The animal kingdom is home to some amazing traits. Cheetahs can run at 70 mph (112 kph). Camels can survive half a year without a water source. Frogs can freeze in winter and then thaw, alive, in spring.
Talking so, here now We present you with 100 Interesting animal facts.
1. The tiger’s roar has the powerful ability to momentarily paralyze humans. It is thought that the low frequencies of the sound are what causes this strange effect.
2. Snow leopards are very timid when compared to other big cats to the point where they usually give up food to other predators without a fight. They also avoid humans at all costs even switching to hunting at night just to stay clear of people. As a result, attacks by snow leopards on humans are practically unheard of.
3. Over 96% of the animal kingdom is made up of invertebrates. The remaining 4% includes mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians.
4. Scientists have found certain groups of gorillas have developed localized communication similar to human slang.
5. Only male peafowl are called peacocks. Females are called peahens.
6. Dragonflies and damselflies form a heart with their tails when they mate.
7. Baby elephants have been known to suck their trunks for comfort.
8. Sea otters often hold hands while they sleep so they don’t drift apart in the current.
9. Surprisingly, elephant shrews are more closely related to elephants than shrews, despite their shrew like appearance.
10. Killer whales are smart predators and use a variety of strategies to hunt prey. If a seal is resting on an iceberg they will form waves with their tails to knock it off. If a sea lion pup is resting on the beach it will intentionally beach itself to catch one. These are just some of the strategies that make orcas the apex predators of the world’s oceans.
11. Flamingos are naturally white. Their diet of shrimp and algae is what gives them a pink feather colouring.
12. Alberta, Canada (My native province) is the largest rat-free populated area in the world.
13. The eggs of a red-eyed tree frog can hatch early if they sense approaching danger.
14. Blue jays mimic the calls of hawks to scare away other rival birds.
15. What makes Yellowstone national park so special is the fact that it is the only place in the world where bison have continuously lived since prehistoric times. Sadly, bison are allowed to be killed if they wander outside the park while elk are still protected.
16. In the UK, the British monarchy legally owns all unmarked mute swans that are in open water. Why open water? I don’t know.
17. All clown fish are born male but some turn female later in their lives to allow for mating.
18. Moray eels have a second set of jaws that extend from their throat. This second “mouth” is used to grab struggling prey and drag it further down the predator’s gullet.
19. Anteaters don’t have teeth. Honestly, they don’t really need them considering they eat tiny insects.
20. Male ring-tailed lemurs will “stink” fight by wafting scent at each other. The fight begins when the two lemurs wave their tails at their opponent, spreading their scent. The first lemur to back down loses.
21. Lynx have large feet that allow them to run through deep snow with ease. This helps when chasing swift prey like the snowshoe hare.
22. In 1924 a Labrador retriever named “Pep” was sentenced to life without parole at eastern state penitentiary for killing the governor’s cat.
23. In an aquatic traffic jam, alligators seem to give manatees the right of way. A manatee will nudge a gator and the reptile will move out of the way, letting the mammal pass.
24. Nine-banded armadillos seem to almost always give birth to identical quadruplets.
25. Cats can’t usually taste sugar as their sweet taste buds aren’t very reactive.
26. Pronghorns are the second fastest animals on land and can sprint at a top speed of 85 km/h. In a long distance race this animal can run at 53 km/h for around 32 kilometers. In comparison the fastest land animal, the cheetah can only keep up its speed for a few hundred meters.
27. African wild dogs are the most successful large predators, with them succeeding in around 60–90% of hunts. The most successful hunter is the dragonfly which completes 95% of hunts.
28. Birds are not irritated by the chemical in peppers that is “hot” to us humans. Birds will often eat more “hot” foods as it makes them less appealing to predators.
29. The tusks of narwhals are actually inside out teeth that are highly sensitive on the outside and very durable.
30. Caribbean sperm whales have their own regional accent when they communicate.
31. Bald eagles make such silly sounds that Hollywood dubs their voices. When eagles appear in media the sound of another bird (usually the red-tailed hawk) is often used to make them sound mightier.
32. The sand tiger shark may be equipped with one nasty looking pair of barbed jaws but they are designed so that this fish can’t fatally injure a human.
33. Female bats give birth while hanging upside down and as a result they catch the baby in their wings when it drops.
34. Toucan curl into small little balls when they sleep.
35. Horses are distantly related to tapirs and rhinoceros. Just look at this picture of an early rhino and you can see why.
36. Lions once lived across Europe before they were hunted to extinction in the region around 100 BCE.
37. Male platypus have venomous spurs. They definitely wouldn’t make as good a pet as the show Phineas and Ferb would have you believe.
38. A snail can sleep for around 3 years if the weather conditions worsen to the point where they have to.
39. The woolly bear caterpillar hibernates through many winters in the cold arctic, eating every summer to prepare for metamorphosis. It can take up to 3 years but finally this caterpillar will transform into a moth and fly away.
40. Elephants are the only mammals that can’t jump. They also have the inability to trot or gallop.
41. Sloths are slow animals that use their lack of speed to camouflage in the jungle brush, but did you know it can take up to 2 weeks for one to digests its food.
42. Around 3% of ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine. Which makes sense considering how many of them hang around there.
43. Giraffes have no vocal cords but researchers suspect they could make sounds by vibrating vocal folds in their trachea. Many believe that the reason none have heard giraffe vocalization is due to the low frequency of their sounds.
44. Around 50% of the orangutan population has fractured bones from falling out of trees on a regular basis.
45. For unknown reasons, scorpions glow under ultraviolet light rays when in the dark. Decades ago only around 600 species of scorpion were known but by using ultraviolet lights scientists have now discovered over 2000 species.
