INTERESTING & INFORMATIVE FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS IN BIOLOGY

 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.

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