock" in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod, "Bill Badger" in Mary Tourtel's Rupert Bear, "Mr. Badger" in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows and "Trufflehunter" in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
Bat
Bats are flying mammals.
While others can glide, bats are the only mammals capable of continued flight.
There are over 1000 different bat species.
Bats are nocturnal (active at night).
Bats ‘see’ in the dark using a special skill called echolocation. Bats make noises and wait for the sound waves to bounce back off objects (an echo), if it doesn’t bounce back then they can safely fly forward. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back to them.
Most bats feed on insects, while others eat fruit, fish or even blood!
There are 3 species of vampire bats which feed solely on blood.
Vampire bats have small and extremely sharp teeth which are capable of piercing an animal’s skin (humans included) without them even noticing.
Vampire bats can carry rabies, making their bites potentially dangerous.
Some bats live by themselves while others live in caves with thousands of other bats.
Bats can live for over 20 years.
Pteropus bats (also known as flying foxes or fruit bats) are the largest in the world.
Bee & Wasp
There are 9 different families of bees and around 20,000 known species.
Some common types of 'social' hive inhabiting bees include the Honey bee, The Africanized Honeybee, (or 'killer bee') and the Bumble bee.
'Solitary' bees that make their own single nest include the Carpenter Bee, Leafcutter bee, Mason bee, Digger Bee and Mining Bee.
The every day bee that we associate with most is the honey bee (or honeybee). There are 7 species of honey bee and 44 subspecies.
Honey bees live as large colonies in honeycomb structures built from beeswax called hives. There are 3 types of bees in a colony, drones, workers, and queens.
Beeswax comes from abdomen glands of a worker bee, they use the wax to form the walls and caps of the comb.
Honey is made from the nectar and sweet deposits that bees collect from plants and trees. Honey is stored in honeycomb as a food source for the colony.
Bees have a long proboscis (type of tongue) that helps them to get the nectar out of flowers, they collect pollen in pollen baskets on their body.
Worker bees are female, they collect pollen and nectar to feed the colony, they clean the hive, make the honey, take care of the offspring and groom / feed the queen. Worker bees live from 1 month in summer up to 9 months over winter.
Drones are male, their one job is to mate with the queen, they live for 40 - 50 days.
The queen bee's only job is to lay eggs, they lay up to 1,500 eggs a day. The queen can live for 2 - 5 years, and lay about 1 million eggs over her lifetime.
Bees have two pairs of wings, the larger fore wings and the smaller hind wings.
The smallest bee is a type of stingless worker bee that's about 2.1 mm long. The largest bee is a type of leafcutter bee whose females can reach 39 mm.
There are over 250 known species of bumble bee.
Only the queen bumblebee survives the winter, so there's no need for bumblebees to store large quantities of honey in the hive like honey bees do.
There are over 100,000 species of wasp. Two common types of wasp are the yellowjacket wasp and the hornet.
Most wasp species are 'parasitic' which means they use the venom from their stings to paralyze pray and lay their eggs within the host, so larvae will hatch.
Wasps can build their nests in a variety of places but they usually pick sunny areas, in holes underground along riverbanks, or attached to the side of walls and trees, or underneath floors, wasp can be agitated and dangerous near nests.
A bee's buzz is not produced by the beating of its wings but by vibrating muscles.
Only female bees (queen and worker bees) can sting. A honey bee can only sting once, as barbs rip the stinger out of the bee and it will die. Bumblebee's and wasps stingers don't have barbs, so they can sting multiple times without injury.
Bird
Birds have feathers, wings, lay eggs and are warm blooded.
There are around 10000 different species of birds worldwide.
The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It also lays the largest eggs and has the fastest maximum running speed (97 kph).
Scientists believe that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.
Birds have hollow bones which help them fly.
Some bird species are intelligent enough to create and use tools.
The chicken is the most common species of bird found in the world.
Kiwis are endangered, flightless birds that live in New Zealand. They lay the largest eggs relative to their body size of any bird in the world.
Hummingbirds can fly backwards.
The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world, with a length of just 5 cm (2 in).
Around 20% of bird species migrate long distances every year.
Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home from long distances away and have been used for thousands of years to carry messages.
Camel
There are two species of true camel. The dromedary, is a single humped camel that lives in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa area. The bactrian, is a two-humped camel that lives in areas of Central Asia.
There are four camel-like mammals that live in South America, llama and alpaca are called "New World camels", while guanaco and vicuna are called "South American camels".
Camels have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years. Used mostly for transport or to carry heavy loads, they also provide a source of milk, meat, and hair/wool.
Camels live on average for 40 to 50 years.
Camels are 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at shoulder level and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump.
Camels are capable of running as fast as 65 km/h (40 mph) for a short period of time, and can maintain a speed of around 40 km/h (25 mph).
Dromedary camels weigh 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 lb) and bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb).
Camels do not actually hold liquid water in their humps. The humps contain fatty tissue reserves, which can be converted to water or energy when required. They can survive up to six months without food or water by using up these fatty stores.
Camels are well suited to the hot sandy deserts they roam in. Their thick coat insulates them from heat and also lightens during summer to help reflect heat.
A camels long legs help its body to be high from the hot desert surface and a pad of thick tissue called a pedestal raises the body slightly when the camel sits so cool air can pass underneath.
A large camel can drink around 30 gallons (113 liters) in just 13 minutes, making them able to rehydrate faster than any other mammal.
Long eyelashes, ear hair, and closable nostrils keep sand from affecting the camel, while their wide feet help them move without sinking into sand.
Camels have long been used in wartimes. Romans used camels for their ability to scare off horses who are afraid of their scent, and in recent times camels have been used to carry heavy gear and troops across hot sandy deserts.
There are estimated to be over 14 million camels in the world. Camels introduced to desert areas of Australia are the worlds largest populations of feral camels.
Clownfish
The clownfish is also known as the anemonefish.
There are 28 - 30 recognized species of clownfish.
Clownfish are found in warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans including the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Clownfish have a symbiotic (long-term mutual benefit) relationship with sea anemone which is a fish-eating plant-like animal that has poisonous tentacles.
Sea anemones benefit from clownfish who clean them by eating its parasites and dead tentacles, help circulate the water around them, attract potential prey with their bright colors, and provide nutrients from their droppings.
Clownfish in return benefit from sea anemone, who provide food scraps and who's venomous tentacles protect the clownfish from any attack by other fish.
The clownfish builds up an immunity to sea anemones lethal sting over time and because of a layer of mucus on the clownfish's skin.
Clownfish species include yellow, orange, reddish and blackish varieties with most covered in patches or bars of white color.
The largest clownfish can reach 18 cm (7.1 in), and the smallest 10 cm (3.9 in).
All clownfish are born as males. When the dominant female of a group dies the largest male will turn itself into a female, this change cannot be reversed back.
Clownfish live up to 10 years in the wild but on average up to 6 - 8 years.
Females lay around 1000 eggs, the male clownfish will guard the eggs.
Clownfish make up over 40% of the global marine ornamental trade. The fish are either bred in captivity, or captured from the wild.
The main character in the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo, was a clownfish.
Crab
Crabs are decapods from the crustacean family.
Decapod means "ten-footed". Crabs have 10 legs, however, the first pair are its claws which are called chelae.
Crabs have a thick external skeleton called an exoskeleton. It is a shell made of calcium carbonate and provides protection for the soft tissue underneath.
Crabs live in all the world's oceans, in fresh water, and on land. There are over 4500 species of crabs.
Other animals with similar names such as hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs, horseshoe crabs and crab lice, are not true crabs.
Crabs usually have a distinct sideways walk. However, some crabs can walk forwards or backwards, and some are capable of swimming.
The collective name for the group of crabs is a cast.
Crabs communicate with each other by drumming or waving their pincers.
Male crabs tend to often fight with each other over females or hiding holes.
The Pea Crab is the smallest known species at just a few millimetres wide. The largest species is the Japanese Spider Crab, with a leg span of up to 4 m (13 ft).
Crabs are omnivores (meaning they eat both meat and plants), they feed mainly on algae, but also bacteria, other crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and fungi.
Some crab species can naturally autotomise (shed) limbs such as their claws, which then regenerate after about a year.
Of all marine crustaceans caught be humans each year, crabs make up 20%. This adds up to a total of 1.5 million tonnes annually.
The most consumed species of crab in the world is the Japanese Blue Crab.
Deer
Deer are part of the Cervidae family that include moose, reindeer, elk and other species.
Male deer grow new antlers each year.
Animals such as antelope resemble deer in a number of ways but have horns instead of antlers, the difference being that horns are not grown and replaced like antlers are.
During the mating season male deer will often use their antlers to fight for the attention of female deer.
Many species of deer have been hunted over the years for their antlers.
A male deer is usually called a ‘buck’.
A large male deer is often called ‘stag’.
A female deer is usually called a ‘doe’.
A young deer is usually called a ‘fawn’.
A group of deer is known as a ‘herd’.
Deer have long legs typically suited to the environments they live in.
They can jump high and swim well.
Most deer are born with white spots but lose them within a year.
Deer take their first steps within half an hour of their birth.
Young deer will usually stay with their mother for around a year.
Eagle
Eagles are large, powerful birds of prey.
Eagles have large, hooked beaks.
Eagles have excellent eyesight.
Eagles have powerful talons which help them catch prey.
Eagles build their nests on high cliffs or in tall trees.
There are over 60 different species of eagle.
Eagles feature prominently on the coat of arms of a large number of countries, such as Germany, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and Austria.
Golden eagles have been known to hunt foxes, wild cats and even young deer and goats.
Female golden eagles usually lay between one and four eggs each breeding season.
Bald eagles aren’t actually bald.
Flamingo
Flamingos are a type of wading bird that live in areas of large shallow lakes, lagoons, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, and sandy islands.
The word "flamingo" comes from the Spanish word "flamenco" which came from the earlier Latin word "flamma" meaning flame or fire.
There are six species of flamingo in the world. Two are found in the Old World and four species live in the New World - Americas.
The most widespread flamingo is the Greater flamingo found in areas of Africa, Southern Europe and South, Southwest Asia. The Lesser flamingo is the most numerous and lives in the Great Rift Valley of Africa through to Northwest India.
The four species in the New World include the Chilean flamingo, found in temperate South American areas, the Andean Flamingo and James's flamingo found in the high Andes mountains in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina and the American flamingo of the Caribbean islands, Belize and Galapagos islands.
The Greater flamingo is the largest species, at up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and weighing up to 3.5 kg (8 lbs). The Lesser flamingo is just 90 cm (3 ft) tall, weighing 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs).
In the wild flamingos live 20 - 30 years and sometimes over 50 years in captivity.
Flamingo legs can be longer than their entire body. The backward bending "knee" of a flamingo's leg is actually its ankle, the knee is out of sight further up the leg.
Quite often flamingos will stand on one leg, with the other tucked under the body. Its not fully understood why they do this but it is believed to conserve body heat.
The flamingo is a filter-feeder, holding its curved beak upside down in the water it sucks in the muddy water and pushes the mud and silt out the side while tiny hair-like filters along the beak called lamellae sieve food from the water.
The pink to reddish color of a flamingo's feathers comes from carotenoids (the pigment that also makes carrots orange) in their diet of plankton, brine shrimp and blue-green algae.
Flamingos are social birds, they live in colonies of sometimes thousands, this helps in avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and is better for nesting.
Flamingo colonies split into breeding groups of up to 50 birds, who then perform a synchronized ritual 'dance' whereby they stand together stretching their necks upwards, uttering calls while waving their heads and then flapping their wings.
The flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas.
Grasshopper
Grasshoppers are an insect from the suborder Caelifera and the order Orthoptera.
Locusts are actually species of short-horned grasshoppers, they often gather in large swarms and can destroy entire fields of crops, because a single grasshopper can eat half its body weight in plants per day. In just the U.S. they cause about $1.5 billion in damage to grazing lands each year.
There are around 11,000 known species of grasshopper found around the world, often inhabiting grassy fields, meadow and forest areas.
Grasshoppers have two antennae, 6 legs, two pairs of wings and small little pinchers to tear off food such as grasses, leaves and cereal crops.
Some species of grasshopper species make noises by either rubbing their back legs against the forewings or body, or by snapping their wings when flying.
Grasshoppers grow to around 2 inches (5 cm), with some growing as big as 5 inches (12.7cm). Female are usually larger than males.
Grasshoppers are often colored in a way that camouflages them in their local habitat, green ones in grassy fields, sandy colored in dirt and desert areas.
Grasshoppers can jump about 25cm high and around 1 meter long. If humans could jump as far as grasshoppers do, relative to size, then we could leap more than the length of a football field.
The grasshopper can jump as far as it does because its hind legs act like miniature catapults. It bends its legs at the knee, mechanism within the knee works like a spring, storing up energy. When the grasshopper is ready to jump, it relaxes the leg muscles, allowing the spring to release flinging it into the air.
Grasshoppers are commonly eaten in African, Central and South American countries, the insect is a very good source of protein.
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents from the subfamily Cricetinae.
There are 25 species of hamster.
Hamsters have thick silky fur, short tails, small ears, short legs, wide feet and large eyes.
Hamsters usually live in burrows underground during the day, they are crepuscular which means they come out at twilight to feed.
Wild hamsters feed mainly on seeds, fruits, vegetables and sometimes insects.
Hamsters are very good diggers, they will create burrows in the soil that can be over half a meter deep, containing various rooms for different purposes.
Hamsters have large cheek in which they carry food back to their burrows. Full pouches can make their heads double or triple in size.
Hamsters do not have good eyesight, they are nearsighted and also colour-blind.
The hamster relies on scent to find their way. They have scent glands which they rub on objects along a path.
Depending on the species hamsters can be black, grey, honey, white, brown, yellow, red, or a combination of these colors.
Hamsters are great as pets because they are easy to breed in captivity, easy to care for and interact well with people. They are also used as laboratory animals.
The Syrian hamster is the most popular and well known breed kept as pets. All Syrian hamsters as pets are believed to have descended from one pair in 1930.
Syrian hamsters live 2 - 3 years in captivity, and less in the wild. Other popular pet types such as Russian dwarf hamsters live about 2- 4 years in captivity.
Hamsters range in size from the largest breed, the European hamster at 13.4 in (34 cm) long, to the smallest, the dwarf hamster at 2 - 4 in (5.5 - 10.5 cm) long.
Hedgehog
There are 17 species of hedgehog.
They are found in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and were introduced in New Zealand by settlers.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, often sleep during the day in a nest or under bushes and shrubs before coming out to feed at night.
Hedgehogs are not related to other spine covered creatures such as the porcupine or echidna.
The spines of a hedgehogs, are stiff hollow hairs, they are not poisonous or barbed and cannot be easily removed, they fall out naturally when a hedgehog sheds its baby spines and grows adult spines a process called "quilling".
Hedgehogs have about 5,000 to 6,500 spines at any one time.
Most hedgehog species will roll into a tight ball if threatened, making it hard for its attacker to get past the spiky defences.
A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet.
Hedgehogs communicate through a combination of snuffles, grunts and squeals.
Hedgehogs have weak eyesight but a strong sense of hearing and smell. They can swim, climb and run surprising quickly over short distances.
For their size hedgehogs have a relatively long lifespan. They live on average for 4 - 7 years in the wild and longer in captivity.
Hedgehogs in colder climates such as the UK will hibernate through winter.
If hedgehogs come in contact with humans they can sometimes pass on infections and diseases.
The hedgehogs is a pest in countries such as New Zealand where it has been introduced, as it does not have many natural predators and eats native species of insects, snails, lizards and baby ground-nesting birds.
Horse
Horses can sleep both lying down and standing up.
Horses can run shortly after birth.
Domestic horses have a lifespan of around 25 years.
A 19th century horse named ‘Old Billy’ is said to have lived 62 years.
Horses have around 205 bones in their skeleton.
Horses have been domesticated for over 5000 years.
Horses are herbivores (plant eaters).
Horses have bigger eyes than any other mammal that lives on land.
Because horse’s eyes are on the side of their head they are capable of seeing nearly 360 degrees at one time.
Horses gallop at around 44 kph (27 mph).
The fastest recorded sprinting speed of a horse was 88 kph (55 mph).
Estimates suggest that there are around 60 million horses in the world.
Scientists believe that horses have evolved over the past 50 million years from much smaller creatures.
A male horse is called a stallion.
A female horse is called a mare.
A young male horse is called a colt.
A young female horse is called a filly.
Ponies are small horses.
Insect
The number of insect species is believed to be between six and ten million.
Insect bodies have three parts, the thorax, abdomen and head.
Insects have two antennae.
Insects have three pairs of legs.
Some insects, such as gerridae (water striders), are able to walk on the surface of water.
Bees, termites and ants live in well organized social colonies.
Only male crickets chirp.
Insects are cold blooded.
Silkworms are used as the primary producer of silk.
Most insects hatch from eggs.
Some cicadas can make sounds nearly 120 decibels loud.
The life cycle of a mosquito features four stages, egg, larva, pupa and adult.
Female mosquitoes drink blood in order to obtain nutrients needed to produce eggs.
Spiders are not insects.
Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica.
Ants leave trails and communicate with each other using pheromones as chemical signals.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish live in the sea and are found in all oceans.
Some jellyfish live in fresh water.
Jellyfish look a little like umbrellas.
Jellyfish can be large and brightly colored.
They can often be transparent (see-through) or translucent (semi-translucent).
Some can be very hard to see, nearly invisible to the human eye.
Although the word is mentioned in their name, jellyfish are not fish.
A group of jellyfish is called a ‘bloom’, ‘swarm’ or ‘smack’.
Large blooms can feature over 100000 jellyfish.
Jellyfish don’t have brains.
Jellyfish use their tentacles to sting. Most are harmless to humans but stings from some species, such as the box jellyfish, can be very painful and sometimes kill.
Box jellyfish are almost transparent (see-through).
Jellyfish eat plankton. Some sea turtles eat jellyfish.
Koala
Koalas are native to Australia.
Koalas are not bears.
Koala fossils found in Australia have been dated as long ago as 20 million years.
Koalas eat eucalypt leaves and almost nothing else.
The brain size of modern koalas has reduced substantially from their ancestors, possibly as an adaptation to the low energy they get from their diets.
The closest living relative of the koala is the wombat.
Koalas have sharp claws which help them climb trees.
Koalas have similar fingerprints to humans.
Koalas have large noses that are coloured pink or black.
Outside of breeding seasons, koalas are quiet animals.
A baby koala is called a ‘joey’.
Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for around six months and remain with them for another six months or so afterwards.
Koalas cannot be kept legally as pets.
Meerkat
The meerkat, also called a suricate, is a mammal in the mongoose family and is the only member of the mongoose family that doesn't have a bushy tail.
Meerkats live in areas of clumpy grassland and deserts in the southern area of the African continent, including the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa.
A family group of meerkats can be called a 'mob', 'gang' or 'clan'. These groups usually contain around 20 meerkats but sometimes have as many as 50.
Meerkats live on average 7 - 10 years in the wild, and 12 - 14 years in captivity.
Adult meerkats are about 25 - 35 cm (9.8 - 13.8 in) tall when standing upright.
The meerkat uses its tail to balance when standing upright. They often stand up in the morning to absorb heat on their bellies after a long cold desert night.
Meerkats are very good at digging, they have long, strong, curved claws that they use for digging burrows.
Within their territory the clan usually have up to 5 different burrows that they sleep in at night. The burrows have multiple entrances and can be 5 m deep.
Meerkats mainly eat insects but also lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, centipedes and fungi. They are immune to certain types of snake and scorpion venom.
Meerkats have excellent eyesight, they can spot predators in the air from more than 300 m away. They have great peripheral vision and the dark patches around their eyes cut glare from the hot desert surface.
A clan of meerkats will always have one "sentry" on guard to watch out for predators while the others forage for food.
If the meerkat on guard spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles in one of six different ways. For example if the threat is of low, medium or high urgency and if the predator is in the air or on the ground.
For a high-urgency land predator alarm call, meerkats will scatter down their nearest burrow entrance. For a high-urgency aerial predator alarm call, they will crouch down and may look skyward.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes from the Culicidae family, they are a midge-like fly.
The word "mosquito" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for "little fly".
There are over 3,500 known species of mosquitoes worldwide.