46. The Pyrenean ibex went extinct twice. Once from over hunting and habitat loss and second from when it was cloned to try and save the species.
47. Recently scientists have learned that Komodo dragons are indeed venomous. When scientist Brian Fry investigated this monitor lizard he found that their jaws contained relatively little bacteria. What he did find was a venom gland in the lower jaw.
48. Many of the world’s kingfishers don’t eat fish and rarely go near water.
49. The last living North American jaguar, El Jefe was once recorded killing an American black bear. Pretty impressive.
50. The hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest large mammal and kills around 500 people per year.
51. When rutting the skull of a bighorn sheep can take a 800 pounds of force. Ironically, this animals hardheadedness is most likely due to its skull’s flexibility not its solidity.
52. A super colony of army ants are among the world’s most unstoppable predators, able to kill over 13,000 other organisms per night.
53. Coleoptera or beetles are the largest order in the animal kingdom with it composing of over 300,000 species.
54. All deer have antlers except the Chinese water deer.
55. The decapitated head of a snake can still bite even hours after the creature’s death. These bites usually contain huge amounts of venom.
56. The Harris’ hawk is the only bird of prey known to hunt in packs. These predators will chase prey through the cactus maze of the desert then once they have their quarry trapped they will pursue it on foot.
57. The Hyacinth macaw is the biggest species of parrot in the world.
58. The cougar holds the Guinness world record for animal with the most names which include mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catamount and panther. It has over 40 different names in English alone!
59. Giraffes only need 5–30 minutes of sleep each day! I bet most of us wish we could run on that little rest.
60. Despite their reputation as solitary animals, both striped and brown hyenas live in clans of 2–8 members. Even so they are still primarily solitary when looking for food.
61. In the 1930s the USSR attempted to domesticate moose and these semi-domestic animals were used as pack animal in the deep snow.
62. Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal.
63. The four subspecies of African buffalo are the most successful grazers in Africa and inhabit the swamps, floodplains, grasslands and forests of the continent.
64. Despite, their reputation as fearsome predators, a grizzly bears diet consists of around 80% plant matter, and even when they do hunt they primarily eat insects, fish, carrion or young ungulates.
65. The cute koalas have quite small brains and survive on a diet of nutrient-poor eucalyptus leaves.
66. Male kangaroos flex their powerful arms to attract females.
67. The Tasmanian devil is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial.
68. Fossils place the earliest relative of penguins 60 million years ago. This means that these birds survived the extinction of the dinosaurs!
69. Leopard seals will often sing underwater during breeding season.
70. Bonobos were once thought to be the same as chimpanzees but were stated to be a unique species fairly recently, making them the last great ape to be discovered.
71. Despite their reputation, dietary analysis has shown that the Bili apes don’t hunt leopards and lions…at least on a regular basis.
72. The wildebeest migration is the biggest migratory event in the world. Many other animals like zebra, gazelles, eland and other antelope also join in on the perilous journey which is plagued by predators.
73. Centipedes never have 100 legs. They can have more or less but they always have an odd amount of legs so therefore having 100 is impossible.
74. Wombats rely primarily on their tough butts to protect them from predators. They are made of mostly cartilage and can take a decent amount of damage from hunters.
75. Antarctic krill are one of the most populous animal species on the planet with a population of around 500 million in the Southern ocean alone.
76. The Amazon rainforest is home to 3 apex predators that all prey on each other, the jaguar, anaconda and caiman.
77. The mantis shrimp can throw a punch at 50mph, accelerating quicker than a 22 caliber bullet!
78. Kung fu mantis use moves similar to martial arts to make themselves look bigger and scare off predators.
79. Meerkats are immune to the venom of snakes and scorpions. They are also highly territorial and rival mobs will engage in vicious gang fights.
80. Catfish usually eat small prey but those that live in urban areas have adapted to catch pigeons.
81. Dingos are descended from domestic dogs but don’t bark like their ancestors. Instead, they howl like wolves.
82. A groups of toads are often called a knot.
83. Burmese pythons are invasive species in Florida and are disrupting much of the ecosystem. It seems only the American alligator can defend itself from this snake.
84. Saltwater crocodiles often swim into the ocean and have even been seen feeding on dead whales with sharks!
85. Like a human finger print the tail of each humpback whale is unique.
86. Also known as sea canaries, belugas are the most vocal of all whales.
87. Some monkeys can understand basic arithmetic and even multiplication.
88. Peregrine falcons actually thrive more in cities than they do in the wild.
89. Despite being pretty dangerous wild cats, ocelots have been kept as pets in the past.
90. Ostriches use their wing as rudders when running at high speeds to direct their movement.
91. Similarly to lions, male cheetahs will occasionally group up with each other in coalitions to hunt. Females on the other hand always remain alone, unless they have cubs.
92. Pelicans have the largest bill of any birds, measuring around 18 inches in length.
93. People who study marmots are called “marmoteers” or “marmatologists”.
94. The dhole or Asiatic wild dog lives in clans of around 7–12 dogs and can take down very large prey.
95. Wolves have about 200 million scent cells, in comparison humans have only about 5 million. Wolves can smell other animals more than 1.6 kilometers away.
96. Portia spiders are intelligent predators that hunt other spiders. Their behavior suggests that they can learn basic problem solving skills.
97. Lions were once the second most widespread predator after humans covering Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.
98. Wolverines are so elusive that scientists aren’t really sure if they are endangered or not!
99. Asiatic black bears often spend half their lives in trees.
100. A recently discovered species of extinct ichthyosaur may have been larger than the blue whale!
