In his book My Family and Other Animals, British writer and naturalist Gerald Durrell wrote that as a young boy, he found studying very boring. His favorite subject, obviously, was zoology; everything else was just a torture until he got a homeschooling teacher who found a brilliant solution. He started adding animal facts to everything young Gerry had to study. From that moment on, every math problem involved animals, and in every historical battle there was at least one horse who they knew by name. Durrell admitted that this method indeed boosted his enthusiasm towards studying.
Many teachers confirm that adding fun facts for kids to classes is a great way to help them take more interest in learning and also remember the information they get. I personally think it’s a pity teachers don’t do it more often. Imagine how much more fun your biology classes would have been if alongside things like physical characteristics or area of habitat, your teacher added some fun facts about animals. I know I would have enjoyed it so much more.
But what if you don’t have to go to school and study anymore? The good news is that as an adult you can still enjoy reading interesting facts about animals, even if you don’t have to worry about grades. There are still lots of things to know about animals, and nature will keep surprising you with its diversity.
Enjoy this collection of cute, cool, and very interesting facts about animals. You can share them with friends or even your kids. What other nature facts are you absolutely glad that you learned?
#1
Cats recognize their own name but choose not to respond.
Image source: nature.com
#2
Elephants mourn their dead.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#3
Cows have best friends.
Image source: nectar.northampton.ac.uk
#4
Roosters prevent themselves from going deaf due to their own loud crowing, by tilting their head backs when they crow, which covers their ear canal completely, serving as a built-in ear-plug.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#5
Baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort.
Image source: tintswalo.com
#6
Koala fingerprints are so close to humans that they could taint crime scenes.
Image source: livescience.com
#7
Orcas can learn to speak dolphin.
Image source: asa.scitation.org
#8
Greenland sharks are the longest living vertebrates on earth, with one individual thought to be over 400 years old.
Image source: science.org
#9
Horses have distinct facial expressions.
Image source: journals.plos.org
#10
A whale’s heart beats only nine times a minute.
Image source: livescience.com
#11
Squirrels will adopt orphans.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#12
And the oldest evidence of domesticated cats dates back 9,500 years.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#13
Frogs can freeze without dying.
Image source: livescience.com
#14
Reindeer eyes turn blue in the winter.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#15
Dogs sense of smell is about 100,000 times stronger than humans.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#16
Parrots will selflessly help each other out.
Image source: cell.com
#17
Young goats pick up accents from each other. This means they join humans, bats, and whales as mammals known to adjust their vocal sound to fit into a new social group.
Image source: livescience.com
#18
Some sharks glow in the dark.
Image source: cell.com
#19
Dolphins have names for one another.
Image source: pnas.org
#20
Owls don’t have eyeballs. They have eye tubes.
Image source: mcgill.ca
#21
Female lions do 90 percent of the hunting.
#22
A grizzly bear’s bite is strong enough to crush a bowling ball.
Image source: worldanimalprotection.org.uk
#23
Alligators can grow for more than 30 years.
Image source: meridian.allenpress.com
#24
Rats laugh.
Image source: scientificamerican.com
#25
Ants never sleep.
Image source: sciencefocus.com
#26
Snails have the most teeth of any animal.
Image source: sciencefocus.com
#27
Hummingbirds are the only known birds that can also fly backwards.
Image source: journals.biologists.com
#28
The flamingo can only eat when its head is upside-down.
#29
Pigeons can do math.
Image source: science.org
#30
A Rhinoceros‘s horns are made of ‘keratin’, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#31
Even after having its head cut off, a cockroach can still live for weeks.
Image source: sciencefocus.com
#32
Polar bears have jet black skin under their white fur coats.
Image source: worldwildlife.org
#33
A housefly buzzes in an F key.
Image source: books.google.ca
#34
Horned lizards squirt blood from their eyes.
Image source: asknature.org
#35
Alligators will let manatees swim ahead of them.
Image source: jstor.org
#36
The largest insect to ever live was a “dragonfly” with a wingspan of over 75cm (2 and a half feet) across.
Image source: researchgate.net
#37
Butterflies taste with their feet.
Image source: genent.cals.ncsu.edu
#38
Catfish have taught themselves how to kill pigeons.
Image source: journals.plos.org
#39
Rabbits don’t have pads on their paws. Only fur.
Image source: rabbitcaretips.com
#40
Swifts spend most of their lives flying in the air, and can fly for almost an entire year, without ever landing.
Image source: cell.com
#41
Ghost crabs growl using teeth in their stomachs.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#42
Painted turtles survive winter by breathing through their bums.
Image source: livescience.com
#43
Vampire bat saliva keeps blood from clotting.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#44
Chimpanzees are very intelligent and make all kinds of tools.
Image source: pnas.org
#45
Grey-headed Albatross can circle the globe in only 46 days.
Image source: science.org
#46
Ducks can surf.
Image source: theinertia.com
#47
Sheep can recognise faces.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#48
Prairie dogs kiss.
Image source: news.arizona.edu
#49
Otters have the world’s thickest fur.