Most species of mosquito are considered to be a major nuisance and pest because they consume the blood of humans and animals.
Mosquitoes cause more deaths than any other animal in the world. They are carriers of diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever which can be transmitted to humans and animals when the mosquito feeds on blood.
Only the female mosquito feeds on blood and when they are not trying to produce eggs, females are happy to stick to eating nectar from plants like the male does.
When a female feeds on blood their abdomen expands and can hold up to 3 times its own body weight in blood.
Mosquitoes prefer O-type blood, people with high body heat, pregnant women and heavy breathers. Many of these reasons are because mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide (CO2) from up to 100 feet away. Which is a reason why they circulate around our heads where we exhale CO2.
Females live for two weeks to a month while males usually live for just a week.
Like other flies, mosquitoes go through four lifecycles stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Female mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in stagnant water, even very shallow puddles are suitable.
Some mosquito can fly for up to four hours continuously at 1 - 2 km/h (0.6 - 1 mph), they are however one of the slowest flying insects.
Mosquitoes can beat their wings between 450 and 600 times per second!
Fish, dragonfly and other aquatic insects are predators of mosquitoes.
Octopus
There are around 300 species of octopus, usually located in tropical and temperate ocean waters. They are divided into finned deep-sea varieties that live on the ocean floor and finless, shallow water varieties found around coral reefs.
Octopuses have two eyes in a globe-shaped head (mantle) off which protrude eight long limbs called tentacles that have two rows of sucker senses.
Octopuses can squeeze into tight spaces as they are invertebrates which means they have no skeleton, (some species have a protective casing in their mantles).
An octopus has a hard beak, like a parrot beak, which they use to break into and eat their pray such as crabs and shellfish.
Octopuses have three hearts.
The largest octopus is believed to be the giant Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini which weigh about 15 kg (33 lb), and has an arm span up to 4.3 m (14 ft).
Octopuses are believed to be highly intelligent compared to other invertebrates.
An octopus's main defence against predators such as sharks is to hide and camouflage itself by using certain skin cells to change its color. This can also be used to talk with or warn other octopuses.
Another defence is to make a fast escape. Octopuses can eject a thick, blackish ink in a large cloud to distract the predator while the octopus uses a siphon jet propulsion system to quickly swim away headfirst, with arms trailing behind.
A last ditch defence is for the octopus to shed a tentacle similar to how a gecko or lizard can discard a tale. An octopus is able to regenerate a lost tentacle.
Octopuses have very good eyesight and an excellent sense of touch.
A female octopus can lay on average about 200,000 eggs, however, fending for themselves only a handful of the hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
Octopuses usually live for 6 - 18 months. Males only live a few months after mating, and females die of starvation shortly after their protected eggs hatch.
Humans eat octopus in many cultures and it is also a popular fish bait.
Owl
There are around 200 different owl species.
Owls are active at night (nocturnal).
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Most owls hunt insects, small mammals and other birds.
Some owl species hunt fish.
Owls have powerful talons (claws) which help them catch and kill prey.
Owls have large eyes and a flat face.
Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees.
Owls are farsighted, meaning they can’t see things close to their eyes clearly.
Owls are very quiet in flight compared to other birds of prey.
The color of owl’s feathers helps them blend into their environment (camouflage).
Barn owls can be recognized by their heart shaped face.
Parrot
There are around 372 different parrot species.
Most parrots live in tropical areas.
Parrots have curved bills (beaks), strong legs and clawed feet.
Parrots are often brightly coloured.
Parrots are believed to be one of the most intelligent bird species.
Some species are known for imitating human voices.
Most parrot species rely on seeds as food. Others may eat fruit, nectar, flowers or small insects.
Parrots such as the budgerigar (budgie) and cockatiel are popular as pets.
Some parrot species can live for over 80 years.
There are 21 different species of cockatoo.
Cockatoos usually have black, grey or white plumage (feathers).
New Zealand is home to some very unique parrots including the kea, kaka and kakapo.
Keas are large, intelligent parrots that live in alpine areas of New Zealand’s South Island. They are the world’s only alpine parrot and are known for their curious and sometimes cheeky behaviour near ski fields where they like to investigate bags, steal small items and damage cars.
Kakapos are critically endangered flightless parrots, as of 2010 only around 130 are known to exist. They are active at night (nocturnal) and feed on a range of seeds, fruit, plants and pollen. Kakapos are also the world’s heaviest parrot.
The flag of Dominica features the sisserou parrot.
Penguin
Penguins are flightless birds.
While other birds have wings for flying, penguins have adapted flippers to help them swim in the water.
Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Galapagos Penguin is the only penguin specie that ventures north of the equator in the wild.
Large penguin populations can be found in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.
No penguins live at the North Pole.
Penguins eat a range of fish and other sealife that they catch underwater.
Penguins can drink sea water.
Penguins spend around half their time in water and the other half on land.
The Emperor Penguin is the tallest of all penguin species, reaching as tall as 120 cm (47 in) in height.
Emperor Penguins can stay underwater for around 20 minutes at a time.
Emperor Penguins often huddle together to keep warm in the cold temperatures of Antarctica.
King Penguins are the second largest penguin specie. They have four layers of feathers to help keep them warm on the cold subantarctic islands where they breed.
Chinstrap Penguins get their name from the thin black band under their head. At times it looks like they’re wearing a black helmet, which might be useful as they’re considered the most aggressive type of penguin.
Crested penguins have yellow crests, as well as red bills and eyes.
Yellow eyed penguins (or Hoiho) are endangered penguins native to New Zealand. Their population is believed to be around 4000.
Little Blue Penguins are the smallest type of penguin, averaging around 33 cm (13 in) in height.
Penguin’s black and white plumage serves as camouflage while swimming. The black plumage on their back is hard to see from above, while the white plumage on their front looks like the sun reflecting off the surface of the water when seen from below.
Penguins in Antarctica have no land based predators.
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal that has a very unusual appearance, it is duck-billed, has a beaver-like tail, lays eggs, has otter-like fur and webbed feet.
The platypus is only found in eastern Australia in small rivers and streams within the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
When descriptions, drawings and even live specimens of platypus were first taken back to Europe for study by British scientists many believed the animal was a hoax, a beaver's body sewn together with a duck's bill as some sort of joke.
Platypuses and echidnas are the only two mammals in the world classed as monotremes which means that they lay eggs instead of giving birth. Females platypus lay 2 - 4 eggs, incubating them for two weeks.
The back foot ankle spur of a male platypus contains a venom that is powerful enough to kill small animals such as dogs. The venom is not lethal to humans, but it can cause severe pain, that sometimes lasts for weeks.
The average length of a male platypus is 50 cm (20 in), the smaller females average 43 cm (17 in) in length. Platypus weigh 1 to 2.4 kg.
Platypuses can live more than 12 years in the wild. Their natural predators include snakes, water rats, hawks, owls, eagles and sometimes crocodiles.
The platypus is an excellent swimmer, diving under water on average for around 30 seconds to forage for food before coming up for air.
Platypus close their eyes and ears when under water, so in order to feed on worms, insects, and freshwater shrimp, they use their sense of electroreception and dig up muddy river beds with their bill to detect the electric fields of prey.
The platypus uses pouches in its cheeks to carry prey back to the surface where it is eaten. The platypus eats about 20% of its own weight in food each day.
The platypus is usually nocturnal, coming out at night or twilight to feed, sometimes they are also active on overcast days.
The platypus sleeps on average up to 14 hours per day.
The platypus was hunted for its fur until the early 20th century. It is now an Australian protected species.
The platypus is the state animal of New South Wales (NSW).
The platypus has been used as a mascot for national events in Australia and is featured on the Australian 20 cent coin.
Pony
Ponies are small horses.
Ponies have thicker manes and tails than horses.
They also have proportionally shorter legs, thicker necks and shorter heads.
Well trained ponies are good for children while they are learning to ride.
As well as for riding, ponies are used in driving and working roles.
Young ponies are called foals.
Shetland ponies are small but very strong.
Pound for pound, ponies are stronger than horses.
Miniature horses are even smaller than ponies.
Hackney ponies were first bred to pull carriages.
Ponies are easy to look after, requiring half the food that a horse would if it was the same weight.
Reptile
Nearly all reptiles lay shelled eggs.
Reptiles breathe air.
Reptiles are covered in scales or have a bony external plate such as a shell.
Nearly all reptiles are cold blooded.
The first reptiles are believed to have evolved around 320 million years ago.
The size of reptile’s brains relative to their body is much smaller than that of mammals.
Reptiles use a variety of methods to defend themselves from dangerous situations, such as avoidance, camouflage, hissing and biting.
Crocodiles and alligators are reptiles.
Turtles and tortoises are reptiles.
Lizards and snakes are reptiles.
Lizard and snake species make up the largest number of different reptiles.
Tuataras found in New Zealand are reptiles.
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory animals of the class Arachnida, making them cousins to spiders, mites and ticks.
Scorpions have eight legs, a pair of pincers (pedipalps) and a narrow segmented tail that often curves over their back, on the end of which is a venomous stinger.
The scorpion uses their pincers to quickly grab prey and then whip their poisonous tail stinger over to kill or paralyze the prey. The tail is also used as a useful defence against predators.
Scorpion species range in size from 0.09 cm to 20 cm.
Scorpions can be found on all continents except for Antarctica.
There are over 1750 known species of scorpion. While humans generally fear the scorpion and its poisonous sting only about 25 of the species have venom capable of killing a human.
Under UV light such as a black light scorpions are known to glow due to the presence of fluorescent chemicals in their exoskeleton.
The scorpion is nocturnal, often hiding during the day under rocks and in holes in the ground before emerging at night to feed.
Scorpions can eat a massive amount of food in one meal. Their large food storage organs, together with a low metabolism rate and an inactive lifestyle means that if necessary they can survive 6-12 months without eating again.
Areas of China have a traditional dish of fried scorpion, and scorpion wine features in Chinese medicine.
The scorpion is one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac, with the Scorpio constellation identified in the stars.
Scorpions moult, they shed their exoskeleton up to 7 times as they grow to full size. They become vulnerable to predators each time until their new protective exoskeleton hardens.
Sheep
There are over 1 billion sheep in the world.
China has the largest number of sheep in the world.
Adult female sheep are known as ewes.
Adult male sheep are known as rams.
Castrated adult male sheep are known as wethers.
A group of sheep is known as a herd, flock or mob.
Young sheep are called lambs.
Sheep have a field of vision of around 300 degrees, allowing them to see behind themselves without having to turn their head.
Sheep are herbivores that eat vegetation such as grass.
The digestive system of sheep features four chambers which help break down what they eat.
Sheep like to stay close to others in a herd which makes them easier to move together to new pastures.
In 1996, a sheep named Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from a somatic cell.
Domesticated sheep are raised for a number of agricultural products including fleece and meat.
Snail
Snail is a common name for gastropod molluscs that can be split into three groups, land snails, sea snails and freshwater snails.
Snails can have lungs or gills depending on the species and their habitat. Some marine snails actually can have lungs and some land based snails can have gills.
Snail-like animals that do not have a shell are usually called slugs.
Most snail species have a ribbon-like tongue called a radula that contains thousands of microscopic teeth. The radula works like a file, ripping food up into tiny pieces.
The majority of snails are herbivores eating vegetation such as leaves, stems and flowers, some larger species and marine based species can be predatory omnivores or even carnivores.
The giant African land snail grows to about 38 cm (15 in) and weigh 1 kg (2lb).
The largest living sea snail species is the Syrinx aruanus who's shell can reach 90 cm (35 in) in length and the snail can weigh up to 18 kg (40lbs)!
Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 m (50 yards) per hour. Making the snail one of the slowest creatures on Earth.
As they move along snails leave behind a trail of mucus which acts as a lubricant to reduce surface friction. This also allows the snail to move along upside down.
Depending on the species snails can live 5 - 25 years.
The common garden snail is regarded as an agricultural and garden pest as it eats the leaves and stems of crops.
The snail is a delicacy in French cuisine called escargot. The snail is also eaten in many other countries of the world, often as a fried meal.
In English, the expression "a snail's pace" is a term used to describe a slow, inefficient process and "snail mail" is now commonly used when referring to sending regular mail rather than that sent by email.
Spider
Spiders are arachnids, not insects.
Other members of the arachnid family include scorpions, mites, ticks and harvestmen.
Spiders have 8 legs while insects have 6.
Spiders don’t have antennae while insects do.
Spiders are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
There are around 40000 different species of spider.
Most spiders make silk which they use to create spider webs and capture prey.
Abandoned spider webs are called cobwebs.
Most spiders are harmless to humans but a few spider species, such as the black widow, can bite humans and inject venom. Deaths from spider bites are rare however.
An abnormal fear of spiders is called ‘arachnophobia’.
Tarantulas are large and often hairy spiders, the biggest species have been known to kill mice, lizards and birds.
Most tarantula species pose no threat to humans.
The largest specie of tarantula is the Goliath Birdeater.
Giant Huntsman spiders have leg-spans of around 30cm (12 in).
Stingray
Like their cousin the shark, stingrays do not have bones, their skeletons are instead made of cartilage.
Stingrays are a group of rays, consisting of eight families including the sixgill stingray, deep water stingray, stingarees, round rays, whiptail stingrays, river stingrays, butterfly rays and eagle rays.
There are around 70 species of stingrays in the world.
Stingrays are commonly found in tropical and subtropical coastal ocean waters, a few species live in freshwater rivers.
Most varieties of stingrays have one or more barbed venomous stingers on their tail which are only used in self-defence.
Stingrays flat bodies allow them to dig in and hide from predators on the sandy ocean bottom.
The main predators of stingrays are sharks, other large fish, seals, and sea lions.
Stingrays eyes are on top of their bodies, yet their mouth, gills, and nostrils are on the underside. Because of this stingrays cannot see their prey, instead they use smell and electroreceptor's to find food.
Stingrays mainly feed on molluscs, crustaceans such as crabs, clams, oysters, sea snails and small fish.
To swim, some stingray species flap their fins like a bird and fly through the water, others move their entire bodies in a wavy motion propelling them forward.
Shuffling your feet along a sandy shallow sea floor is the best way to avoid stepping on a stingray and potentially getting stung.
In the wild, a stingray can live on average to be 15 to 25 years old.
Some species of stingray found in the deep ocean can grow as long as 14 ft including the tail.
Stingrays are eaten in many cuisines around the world. In Singapore and Malaysia, stingray is grilled over charcoal, and served with spicy sauces.
The leathery skin of the ray is often used to make exotic shoes, boots, belts, wallets, jackets, and cellphone cases. In Japan, the skin is sometimes used as an under layer on Japanese swords due to its hard, rough, texture that keeps the layer on top from sliding on the handle during use.
Toucan
The family Ramphastidae includes toucans, toucanets and the smaller toucan called aracaris. There are about 40 different species.
Toucans live in tropical and sub-tropical jungle regions, they are native to southern Mexico in Central America, the northern areas of South America, and the Caribbean region.
Toucans are renown for their large colorful bills. At 8 inches (20 cm) they have the longest bill of any bird in the world in relation to their body size 25 in (63.5 cm).
Despite its size, the toucan's bill is very light as it is made of keratin (like human hair) in a honeycomb-like structure. It is believed to be this large in order to keep the bird cool in the hot climates it lives in.
This does mean the toucan's bill is not very strong, so it can't be used for digging or fighting like other bird beaks.
Toucan's have long narrow tongues up to 15 cm (6 in) long.
The relatively small wings of the toucan means they are not very good at flying and cannot stay airborne for long. This is fine by them though, they often don't move far, and usually hop between branches using curved toes and sharp claws.
Toucans mainly eat fruit, but sometimes prey on insects and small lizards.
Toucans live together in small-sized flocks, they make nests in tree hollows or holes that have often be created by their distant cousin the woodpecker.
The Toco toucan is the most widely recognized species of toucan, it has a large black-tipped orangey-yellow bill and a black bodied plumage with a white throat.
Toucans are one of the nosier jungle birds. They live for up to 20 years, and their predators include Jaguars and other big cats.
Since the 1960's, Toucan Sam, a cartoon mascot, has been used as the face of Kellogg's breakfast cereal Fruit Loops.
Venomous Snake
Venomous snakes have special glands and teeth designed to inject venom into their prey.
There are around 700 different species of venomous snakes.
Around 250 of these are capable of killing a human with one bite.
As well as for attacking prey, snakes also use venom in self defence.
The most common way to effectively treat venomous snake bites is with anti-venom.
Snake venom can contain neurotoxins that attack the nervous system.
Taipans are large Australian snakes that have high levels of venom.
Australian brown snakes are highly dangerous and easily alarmed.
Sea snakes are some of the most venomous in the world.
Coral snakes are highly venomous but not usually aggressive, only biting as a last resort.
Vipers have long, hollow fangs used to inject venom.
When cobras are threatened they rear up and flatten their necks to appear larger.
The King Cobra is the longest snake in the world with the ability to inject venom. They can grow up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft) in length.
Rattlesnakes get their name from the rattle at the end of their tails. The snake shakes the rattle to warn or scare away predators.
The most common snake bites in North America are from rattlesnakes.
Black mambas get their name because of the black color inside their mouth.
Black mambas are the fastest snake in the world.
NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant is nicknamed the ‘Black Mamba’
Ant
Ants are a social insect from the family Formicidae. They evolved from wasp-like ancestors around 110-130 million years ago after the rise of flowering plants.
Of an estimated 22,000 ant species, over 12,500 species have been identified.
Antarctica and a few remote islands are the only places with no indigenous ants.
It estimated that the total number of ants alive in the world at any one time is between one and ten quadrillion (10,000,000,000,000,000).
Ants are believed to contribute up to 25% of the total biomass weight of land based animals. That's about the same as the total biomass of the entire human race, or equivalent to approximately 1 million ants for every human.
Ant species range in size from 0.75 mm to 52 mm (0.030 in - 2.0 in).
Most ants are black or red in color but some species are green or metallic.
Ants can carry 20 times their own weight.
Ants can build small colonies of less than 100 ants through to very large colonies that occupy large areas and contain millions of individual ants.
Colonies of ants often dividing up labour, but work collectively to solve problems and support the group in a similar way to how human societies work.
"Queen" ants are the head of ant colonies, they lay thousands of eggs. Male ants called "drones" have one role which is to mate with the queen. Non-reproducing female ants form castes of "workers" or "soldiers" who find food, care for the queen and offspring, build the nest, and defend the colony or attack others.
Foraging worker ants can travel up to 200 metres (700 ft) from their nest and find their way back to the colony by following scent trails left by others.
Only female queen ants and male drones, have wings. Queen ants shed there wings after mating with a male, and seek a suitable place to begin a colony.
Queen ants can live up to 30 years, the longest of any insect. Workers live for 1 to 3 years, while male drones usually only survive a few weeks.
Ants can bite or sting, bullet ants, have the most painful sting of any insect, its not fatal to humans though like the sting of the Australian jack jumper ant.
Bald Eagle
Bald Eagles are found in North America.
The Great Seal of the United States features a bald eagle.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States.
Although their name suggests otherwise, bald eagles are not bald.
Female bald eagles are larger than male bald eagles.
Bald eagles eat mostly fish, swooping down to the water and catching them with their powerful talons.
Bald eagles live for around 20 years in the wild.
Bald eagles build very large nests, sometimes weighing as much as a ton!
The bald eagle was added to the list of endangered species in the United States in 1967 and its numbers have recovered well since.
Beaver
There are two species of beaver. The European or Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis).
Beavers are the second largest rodent in the world after the capybara.
The beaver is mainly a nocturnal animal.
The large front teeth of the beaver never stop growing. The beavers constant gnawing on wood helps to keep their teeth from growing too long.
Together beaver colonies create dams of wood and mud to provide still, deep water in order to protect against predators such as wolves, coyotes, bears or eagles, and also so they can float food and building material to their homes.
Once the dams are completed and ponds formed, beavers will work on building their homes called lodges in the middle. The dome shaped lodges, like the dams, are constructed with branches and mud. Lodges have underwater entrances, making entry tough for most other animals.
There are usually two dens within the lodge, one is for drying off after entering from the water and another, drier one, is where the family of up to four adults and six to eight young live.
