Animals
Nature has a sense of humor. Here is the proof.
Animals solve the problems of living in ways that can seem wonderfully unfamiliar. A different kind of blood, an unusual way to rest, or a body built for a particular environment can tell us more than a list of records. These facts explore wildlife through anatomy, behavior, evolution and the habitats that make each adaptation useful. Familiar species sit alongside creatures you might never notice without a microscope. The stories separate observed behavior from popular exaggeration and explain the mechanism where it is known. Nature is impressive enough when we stick to what the evidence actually shows.
By the numbers
All animals facts
Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.
Wombats poop cubes.
Sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't drift apart.
A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
Sharks have been around longer than trees.
Koala fingerprints have loops and whorls remarkably similar to ours.
Tardigrades can survive being exposed to outer space.
Scotland's official national animal is the unicorn.
Male seahorses carry developing young in a brood pouch.
Incubation temperature helps determine a sea turtle hatchling’s sex.
The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.
A giraffe usually has seven neck vertebrae, just like a human.
Cheetahs have partly retractile claws that help grip the ground.
Honeybees have five eyes: two compound eyes and three simple ones.
Many poison frogs acquire their defensive skin toxins from their diet.
Wood frogs can survive winter with ice forming outside their cells.
Bats are the only living mammals capable of sustained powered flight.
Horseshoe crabs are more closely related to arachnids than to true crabs.
A breeding male clownfish can become female.
Jellyfish coordinate movement without a centralized brain.
A Portuguese man o’ war is a colony of specialized zooids.
Sea sponges are animals that filter water through porous bodies.
Reef-building corals are colonies of small animals, not underwater plants.
Sea stars move with tube feet powered by a water vascular system.
Camel humps store fat rather than a reservoir of drinking water.
Polar bears look white even though their guard hairs lack white pigment.
Living hummingbirds are native only to the Americas.
An owl’s facial disc helps funnel sound toward its ears.
Elephants use blood-rich ears to help shed body heat.
A platypus can detect prey-generated electrical signals with its bill.
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