INTERESTING & INFORMATIVE FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS IN BIOLOGY
ANIMALS EVERYDAY SCIENCE / GENERAL SCIENCE FACTS
There are 7 Categories of Animals. These categories include Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, Water Animals (Fish),
Insects, & Worms.
MAMMALS
- The word “Mammal” has been taken from the Latin Language’s word “Mamma” which means “Breast”.
- Female mammals have mammary glands that produce milk in their breasts.
- Mammals feed milk to their young ones (newborn babies).
- Blue Whale is the largest and biggest mammal found on the planet Earth.
- Blue Whale is the largest and biggest mammal found in marine water (Oceans).
- The elephant is the biggest mammal found on dry land (Earth).
- Giraffe is the tallest mammal found on Earth.
- Cheetah is the fastest mammal found on Earth. A cheetah can run at a speed of around 80 to 130 km/h.
- Bat is a mammal it is not a bird.
- Human beings are also classified as mammals.
- Human beings are warm-blooded mammals.
- All mammals are vertebrates (which means they have a backbone).
- Elephants are such mammal animals that have very long memory and they never forget.
- Vampire bats are the only mammals that drink blood.
- Humans are omnivore mammals animals.
- Elephants have the longest pregnancy period of nearly two years.
AMPHIBIANS
- Amphibians live in water, wetland as well as dry land.
- Amphibians are cold-blooded animals.
- All the amphibians lay eggs.
- They respire in three different ways (respire through skin, lungs, & Mouth).
- Amphibians have smooth, slim, slippery, and wet skin.
- Amphibians have a very complex life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, & tadpole etc).
- Amphibians at the Tadpole stage breathe through gills like fish.
- Amphibians are the only animals that have external fertilization. However, external fertilization is possible for some particular species of amphibians.
- More than 8,100 types of amphibians have been discovered so far.
- Like mammals, amphibians also have a vertebrate (backbone).
- Usually, Amphibians have 3 champers in their hearts.
- Chinese giant salamander is considered the world's largest, heaviest, and strongest living amphibian, having a length of around 1.8m.
REPTILES
- Reptiles are cold-blooded animals like amphibians.
- They have rough, dry, and scary skin.
- Reptiles eggs hard-shelled eggs.
- Some reptiles also bear young ones like mammals.
- Like amphibians and mammals, reptiles also have vertebrate columns (backbones).
- Some reptiles like crocodiles sweat through their mouths.
- Snakes and Lizards (reptiles) smell with their tongue.
- All Reptiles’ body consists of four main parts. Their body is divided into head, neck, trunk, and tail.
- There are more than 11,700 living species of reptiles.
- The saltwater crocodile is the biggest reptile in the world. Saltwater crocodiles have around 2 Tons (2000kg) and can be 6 meters long in length.
- Anaconda (a type of snake) is the largest reptile found on Earth and has a maximum length of about 29 feet long.
- Like amphibians, reptiles’ heart has three chambers. However, crocodiles have four-chambered hearts, just like mammals and birds.
- All reptiles breathe using the lungs (pulmonary respiration).
BIRDS
- Birds are warm-blooded animals.
- Birds also have vertebrate columns (backbone).
- Birds have feathers, beaks, and toothless jaws.
- Like reptiles, birds also lay hard-shelled eggs.
- Usually, all birds have a very high metabolic rate.
- Like mammals, birds also have a four-chambered heart.
- All the birds have a very strong and lightweight skeleton.
- Birds have well-developed flight muscles that help during the flight.
- All the birds have hind limbs. Their hind limbs are adapted for walking, hopping, perching, grasping, wading and swimming.
- Birds also have forelimbs which are modified into wings.
- Like mammals, birds are also endothermic animals.
- Birds have an insulating covering that provides them a large amount of energy and also helps them fly high for a long time.
- The insulating covering and feathers help birds to maintain cold and hot environments.
- Several bird species migrate and fly hundreds of miles to take advantage of global differences of seasonal temperatures.
- Ostrich is the tallest and heaviest bird found on the planet Earth.
- The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest-flying bird. A falcon can fly at a speed of 389 km/h.
- Interestingly, penguins, Steamer ducks, Weka, Kakapo, Takahe, Ostrich, Kiwi, and Cassowary are the birds that cannot fly.
- Penguins are the only birds that can swim and dive.