There were once more than 60 million North American beaver. But due to hunting for its fur, its glands for medicine and because the beavers tree-felling and dams affect other land uses, the population has declined to around 12 million.
The beaver has a good sense of hearing, smell, and touch. It has poor eyesight, but does have a set of transparent eyelids which allow them to see under water.
Using their broad, scaly tail, beavers will forcefully slap the water as an alarm signal to other beavers in the area that a predator is approaching.
Beavers are slow on land but using their webbed feet, they are very good swimmers. A beaver can stay under water for up to 15 minutes.
Beavers are herbivores. They like to eat the wood of trees such as the aspen, cottonwood, willow, birch, maple, cherry and also eat pondweed and water lilies.
Adult beavers are around 3 feet long and have been known to weigh over 25 kg (55 lb). Females are as large or larger than males of the same age.
Beavers can live up to 24 years in the wild.
The beaver is the national animal of Canada, and features on the Canadian five-cent piece.
Beavers like to keep themselves busy, they are prolific builders during the night. Hence the saying "As busy as a beaver".
Beetle
Beetles are the common name for an order of insects called Coleoptera.
The name coleoptera comes from the Greek words koleos, meaning "sheath" (cover) and pteron, meaning "wing", so "sheathed wing". Beetles have two pairs of wings, the front pair, called "elytra", are hard, thick sheath or shell-like and protect the more normal rear pair of wings which are used for flying.
Around 40% of all known insect species are beetles, this equals about 400,000 species and some estimates suggest there could be as many as 3 - 8 million beetle species on Earth.
The order Coleoptera is the largest order in the entire animal kingdom, making up nearly 30% of all animals.
Beetles are incredibly versatile and are found nearly everywhere on Earth except for the very cold polar regions.
To avoid being attacked by predators, beetle species have many strategies such as camouflage, toxic properties, and fighting defences.
Some bigger species of beetle have even been known to eat small birds or mammals but the majority of beetles play a vital role in the ecosystems they live in because they feed mainly on debris from plants and animals.
Ladybirds (ladybugs) are one type of beetle that help to control pest populations by feeding on aphids that would otherwise eat vegetable plants.
Dung beetles are very important in many ecosystems because they feed on animal droppings, so are recycling waste material and speeding up the circulation of the nutrients back into the food chain.
Other species of beetle are seen as pests. Those that enjoy burrowing into trees to feed on the dust from wood, kill millions of trees each year. While beetles that feed on vegetables, grains and fruit can cost farmers millions in pesticides.
Humans eat more beetles than any other kind of insect. There are over 300 species known to be eaten, with most of these eaten at the larvae stage.
The scarab variety of dung beetle was a popular sacred symbol in Ancient Egypt.
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects.
A butterfly’s lifecycle is made up of four parts, egg, larva (caterpillars), pupa (chrysalis) and adult.
Butterflies attach their eggs to leaves with a special glue.
Most caterpillars are plant eaters (herbivores).
Fully grown caterpillars attach themselves to a suitable twig or leaf before shedding their outside layer of skin to reveal a hard skin underneath known as a chrysalis.
An adult butterfly will eventually emerge from the chrysalis where it will wait a few hours for its wings to fill with blood and dry, before flying for the first time.
Butterflies can live in the adult stage from anywhere between a week and a year, depending on the species.
Butterflies have four wings.
Butterflies often have brightly coloured wings with unique patterns made up of tiny scales.
Most butterflies feed on nectar from flowers.
Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet.
Scientists estimate that there are between 15000 and 20000 different species of butterfly.
Birdwing butterflies have large, angular wings and fly in a similar way to birds.
Monarch butterflies are known for their long migration. Every year monarch butterflies will travel a great distance (sometimes over 4000 km), females will lay eggs and a new generation of monarchs will travel back, completing the cycle.
Chameleon
Chameleons are a very unique branch of the lizard group of reptiles.
There are around 160 species of chameleon.
Chameleons live in warm varied habitats from rainforests through to deserts.
Almost half of the world's chameleon species are native to Madagascar, they are also found in Africa, and southern Europe to as far as Sri Lanka in Asia and have been introduced to Hawaii, California and Florida.
Special color pigment cells under the skin called chromatophores allow some chameleon species to change their skin color, creating combined patterns of pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, yellow and purple.
Chameleon change color for camouflage but this is not always the main reason. Some show darker colors when angry, or when trying to scare others. Males show light multi-colored patterns when vying for female attention. Desert varieties change to black when its cooler to absorb heat, then a light grey to reflect heat.
Chameleons have amazing eyes. The bulging upper and lower eyelids are joined and the pupil peaks out from a pinhole sized gap.
The chameleons' eyes can rotate and focus separately on 180-degree arcs, so they can see two different objects at the same time. This gives them a full 360-degree field of vision.
Chameleons actual eyesight is great they can see small insects 5-10 meters away. They can also see in both visible and ultraviolet light.
Chameleons feed by ballistically projecting their tongues often over twice the length of their body to catch prey, forming a suction cup as it hits its target.
The chameleons tongue can reach its prey in just 0.07 split seconds, with the projectile acceleration reaching over 41 g's of force.
Chameleons usually eat large insects such as locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, and stick insects, some bigger species also eat other lizards and young birds.
Chameleons are not deaf but they do not actually have ear openings.
Many species of chameleon have horn-like bumps or crests on their heads.
Species of chameleon can be as small as 15 mm (0.59 in) or as large as 69 cm (27 in).
Cow
Cattle are herbivores that eat vegetation such as grass.
Cattle stomachs have four chambers which help break down what they eat
There are well over 1 billion cattle in the world.
Cattle are sacred in India.
There are an estimated 300 million cattle in India.
Young cattle are generally known as calves.
Adult females are generally called cows.
Adult males that are not castrated are generally called bulls.
Cattle are red/green color blind.
In the sometimes controversial sport of bull fighting, bulls are angered by the movement of the cape rather than its red color.
Cattle are farmed for a number of agricultural products including meat and dairy products.
Meat from adult cattle is known as beef.
Meat from calves is known as veal.
Cattle trained to be draft animals are known as oxen (ox).
Crocodile
Crocodiles are reptiles.
The physical characteristics of crocodiles make them good predators.
Crocodiles are fast over short distances.
Crocodiles have sharp teeth.
Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal in the world.
The muscles that open crocodiles jaws however are not so powerful, reasonably strong people could hold a crocodiles jaw closed with their bare hands.
Like other reptiles, crocodiles are cold-blooded.
Crocodiles can survive for a long time without food.
Most crocodiles live in fresh water rivers and lakes but some live in salt water.
Crocodiles eat a variety of fish, birds and other animals.
Crocodiles release heat through their mouths rather than through sweat glands.
The saltwater crocodile is the largest species of crocodile.
Some crocodile species can weigh over 1200 kg (2600 lb).
Like alligators, crocodiles are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’.
Duck
The duck is a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. They are related to swans and geese.
Ducks are mostly aquatic birds living in both fresh water and sea water and found on every continent except for Antarctica.
A male duck is called a drake, a female duck a hen, and a baby duck a duckling.
Ducks are omnivores. They feed on aquatic plants, small fish, insects, worms, grubs and more. People often feed domesticated ducks bread.
Diving ducks and sea ducks search for food fairly deep underwater. To be able to stay underwater more easily, diving ducks are quite heavy.
Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water, on land, or by ducking their head underwater. Along the edge of their beak is a comb-like structure called a pecten, that enables them to hold slippery food and filter nutrients out of the water.
A common urban legend is that a ducks quack does not echo. This has however, been proven to be false.
Ducks are curious and friendly creatures they have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years. All domestic ducks are descended from either the Mallard or the Muscovy duck.
The most common and recognised species of duck is the Mallard or Wild duck. It is a dabbling duck that lives in the Americas, Europe, Asia, North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia.
The male Mallard has a glossy green head, grey wings and belly, while the female has a brown-speckled plumage. Mallard ducks have a moulting season, they are vulnerable during this time as the moulting stops them flying.
Mallard ducks live 5 to 10 years in the wild and 8+ years in captivity.
Paradise Shelducks of New Zealand often have one mating partner for life.
All ducks have highly waterproof feathers due to the feathers interlocking nature and waxy coating.
Ducks have many economic uses. Their feathers, particularly their underlying 'down' feathers, are used in many products, while the white Pekin duck is the most common variety raised for eggs and meat.
Ducks have featured as popular cartoon characters over the years, such as Walt Disney's Donald Duck and Warner Brothers, Daffy Duck.
Fish
Fish are vertebrate animals that live in the water. Vertebrate means they have a spinal cord surrounded by bone or cartilage.
Fish have gills that extract oxygen from the water around them.
There are over 30000 known species of fish.
Some flatfish use camouflage to hide themselves on the ocean floor.
Tuna can swim at speeds of up to 70 kph (43 mph).
Relative to their body size, fish have small brains compared to most other animals.
Fish are covered in scales which are often covered in a layer of slime to help their movement through water.
Cleaner fish help out other fish by removing parasites and dead skin from their scales.
Although jellyfish and crayfish have the word ‘fish’ in their name, they aren’t actually fish.
Over 1000 fish species are threatened by extinction.
Mermaids are mythological creatures with the tail of a fish and the upper half of a woman.
Giant Panda
The giant panda is native to China.
It has a black and white coat that features large black patches around its eyes.
Pandas are an endangered species. Population estimates vary but there may be around 2000 left living in the wild.
A giant panda cub weighs only around 150 grams (5 oz) at birth.
Adult males can weigh up to 150 kg (330 lb).
Giant panda have a lifespan of around 20 years in the wild.
Female pandas raise cubs on their own (the male leaves after mating).
The diet of a panda is made up almost entirely of bamboo.
Giant pandas eat as much as 10 kg (22 lb) of bamboo a day.
Giant pandas are good climbers.
The scientific name for the giant panda is ‘ailuropoda melanoleuca’.
An animated movie from 2008 named ‘Kung Fu Panda’ features a giant panda called ‘Po’.
Guinea Pig
The guinea pig or 'cavy' is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia.
Despite being called 'guinea pigs' they are not in the pig family or from Guinea.
Guinea pigs originated in the Andes mountains of South America. They do not exist naturally in the wild, instead are domesticated descendants of a closely related species the Cavia aperea.
The guinea pig is an important creature for many indigenous South American people, especially as a food source. But also for customary medicine or religious ceremonies.
The guinea pig has been a popular household pet in Western societies since they were first bought back by European traders as long ago as the 16th century.
They are still very popular as pets today due to their quiet nature, their openness to humans through handling and feeding, and the relative ease of caring for them.
Guinea pigs purr when they are happy, often, like a cat it is when they are being held or petted. They make a whistle noise when they are excited, usually on seeing their owner or when its feeding time.
Grass is the guinea pig's main diet of food, they also need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.
Guinea pigs on average weigh 0.70 to 1.2 kg (1.5 - 2.5 lbs), and are 20 to 25 cm (8 - 10 inches) long.
Guinea pigs live on average for 4 - 5 years but sometimes as long as 8 years.
In the early 20th century the guinea pig was used in scientific experimentation, they have now mainly been replaced in laboratories by mice and rats. Although the term 'guinea pig' is still commonly used in English as a metaphor for something being experimented on.
The guinea pig is a popular traditional food dish in many South American countries most notably Peru and Bolivia and areas of Ecuador and Colombia.
Hare
Hares are similar to rabbits but there are a number of key differences.
Hares are usually larger than rabbits and have longer ears.
Rabbits give birth to their young in burrows while hares give birth in more open areas.
Hares are born with fur and their eyes open.
Hares are not kept as house pets.
Hares usually live by themselves or in pairs.
Young hares are called leverets.
Like rabbits, hares are herbivores (plant eaters).
A group of hares is known as a ‘drove’.
Hares can run at speeds up to 72 kph (45 mph).
Hippo
Hippopotamuses are found in Africa.
The name hippopotamus means ‘river horse’ and is often shortened to hippo.
The hippopotamus is generally considered the third largest land mammal (after the White rhinoceros and elephant).
Hippopotamuses spend a large amount of time in water such as rivers, lakes and swamps.
Resting in water helps keep hippopotamuses temperature down.
Hippopotamuses give birth in water.
Hippopotamuses have short legs, a huge mouth and a body shaped like a barrel.
The closest relations of the hippopotamus are surprisingly cetaceans such as whales and dolphins.
Scientists believe this family of animals diverged in evolution around 55 million years ago.
Although hippos might look a little chubby, they can easily outrun a human.
Hippos can be extremely aggressive, especially if they feel threatened.
They are regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.
Hippos are threatened by habitat loss and poachers who hunt them for their meat and teeth.
A male hippopotamus is called a ‘bull’.
A female hippopotamus is called a ‘cow’.
A baby hippo is called a ‘calf’.
A group of hippos in known as a ‘herd’, ‘pod’, ‘dale’ or ‘bloat’.
Hippos typically live for around 45 years.
Hippos eat mostly grass.
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are New World birds found only in the Americas, mainly South America.
There are more than 340 species of hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are one of the smallest kinds of bird in the world. With most species 7.5 - 13 cm (3 - 5 in) in length. The Bee hummingbird is the smallest at just 5 cm (2 in). The largest is the Giant Hummingbird reaching over 20 cm (8 in).
They are called hummingbirds due to the sound created by their rapidly beating wings.
Depending on the species a hummingbird's wings can flap on average around 50 times per second, and can reach as high as 200 times per second. This allows them to fly faster than 15 m/s (54 km/h or 34 mph).
The hummingbird can hover, fly forwards, backwards and even upside down.
Hummingbirds drink the nectar of flowers which gives them a good source of glucose energy, they will catch insects every now and again for a protein boost.
A hummingbird's bill varies dramatically depending on the species. Most have a fairly long, thin bill that allows them to reach down to the nectar of a flower. With the bill slightly open they use their tongue to quickly lap up the nectar inside.
Apart from insects, hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of all animals due to the need to keep their wings rapidly beating. Because of this the hummingbird visits hundreds of flowers each day and consuming more than their own weight in nectar each day.
Because they need to conserve energy hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, they spend the majority of their time perched digesting their food.
To conserve energy overnight a hummingbird enters a hibernation-like sleep state called torpor.
Depending on the species hummingbirds live on average 3 to 5 years. But have been known to live as long as 12 years.
Most hummingbirds of the United States and Canada migrate over 3000km south in fall to spend winter in Mexico or Central America. Some South American species also move north to these areas during the southern winter.
Before migrating, the hummingbird will store up a layer of fat equal to half its body weight in order to slowly use up this energy source while flying.
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat in the Panthera genus, the jaguar's scientific name is Panthera onca.
The jaguar is the 3rd largest of the big cats after the tiger and the lion and it is the largest of all the big cats in the Americas.
Jaguar's are only found in the Americas. Their range extends from Arizona in South-west United States, Mexico, through Central America, into most Amazon River Basin countries in South America and as far south as northern Argentina.
The jaguar's preferred habitat is dense rainforest, but they are also found across other forested areas and open plains.
With its spotted coat the jaguar most closely resembles the leopard which is found in Asia and Africa, however, the jaguar is larger and has a stockier build than the leopard, it also has less but bigger rosettes (spots) with small dots in the middle. While the jaguars behavioural habits more resemble that of a tiger.
Like the tiger, jaguars enjoy water and are good at swimming.
Jaguars roam, hunt and live alone, only coming together to mate. They leave a scent to mark their territory. Female territories may overlap and range in size from 25 - 40 km2. While males territories are double that size, a male will aggressively protect his area (and the resident females within it) from other males.
The jaguar stalks and ambushes its prey, often leaping into water or from a tree.
Jaguars are carnivores, they prey on over 80 species of animal of all sizes, such as deer, pigs, capybara, foxes, fish, frogs and even large anaconda snakes.
The jaguar has a very powerful jaw, its bite exerts more force than that of a lion.
Male jaguars are about 10-20% larger than females. On average jaguars weigh between 124 - 211 lbs (56–96 kg) and are 4 ft to 6.5 ft (1.2 to 1.95 m) in length.
Jaguars live in the wild for 11-15 years, in captivity they can live over 20 years.
Many ancient American cultures such as the Maya and Aztec, featured the jaguar in their mythologies, it was often regarded as a symbol of strength.
Argentina's national rugby team badge includes a jaguar. However, a historical error resulted in the team being nicknamed to this day, Los Pumas (the pumas).
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are marsupial animals that are found in Australia as well as New Guinea.
There are four different kangaroo species, the red kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and antilopine kangaroo.
Kangaroos can hop around quickly on two legs or walk around slowly on all four.
Kangaroos can’t walk backwards.
Kangaroos have very powerful legs and can be dangerous at times.
Kangaroos can jump very high, sometimes three times their own height.
Kangaroos can swim.
Most kangaroos eat grass.
Baby kangaroos are known as ‘joeys’.
A group of kangaroos is called a ‘mob’, ‘troop’ or ‘court’.
The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial in the world.
Kangaroos usually live to around six years old in the wild.
Australian airline Qantas uses a kangaroo as their symbol.
Lizard
Lizards are reptiles.
Some lizards can detach their tails if caught by predators.
The upper and lower eyelids of chameleons are joined, leaving just a small hole for them to see through. They can move their eyes independently however, allowing them to look in two different directions at the same time.
Chameleons have long tongues which they rapidly extend from their mouth, too fast for human eyes to see properly.
Chameleons generally eat insects.
Some chameleons have the ability to change color. This helps them communicate with each other and can also be used for camouflage.
Geckos have no eyelids.
Geckos have unique toes which allow them to be good climbers.
Iguanas have a row of spines which run down their back and tail.
Green iguanas are popular pets.
The Komodo dragon is the largest type of lizard, growing up to 3 metres (10 feet) in length.
They are found on a number of different Indonesian Islands.
Komodo dragons are carnivores (meat eaters) and can be very aggressive.
Monkey
There are currently 264 known monkey species.
Monkeys can be divided into two groups, Old World monkeys that live in Africa and Asia, and New World monkeys that live in South America.
A baboon is an example of an Old World monkey, while a marmoset is an example of a New World monkey.
Apes are not monkeys.
Some monkeys live on the ground, while others live in trees.
Different monkey species eat a variety of foods, such as fruit, insects, flowers, leaves and reptiles.
Most monkeys have tails.
Groups of monkeys are known as a ‘tribe’, ‘troop’ or ‘mission’.
The Pygmy Marmoset is the smallest type of monkey, with adults weighing between 120 and 140 grams.
The Mandrill is the largest type of monkey, with adult males weighing up to 35 kg.
Capuchin monkeys are believed to be one of the smartest New World monkey species. They have the ability to use tools, learn new skills and show various signs of self-awareness.
Spider monkeys get their name because of their long arms, legs and tail.
The monkey is the 9th animal that appears on the Chinese zodiac, appearing as the zodiac sign in 2016.
Mouse
A mouse or plural mice is a small mammal from the rodent order of animals.
Mice have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, and a long almost hairless tail.
There are more than 30 known species of mice.
The house mouse is the best known type of mouse and is a popular pet variety. Other mouse species seen in and around the house are the field mouse, the American white-footed mouse and the deer mouse.
Mice are usually nocturnal animals. They have poor eyesight but make up for this with their very good hearing and smell.
Mice have a number of predators including cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, and snakes.
In the wild, mice are herbivores that eat all kinds of fruit and grains from plants.
Mice tails can grow as long as their bodies.
Mice use their whiskers to sense changes in temperature and to help feel the surface they are walking along.
Mice build very complex burrows with long entrances and many escape routes. They are very clean and tidy rodents with their burrows often having separate areas for storing food, sleeping and going to the toilet.
A mouse eats 15 - 20 times a day. Therefore they usually build their homes close to food sources, tending to only travel up to 8 m from their burrows to find food.
Mice and rats are the most commonly used animals in laboratories for scientific experiments.
The mouse is a delicacy in eastern Zambia and northern Malawi, where they are eaten as a source of protein.
Because they have so many predators mice usually only live for about six months in the wild. In a lab or as a pet they can live for up to two years.
In 1928, Walt Disney's Micky Mouse was the first mouse character to be used in children cartoons and animation. Mouse characters have remained popular since with other such as Speedy Gonzales, Jerry from Tom and Jerry, and Stuart Little.
Otter
The otter is a carnivorous mammal in a branch of the weasel family called Lutrinae.
There are 13 species of otter found all around the world.
