Animals

Thursday, 2 July 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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Dik-dik
They are among the smallest antelopes living today (the world’s smallest is the dwarf antelope Neotragus pygmaeus–royal antelope).
They measure from 47 to 69 cm and weigh about 4 kg, with females being slightly larger and heavier t ...
Ocean sunfish
Females are able to produce as many as 300 million eggs.
Single egg measures 1,3 mm in diameter. Fertilization occurs in water, where released eggs are fertilized by sperm.
Crustacean
Most crustaceans breathe using gills, however, some species have developed primitive lungs.
Lungs are found in crabs Chasmagnathus granulatus and hermit crabs Coenobita and Birgus. They are ma ...
Narwhal
They do not have a dorsal fin.
Toco toucan
The distinctive feature of this bird is its huge bill. Not everyone liked its appearance, however. The French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon called the beak of the toco toucan a "gross monstrous" addition.
Beak is yellow-orange in color, tending to a deeper reddish-orange in the lower parts, with a black ...
Axolotl
Axolotls are carnivorous.
They feed on mollusks, insects, arthropods, and small fish. They locate their prey using their sense of smell, and since having vestigial teeth, their primary feeding method is suctioning.
Ball python
It is native to central and western Africa.
Great spotted woodpecker
They drink the sap of birch trees.
In spring, woodpeckers pierce the bark of birch trees and drink the sap that flows from the trunk.
European pine marten
They are most active in the evening and at night.
Sometimes martens can be seen during the day but it's not typical bahavior for them.
Hedgehogs
One of the biggest threats to the lives of hedgehogs is automobile traffic.
Various studies suggest between 50.000 and 100.000 hedgehogs die each year on roads.