MARINE ANIMALS / WATER ANIMALS
/ FISH
- Fish has a two-chambered heart and small brains.
- Fish use gills for breathing. They have fins and scales that help them to swim.
- Fish have no any external ears.
- Fish are purely cold-blooded animals.
- Fish also have a vertebrate column (backbone).
- Fish never feel pain.
- Fish have great memories.
- Fish are excellent communicators.
- Fish can migrate extremely far distances.
- There are over 30,000 species of fish.
- Jellyfish, Starfish and Crayfish aren't really fish.
- Dolphins aren’t considered as fish. They are marine mammals.
- Blind Dolphins are only found in the Indus River (at Sukkur barrage).
- Sailfish is the fastest animal in the sea.
- Sailfish can swim at the speed of 110 km/h (68 mph).
- Dolphins have a reputation for being human friendly marine mammals.
- Sea cucumbers are the only marine animals that have the yellow blood.
- Bowhead whales can live more than 200
years–making them one of the longest-living mammals on Earth.
INSECTS
- Insects are invertebrate animals (lack backbones) with one pair of antennae, and (usually) one or two pairs of wings.
- Insects have three pairs or 6 six legs.
- Insects have an exoskeleton and segmented body that is divided into three different parts (head, abdomen, and thorax).
- Insects have 2 compound eyes called ocelli.
- Insects have a ventral nervous system, digestive system, open circulatory system, and advanced sensory receptors.
- There are over 1 million known species of insects found on Earth.
- Insects are the largest group of animals that form 90% of the animal life on Earth.
- Insects lay eggs and have three to four life stages.
- Some insects such as bees can perceive ultraviolet wavelengths, or detect polarized light with the help of their antennae.
- Fireflies are such insects that produce light at night.
- Insects cause cross pollination for plants.
- Some insects including mosquitoes are parasitic and hence transmit diseases.
- Silkworm is an economically important insect for humans as it produces silk.
- Birds and insects are 2 main categories among animals that fly.
- Giant Weta is regarded the heaviest insect. It weighs about 71 g (2.5 oz).
- The Australian tiger beetle is the World's fastest running insect recorded to date, with an average speed of 5.5 mph (9 km/h).
- The horned Dung Beetle is regarded as the strongest insect. It can pull up to 1141 times its own body weight.
- An African cicada is the World’s loudest insect. Its loudest song is almost 107 decibels when measured at a distance of 20 inches (50 cm) away.
- Insects, worms, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are cold-blooded animals except for mammals and birds that are warm-blooded animals.
- Snail insect can have over 25,000 teeth (but these aren't like regular teeth, they are on its tongue).
- Mosquitos are the deadliest insects in the world, killing an estimated 750,000 to 1 million humans yearly.
- There are around 110 trillion mosquitoes on
the planet Earth that carry lethal diseases like malaria, dengue fever, West
Nile virus and Zika virus.
WORMS
- Worms are the cold-blooded and invertebrate animals.
- There are three main types of worms. They are called as the flatworms, the roundworms, and the segmented worms.
- All worms have 5 hearts as well as two kinds of muscles beneath their skin.
- Leeches are quite different and interesting worms. They have 32 brains, 2 hearts, 300 teeth grouped in 3 jaws, 5 pairs of eyes.
- Jellyfish is an insect. Biologically, jellyfish is immortal (never dies).
- Jellyfish never dies rather it turns back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.
- Jellyfish, starfish, and even corals have no any hearts.
- Leeches have a greenish respiratory pigment called chlorocruorin.
- Earthworms do not have any eyes, ears, teeth or lungs.
- A tapeworm is a type of flatworm that lives in the intestine.
- Hookworms live in the small intestine.
- Lobsters, crabs, pill bugs, shrimp, octopus, crayfish, scallops, barnacles, snails, clams, squid, slugs, mussels, horseshoe crabs, and spiders have blue blood.
- Animals that eat plants are called “Herbivores”.
- Animals that eat flesh (meat) are called “Carnivores”.
- Animals that eat insects are called “Insectivores”.
- Animals that eat both plants and flesh (meat) are called “Omnivores”.
- According to the Guinness Book of Records, Honey Badgers is the most fearless / bravest animal in the world.
Also Read the Following Suggested Topics.
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4. Respiration in Plants and Animals Solved MCQs
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