Some otter species spend all their time in the water while others are land and water based animals.
An otter's den is called a 'holt' or a 'couch'.
A group of otters are called a 'bevy', 'family', 'lodge', or 'romp', or, when in water the group is called a 'raft'.
Otters live up to 16 years in the wild.
Otters are very active hunters, spending many hours a day chasing prey through water or scouring the rivers and the sea bed. They mainly eat fish but also frogs, crayfish and crabs, some species carry a rock to help smash open shellfish.
Otter species range in size from the smallest Oriental small-clawed otter at 0.6 m (2 ft) and 1 kg (2.2 lb). Through to the large Giant otter and Sea otters who can reach 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and 45 kg (99.2 lb).
Four of the main otter species include the European otter, the North American river otter, the Sea otter, and the Giant otter.
The European otter or Eurasian otter, are found in Europe, Asia, parts of North Africa and the British Isles.
The North American river otter was one of the most hunted animals for its fur after Europeans arrived. Sea otters have also been hunted in large numbers for their fur.
Unlike most marine mammals, otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber. Instead air is trapped in their fur which keeps them warm.
The Giant otter is found in South America around the Amazon river basin.
The otter is a very playful animal and are believe to take part in some activities just for the enjoyment. Some make waterslides to slide down into the water!
Otters are a popular animal in Japanese folklore where they are called "kawauso". In these tales the smart kawauso often fool humans, kind of like a fox.
Panther
The animal known as a "panther" actually refers to 3 different types of big cats, leopards (Panthera pardus) or jaguars (Panthera onca) that have a black or white color mutation and a subspecies of the cougar (Puma concolor).
The "black panther" is a black jaguar of the Americas or a black leopard of Asia and Africa. In fact, the black panther actually has normal rosettes (spots), they are often just too hard to see because the animal's fur is so dark.
Melanism is the name of the dark color pigmentation mutation in a jaguar or leopard that cause the fur to be blackish, it occurs in about 6% of the population.
The opposite of melanism is albinism which is an even rarer mutation that can occur in most animal species. The extremely rare "white panther" are albino leopards, jaguars or cougars.
Because the melanism gene is a dominant gene in jaguars, a black jaguar may produce either black or spotted cubs, while a pair of spotted jaguars can only have spotted cubs.
Apart from color the black panther is believed to be less fertile than normal-colored big cats and also much more unpredictable and aggressive.
Black panthers are great swimmers and are one of the strongest tree climbing big cats, often pouncing on prey from a tree, they are capable of leaping up to 20 feet to catch their prey which includes medium sized animals like deer and monkeys and smaller rabbits and birds.
Black panthers have good hearing, extremely good eyesight, and a strong jaw.
The black panther is often called 'the ghost of the forest'. It is a smart, stealth-like attacker, its dark coat helps it hide and stalk prey very easily, especially at night.
The light tan colored Florida panther is one of over 30 subspecies of cougar (Puma concolor) found in North America.
The Florida panther has adapted to the subtropical forests and swamp environments of Florida, however they are very rare animals, as of 2013 it is believed only 160 Florida panthers remain in the wild.
Peacock
"Peacock" is commonly used as the name for a peafowl of the pheasant family. But in fact "peacock" is the name for the colorfully plumaged male peafowl only. The females are called peahens, they are smaller and grey or brown in color.
The name of a baby peafowl is a peachick.
Peacocks are best known for their amazing eye-spotted tail feathers or plumage. During a display ceremony the peacock will stand its tail feathers up to form a fan that stretches out nearly 2 m in length.
This colourful display is believed to be a way to attract females for mating purposes, and secondly to make the peacock look bigger and intimidating if he feels threatened by predators.
There are 3 varieties of peafowl, the Indian, the Green and the Congo.
The most common type of peafowl found in many zoos and parks around the world is the Indian peafowl. The head and neck of which is covered in shining, blue feathers arranged like scales. It is native to South Asia areas of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India (where it is the national bird).
The Congo peafowl is native to central Africa. It doesn't have a large plumage like other varieties. It is the national bird of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Green peafowl is native to Southeast Asia, it has chrome green and bronze feathers. It lives in areas such as Myanmar (its national symbol) and Java. It is regarded as an endangered species due to hunting and a reduction in its habitat.
White varieties of peacocks are not albinos, they have a genetic mutation that causes the lack of pigments in the plumage.
Peacock feathers accounts for 60 percent of the bird's total body length and with a wingspan measuring 5 feet, it is one of the largest flying birds in the world.
A peafowl can live to over the age of 20 years, the peacocks plumage looks its best when the male reaches the age of 5 or 6.
Peacocks have spurs on their feet that are primarily used to fight with other males.
Peafowl are omnivorous, they eat many types of plants, flower petals, seeds, insects and small reptiles such as lizards.
In Hindu culture, Lord Karthikeya, the god of war, is said to ride a peacock.
Pig
Pigs are intelligent animals.
Like humans, pigs are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.
A pig’s snout is an important tool for finding food in the ground and sensing the world around them.
Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.
There are around 2 billion pigs in the world.
Humans farm pigs for meat such as pork, bacon and ham.
Some people like to keep pigs as pets.
Wild pigs (boar) are often hunted in the wild.
In some areas of the world, wild boars are the main source of food for tigers.
Feral pigs that have been introduced into new areas can be a threat to the local ecosystem.
Pigs can pass on a variety of diseases to humans.
Relative to their body size, pigs have small lungs.
Polar Bear
Polar bears live in the Arctic.
Polar bears have black skin and although their fur appears white, it is actually transparent.
It is the largest carnivore (meat eater) that lives on land.
Polar bears use sea ice as a platform to hunt seals.
Seals make up most of a polar bears diet.
Male polar bears can weigh up to 680 kg (1500 lb).
Female polar bears usually only weigh about half as much as males.
Polar bears spend most of their time at sea.
Scientists estimate that there are around 20000 polar bears.
Polar bears have 42 teeth.
The scientific name for the polar bear is ‘ursus maritimus’.
Polar bears keep warm thanks to nearly 10 cm of blubber under the skin.
Polar bears have an excellent sense of smell, with the ability to detect seals nearly a mile away (1.6 km).
Polar bears can reach speeds up to 40 kph (25 mph) on land and 10 kph (6 mph) in water.
The polar bear was the mascot for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.
Rabbit
A female rabbit is called a doe.
A male rabbit is called a buck.
A young rabbit is called a kit (or kitten).
Rabbits live in groups.
The European rabbit lives underground, in burrows. A group of burrows is known as a warren.
More than half of the world’s rabbits live in North America.
Rabbits have long ears which can be as long as 10 cm (4 in).
Rabbits have a lifespan of around 10 years.
Rabbits are herbivores (plant eaters).
Pet rabbits that live inside are often referred to as ‘house rabbits’.
Rabbits reproduce very quickly. This can be a major headache for people living in agricultural areas where rabbits are seen as pests.
Rabbits are born with their eyes closed and without fur.
Rhino
The name rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’ and is often shortened to rhino.
There are five different species of rhinoceros, three native to southern Asia and two native to Africa. They are the Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros.
All five species of rhinoceros can grow to weigh over 1000 kg (2200 lb).
White rhino can weigh over 3500 kg (7700 lb).
White rhinoceros are generally considered the second largest land mammal (after the elephant).
Three of the five rhinoceros species are listed as being critically endangered.
Rhinoceros have thick, protective skin.
Relative to their large body size, rhinoceros have small brains.
Rhinoceros horns are made from a protein called keratin, the same substance that fingernails and hair are made of.
Rhinoceros are often hunted by humans for their horns.
Rhinoceros are herbivores (plant eaters).
A group of rhinoceros is called a ‘herd’ or a ‘crash’.
Despite their name, White Rhinoceros are actually gray.
Seal
Seals are semiaquatic marine mammals. They have four flippers, so are in a category of animals known as pinnipedia which means 'fin-footed'.
The pinnipeds group contains 3 families: phocidae, the earless or true seal (eg. common seal), otaridae, eared seals (eg. fur seals and sea lions) and odobenidae (walrus).
Seals are believed to have evolved from land based, bear or otter-like ancestors.
There are around 33 species of seals.
Seals are found in most waters of the world, mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic but also in some areas of the tropics.
Seals have a layer of fat under skin called blubber, which keeps them warm in cold water. Their slick fur coat is streamlined for gliding through water.
A seal's whiskers help it to detect prey in dark murky waters.
Seals live on average for 25 - 30 years, females usually live longer than males.
Seals range in size from about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and 45 kg (100 lb) such as the earless Baikal seal and eared Galapagos fur seal, up to the 5 m (16 ft) and 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) southern elephant seal.
The seal is a carnivorous mammal that usually feeds on fish, squid, shellfish, crustaceans or sea birds. Some, like the leopard seal, eat other species of seals.
Seals mainly live in the water, they only come ashore to mate, give birth, moult or escape from predators such as orca whales and sharks.
Because they can spend months at sea, seals can sleep underwater.
Some seal species can hold their breath for nearly two hours underwater by slowing their heart beat and conserving oxygen.
About once a year a female seal, called a cow, gives birth to one pup on land.
Humans have traditionally hunted seals for their meat, blubber and fur coats, however seals are now protected by international law. They are still commonly kept in captivity though and sometimes trained to perform tricks and tasks.
Sloth
Sloths are a medium-sized mammal. There are two types of sloth the two-toed sloth and the three-toed sloth, they are classified into six different species.
All sloths actually have three toes, but the two-toed sloth has only two fingers.
Sloths are part of the order Pilosa so they are related to anteaters and armadillos.
Sloths are tree-dwelling animals, they are found in the jungles of Central and South America.
A sloth's body is usually 50 to 60 cm long. Skeletons of now extinct species of sloth suggest some varieties used to be as large as elephants.
Sloths mainly eat the tree buds, new shoots, fruit and leaves, of the Cecropia tree. Some two-toed sloths also eat insects, small reptiles, and birds.
Sloths have a four-part stomach that very slowly digests the tough leaves they eat, it can sometimes take up to a month for them to digest a meal. Digesting this diet means a sloth has very little energy left to move around making it one of the slowest moving animals in the world.
Sloths can move along the ground at just 2 m (6.5 ft) per minute! In the trees they are slightly quicker at 3 m (10 ft) per minute.
The slow-movement and unique thick fur of the sloth make it a great habitat for other creatures such as moths, beetles, cockroaches, fungi, and algae. In fact, this green colored algae provides a camouflage so sloths can avoid predators.
Sloths can extend their tongues 10 to 12 inches out of their mouths.
The sloth has very long, sharp, and strong claws that they use to hold on to tree branches. The claws are also their only natural defense against predators.
Sloths usually only leave the tree they live in to go to the toilet once a week on the ground. This is when they are most vulnerable to being attacked by their main predators such as jaguars, the harpy eagle and snakes.
Two-toed sloths are nocturnal, being most active at night. While three-toed sloths are diurnal which means they are most active during the day.
It used to be thought sloths slept for 15 to 20 hours a day. However, its now believed they only sleep around 10 hours a day.
In the wild, sloths live on average 10 - 16 years and in captivity over 30 years.
Snake
Snakes are carnivores (meat eaters).
Snakes don’t have eyelids.
Snakes can’t bite food so have to swallow it whole.
Snakes have flexible jaws which allow them to eat prey bigger than their head!
Snakes are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
Snakes have internal ears but not external ones.
Snakes used in snake charming performances respond to movement, not sound.
There are around 3000 different species of snake.
Snakes have a unique anatomy which allows them to swallow and digest large prey.
Snakes are covered in scales.
Snakeskin is smooth and dry.
Snakes shed their skin a number of times a year in a process that usually lasts a few days.
Some species of snake, such as cobras and black mambas, use venom to hunt and kill their prey. Read more venomous snake facts.
Snakes smell with their tongue.
Pythons kill their prey by tightly wrapping around it and suffocating it in a process called constriction.
Some sea snakes can breathe partially through their skin, allowing for longer dives underwater.
Anacondas are large, non-venomous snakes found in South America that can reach over 5 m (16 ft) in length.
Python reticulates can grow over 8.7 m (28 ft) in length and are considered the longest snakes in the world.
Squirrel
Squirrels are rodents.
There are around 280 different species of squirrel.
Most squirrels are small and have big eyes and bushy tails.
Their large eyes help them skilfully climb trees and avoid predators.
Squirrels eat mostly nuts, fruits and seeds.
Squirrels are born blind.
Flying squirrels can’t fly like birds but they can glide between trees.
Flying squirrels have been known to glide for distances of up to 90 metres (295 ft).
Chipmunks are small squirrels with stripes.
Chipmunks have cheek pouches which help them carry food.
Many chipmunk species hoard food such as nuts, berries, egg and grains for the winter.
Toad
Toads and frogs are both in the order Anura.
While toads and frogs are biologically the same there are some key differences between them. Toads are associated with a drier, wart-covered, leathery skin, and shorter legs than frogs. They also can live further away from water.
Toads are found on all continents except Antarctica and are also not present on isolated islands like New Zealand, New Guinea, and Madagascar.
A group of toads is often called a knot.
The common toad (or European toad), is a large-sized species of toad that is found throughout Europe, extending from Siberia into North Africa.
The cane toad that is native to South and Central America was introduced in Australia to combat the pest beetles of sugarcane plantations. However, the cane toad itself is now seen as a widespread pest in the country.
Like frogs, toads also start out life in water as fish-like tadpoles.
Toads have a pair of parotoid glands on the back of their heads. These glands and the skin in general, contain a poison which the toad excretes if feeling stressed or threatened. The poison has different effects on different animals, some find it irritating to eyes and mouth, while it may be fatal to others.
Some species such as the cane toad are more toxic than other species.
Contrary to popular believe you will not get warts by touching the bumpy wart-like skin or glands of a toad. The poison does not usually affect humans, however you should always wash your hands after touching a toad.
Toads may also play dead, or puff themselves up to appear bigger if they feel threatened by predators.
Toads do not have teeth, so they do not chew their food, instead swallowing it whole.
Toads are usually nocturnal. They burrow beneath the earth in the day and come out at night to feed on insects.
Toads will hibernate throughout the winter months.
In the wild, most toads species live on average 3 to 5 years. They have been recorded living as old as 39 years in captivity.
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles.
Turtles have a hard shell that protects them like a shield, this upper shell is called a ‘carapace’.
Turtles also have a lower shell called a ‘plastron’.
Many turtle species (not all) can hide their heads inside their shells when attacked by predators.
Turtles have existed for around 215 million years.
Like other reptiles, turtles are cold blooded.
The largest turtle is the leatherback sea turtle, it can weigh over 900 kg! (2000 lb)
Turtles lay eggs.
In some species of turtle the temperature determines if the egg will develop into a male or female, lower temperatures lead to a male while higher temperatures lead to a female.
Some turtles lay eggs in the sand and leave them to hatch on their own. The young turtles make their way to the top of the sand and scramble to the water while trying to avoid predators.
Sea turtles have special glands which help remove salt from the water they drink.
Many turtle species are endangered.
Zebra
Zebra are part of the equidae family along with horse and donkeys.
Every zebra has a unique pattern of black and white stripes.
There are a number of different theories which attempt to explain zebra’s unique stripes with most relating to camouflage.
Wild zebras live in Africa.
Common plain zebras have tails around half a metre in length (18 inches).
Zebra crossings (pedestrian crossings) are named after the black and white stripes of zebras.
Zebras run from side to side to being chased by a predator.
Zebras have excellent eyesight and hearing.
Zebras stand up while sleeping.
Zebras eat mostly grass.
The ears of a zebra show its mood.
A zebra named Marty starred in the 2005 animated film Madagascar.
Dog
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.
Dogs perform many useful tasks for humans including hunting, farm work and security as well as assisting those with disabilities such as the blind.
Although experts often disagree, there is scientific evidence which shows that the domestication of dogs could have occurred more than 15,000 years ago.
There are hundreds of different breeds of dogs.
Examples of these breeds include: Bulldog, German Shepherd, Collie, Golden Retriever, St Bernard, Greyhound, Bloodhound, Chihuahua, Labrador, Great Dane, Rottweiler, Boxer and Cocker Spaniel.
The most popular breed of dog in the world by registered ownership is the Labrador. With their gentle nature, obedience, intelligence and near limitless energy, Labradors make for excellent family pets and reliable workers. They often assist police and are a common choice as guide dogs.
Dogs have formed such a strong bond as pets, workers and companions to humans that they have earned the nickname "man's best friend".
Humans help train various dog breeds to enter in competitions such as breed shows, agility and obedience contests, racing and sled pulling.
Dog have superior hearing than humans, capable of hearing sounds at four times the distance.
Dogs have a remarkable sense of smell, they are capable of differentiating odors in concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.
The average life span for a dog is around 10 to 14 years.
Those involved in dog breeding refer to males as ‘dogs’, females as ‘bitches’, dogs younger than a year old as ‘puppies’ and a group of offspring as a ‘litter’.
Domestic dogs are omnivores, they feed on a variety of foods including grains, vegetables and meats.
Cat
Cats are one of, if not the most, popular pet in the world.
There are over 500 million domestic cats in the world.
Cats and humans have been associated for nearly 10000 years.
Cats conserve energy by sleeping for an average of 13 to14 hours a day.
Cats have flexible bodies and teeth adapted for hunting small animals such as mice and rats.
A group of cats is called a clowder, a male cat is called a tom, a female cat is called a molly or queen while young cats are called kittens.
Domestic cats usually weigh around 4 kilograms (8 lb 13 oz) to 5 kilograms (11 lb 0 oz).
The heaviest domestic cat on record is 21.297 kilograms (46 lb 15.2 oz).
Cats can be lethal hunters and very sneaky, when they walk their back paws step almost exactly in the same place as the front paws did beforehand, this keeps noise to a minimum and limits visible tracks.
Cats have powerful night vision, allowing them to see at light levels six times lower than what a human needs in order to see.
Cats also have excellent hearing and a powerful sense of smell.
Older cats can at times act aggressively towards kittens.
Domestic cats love to play, this is especially true with kittens who love to chase toys and play fight. Play fighting among kittens may be a way for them to practice and learn skills for hunting and fighting.
On average cats live for around 12 to 15 years.
Cats spend a large amount of time licking their coats to keep them clean.
Feral cats are often seen as pests and threats to native animals.
Tiger
The tiger is the biggest species of the cat family.
Tigers can reach a length of up to 3.3 metres (11 feet) and weigh as much as 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
Subspecies of the tiger include the Sumatran Tiger, Siberian Tiger, Bengal Tiger, South China Tiger, Malayan Tiger and Indochinese Tiger.
Many subspecies of the tiger are either endangered or already extinct. Humans are the primary cause of this through hunting and the destruction of habitats.
Around half of tiger cubs don’t live beyond two years of age.
Tiger cubs leave their mother when they are around 2 years of age.
A group of tigers is known as an ‘ambush’ or ‘streak’.
Tigers are good swimmers and can swim up to 6 kilometres.
Rare white tigers carry a gene that is only present in around 1 in every 10000 tigers.
Tigers usually hunt alone at night time.
Tigers have been known to reach speeds up to 65 kph (40 mph).
Less than 10% of hunts end successfully for tigers
Tigers can easily jump over 5 metres in length.
Various tiger subspecies are the national animals of Bangladesh, India, North Korea, South Korea and Malaysia.
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.
Shark
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!
If a shark was put into a large swimming pool, it would be able to smell a single drop of blood in the water.
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.
Great whites are the deadliest shark in the ocean. These powerful predators can race through the water at 30 km per hour.
Unlike other species of shark, the great white is warm-blooded. Although the great white does not keep a constant body temperature, it needs to eat a lot of meat in order to be able to regulate its temperature.
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.
Dolphin
Compared to other animals, dolphins are believed to be very intelligent.
Dolphins are carnivores (meat eaters).
The Killer Whale (also known as Orca) is actually a type of dolphin.
Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well known 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.
Dolphins often display a playful attitude which makes them popular in human culture. They can be seen jumping out of the water, riding waves, play fighting and occasionally interacting with humans swimming in the water.
Dolphins use a blowhole on top of their heads to breathe.
Dolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing as well as the ability to use echolocation for finding the exact location of objects.
Dolphins communicate with each other by clicking, whistling and other sounds.
