Animals

Wednesday, 22 April 2026
27 facts about turtles
27 facts about turtles
The only vertebrates so armored
The first turtles appeared on Earth at the end of the Permian about 240 million years ago. Although the first ones had neither plastron nor carapace, ...

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Amur leopard
The first mention of the Amur leopard dates back to 1857.
Hermann Schlegel, a German zoologist, discovered its pelt while on a survey in Korea.
Basking shark
The basking shark's most distinctive feature is its five pairs of giant gill slits.
They encircle its body behind its head like a collar and almost meet at the top and bottom. 
White-browed tit-warbler
At the end of the mating season, white-browed tit-warbler joins flocks of over 25 individuals.
Arctic fox
The pregnancy of Arctic foxes lasts for 52 days.
A litter can contain up to 25 cubs, a record among all mammalian predators. Cubs leave the burrow after 3 – 4 weeks after birth, and the mother stops feeding them with milk after nine weeks.
Common Surinam toad
The mating cycle lasts only 24 hours.
The complete development of the eggs and their transformation takes place in the skin on the female’s back. A single egg is 6-7 mm in diameter and each female lays from 40 to almost 500 eggs.
Housefly
The female lays about one hundred eggs in a single batch.
The laying process can take several days, and over a lifetime, a female housefly can lay up to 2,000 eggs, although this number does not usually exceed 500.
Horseshoe crab
Blood is being extracted from living animals.
It is estimated that between 10% and 30% of the animals do not survive the process. Approximately 500,000 horseshoe crabs are harvested for blood annually.
Guinea pig
In 1961, a guinea pig was placed aboard the Vostok-type spacecraft Korabl-Sputnik 4.
Along with a dog, several mice, and a dummy, one or two guinea pigs circled the Earth once and landed safely.
Common cuckoo
They reach sexual maturity at the age of two years.
At this time they give birth to their first brood. The female is polygamous.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are considered a delicacy in various Asian countries.
They are widely consumed in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, and Korea. Usually, people consume it deh ...