Image source: kqed.org
#50
A group of rhinos is called a crash.
#51
The pangolin is able to roll up into an armour-plated ball, so lions can’t eat them.
Image source: awf.org
#52
Cows painted with zebra-like stripes can avoid being bitten by flies.
Image source: journals.plos.org
#53
Elephants are covered with hair.
Image source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#54
Capuchin monkeys wash their hands and feet in urine.
Image source: nature.com
#55
Vampire bats share blood with their friends.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#56
Some albatrosses are lesbians.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#57
The Naked Mole-Rat can live in an almost zero oxygen atmosphere.
Image source: science.org
#58
Some pigs in China are the size of bears.
Image source: bloomberg.com
#59
Some snails have hairy shells.
Image source: bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com
#60
Sloths can take up to a month to completely digest a single leaf.
Image source: scielo.br
#61
Axolotls can regenerate their parts.
Image source: nature.com
#62
Some worms can jump.
Image source: extension.umn.edu
#63
Narwhal tusks are really an “inside out” tooth.
Image source: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
#64
The world’s oldest known breed of domesticated dog dates back to 329 BC.
Image source: guinnessworldrecords.com
#65
Adult cats only meow at humans.
Image source: aspca.org
#66
An octopus has three hearts.
#67
There are no male mourning geckos. The entire species is female.
Image source: georgiaaquarium.org
#68
The fastest land animal on the planet is a cheetah. It can reach speeds of up to 75 mph.
Image source: awf.org
#69
A group of parrots is known as a pandemonium.
Image source: conservationafrica.net
#70
African buffalo herds display voting behavior, in which individuals register their travel preference by standing up, looking in one direction and then lying back down. Only adult females can vote.
Image source: eebweb.arizona.edu
#71
Honeypot ants swell up to a huge size with food.
Image source: mdpi.com
#72
Squirrels can’t burp or vomit.
Image source: reconnectwithnature.org
#73
Honeybees can flap their wings 200 times every second.
Image source: livescience.com
#74
The bone-house wasp stuffs the walls of its nest with dead ants.
Image source: esf.edu
#75
The mantis shrimp has the world’s fastest punch.
Image source: nature.com
#76
Sperm whales in the Caribbean have an accent.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#77
Baby Tasmanian devils make life-long friendships.
Image source: academic.oup.com
#78
Zebra stripes act as a natural bug repellant.
Image source: journals.biologists.com
#79
Pea Crabs are miniature crabs that spend their whole lives inside oysters, clams, and mussels.
Image source: journals.uchicago.edu
#80
The longest living, verified animal is a Madagascar radiated tortoise, which died at an age of 188 years in May 1965.
Image source: guinnessworldrecords.com
#81
Bottlenose dolphins are even more right-handed than humans.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#82
Koalas sleep up to 22 hours a day.
Image source: edgeofexistence.org
#83
Giraffes have black tongues.
Image source: sciencefocus.com
#84
Elephants and humans have similar self-soothing techniques.
Image source: peerj.com
#85
There are an estimated 8.7 million species on earth and more than 80% of them are undiscovered.
Image source: nature.com
#86
The Yangtze giant softshell turtle is the biggest freshwater turtle in the world.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#87
Some corvids (crows, rooks, ravens etc) can understand physics.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#88
Japanese Macaques play with snowballs for fun.
Image source: danspetcare.com
#89
A Blue Whales tongue can weigh as much as a car, or a small adult elephant.
#90
Octopuses can taste with their arms.
Image source: cell.com
#91
Female bats give birth to babies that weigh up to a third of their weight.
Image source: batcon.org
#92
Moths experience love at first scent.
Image source: pnas.org
#93
Cows produce more milk when listening to slow music.
Image source: news.bbc.co.uk
#94
Only 3-5% of mammals are monogamous.
Image source: journals.uchicago.edu
#95
The Mariana snailfish is the deepest fish in the ocean, living up to around 8,000m below the surface.
Image source: ncl.ac.uk
#96
The Edible Dormouse (Glis glis) is able to hibernate the longest – up to 11 months of the year when food availability is low.
Image source: researchgate.net
#97
Cats and horses are highly susceptible to black widow venom, but dogs are relatively resistant. Sheep and rabbits are apparently immune.
Image source: merckvetmanual.com
#98
Moray eels have a second pair of “Alien-style” jaws.
Image source: nature.com
#99
Slow lorises are the only venomous primates.
Image source: cell.com
#100
Dogs have way fewer taste buds than humans.
Image source: akc.org
#101
Snow leopards don’t roar.
Image source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
#102
Giraffes with darker spots are more dominant.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#103
Bees have 5 eyes.
Image source: researchgate.net
#104
Tardigrades can survive in space and go without eating for more than 30 years.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#105
The little known pangolin is the worlds most poached and trafficked animal.
Image source: discoverwildlife.com
#106
An ostrich legs are so powerful that their kicks can kill a lion.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#107
The worlds deadliest animal isn’t a shark, bear or tiger, but something far smaller – the mosquito. According to the World Health Organization, 700,000 people are killed each year from mosquito-borne diseases, such as Malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.