Some dolphin species face the threat of extinction, often directly as a result of human behavior. The Yangtze River Dolphin is an example of a dolphin species which may have recently become extinct.
Some fishing methods, such as the use of nets, kill a large number of dolphins every year.
Lion
Lions are the second largest big cat species in the world (behind tigers).
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.
Most lions found in the wild live in southern and eastern parts of Africa.
Lions are very social compared to other cat species, often living in prides that feature females, offspring and a few adult males.
Male lions are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive manes. Males with darker manes are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses).
Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore.
Lions in the wild live for around 12 years.
When lions breed with tigers the resulting hybrids are known as ligers and tigons. There are also lion and leopard hybrids known as leopons and lion and jaguar hybrids known as jaglions.
Lionesses are better hunters than males and do most of the hunting for a pride.
In the wild, lions rest for around 20 hours a day.
Gorilla
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.
You may have seen baby gorillas being carried on the back of their mothers, but for the first few months after birth the mother holds the baby gorilla to her chest.
An adult male gorilla is called a silverback because of the distinctive silvery fur growing on their back and hips. Each gorilla family has a silverback as leader who scares away other animals by standing on their back legs and beating their chest!
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.
Gorillas are considered to be very intelligent animals. They are known for their use of tools and their varied communication. Some gorillas in captivity at a zoo have been taught to use sign language.
Gorillas are endangered animals. Their habitat is destroyed when people use the land for farming and the trees for fuel. Gorillas are also killed by poachers and sometimes get caught in poacher’s snares meant for other animals.
Frog
A frog is an amphibian. They lay their eggs in water. The eggs hatch into a tadpole which lives in water until it metamorphoses into an adult frog.
Tadpoles look more like fish than frogs, they have long finned tails and breathe through gills.
An amphibian can live both on land and in water.
Although frogs live on land their habitat must be near swamps, ponds or in a damp place. This is because they will die if their skin dries out.
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 in the wild face many dangers and are lucky to survive several years. In captivity however, frogs can live for much longer.
Frogs can see forwards, sideways and upwards all at the same time. They never close their eyes, even when they sleep.
Remarkably, frogs actually use their eyes to help them swallow food. When the frog blinks, its eyeballs are pushed downwards creating a bulge in the roof of its mouth. This bulge squeezes the food inside the frog's mouth down the back of its throat.
Cheetah
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can reach a top speed of around 113 km per hour.
A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 113 km in just a few seconds.
Cheetahs are extremely fast however they tire quickly and can only keep up their top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue.
Cheetahs are smaller than other members of the big cat family, weighing only 45 – 60 kilograms.
One way to always recognise a cheetah is by the long, black lines which run from the inside of each eye to the mouth. These are usually called “tear lines” and scientists believe they help protect the cheetah’s eyes from the harsh sun and help them to see long distances.
Cheetahs are the only big cat that cannot roar. They can purr though and usually purr most loudly when they are grooming or sitting near other cheetahs.
While lions and leopards usually do their hunting at night, cheetahs hunt for food during the day.
A cheetah has amazing eyesight during the day and can spot prey from 5 km away.
Cheetahs cannot climb trees and have poor night vision.
With their light body weight and blunt claws, cheetahs are not well designed to protect themselves or their prey. When a larger or more aggressive animal approaches a cheetah in the wild, it will give up its catch to avoid a fight.
Cheetahs only need to drink once every three to four days.
Giraffe
A male giraffe can weigh as much as a pick up truck! That’s about 1400 kilograms.
Although a giraffe’s neck is 1.5 – 1.8 metres, it contains the same number of vertebrae at a human neck.
A giraffe's habitat is usually found in African savannas, grasslands or open woodlands.
The hair that makes up a giraffes tail is about 10 times thicker than the average strand of human hair.
The distinctive spots that cover a giraffe’s fur act as a good camouflage to protect the giraffe from predators. When the giraffe stands in front of trees and bushes the light and dark colouring of its fur blends in with the shadows and sunlight.
It is possible to identify the sex of the giraffe from the horns on its head. Both males and females have horns but the females are smaller and covered with hair at the top. Male giraffes may have up to 3 additional horns.
Giraffes are ruminants. This means that they have more than one stomach. In fact, giraffes have four stomachs, the extra stomachs assisting with digesting food.
Drinking is one of the most dangerous times for a giraffe. While it is getting a drink it cannot keep a look out for predators and is vulnerable to attack.
Male giraffes sometimes fight with their necks over female giraffes. This is called “necking”. The two giraffes stand side by side and one giraffe swings his head and neck, hitting his head against the other giraffe. Sometimes one giraffe is hit to the ground during a combat.
A female giraffe gives birth while standing up. The calf drops approximately 6 feet to the ground, but it is not hurt from the fall.
Giraffes have bluish-purple tongues which are tough and covered in bristly hair to help them with eating the thorny Acacia trees.
Elephant
There are two types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant (although sometimes the African Elephant is split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant).
Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world.
Both female and male African elephants have tusks but only the male Asian elephants have tusks. They use their tusks for digging and finding food.
Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months.
An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day.
Elephants have large, thin ears. Their ears are made up of a complex network of blood vessels which help regulate their temperature. Blood is circulated through their ears to cool them down in hot climates.
Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat.
The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth.
An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 metres long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephant’s trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles, but no bones.
Female elephants spend their entire lives living in large groups called herds. Male elephant leave their herds at about 13 years old and live fairly solitary lives from this point.
Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.
Elephants are herbivores and can spend up to 16 hours days collecting leaves, twigs, bamboo and roots.
Leopard
Leopards are part of the cat family, Felidae. The scientific name for a leopard is Panthera pardus.
Leopards are well known for their cream and gold spotted fur, but some leopards have black fur with dark spots. These black leopards are often mistaken for panthers.
Adult leopards are solitary animals. Each adult leopard has its own territory where it lives and, although they often share parts of it, they try to avoid one another.
A leopard’s body is built for hunting. They have sleek, powerful bodies and can run at speeds of up to 57 kilometres per hour. They are also excellent swimmers and climbers and can leap and jump long distances.
A leopard’s tail is just about as long as its entire body. This helps it with balance and enables it to make sharp turns quickly.
Leopards are mostly nocturnal, hunting prey at night.
Leopards protect their food from other animals by dragging it high up into the trees. A leopard will often leave their prey up in the tree for days and return only when they are hungry!
Female leopards give birth to a little of two or three cubs at a time. By the time a cub is two years old it will leave the company of its mother and live on their own.
When a female leopard is ready to mate she will give a scent and rub her body on the trees to leave her smell there. Male leopards either smell the females scent or hear her call to know that she is ready to mate.
Some people believe that the bones and whiskers of leopards can heal sick people. Many leopards are killed each year for their fur and body parts and this is one reason why the leopard is an endangered animal. While they were previously found in the wild in a number of areas around the world, their habitat is largely restricted to sub-Saharan Africa with small numbers also found in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, China and Indochina.
Whale
Many whales are toothless. They use a plate of comb-like fibre called baleen to filter small crustaceans and other creatures from the water.
There are 79 to 84 different species of whale. They came in many different shapes and sizes!
A baby whale is called a calf. Whales form groups to look after calves and feed together. These groups are often made up of all female or all male whales.
Whales that are found in both Northern and Southern hemisphere never meet or breed together. Their migration is timed so that they are never in breeding areas at the same time.
The arched lower lip of a whale can often make it look like it is smiling! However, this isn’t a “real” smile as the blubber in the head of the whale prevents the muscles of the face from reaching the surface.
You can tell the age of a whale by looking at the wax plug in its ear. This plug in the ear has a pattern of layers when cut lengthwise that scientists can count to estimate the age of the whale.
Whales love to sing! They use this as a call to mates, a way to communicate and also just for fun! After a period of time they get bored of the same whale song and begin to sing a different tune.
Sometimes whales make navigation mistakes during migrations. Although they may have made the mistake days before, they don’t realise it until they becoming stranded.
Whales support many different types of life. Several creatures, such as barnacles and sea lice, attach themselves to the skin of whales and live there.
Wolf
Wolves are excellent hunters and have been found to be living in more places in the world than any other mammal except humans.
The wolf is the ancestor of all breeds of domestic dog. It is part of a group of animals called the wild dogs which also includes the dingo and the coyote.
Most wolves weigh about 40 kilograms but the heaviest wolf ever recorded weighed over 80 kilograms!
Adult wolves have large feet. A fully grown wolf would have a paw print nearly 13 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide.
Wolves live and hunt in groups called a pack. A pack can range from two wolves to as many as 20 wolves depending on such factors as habitat and food supply. Most packs have one breeding pair of wolves, called the alpha pair, who lead the hunt.
Wolf pups are born deaf and blind while weighing around 0.5 kg (1 lb). It takes about 8 months before they are old enough to actively join in wolf pack hunts.
Wolves in the Arctic have to travel much longer distances than wolves in the forest to find food and will sometimes go for several days without eating.
When hunting alone, the wolf catches small animals such as squirrels, hares, chipmunks, raccoons or rabbits. However, a pack of wolves can hunt very large animals like moose, caribou and yaks.
When the pack kills an animal, the alpha pair always eats first. As food supply is often irregular for wolves, they will eat up to 1/5th of their own body weight at a time to make up for days of missed food.
Wolves have two layers of fur, an undercoat and a top coat, which allow them to survive in temperatures as low at minus 40 degrees Celsius! In warmer weather they flatten their fur to keep cool.
A wolf can run at a speed of 65 kilometres per hour during a chase. Wolves have long legs and spend most of their time trotting at a speed of 12-16 kilometres per hour. They can keep up a reasonable pace for hours and have been known to cover distances of 90 kilometres in one night.
More fun animal facts:
Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million relatives.
The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can be detected over 800 kilometres away.
Horses and cows sleep while standing up.
Giant Arctic jellyfish have tentacles that can reach over 36 metres in length.
Locusts have leg muscles that are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.
Hummingbirds are so agile and have such good control that they can fly backwards.
Instead of bones, sharks have a skeleton made from cartilage.
Insects such as bees, mosquitoes and cicadas make noise by rapidly moving their wings.
The horn of a rhinoceros is made from compacted hair rather than bone or another substance.
Sharks lay the biggest eggs in the world.
Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.
Unlike humans, sheep have four stomachs, each one helps them digest the food they eat.
Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears fur (which is transparent), it actually has black skin.
As well as being a famous Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal that is only found in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.
The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks.
Mosquitoes can be annoying insects but did you know that it's only the female mosquito that actually bites humans.
Cats use their whiskers to check whether a space is too small for them to fit through or not.
Planet
Mercury
The surface of Mercury is very similar to our moon. It has a very barren, rocky surface covered with many craters.
Being so close to the Sun, the daytime temperature on Mercury is scorching - reaching over 400 Degrees Celsius.
At night however, without an atmosphere to hold the heat in, the temperatures plummet, dropping to -180 Degrees Celsius.
Mercury has a very low surface gravity.
Mercury has no atmosphere which means there is no wind or weather to speak of.
There is also no water on the surface of Mercury, it is possible however that there could be water underneath the surface.
Likewise, there is no air on the surface but it could be trapped underneath.
Mars
Mars is nicknamed the red planet because it is covered with rust-like dust. Even the atmosphere is a pinkish red, colored by tiny particles of dust thrown up from the surface.
Mars experiences violent dust storms which continually change its surface.
Mars has many massive volcanoes and is home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system, it stands 21km high and is 600km across the base.
Mars has a very thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide. It is not thick enough to trap the sun's heat like Venus, so the planet is very cold. Temperatures range from -120 Degrees Celsius on winter nights to 25 Degrees Celsius in the summer.
Mars has many channels, plains and canyons on the surface which could have been caused by water erosion in the past.
Mars has very weak gravity which cannot hold onto the atmosphere well.
The polar ice caps consist of frozen Co2 (dry ice) which lies over a layer of ice.
Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and is another gas giant.
Saturn has a small rocky core covered with liquid gas.
It is surrounded by a system of rings that stretch out into space for thousands of kilometres.
The rings are made up of millions of ice crystals, some as big as houses and others as small as specks of dust.
Saturn is very light as it is made up of more hydrogen than helium so it is less dense. If we could fit Saturn into a bathtub it would float (but that would have to be one big bathtub!)
Like Jupiter, Saturn has many moons which surround it.
Saturn is not a peaceful planet. Storm winds race around the atmosphere at 800kmp/h.
Saturn has a very strong magnetic field which traps energy particles resulting in high levels of radiation.
Neptune
Neptune is a large planet, nearly four times the size of Earth.
Neptune suffers the most violent weather in our Solar System.
Storms have been spotted swirling around its surface and freezing winds that blow about ten times faster than hurricanes on Earth make it the windiest planet.
Neptune is a large, water planet with a blue hydrogen-methane atmosphere and faint rings.
Neptune is covered in thin wispy white clouds which stretch out around the planet.
Venus
The atmosphere of Venus made up mainly of carbon dioxide.
Its size is slightly smaller than Earth.
It also features gravity similar to that of Earth.
Venus is surrounded by clouds consisting of mercury, ferric chloride hydrocarbons and sulphuric acid. These clouds create the most corrosive acid rain found anywhere in our solar system.
The clouds are so thick that little light even reaches the surface. The light that does reach the surface is converted to heat and can not escape the atmosphere making Venus the hottest planet at around 500 Degrees Celsius.
The surface of Venus is often described as a "stormy desert" full of many craters and very active volcanoes.
The surface is also likened to molten lead.
Venus features no liquid water.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar system. It is so big that more than 1300 Earths could fit inside it.
Thick, colorful clouds of deadly poisonous gases surround Jupiter. The quick spinning of the planet whips up the atmosphere, creating the bands around the planet.
If you were to descend into Jupiter, the thin, cold atmosphere becomes thicker and hotter, gradually turning into a thick, dark fog. In the blackness about 1000km down the pressure squeezes the atmosphere so hard that it becomes like liquid.
At the centre of Jupiter is a rocky core, slightly bigger than Earth but weighing about 20 times more.
Surrounding the core is an ocean of liquid hydrogen, about 1,000 kilometres deep.
Jupiter has many storms raging on the surface, most notably the big red spot which is the largest hurricane in our Solar System. It's been raging for over three hundred years.
Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field, you would weigh two and a half times as much as you would on Earth.
Jupiter has many moons circling around it. Four of these moons are bigger than Pluto.
Uranus
Uranus spins lying on its side (like a barrel), this is perhaps due to a large collision early in its formation.
Uranus was the first planet discovered by telescope.
Since Uranus takes 84 Earth years to go around the sun, this means that each of its poles is in daylight for 42 years and in darkness for the next 42.
Uranus’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen but it also contains large amounts of a gas called methane. Methane absorbs red light and scatters blue light so a blue-green methane haze hides the interior of the planet from view.
Uranus hides its interior but scientists guess that under the hydrogen-methane atmosphere is a hot, slushy ocean of water, ammonia and methane thousands of miles deep wrapped around a rocky core.
Pluto
Pluto was the smallest and furthest planet from the Sun in our solar system, now it is not even officially recognized as a planet!
In 2006 Pluto was demoted to the status of dwarf planet.
Because it is so far away from the sun it is very cold with temperatures ranging from -235 Degrees Celsius to -210 Degrees Celsius.
Pluto consists of rock with a very thick coating of ice.
The atmosphere of Pluto consists of nitrogen with some carbon monoxide and methane.
Human Body
The brain uses over a quarter of the oxygen used by the human body. More human brain facts.
Your heart beats around 100000 times a day, 36500000 times a year and over a billion times if you live beyond 30. More human heart facts.
Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body. They are created inside the bone marrow of your bones. More blood facts.
The colour of a humans skin is determined by the level of pigment melanin that the body produces. Those with small amounts of melanin have light skin while those with large amounts have dark skin. More skin facts.
Adult lungs have a surface area of around 70 square metres! More lung facts.
Humans have a stage of sleep that features rapid eye movement (REM). REM sleep makes up around 25% of total sleep time and is often when you have your most vivid dreams. More eye facts.
Most adults have 32 teeth. More teeth facts.
The smallest bone found in the human body is located in the middle ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 millimetres long. More ear facts.
Your nose and ears continue growing throughout your entire life. More nose facts.
Infants blink only once or twice a minute while adults average around 10.
As well as having unique fingerprints, humans also have unique tongue prints.
The left side of your body is controlled by the right side of your brain while the right side of your body is controlled by the left side of your brain.
Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, they won't help in fighting off a virus.
It takes the body around 12 hours to completely digest eaten food.
Your sense of smell is around 10000 times more sensitive than your sense of taste. More senses facts.
Blood
Blood makes up around 7% of the weight of a human body.
Blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
These blood cells float in a yellow liquid called blood plasma. Blood plasma is made up of 90% water and also contains various nutrients, electrolytes, gases, proteins, glucose and hormones.
Blood plasma can be separated from the cells by spinning blood in a device known as a centrifuge until the cells collect at the bottom of the tube.
Red blood cells have the important job of carrying oxygen around the body. They also contain a protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin contains iron which combines with oxygen to give hemoglobin and our blood, a red color.
Red blood cells develop in bone marrow and circulate in the body for around 120 days.
White blood cells are an important part of the body’s immune system. They defend against certain bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, infectious diseases and other unwanted materials.
Platelets help blood clot in order to limit bleeding when your skin is cut. Blood clots can occasionally have negative effects, if they form in blood vessels going to the brain they can cause a stroke while clotting in a blood vessel going to the heart can lead to a heart attack.
As well as delivering important substances to our cells, blood also helps take away unwanted waste products.
Grouping human blood types can be a difficult process and there are currently around 30 recognized blood types (or blood groups). You might be familiar with the more simplified “ABO” system which categorizes blood types under O, A, B and AB. Do you know which blood type you are?
Many generous humans around the world give blood donations every year. This blood is used in important blood transfusions or made into medication.
There are strict rules that limit the number of people who can volunteer blood donations. These include screening processes that test for diseases that could be transmitted by a blood transfusion as well as ensuring recovery time for the donor’s body to replace its own blood.
One of the principal signs of life for humans is blood pressure, this is the measure of pressure that circulating blood has on the walls of blood vessels. Blood pressure is usually taken from a person’s upper arm. Although averages vary from person to person, a general human being is known to have a normal blood pressure of around 112/64 mmHg. High blood pressure can increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack.
Brain
The human brain is like a powerful computer that stores our memory and controls how we as humans think and react. It has evolved over time and features some incredibly intricate parts that scientists still struggle to understand.
The brain is the center of the human nervous system, controlling our thoughts, movements, memories and decisions.
With evolution, the human brain has become more and more complicated, many of its interesting properties are still not well understood by scientists.
The brain contains billions of nerve cells that send and receive information around the body.
The human brain is over three times as big as the brain of other mammals that are of similar body size.
Each side of the brain interacts largely with just one half of the body, but for reasons that are not yet fully understood, the interaction is with opposite sides, the right side of the brain interacts with the left side of the body, and vice versa.
The largest part of the human brain is called the cerebrum. Other important parts include corpus callosum, cerebral cortex, thalamus, cerebellum, hypothalamus, hippocampus and brain stem.
The human brain is protected by the skull (cranium), a protective casing made up of 22 bones that are joined together.
The brain of an adult human weighs around 3 pounds (1.5 kg). Although it makes up just 2% of the body's weight, it uses around 20% of its energy.
The brain is suspended in Cerebrospinal fluid, effectively floating in liquid that acts as both a cushion to physical impact and a barrier to infections.
Diseases of the brain include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Diseases such as these can limit the normal function of the human brain.
Most strokes result from a blood clot in the brain that blocks the local blood supply, this causes the damage or destruction of nearby brain tissue and a wide range of stroke symptoms.
Digestive System
The digestive system is responsible for breaking down food we eat into smaller components so that nutrients can be easily absorbed by the body and the waste discarded.
There are two types of digestion. Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of large pieces of food into smaller pieces through, chewing (mastication). While chemical digestion uses enzymes to break down this food mass further into small molecules which the body can separate and use.
Saliva in our mouths plays a key role in initial digestion by moistening the food to help with the mechanical chewing and swallowing process. Saliva also contains an enzyme which starts the chemical digestion of starchy foods.
Our salivary glands produce around 1.5 litres of saliva each day!
Bolus is the name of the small round slurry mass produced for swallowing as a result of chewing and starch digestion.
The pharynx, at the back of the throat, has a flap of tissue called the epiglottis that closes during swallowing to prevent food going down the trachea (windpipe).
Once swallowed, bolus (food) travels down through the esophagus to the stomach, taking about 7 seconds to get there.
Muscles in the esophagus tighten and relax to create a wave-like process called peristalsis which pushes food down the small tube, which is why your food never falls back out if you happen to be eating and swallowing upside down!
Enzymes called proteases break down proteins within the stomach and small intestine. While in saliva, amylases break down carbohydrates and lipases break down fats.
The adult stomach has a very small volume when empty but can expand to hold up to 1.5 litres of food when full.
The inner wall of the stomach secretes hydrochloric acid to help kill bacteria and, along with proteases enzymes, aids in the digestion of food. To protect itself from the corrosive acid, the stomach lining must create a thick coating of mucus.
Stomach rumblings (borborygmi) are caused by wave-like muscular contractions (peristalsis) at the walls of the stomach and small intestine. These are normal digestion movements, however the process is louder and more noticeable when the stomach is empty as the sound is not muffled.
Some animals such as cows, giraffes and deer have stomachs with multiple compartments (not multiple stomachs as is commonly believed). While others like seahorses, lungfishes and platypuses have no stomachs at all.
The small intestine is composed of a duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
Most of the digestion and absorption of food nutrients actually takes place in the small intestine. The stomach passes on a thick liquid called chyme and enzymes continue to break this down in the small intestine which absorbs the nutrients into the bloodstream.
The pancreas secretes enzymes for use by the small intestine.
On average, the human adult male's small intestine is 6.9 m (22 ft 6 in) long, and the female's 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in).
The large intestine includes the cecum, appendix, colon, and rectum. It is the final part of the digestive system. It absorbs water from the remaining indigestible food matter, and passes any un-needed waste from the body.
The large intestine is approximately 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long.
The liver produces bile for the digestive system and processes the nutrients.
The gall bladder stores the bile used to break down dietary fat.
Ear
Our ears help us detect sound.
Ears convert sound waves into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.
While your ears pick up the sound, it is your brain that does the hard work of making sense of it all.
There is much more to the ear than the part you can see on the outside of your head.
The middle part of the ear (behind the ear drum) amplifies sound pressure.
The middle ear also contains the Eustachian tube which helps equalize pressure and drain mucus.
Ear infections are more common in children because of their developing immune systems and differences between their Eustachian tubes and those of adults.
The inner ear is found inside the temporal bone, the hardest bone in the human body.
The inner ear contains the spiral shaped hearing organ called the cochlea as well as the vestibule and semicircular canals which help with balance.
Sounds waves are passed from air to liquid in the inner air. The inner air also contains tiny hair cells which react to sound waves, triggering chemicals that are sent to the brain as nerve impulses.
Abnormalities in the inner ear of humans can cause deafness.
Skin glands in the ear canal produce ear wax which helps protect the ear by lubricating it and cleaning it of dirt and dust.
Excessive ear wax can impair hearing, especially if it is pressed hard against the eardrum.
Ear wax normally comes out of your ear naturally so it’s not a good idea to try and remove it yourself unless it is causing health problems (best to see your doctor first).
Piercing earlobes and ornamenting them with jewellery has been common practice around the world for thousands of years for both for cultural and cosmetic reasons.
Eye
Eyes detect light and allow us to see.
The information our eyes receive is sent to our brain along the optic nerve. This information is then processed by our brain and helps us make appropriate decisions, for example if you can see an object flying in your direction then you will probably move quickly out of the way.
Around 95% of animals have eyes. Some are very simple, just picking up light and dark conditions while others are more complex, allowing for the recognition of shapes, color and depth.
Like humans, some animals have eyes placed close together that allow for improved depth perception, others have eyes spread further apart (often on opposite sides of their head, as in horses) to allow for a greater field of view and an early warning against potential predators.
The light sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of your eye is known as the retina, acting in a similar way to film in a traditional camera.
Cone cells in the retina detect color while rod cells detect low light contrasts.
The part of the eye that allows us to focus on different things in known as the lens, it changes shapes so we can focus on objects at various distances.
The cornea is the transparent covering of the iris and pupil, along with the lens it refracts light so it can be projected onto the retina.
The central opening of your eye is known as the pupil, it changes size depending on the amount of light.
The colored area around the pupil is called the iris, it controls the size of the pupil and can be colored brown, blue, green or other colors and shades depending on the person.
Scientists believe that animal eyes evolved around 500 million years ago, beginning in simple form (perhaps just distinguishing light and dark) but giving a distinct advantage. This advantage led to eyes evolving quickly amongst animals (by evolutionary standards) as those without the ability to see struggled to survive against those that could.
Throughout the animal kingdom there are many different types of eyes, for example the human eye is very different to the compound eye of a fly which is better at detecting fast movements.
Human eyes contain a small blind spot where the optic nerve passes through the retina. Our brains use information from the other eye to fill in the vision gap so it is rarely, if ever, noticed.
Glasses and other protective equipment are often worn by humans to protect the eyes from UV rays or during various dangerous activities such as welding.
Glasses and contact lenses are worn to correct common sight conditions such as short and long sightedness.
Hair
The hair of humans and fur of animals are one of the main characteristics of what is deemed a mammal.
Hair is made mostly of a protein called keratin.
Hair fibers or strands, grow from an organ in the area under the skin called a follicle, which is found in the dermis skin layer.
The only "living" part of a hair is found in the follicle as it grows. The hair strand above the skin has no biochemical activity and so is considered "dead".
The cross-section of a hair strand is made up of 3 key layers. The outer layer is called the cuticle, within that is the cortex (which contains the keratin), while the center layer is called the medulla.
There are two main types of hair that the body produces, vellus hair and terminal (or androgenic) hair.
Vellus hair develops from childhood covering most of the human body, it is a short, fine, light-colored hair that is often barely noticeable.
Terminal hair is a thick, long and dark hair that is less common than vellus hair but much more noticeable, often replacing vellus hair on certain parts of the body during puberty. The hair on our heads is terminal hair, along with facial and chest hair in men and pubic and armpit hair in both genders.
On humans, hair can grow everywhere except for a few places such as on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet and on the lips.
The hair on our head serves as a heat insulator and coolant, it also helps to protect us from the sun's UV rays. The function of hair in other locations is debated as we still require clothing to keep us warm unlike other mammals.
Goose bumps which form on skin when the body is cold are created when muscles attached to hair follicles stand up, which causes hair in these follicles to also stand, creating a heat-trapping layer in the skin.
Straight hair has round hair fibers while wavy or curly hair will usually have irregular and oval shaped hair fibers.
Two types of hair pigment are responsible for all natural hair colors. Eumelanin pigment is dominant in dark-blond, brown, and black hair, while pheomelanin is dominant in red hair. Little pigmentation in the hair strand results in blond hair.
Eyebrows protect the eyes from dirt, sweat and rain, and are a key part of non-verbal communication, displaying emotions like sadness, anger, and excitement.
The eyelash protects the eye from dirt, dust and other potentially harmful objects.
Human facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body.
On average, we lose 50 to 100 strands of hair a day from the scalp.
On average, the lifespan of a human hair is 2 to 7 years. The hair on our scalp goes through 3 phases, the anagen phase, catagen phase, and telogen phase.
Only a few mammals are regarded as being pretty much hairless, these include elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, walruses, pigs, whales and naked mole rats.
Heart
The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body, continuously pumping blood around our body through blood vessels.
Your heart is located in your chest and is well protected by your rib cage.
The study of the human heart and its various disorders is known as cardiology.
The heart is made up of four chambers, the left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle and right ventricle.
There are four valves in the human heart, they ensure that blood only goes one way, either in or out.
Blood that leaves the heart is carried through arteries. The main artery leaving the left ventricle is the aorta while the main artery leaving the right ventricle is the pulmonary artery.
Blood going towards the heart is carried through veins. Blood coming from the lungs to the left atrium is carried through the pulmonary veins while blood coming from the body to the right atrium is carried through the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava.
You might have felt your own heart beating, this is known as the cardiac cycle. When your heart contracts it makes the chambers smaller and pushes blood into the blood vessels. After your heart relaxes again the chambers get bigger and are filled with blood coming back into the heart.
Electricity going through your heart makes the muscle cells contract.
You might have watched television shows or movies where a patient in a hospital is attached to an electrocardiogram (ECG). You might recognize it as the machine with a line moving across a screen that occasionally spikes (or remains flat when a patient is dying). This machine can measure the electricity going through a patient’s heart. A doctor can use the information to know when a patient is having heart rhythm problems or even a heart attack.
Heart attacks cause scar tissue to form amongst normal heart tissue, this can lead to further heart problems or even heart failure.
Lung
The primary functions of your lungs are to transport oxygen from the air you breathe into your bloodstream while taking away carbon dioxide, which is released into the air when you breathe out.
Most vertebrate animals (animals with spines) have two lungs.
Your left and right lungs aren’t exactly the same. The lung on the left side of your body is divided into two lobes while the lung on your right side is divided into three. The left lung is also slightly smaller, allowing room for your heart.
Can you live without one lung? Yes you can, it limits your physical ability but doesn’t stop you from living a relatively normal life. Many people around the world live with just one lung.
People who have a large lung capacity can send oxygen around their body faster. You can increase you lung capacity with regular exercise.
When resting, the average adult breathes around 12 to 20 times a minute.
An average person breathes in around 11,000 litres of air every day.
The study of lung diseases is known as pulmonology.
As well as other parts of your body and your general health, smoking is bad for your lungs. Smoking can cause lung cancer among other lung affecting diseases.
Asthma is a common disease that affects the lungs. Asthma attacks happen when your airways narrow after being irritated. The narrow airways make it hard for you to breathe in air.
Pneumonia is a dangerous disease that makes it harder for your lungs to absorb oxygen from the air you breathe.
Other lung diseases include emphysema, tuberculosis and bronchitis.
Muscle
Muscle is a soft tissue in the body of humans and animals. Its main purpose is to produce force and motion.
Muscles are responsible for maintaining posture, physical movement (sitting, walking, eating, etc), and movement of internal organs (such as keeping the heart pumping to circulate blood and moving food through the digestive system).
The word muscle is derived from the Latin term musculus, meaning "little mouse". This Latin term could be due to the shape of some muscles or because muscles contracting under the skin can look like a mouse moving under a rug.
Tendons connect our soft contracting muscle to our hard bones.
There are around 650 skeletal muscles in the human body.
There are three types of muscle, skeletal, cardiac, and smooth.
Skeletal muscles (or striated) are voluntary muscles that control nearly every action a person intentionally performs. Tendons attach the muscle to two bones across a joint, as one muscle contracts the other relaxes which moves the bones.
Skeletal muscle can be further divided into two types, slow twitch and fast twitch.
Slow twitch (Type I) muscle contain proteins that give it a rich red color. This muscle carries more oxygen efficiently and using fats, proteins or carbs as energy slow twitch muscle fibers contract over a long period of time.
Therefore type I muscle fiber works well for aerobic sports such as long distance running and cycling.
Fast twitch (Type II) muscle is whiter in color as it has less myoglobin (a oxygen carrying protein). Fast twitch fibers contract quickly and powerfully, however they fatigue rapidly.
Therefore type II muscle fiber is useful for anaerobic exercise such as sprinting or for strength sports like weightlifting.
Smooth muscle (or visceral) is involuntary, its not controlled by our conscious mind. It is found on the walls of many organs and structures such as the esophagus, stomach, intestines, bladder, and blood vessels. Smooth muscles contract to move substances such as food through the organ.
Cardiac muscle is also an involuntary muscle. It is only found in the heart and is responsible for keeping the heart pumping.
Muscle makes up around half of the total human body weight. Muscle tissue is also around 15% denser than fat tissue.
It takes 17 muscles in the face for us to smile and 43 muscles to frown.
If muscle strength is regarded as the ability to use force on something then the jaw muscle (masseter) is the strongest in the body.
The strongest muscles in relation to the job they have to do is the external muscles of the eye which are large and about 100 times stronger than they need to be in relation to the small size and weight of the eyeball.
The tongue has 8 muscles, so is technically not the strongest muscle in the body.
The heart cardiac muscle does the most work of any muscle over a lifetime.
Cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects balance and motor functions, while muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease that damages muscle fibers.
Muscle memory is created by practising an action over and over again. Our muscles fine tune themselves, becoming more precise and exact in what they do. So practice is very important when learning a sport!!
Nervous System
The nervous system is a complex structure of nerves of neurons that transmit signals around the body to coordinate actions. It is in effect our body's electrical wiring.
The nervous system of vertebrates (which includes humans and animals that have backbones and spinal columns) has two parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
The CNS includes the brain, spinal cord and retina of the eyes. The brain is protected by the skull, and the spinal cord by the skeletal vertebrae.
The PNS includes all other nervous system structures that sit outside the CNS but that help connect the CNS to areas of the body.
Nerves are enclosed bundles of long fibers called axons which are made up of nerve cells. There are two types of nerve cells: neurons and glial cells.
Glial (or glia) cells are derived from the Greek word "glue". They are specialized cells that provide structure and support to neurons. They help hold neurons in place, supply nutrients to neurons, destroy germs, remove dead neurons, and direct axons of neurons.
Some types of glial cells generate a substance called myelin that coat axons and work as electrical insulation to help them quickly and efficiently transmit signals.
Neurons quickly and precisely send signals as electrochemical waves along axons to other cells. There are two types of neurons, sensory neurons and motor neurons.
Sensory neurons change light, touch and sound into neural signals which are sent back to our CNS to help our body understand and react to its surroundings.
Motor neurons transmit neural signals to activate muscles or glands.
There are approximately 100 billion neurons in the human brain and 13.5 million neurons in the human spinal chord.
The nervous system can transmit signals at speeds of 100 meters (328 feet) per second.
The field of science that focuses on the study of the nervous system is called neuroscience. Neurology is the medical branch of study and treatment, while doctors and surgeons in this field are called neurologists and neurosurgeons.
Nerves in our body can be vulnerable to both physical damage and damage through diseases. Damage to nerves can cause great pain, loss of feeling, or loss of muscle control.
Physiatrists help rehabilitate patients with nervous system damage.
Nose
The nose has special cells which help us smell.
The technical term for sense of smell is ‘olfaction’.
Your nose can help detect dangerous chemicals in the air.
The human nose can smell many different odors but is far less sensitive than other animals such as dogs.
The human nose has 2 nostrils.
The 2 nostrils are divided by the nasal septum.
The nasal septum is made up mostly of cartilage, a tissue that is stiffer than muscle but more flexible than bone.
Found at the roof of the nose, the ethmoid bone separates the nasal cavity and brain.
The ethmoid bone is also one of the bones that make up the orbit of the human eye.
The nasal cavity is a large space found inside the head, above and behind the nose.
Air passing through the nasal cavity is warmed to match body temperature (or cooled if it is very hot).
Dust and other particles are removed in the nasal cavity by short hairs.
The floor of the nasal cavity is also the roof of the mouth.
‘Anosmia’ is the inability to smell.
‘Dysosmia’ is when things don’t smell as they should.
‘Hyperosmia’ is having a very strong sense of smell.
On average, men have larger noses than women.
It is traditional for Maori people in New Zealand to press noses (hongi) as a greeting.
Plastic surgery involving the nose is called ‘rhinoplasty’.
Senses
Senses are a collection of sensory organs or cells in the body that respond to particular physical occurrences. Senses send information collected to various parts of the brain where the data is interpreted and an appropriate response signal returned.
The exact number of senses humans have is disputed due to the various definitions of what a 'sense' is. However, it is widely agreed that there are five main human senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.
The five main sense organs are your eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.
Sight or vision is the ability of the eye to detect and focus on images of visible light with photoreceptors found in the retina of the eye. Electrical nerve impulses are generated for different colors, hues and brightness.
The two types of photoreceptors are rods and cones. Rods are sensitive to light, while cones identify different colors. It is generally agreed that these two receptors are two senses, one sense for color and one for brightness, which together make up the overall sense of sight.
Hearing is a sense that detects the vibrations of sound. Mechanoreceptors in the inner ear in the form of tiny bones and hair-like fibers, turn motion or sound waves from the air into electrical nerve pulses that the brain can then interpret.
The sense of touch is activated by neural receptors such as hair follicles found in the skin, but also pressure receptors on the tongue and throat.
The taste of food, is detected by sensory cells called taste buds located on top of the tongue. There are five basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and savoury.
Smell, like taste, is deemed to be a chemical sense. There are hundreds of olfactory receptors or sensory cells in our nasal passage, each of which will bind itself to a different molecular smell feature.
Around 80% of what we think is taste is actually smell. Flavor, is a combination of taste and smell perception. Test this yourself by holding your nose closed the next time you eat something, can you taste it very well? Chances are you can't.
Other perceived human senses are debatable but generally include, the ability to detect temperature, pain, balance and kinesthetic (which is the relative positions of our body parts - test this sense by closing your eyes and touching your nose with a finger).
There are many internal body stimuli that may be perceived as senses too. For example, chemoreceptors for detecting salt and carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood and stretch receptors in the lungs which control our breathing rate.
Compared to animals, humans have a quite weak sense of smell.
Animals have differences in how their receptors sense the world around them, for example dogs and sharks have a terrific sense of smell. While cats can see very well in dim light.
Some animals have receptors in places that seem very unusual to us. Flies and butterflies, for example have taste organs on their feet, so they can taste anything they land on and catfish have taste organs across their entire bodies.
Other animals have sense receptors we can only dream off. Some snakes have sensory organs that can detect infrared light, birds and bees can see ultraviolet light. While bats and dolphins use sonar sounds to interpret their surroundings.
Certain fish and rays can detect changes in nearby electrical fields and many bird species use the Earth's magnetic fields to determine the direction they are flying.
Skeleton & Bones
At birth the human skeleton is made up of around 300 bones. By adulthood, some bones have fused together to end up with 206 bones.
Human bones grow continually from birth till our mid 20's. Our skeleton's bone mass is at its maximum density around the age of 30.
If broken our bones will re-grow and repair themselves. Often doctors will place a cast on splint to make sure these bones repair straight and true.
The axial skeleton part of the human skeleton has 80 bones. It includes the vertebral column, the rib cage and the skull and helps us maintain our upright posture, by spreading the weight in the head, and upper areas down to the lower areas near the hips.
The appendicular skeletal section of our skeleton has 126 bones. It includes the pectoral (shoulder) girdles, the pelvic girdle and the bones of the lower and upper limbs. Its function is for movement of the body and to protect some organs.
The human skeletal system has six major functions including the production of blood cells, for support, for movement, for protection, for storage of ions and endocrine regulation.
The longest bone in the human body is the thigh bone called the femur.
The smallest bone found in the human body is located in the middle ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 millimetres (0.11 inches) long.
Like our skin, the human body's bones are also constantly worn down and re-made, to the point where every 7 years we essentially have a new bone.
The area of our body with the most bones is the hand, fingers and wrist where there are 54 bones.
Our teeth form part of the skeletal system, but are not counted as bones.
There a just a few differences between human male and female skeletons. The female skeleton is generally slightly smaller and the pelvis bones differ in shape, size and angle in order to assist with child birth.
The majority of human bones have a dense, strong outer layer, followed by a spongy part full of air for lightness, while the middle contains a soft, flexible, tissue substance called bone marrow.
Bone marrow makes up 4% of a human body mass. It produces red blood cells which carry oxygen all over the body. Marrow is also produces lymphocytes, key components of the lymphatic system, which support the body's immune system.
Calcium is very important for our bones and helps keep them strong and healthy.
The areas where our bones meet are called joints. The joints in our cranium have no movement while our hip joints allow for a wide range of movement.
Bones are held in place at joints by muscles and also tissues called ligaments. Another type of tissue called cartilage covers each bone joint surface area to prevent the bones rubbing.
The medical branch of learning about the human skeletal system is called Orthopedics.
There are a number of skeletal disorders, osteoporosis is a bone disease that increases the chance of fractures, scoliosis is a curvature of the spine, while arthritis is an inflammatory disease that damages joints.
Skin
Skin is the human body’s largest organ (an organ is a group of tissues that work together to perform functions in your body, others include your brain, heart and lungs).