Image source: who.int
#108
A black panther is really a black leopard.
Image source: archive.org
#109
Cowbirds use secret passwords to teach their young.
Image source: journals.biologists.com
#110
Sea otters are adept at using tools.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#111
A group of ferrets is called a business.
Image source: a-z-animals.com
#112
Queen mole rats make other female mole rats infertile.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#113
Snakes don’t have eyelids.
Image source: catalinaconservancy.org
#114
The U.S. military trained bottlenose dolphins.
Image source: pbs.org
#115
The Patu Digua is thought to be this smallest spider in the world at just 0.37 mm.
Image source: guinnessworldrecords.com
#116
Electric eels are in fact not eels, and give a shock strong enough to knock out a horse.
Image source: nature.com
#117
Animals with smaller bodies and faster metabolism see in slow motion.
#118
The longest recorded life span of a slug was 1 year, 6 months.
Image source: academic.oup.com
#119
Dogs have sweat glands in between their paws.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#120
Puffins use twigs to scratch their bodies.
Image source: pnas.org
#121
There’s a kind of ant that only lives in a small area of Manhattan.
Image source: resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
#122
Male horses have way more teeth than their female counterparts.
Image source: vcahospitals.com
#123
Tigers have striped skin.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#124
Primitive crocodiles could gallop.
Image source: nature.com
#125
The duck-billed platypus has no nipples to feed their offspring. Instead, milk oozes from the skin.
Image source: bbc.com
#126
A group of owls is called a parliament.
#127
Crocodiles can live up to 100.
Image source: a-z-animals.com
#128
The lesula, discovered in 2007, has giant human like eyes and a blue bottom.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#129
Orangutans are the heaviest tree-dwelling animals.
Image source: seaworld.org
#130
Yaks are specially adapted to high altitudes, with a huge lung capacity and small red blood cells.
Image source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#131
Lungfish are the only fish that have both lungs and gills.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#132
The most venonmous fish in the world is the 30 cm Stonefish.
Image source: researchgate.net
#133
A type of “immortal” jellyfish is capable of cheating death indefinitely.
Image source: nhm.ac.uk
#134
Ravens are masters of deception.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#135
The spur-winged goose’s diet makes it poisonous.
#136
Wombat poop is cube-shaped.
Image source: pubs.rsc.org
#137
Giant anteaters have two-foot tongues.
Image source: nationalzoo.si.edu
#138
Cuvier’s Beaked whales are one of the deepest diving mammals and can collapse their lungs to survive the high pressure.
Image source: journals.plos.org
#139
Emperor penguins are the world’s biggest penguins, and they trek 50–120 km (31–75 m) across the Antarctic to reach breeding colonies.
Image source: antarctica.gov.au
#140
The earliest found depictions of dogs come from 8,000 years ago.
Image source: persee.fr
#141
Cuckoo birds hide their eggs in the nests of other species.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#142
The Japanese Spider Crab has the longest leg span of any arthropod.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#143
The box jellyfish is considered the most venomous marine species in the world.
Image source: biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au
#144
Only 5% of cheetah cubs survive to adulthood.
Image source: seaworld.org
#145
Giraffes are the tallest land animal in the world, reaching heights of 19ft (5.8 m).
Image source: britannica.com
#146
Colossus penguin stood as tall as LeBron James.
Image source: sciencedirect.com
#147
Deer can’t eat hay.
Image source: nature-track.com
#148
Humpback whales use bubbles to hunt.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#149
Deer can run up to 35 miles per hour.
#150
You can tell a dolphin’s age by its teeth.
Image source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
#151
The shoebill stork can swallow baby crocodiles whole.
Image source: danspetcare.com
#152
The blood ‘Dracula ant’ has the fastest recorded animal movement when it snaps its mandible.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org/
#153
The aptly named colossal squids eyes are as large as a basketball.
Image source: livescience.com
#154
There are 1.4 billion insects per person on this planet and we need (almost) every one of them.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#155
The Inland Taipan (also known as, the Western Taipan) is the most venomous snake in the world. A single bite contains enough venom to kill at least 100 fully grown men, and can kill within just 30 minutes, if left untreated.
Image source: britannica.com
#156
Vultures urinate and defecate on their own legs and feet to cool off on hot days.
Image source: naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com
#157
Meerkat parents train their offspring to hunt scorpions.
Image source: cam.ac.uk
#158
The yellowhead jawfish incubates its eggs in its mouth.
Image source: zookeys.pensoft.net
#159
The Alpine Swift is able to stay airborne for over 6 months without touching down.
Image source: nature.com
#160
The shortest living animal in the world is the Mayfly.
Image source: web.archive.org
#161
Wild chimps like to drink.
Image source: royalsocietypublishing.org
#162
Little is known about the elusive Giant squid, however the largest squid ever found measured over 50 feet and weighed nearly a tonne.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
Follow Us