Your skin performs a range of different functions which include physically protecting your bones, muscles and internal organs, protecting your body from outside diseases, allowing you to feel and react to heat and cold and using blood to regulate your body heat.
The layers of mammal skin include the epidermis, dermis and subcutis.
The outer layer of your skin is the epidermis, it is found thickest on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet (around 1.5mm thick).
The subcutis (or hypodermis) is the deepest layer of your skin, as well as storing fat, it also contains blood vessels, hair follicle roots and nerves.
If skin is severely damaged then it may try to heal by forming scar tissue. Scar tissue is not the same as normal skin tissue, it often appears discolored and lacks sweat glands and hair.
The color of human skin depends on the amount of pigment melanin that the body produces. Small amounts of melanin result in light skin while large amounts result in dark skin.
Areas that experience repeated friction or pressure can form tough, thick skin known as a callus. Common examples of calluses can be seen on the hands of tennis players and the fingertips of guitarists.
A large amount of the dust in you home is actually dead skin.
All mammals have some hair on their skin, even if it isn’t easy for you to see.
Rhinoceros’s are protected by thick skin which can be between 1.5cm and 5cm deep.
Although polar bears have both white and transparent (see through) fur, their skin is actually black.
Amphibians such as frogs have unique skin. Rather than drinking water, frogs actually soak it into their body through their skin. They also use their skin to absorb around half the air they need.
Snakes have smooth, dry skin.
A number of different sea creatures, such as sea lice and barnacles, attach themselves to the skin of whales, making it their home.
Some fruits and vegetables are known to have ‘skins’, these include bananas, oranges, apples and potatoes.
Teeth
Teeth are used to help break down food.
Humans form 2 sets of teeth over the course of their lives.
The first set (sometimes called baby teeth) features 20 teeth.
The second set (sometimes called adult teeth) features 32 teeth.
Baby teeth are usually replaced by adult teeth between the ages of 6 and 12.
Humans have a variety of teeth including molars, premolars, canines and incisors.
Incisors help bite pieces from food.
Canines help hold and tear food apart.
Molars help grind food.
Teeth are covered in a hard substance called enamel.
Teeth are surrounded by gums.
Cavities can damage a tooth if left untreated.
Braces are often used to help straighten or align teeth.
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular structure attached to the floor of the mouth.
The tongue is the main sensory organ of the taste sense. The upper surface of a tongue is covered with taste buds which contain taste receptors.
The human tongue has on average 3,000 - 10,000 taste buds.
The bumps we can see on the tongue are called papillae. Taste buds sit on top of these papillae but are not visible to the human eye.
There are five elements of taste perception: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami (or savoury).
It is a myth that different tastes come from different areas of the tongue, these tastes can all be detected anywhere on the tongue.
Humans also use the tongue for speech where it helps with changes in sound.
The tongue also works as a natural way of cleaning teeth after eating.
On average, women have shorter tongues than men.
The human tongue is divided into two parts the anterior and the posterior.
The anterior part of the tongue is the visible part at the front and is about two-thirds of the tongue's length.
The posterior tongue area is closest to the throat, and roughly one-third of length.
There are eight muscles in the human tongue. They can be classified as intrinsic or extrinsic.
There are four intrinsic muscles which are not attached to any bone, they are the muscles that allow the tongue to change shape, such as point, roll, tuck etc.
There are four extrinsic muscles which are attached to bone, they allow the tongue to change position, such as poke out, retract, side-to-side movement.
The average length of the human tongue from the back to the tip is 10 cm (4 in).
The blue whale has the largest tongue of all animals. Its tongue weigh's around 2.7 metric tons (425 stone).
Taste receptors cannot actually taste food until saliva has moistened it, for example we usually taste salty things first as salt dissolves quickly in moisture.
Traditional human food dishes sometimes include tongue of various animals. Mexicans have a taco filled beef tongue dish, pig and cow tongue is popular in Chinese cuisine. Lamb, cod, and duck tongue are also popular in some countries.
Sticking your tongue out at people is seen as childish or rude in many countries, however, in Tibet it is considered a greeting.
Dogs and cats often use their tongues to clean their fur and body. The very rough texture of their tongue allows them to remove oils and parasites.
Have you ever wondered why a dog's tongue hangs out of its mouth after a lot of exercise? Well a dog's tongue increases in size as it exercises due to greater blood flow, moisture on the tongue works to cool this blood flow, cooling the dog.
Some animal tongues are specially designed to catch prey. Chameleons, frogs, and anteaters have tongues that can extend out of their mouth and grab insects.
Chemistry
Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table. It has an atomic number of 1. It is highly flammable and is the most common element found in our universe.
Liquid nitrogen boils at 77 kelvin (−196 °C, −321 °F).
Around 1% of the sun’s mass is oxygen.
Helium is lighter than the air around us so it floats, that's why it is perfect for the balloons you get at parties.
Carbon comes in a number of different forms (allotropes), these include diamond, graphite and impure forms such as coal.
Under normal conditions, oil and water do not mix. More oil facts.
Although it is still debated, it is largely recognized that the word 'chemistry' comes from an Egyptian word meaning 'earth'.
The use of various forms of chemistry is believed to go back as long ago as the Ancient Egyptians. By 1000 BC civilizations were using more complex forms of chemistry such as using plants for medicine, extracting metal from ores, fermenting wine and making cosmetics.
Things invisible to the human eye can often be seen under UV light, which comes in handy for both scientists and detectives.
Humans breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2). Using energy from sunlight, plants convert carbon dioxide into food during a process called photosynthesis.
Chemical reactions occur all the time, including through everyday activities such as cooking. Try adding an acid such as vinegar to a base such as baking soda and see what happens!
Above 4 °C, water expands when heated and contracts when cooled. But between 4 °C and 0 °C it does the opposite, contracting when heated and expanding when cooled. Stronger hydrogen and oxygen bonds are formed as the water crystallizes into ice. By the time it's frozen it takes up around 9% more space.
Often formed under intense pressure over time, a crystal is made up of molecules or atoms that are repeated in a three dimensional repeating pattern. Quartz is a well known example of a crystal.
Athletes at the Olympic Games have to be careful how much coffee they drink. The caffeine in coffee is a banned substance because it can enhance performance. One or two cups are fine but they can go over the limit with more than five. (update - as of 2004 caffeine has been taken back off the WADA banned list but its use will be closely monitored to prevent future abuse by athletes.)
Calcium
Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and an atomic number of 20.
The name calcium comes from the Latin word calx which means lime.
Of all elements in the Earth's crust Calcium is the 5th most abundant. It makes up just over 3% of soil, air and oceans.
Calcium is not naturally found in its elemental state but calcium compounds are common.
Calcium compounds are most commonly found in sedimentary rocks such as limestone, chalk and marble where calcium carbonate minerals such as calcite and dolomite are present. Check out our calcium carbonate facts for more information.
Calcium is also found in other minerals such as gypsum (calcium sulfate) and fluorite (calcium fluoride) and it occurs to a lesser extent in igneous and metamorphic rocks, mainly in silicate minerals.
The element must be extracted using electrolysis. Once purified into a soft silvery-white metal calcium is reactive, it will rapidly form a gray-white oxide and nitride coating when exposed to air.
Pure calcium metal reacts quite vigorously with water generating hydrogen gas.
In powdered form, the reaction with water is extremely rapid and quite violent as the increased surface area of the powder accelerates the reaction.
In the first century the Romans were preparing lime as calcium oxide but they did not recognize it as a metal.
Calcium was not isolated as a metal until 1808 when Englishman Sir Humphry Davy electrolyzed a mixture of lime and mercuric oxide. Swedish chemists Berzelius and Pontin had created an amalgam of calcium by electrolyzing lime in mercury. Using their amalgam idea, Davy managed to isolate pure calcium metal.
Calcium has a melting point of 1,548 °F (842 °C) and a boiling point of 2,703 °F (1,484 °C).
Calcium is found in the human body as calcium ions, it is not present in its element form. It is the 5th most abundant element in our bodies. About one third of the mass of the human body is calcium after all water is removed.
Calcium is very important for the human body. 99% of the body's calcium is stored in the bones and teeth, helping to strengthen them. The other 1% helps with muscle movement allowing nerves to carry messages between the brain and our body parts. It helps blood vessels move blood around and assists with the release of hormones and enzymes.
We mainly get our body's calcium requirements through food. Vitamin D is needed to absorb this calcium. As a mineral, calcium is found in many foods, especially in dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. Vegetables like as broccoli, kale, and spinach are also high in calcium.
Calcium compounds are used in the making of cement, glass, lime, bricks, paint, paper, sugar, removing non-metallic impurities from alloys, and as a reduction agent in the preparation of other metals.
Calcium salts are used to produce a deep orange color in fireworks.
Carbon
Carbon is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6.
The word carbon comes from the Latin word carbo, meaning coal.
Carbon forms a large number of compounds, more than any other element. Because of its willingness to bond to other nonmetallic elements it is often referred to as the building block of life.
While carbon forms many different compounds it is a relatively unreactive element.
There are several allotropes (different forms) of carbon with the three most well known being amorphous carbon (coal, soot etc), diamond and graphite.
The properties of diamond and graphite are very different with diamond being transparent and very hard while graphite is black and soft (soft enough to write on paper).
Graphite is used for its thermal insulation (lower rate of heat transfer) properties. It is also a very good conductor or electricity.
The carbon atoms in graphite are bonded in flat hexagonal lattices and layered in sheets.
Carbon is the 4th most common element in the Universe (after hydrogen, helium and oxygen). It is the 15th most common element in the Earth’s crust while it is the second most common element in the human body (behind oxygen).
Carbon has the highest melting point of all elements, around 3500 °C (3773 K, 6332 °F).
Hydrocarbons are organic compounds made entirely of molecules featuring just hydrogen and carbon. Organic chemistry involves the study of hydrocarbons.
The simplest hydrocarbon compound is methane (CH4).
Carbon was discovered by early human civilizations in the form charcoal and soot.
The term carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by a country, organization or individual person.
The carbon cycle is the process in which carbon is exchanged between all parts of Earth and its living organisms. It is of vital importance to life on Earth, allowing carbon to be continually reused and recycled.
Carbon is found in the Earth’s atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). Although it only makes up a small percentage of the atmosphere it plays an important role, including being used by plants during photosynthesis.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is very toxic to both humans and animals. It forms in conditions when there is not enough oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2). In many countries around the world, carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common kind of fatal poisoning.
Carbon fiber is a strong material that consists of thin fibers made up largely of carbon atoms which are bonded together in microscopic crystals. It is very useful for applications needing high strength and low eight.
Fossil fuels such as methane gas and crude oil (petrol) play a large role in modern economies.
Plastics are made from carbon polymers. Carbon is used to form alloys with iron such as carbon steel.
Graphite and clay are combined to make the lead used in pencils.
Charcoal is commonly used for grilling food on barbeques.
Chlorine
The chemical element Chlorine has the symbol Cl and atomic number 17.
On the periodic table Chlorine is in the halogen group and it is the 2nd lightest halogen gas after fluorine.
In its standard form chlorine is a yellow-green gas, but its common compounds are usually colorless. Chlorine has a strong distinctive odor such as the smell of household bleach.
The name Chlorine is from the Greek word chloros which means greenish yellow.
Chlorine has a melting point of -150.7 °F (-101.5 °C) and a boiling point of -29.27 °F (-34.04 °C).
Free chlorine is rare on Earth. Chlorine combines with nearly all elements to create chlorine compounds called chlorides, which are much more common.
There are over 2000 naturally occurring organic chlorine compounds.
The most common compound of chlorine has been known about since ancient times, it is sodium chloride we know it better as 'common salt'.
Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, discovered Chlorine in 1774 believing it contained oxygen. In 1810, Sir Humphry Davy tried the same experiment and concluded that Chlorine was in fact an element, and not a compound.
Chlorine is the 3rd most abundant element in Earth's oceans (about 1.9% of the mass of seawater is chloride ions) and the 21st most common chemical element in the Earth's crust.
Chlorine's high oxidizing properties saw it used to purify water in the U.S as early as 1918. Today chlorine and its various compounds are used in most swimming pools throughout the world to keep them clean and in many household cleaning products such as disinfectants and bleaches.
Chlorine is also used in a range of other industrial and consumer products such as the making of plastics, whitening of textiles, pharmaceuticals, in chloroform, insecticides, paper products, solvents, dyestuffs and paints.
In high concentrations chlorine is extremely dangerous and poisonous. It is also heavier than air, so can fill up enclosed spaces. Because of these facts chlorine was the first gaseous chemical used as a weapon in warfare when both sides at times dispersed it in low-lying foxholes and trenches of World War I.
Coal
Coal is made largely of carbon but also features other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen.
Coal starts off as plant matter at the bottom of water. It is eventually covered and deeply buried by sediments where over time metamorphosis (a change in form) takes place.
Different types of coal contain different amounts of carbon. Lignite contains only around 60 to 75%, while anthracite contains more than 92%.
Anthracite is a hard, shiny, black coal that burns with a blue, smokeless flame. While most forms of coal are associated with sedimentary rock, anthracite undergoes metamorphism and is linked to metamorphic rocks.
Coal has long been burned to create electricity and heat. The use of coal is increasing every year, in 2006 the world consumed over 6,000,000,000,000 kilograms of coal!
Coal is the world’s largest source of energy for the production of electricity.
Coal is converted to electricity by being burned in a furnace with a boiler. The boiler water is heated until it becomes steam, with the steam then spinning turbines and generators to create the electricity.
Nearly 70% of China’s electricity comes from coal. In total, coal produces around 40% of the world’s electricity.
Coal mining and the subsequent burning of coal can have many bad effects on both humans and the environment. Examples of this include waste products, acid rain, contaminated water, poisonous emissions, high levels of carbon dioxide and increased risks of lung cancer for coal plant workers.
A popular saying among many cultures is that if you behave badly during the year, Santa will deliver you a lump of coal for Christmas.
Diamond
Diamond is an allotrope (different form) of carbon.
The word diamond comes from the Greek word meaning unbreakable.
The carbon atoms in diamonds are arranged in a strong, tetrahedral structure.
Diamond is the hardest natural material known and is often used for industrial cutting and polishing tools.
Diamond has a hardness of 10 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness, with 1 being the softest (talc) and 10 being the hardest.
Diamond is the best known thermal conductor (heat transfer) among naturally occurring substances.
Under the normal pressures and temperatures we experience on the Earth’s surface, diamonds are actually thermodynamically unstable, slowly transforming into graphite. Yes, you read that correctly, diamonds are indeed turning into graphite, but thankfully for all those diamond owners out there it’s a process that is far too slow for humans to notice.
Most of the Earth’s natural diamond deposits are found in Africa.
Around 26,000 kilograms (57,000 lb) of diamonds are mined around the world every year. They are worth billions of dollars to the powerful companies that control their production.
Diamonds have often been a source of conflict and controversy, the term blood diamond refers to a diamond mined in an unstable area and sold to finance war. This issue was brought to public attention in the 2006 movie named Blood Diamond (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly).
Diamond is the world’s most popular and sought after gemstone. They are frequently worn as part of jewelry such as rings and necklaces. As well as their rarity, they are also well suited to jewelry because they polish well and can only be scratched by other diamonds.
Diamonds are cut with considerable precision to optimize the luster and attention gathering shine of each specific diamond.
Diamonds are valued according to their cut, color, carat and clarity.
Over the years there have been many famous (and very expensive) diamonds. The following are four well known examples:
The Koh-i-Noor diamond was found in India and once thought of as the largest diamond in the world. It is now part of the British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
The 45.52 carat Hope Diamond appears blue because of boron in its crystal structure and is famous for supposedly being cursed.
Discovered in the Kimberley Mine in South Africa, the Tiffany Yellow Diamond weighed an amazing 287.42 carats (57.484 g) when discovered. It was later sold to a New York jeweler named Charles Tiffany who had it cut into a cushion shape of 128.54 carats (25.708 g) with 90 facets to show off its beauty.
After being originally found by a slave in an Indian mine, the now 140.64 carat (28.1 g) Regent Diamond has been through an epic history including an English sea merchant and French royalty. It is now on display at the Louvre, where it has been on display since 1887.
Naturally occurring diamonds are formed over billions of years under intense pressure and heat. They are often brought to the Earth’s surface by deep volcanic eruptions.
The technology for synthetic diamonds was researched in the 1940’s and the first synthetically created diamond was produced in the 1950’s.
There are a number of techniques for producing synthetic diamonds, these include high-pressure high-temperature synthesis, chemical vapor deposition and detonation synthesis (literally blowing up carbon with explosives to create extremely small diamond grains).
The synthesized material known as cubic zirconia is a crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). It is at times in competition with diamond because as well as being hard, optically flawless and colorless, it is also durable and cheap.
Helium
Helium is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2.
Helium is a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas.
Helium is the second most common element in the Universe (after hydrogen), making up around 24% of its mass.
Helium is part of a group of chemical elements called noble gases, the other five that occur naturally are neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon. Under normal conditions they share similar properties, including being less likely to participate in chemical reactions due to their outer shell of electrons being full. Helium is the second least reactive element after neon.
French and English astronomers Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer are jointly credited with discovering helium after spectral analysis of sunlight following a solar eclipse in 1868.
The word helium comes from the Greek word meaning sun (helios). It was named by Lockyer and English chemist Edward Frankland.
The USA is the world’s largest supplier of helium, with many reserves found in large natural gas fields.
The rate at which helium is currently being used by humans is much faster than the rate at which the reserves are being replenished. New technologies for obtaining or recycling helium are one way for gas companies to help slow this problem.
Because helium is lighter than air it is commonly used to fill airships, blimps and balloons. As it doesn’t burn or react with other chemicals, helium is relatively safe to use for this purpose.
While hydrogen is 7% more buoyant than helium it has a much higher fire risk.
You might notice the helium balloon you got from the amusement park slowly falling to the ground after a few days, this happens as the helium gradually leaks from the balloon.
Helium has a lifting force of around one gram per liter. A balloon that holds 10 liters of helium should therefore lift an object weighing 10 grams. Unfortunately you’ll need around 5000 of these balloons if you weigh around 50kgs and want to get off the ground.
The balloon boy hoax from October 15, 2009 led people to believe that a six year old boy had floated away in a home made helium balloon when in fact he was hiding at his house the whole time.
Because helium is less dense than normal air, when inhaled from a source such as a helium balloon it briefly changes the sound of a person’s voice, making it much sound much higher. However, breathing in too much helium can be very dangerous, potentially choking people due to a lack of oxygen.
Helium can be in a liquid and even solid state but they can only occur at temperatures near absolute zero.
Liquid helium is used to cool metals for superconductivity use. The European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider uses liquid helium to maintain an extremely low temperature.
Helium is often used in space programs, displacing fuel in storage tanks and having other rocket fuel applications.
Hydrogen
The chemical symbol of hydrogen is H. It is an element with atomic number 1, this means that 1 proton is found in the nucleus of hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most commonly found chemical element in the Universe, making up around 75% of its elemental mass.
Hydrogen is found in large amounts in giant gas planets and stars, it plays a key role in powering stars through fusion reactions.
Hydrogen is one of two important elements found in water (H2O). Each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom.
In 1766, during an acid metal reaction, Henry Cavendish first formally recognized hydrogen. In 1781 he also found that hydrogen produces water when burned. While Cavendish is usually given credit for the discovery of hydrogen as an element, it had been produced by earlier scientists who were unaware of hydrogen as a unique chemical element.
It wasn’t until a few years later (1783) that hydrogen was given its name. The word hydrogen comes from the Greek word hydro (meaning water) and genes (meaning creator).
Hydrogen gas has the molecular formula H2. At room temperature and under standard pressure conditions, hydrogen is a gas that is tasteless, odorless and colorless.
Hydrogen can exist as a liquid under high pressure and an extremely low temperature of 20.28 kelvin (−252.87°C, −423.17 °F). Hydrogen is often stored in this way as liquid hydrogen takes up less space than hydrogen in its normal gas form. Liquid hydrogen is also used as a rocket fuel.
Under extreme compression hydrogen can also make a transition to a state known as metallic hydrogen. Laboratory research into this area is ongoing as scientists continue efforts to produce metallic hydrogen at low temperature and static compression.
Hydrogen is used to power a range of new alternate fuel vehicles. The chemical energy of hydrogen is converted by a combustion method similar to current engines or in a fuel cell which produces water and electricity by reacting hydrogen with oxygen.
Engineers and car manufacturers are researching the possibility of using hydrogen gas as an efficient and viable car fuel. One of the possibilities involves storing hydrogen as a solid state in car fuel tanks. While there are many challenges involved in this process it would allow for greater hydrogen storage in vehicles, allowing them to travel for longer before refueling.
Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the molecular formula H2O2. It is often used as a hair bleach or cleaner. At certain concentrations it can also be used to clean wounds.
Hydrogen was used for air travel from 1852 when the first hydrogen lifted airship was created by Henri Giffard. Later airships that used hydrogen were called zeppelins and while they were reliable and safe for the majority of the time their use was stopped soon after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. The Hindenburg airship was destroyed in a midair fire over New Jersey that was both filmed and broadcast live on radio.
Hydrogen is commonly used in the petroleum and chemical industries and is also widely used for many physics and engineering applications such as welding or as a coolant.
Hydrogen can be potentially dangerous to humans due to fires that can start when it is mixed with air, our inability to breathe it in its pure oxygen free form and also in its extremely cold liquid state.
Neon
Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10.
The name neon comes from the Greek word νέον meaning new.
Neon is a colorless, odorless inert (not chemically reactive) gas. It is in a group called 'noble gases' in the periodic table.
Neon has about two-thirds the density of air and is the second lightest noble gas after helium.
Neon was discovered by British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers in 1898. The pair were studying liquid air by chilling a sample of air until it became a liquid, then warming the liquid up and collecting the gases as they boiled off. Neon was the second of three new gases to be discovered by the pair the first being krypton and the third xenon.
Neon has no true chemical compounds, meaning it forms no compounds to fix it to solids or join with other elements.
The melting point of neon is -433.46 °F (-258.59 °C) and the boiling point is -410.94 °F (-246.08 °C).
Neon is the fifth most abundant chemical element in the universe after hydrogen, helium, oxygen, and carbon. It is however, a rare gas in Earth's atmosphere, making up just 0.0018%.
Stable isotope forms of neon are produced within stars.
Neon gas emits a brilliant red-orange color when charged with electricity.
In 1902, a French engineer Georges Claude began creating neon lighting with the surplus neon leftover from his air liquefaction company. He tried using neon tubes for indoor lighting, but the color put homeowners off. So instead, in 1912, his company began selling neon discharge tubes as advertising signs.
Neon advertising signage was a success and in 1923 the concept was introduced to the U.S. when two large neon signs were put up by a Los Angeles Packard car dealership.
While neon accounts for the bright reddish-orange light in advertising signs all other colors are generated by other noble gases or by colors of fluorescent lighting, yet they are still referred to as neon signs.
Today, neon has uses in vacuum tubes, high-voltage indicators, lightning arrestors, wave meter tubes, television tubes, plasma tubes and helium-neon lasers.
Liquid neon is also now commercially available and is used as a cryogenic refrigerant.
Because neon is quite rare in our atmosphere both neon gas and liquid neon are relatively expensive costing more than 55 times that of liquid helium.
If a balloon is filled with neon it will rise in the air but do so at a much slower rate than a balloon filled with helium.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number of 7.
Under normal conditions nitrogen is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas.
Nitrogen makes up around 78% of the air you breathe.
Nitrogen is present in all living things, including the human body and plants.
Nitrogen gas is used in food storage to keep packaged or bulk foods fresh. It is also used in the making of electronic parts, for industrial purposes and has many other useful applications.
Nitrogen gas is often used as an alternative to carbon dioxide for storing beer in pressurized kegs. The smaller bubbles it produces is preferred for some types of beer.
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has an atmosphere nearly entirely made of nitrogen (over 98%). It is the only moon in our solar system known to have a dense atmosphere.
Nitrogen is in a liquid state when at a very low temperature. Liquid nitrogen boils at 77 kelvin (−196 °C, −321 °F). It is easily transported and has many useful applications including storing items at cold temperatures, in the field of cryogenics (how materials behave at very low temperatures), as a computer coolant (a fluid used to prevent overheating), removing warts and much more.
Decompression sickness (also known as the bends) involves nitrogen bubbles forming in the bloodstream and other important areas of the body when people depressurize too quickly from scuba diving. Similar situations can occur for astronauts and those working in unpressurized aircraft.
Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas or by its chemical formula N2O) is used in hospitals and dental clinics as an anesthetic (removing or reducing pain and general awareness for various surgeries).
Nitrous oxide is also used in motor racing to increase the power of engine and speed of the vehicle. When used for this purpose it is often referred to as nitrous or NOS.
Nitrous oxide is a considerable greenhouse gas and air pollutant. By weight is has nearly 300 times more impact than carbon dioxide.
Nitroglycerin is a liquid used to create explosives such as dynamite. It is often used in the demolition and construction industries as well as by the military.
Nitric acid (HNO3) is a strong acid often used in the production of fertilizers.
Ammonia (NH3) is another nitrogen compound commonly used in fertilizers.
Oil
Oil is a liquid at room temperature.
Under normal circumstances, oil does not mix with water.
A substance that allows oil and water to mix is called an emulsifier, a good example of this is detergent. Check out our oil and water mixing experiment for more.
Vegetable oils are made from plants, examples include sunflower oil, coconut oil, corn oil, peanut oil and palm oil.
Some oils are used in cooking, such as olive oil.
Crude oil (petroleum) is a thick, black liquid found underground.
Crude oil comes from fossilized organic material such as plants and animals.
Oil has a wide variety of uses and is often used in cosmetics, medicine, paint, lubricants and as a fuel.
Crude oil is converted at oil refineries into a range of different fuels including gasoline (petrol), diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and more.
Fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are used to help power engines in machines and vehicles such as cars, trucks and airplanes.
Artificially made synthetic oils are used in certain situations where their unique properties are advantageous, for example synthetic oils respond better to extreme temperatures and are used as lubricants in the jet engines of aircraft.
Oxygen
Oxygen is an element with the chemical symbol O and atomic number 8.
Oxygen is a very reactive element that easily forms compounds such as oxides.
Under standard temperature and pressure conditions two oxygen atoms join to form dioxygen (O2), a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas.
Oxygen is essential to human life, it is found in the air we breathe and the water we drink (H20).
Oxygen makes up around 21% of the air you breathe. It is also the most common element in the Earth’s crust (around 47%) and the third most common element in the Universe (but far less than hydrogen and helium, the two most common).
The large amount of oxygen on Earth is supported by the oxygen cycle which involves the movement of oxygen between the air, living things and the Earth’s crust. Photosynthesis (a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds using sunlight) plays a major role in this cycle.
Ozone (O3) is an allotrope (different form) of oxygen that combines three oxygen atoms together. While ground level ozone is an air pollutant, the ozone layer in the Earth’s upper atmosphere provides protection from the suns harmful rays by filtering UV light.
The sun’s mass is made up of around 1% oxygen.
Between 1770 and 1780, Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, British clergyman Joseph Priestley and French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier researched, documented and helped discover oxygen. The name oxygen was first used by Lavoisier in 1777.
Oxygen therapy is used as a common medical treatment. You may have seen patients on TV or in real life using an oxygen mask or nasal cannula (a plastic tube that fits behind the ears and delivers oxygen through the nostrils).
Oxygen has a number of other practical uses such as smelting metal from ore, water treatment, as an oxidizer for rocket fuel and a number of other industrial, chemical and scientific applications.
Concentrated oxygen promotes fast combustion. While a spark or heat is still needed to start a fire, having concentrated oxygen near various fuels can be very dangerous.
Radon
Radon is a chemical element, its symbol is Rn and it has an atomic number of 86.
Radon is a radioactive noble gas, it is colorless, odorless and tasteless.
When radon is cooled below its freezing point of −96 °F (−71 °C) it emits a bright radiating luminescence that starts out yellow and as the temperature lowers becomes a orangey red color.
Radon has a melting point of -95 °F (-71 °C) and a boiling point of -79 °F (-61.7 °C).
Under normal conditions radon is one of the densest and is the heaviest of known gases.
The radioactive health risk of radon and the fact it costs a lot has made it hard for experimental chemical research to be performed. Therefore very few radon compounds have been found.
In 1900, German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn discovered radon when he found that radium compounds emit a radioactive gas which he called Radium Emanation. In 1908, William Ramsay and Robert Whytlaw Gray isolated radon and figured out its density.
The naturally occurring decay of the two most common radioactive elements uranium and thorium, produces radium. Decay of radium then produces radon. As radon decays, it produces more radioactive elements called radon daughters or decay products.
Radon gas and its decay particles can reach very high concentrations inside buildings. This is especially true in lower levels such as basements due to the heaviness of the gas. Thus, radon is considered a significant contaminant to indoor air quality.
There is a clear link between breathing high concentrations of radon and incidence of lung cancer. After smoking, radon is the 2nd most frequent cause of lung cancer with over 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the US alone.
In the 1940s and 50s very little ventilation in mines meant incidents of lung cancer due to radon exposure was high among miners of uranium and other hard rock materials, especially in the Czech Republic and U.S. This lead to an overhaul of mining ventilation systems around the world.
Radon naturally occurs in some hot springs and other spring waters.
Silicon
The chemical element Silicon has a symbol Si and atomic number 14.
Silicon is a metalloid (or semimetal). This means it has some properties like a metal, for example, it looks like a metal and some like a non-metal, for example, it does not do conduct electricity very easily.
Because silicon is a metalloid it is useful as a semiconductor which means it has electrical conductivity between metals and non-metal insulators like glass.
Silicon is the 8th most abundant element in the universe by mass.
Silicon is not found as a free element in nature, but rather it occurs as oxides and silicates in many minerals. Over 90% of the Earth's crust (about 28% by mass) is composed of silicate minerals, which is why silicon is the 2nd most common element on earth after oxygen.
Sand is a compound of silicon known as silicon dioxide (silica) and of course glass is made by heating sand to a very high temperature.
Some silicate minerals of interest include granite, asbestos, hornblende, feldspar, clay and mica.
Certain types of meteorites called aerolites are predominately made of silicon.
At room temperature Silicon is a solid its melting point is 2,577 °F (1,414 °C) and its boiling point is 5,909 °F (3,265 °C).
Gay Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard discovered an impure form of silicon in 1811. But Jöns Jacob Berzelius is credited with the discovery of silicon in 1824.
People exposed to breathing in large amounts of silicon compounds such as miners and stonecutters have a high risk of developing a serious lung disease known as silicosis.
Even though silicon is widely found as silicates very few living organisms have a need for it. Some form of ocean sponges have a silica structure in their skeletons and some plants like rice require silicon for growth.
Elemental silicon has had a large impact on today's world economy. Most free silicon is used for steel refining, aluminum-casting, and in chemical industries. But it is the small portion (less than 10%) of highly purified silicon used in semiconductor electronics that is most critical for today's computer technology and electronic industries.
Silicon's use as an important part of computer semiconductors and high-technology devices has seen its name used around the world as a nickname for areas that contain a number of technology-related companies and industries. The original being Silicon Valley in California, but there are over 10 other areas that have silicon in their name for example 'Silicon Roundabout' in North London.
Sulphur
Sulfur or sulphur is a chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16.
The element has traditionally been spelt 'sulphur' in the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth countries, while the United States used 'sulfur'. The term sulfur is now the standard name used in most contexts.
Because sulfur is so abundant in its native form the element has been known since ancient times. The Bible refers to sulfur as brimstone meaning 'burn stone' or 'stone that burns'. There have also been recorded uses of sulfur in ancient India, Greece, China and Egypt.
Elemental sulfur has a bright yellow color at room temperature and is a non-metal flaky crystalline solid. When burned, sulfur melts to a blood-red liquid and burns a bright blue.
In 1777, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier managed to convince the scientific community that sulfur was not a compound but in fact a basic element.
The melting point of sulfur is 247.3 °F (119.6 °C) and the boiling point is 832.3 °F (444.6 °C).
Sulfur is non-toxic in its pure element form and in the sulphate form. But its compounds such as carbon disulphide, hydrogen sulphide and sulfur dioxide are all toxic.
Mineral collectors like elemental sulfur crystals for their distinct, brightly colored polyhedron (multisided) shapes.
Sulfur compounds can naturally occur as sulfide minerals such as pyrite, cinnabar, galena, sphalerite and stibnite. Or as sulfate minerals such as gypsum, alunite and barite.
Pure elemental sulfur is found near hot springs/pools and volcanic areas, most notably in countries around the Pacific Ring of Fire such as Indonesia, Chile, and Japan where these deposits are often mined.
The pungent smell referred to as "sulfur" that is very distinctive in volcanic areas comes mainly from the compound hydrogen sulfide. In fact hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur forms produced by living organisms are responsible for the awful smell from skunks, rotton eggs and burning hair or feathers.
Sulfur is an essential element of all living forms. It is one of the top 8 most abundant elements in the human body. For example, a person weighing 70 kg's has about 140 grams of sulfur in them.
Sulfur is used commercially in fertilizers, in the manufacture of sulfuric acid (one of the most important industrial chemicals), in matches and traditionally in black gunpowder. 'Dusting sulfur' (powdered elemental sulfur) is used in pesticides, insecticides and fungicides and sprayed over fruit and vegetable crops.
Many meteorites contain sulfide compounds and Jupiter's volcanic moon Io has colorful areas formed by molten, solid and gaseous sulfur.
The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil produces sulfur dioxide which is largely responsible for incidents of ‘acid rain’ that have been known to occur near industrial areas.
Water
Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O.
Each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom.
The existence of water is essential for life on Earth.
Water has three different states, liquid, solid and gas.
The word water usually refers to water in its liquid state. The solid state of water is known as ice while the gas state of water is known as steam or water vapor.
Water covers around 70% of the Earth’s surface.
The three largest oceans on Earth are the Pacific Ocean (largest), the Atlantic Ocean (second largest) and the Indian Ocean (third largest). More ocean facts.
Found in the Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in the world’s oceans.
Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on ocean water.
Water from a sea or ocean is known as seawater. On average, every kilogram (2.2lb) of seawater contains around 35 grams (1.2 oz) of dissolved salt.
The freezing point of water lowers as the amount of salt dissolved in at increases. With average levels of salt, seawater freezes at -2 °C (28.4 °F).
The longest river in the world is the Nile River, it reaches 6650 kilometers in length (4132 miles).
The second longest river in the world is the Amazon River, it reaches 6400 kilometres (4000 miles) in length.
The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River. At around 2,340 miles (3,770 km) in length it is slightly longer than the Mississippi River (2,320 miles). The two combine to form the longest river system in North America.
Water makes a good solvent with many sugar, salts and acids easily dissolving in it. On the other hand oils and fats don’t mix well with water.
The water cycle involves water evaporating (turning into a gas), rising to the sky, cooling and condensing into tiny drops of water or ice crystals that we see as clouds, falling back to Earth as rain, snow or hail before evaporating again and continuing the cycle. Learn more about the water cycle.
Water in the form of ice is found at the polar ice caps of the planet Mars, some scientists have also suggested the possibility of liquid water on the red planet.
Pure water has no smell and no taste, it also has a pH level around 7.
While most people know that water boils at 100 °C (212 °F), this is at the normal conditions of sea level. The boiling point of water actually changes relative to the barometric pressure. For example, water boils at just 68 °C (154 °F) on the top of Mount Everest while water deep in the ocean near geothermal vents can remain in liquid form at temperatures much higher than 100 °C (212 °F).
Water expands as it cools from 4 °C to 0 °C (above 4 °C it does the opposite). In freezing conditions, water has been known to burst water pipes as it freezes to ice.
Water can move up narrow tubes against the force of gravity in what is known as capillary action. Check out this capillary action experiment for more.
Most people around the world have access to clean drinking water but it is a major problem in poorer areas of the world. Water pollution and low quality water can lead to dangerous bacteria, disease and viruses such as E coli and Cryptosporidium.
Drinking water is needed for humans to avoid dehydration, the amount you need each day depends on the temperature, how much activity you are involved in and other factors.
An important use for water is in agricultural irrigation, this is when water is artificially added to soil in order to assist the growth of crops.
Water is used frequently by firefighters to extinguish fires. Helicopters sometimes drop large amount of water on wildfires and bushfires to stop fires spreading and limit the damage they can cause.
The water industry helps deliver water to homes in various cities and countries around the world. This can involve services such as purification, sewage treatment, filtering, distillation and plumbing.
Electricity can be created from hydropower, a process that uses water to drive water turbines connected to generators. There are many hydroelectric power stations around the world.
Water also plays a role in cooking. Steaming and boiling food are well known cooking methods. You may have noticed this last time you made pasta or noodles.
Water is also used for fun. Water sports are a very popular recreational activity and include things like swimming, surfing and waterskiing. Ice and snow is also used in ice skating, ice hockey, skiing and snowboarding.
Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O.
Each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom.
The existence of water is essential for life on Earth.
Water has three different states, liquid, solid and gas.
The word water usually refers to water in its liquid state. The solid state of water is known as ice while the gas state of water is known as steam or water vapor.
Water covers around 70% of the Earth’s surface.
The three largest oceans on Earth are the Pacific Ocean (largest), the Atlantic Ocean (second largest) and the Indian Ocean (third largest). More ocean facts.
Found in the Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in the world’s oceans.
Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on ocean water.
Water from a sea or ocean is known as seawater. On average, every kilogram (2.2lb) of seawater contains around 35 grams (1.2 oz) of dissolved salt.
The freezing point of water lowers as the amount of salt dissolved in at increases. With average levels of salt, seawater freezes at -2 °C (28.4 °F).
The longest river in the world is the Nile River, it reaches 6650 kilometers in length (4132 miles).
The second longest river in the world is the Amazon River, it reaches 6400 kilometres (4000 miles) in length.
The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River. At around 2,340 miles (3,770 km) in length it is slightly longer than the Mississippi River (2,320 miles). The two combine to form the longest river system in North America.
Water makes a good solvent with many sugar, salts and acids easily dissolving in it. On the other hand oils and fats don’t mix well with water.
The water cycle involves water evaporating (turning into a gas), rising to the sky, cooling and condensing into tiny drops of water or ice crystals that we see as clouds, falling back to Earth as rain, snow or hail before evaporating again and continuing the cycle. Learn more about the water cycle.
Water in the form of ice is found at the polar ice caps of the planet Mars, some scientists have also suggested the possibility of liquid water on the red planet.
Pure water has no smell and no taste, it also has a pH level around 7.
While most people know that water boils at 100 °C (212 °F), this is at the normal conditions of sea level. The boiling point of water actually changes relative to the barometric pressure. For example, water boils at just 68 °C (154 °F) on the top of Mount Everest while water deep in the ocean near geothermal vents can remain in liquid form at temperatures much higher than 100 °C (212 °F).
Water expands as it cools from 4 °C to 0 °C (above 4 °C it does the opposite). In freezing conditions, water has been known to burst water pipes as it freezes to ice.
Water can move up narrow tubes against the force of gravity in what is known as capillary action. Check out this capillary action experiment for more.
Most people around the world have access to clean drinking water but it is a major problem in poorer areas of the world. Water pollution and low quality water can lead to dangerous bacteria, disease and viruses such as E coli and Cryptosporidium.
Drinking water is needed for humans to avoid dehydration, the amount you need each day depends on the temperature, how much activity you are involved in and other factors.
An important use for water is in agricultural irrigation, this is when water is artificially added to soil in order to assist the growth of crops.
Water is used frequently by firefighters to extinguish fires. Helicopters sometimes drop large amount of water on wildfires and bushfires to stop fires spreading and limit the damage they can cause.
The water industry helps deliver water to homes in various cities and countries around the world. This can involve services such as purification, sewage treatment, filtering, distillation and plumbing.
Electricity can be created from hydropower, a process that uses water to drive water turbines connected to generators. There are many hydroelectric power stations around the world.
Water also plays a role in cooking. Steaming and boiling food are well known cooking methods. You may have noticed this last time you made pasta or noodles.
Water is also used for fun. Water sports are a very popular recreational activity and include things like swimming, surfing and waterskiing. Ice and snow is also used in ice skating, ice hockey, skiing and snowboarding.
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