Animals

Saturday, 7 February 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, ...

Did you know?

Okapi
They are herbivores, the basis of their diet are leaves of trees and grass, but they also eat buds, fruits and mushrooms.
Tiger sharks
The average lifespan of a tiger shark is 27 years in the wild.
Adder
Not every adder bite results in an injection of venom.
Venom is injected in about 50 percent of bite cases.
Alligator snapping turtle
It is easily distinguished from the common snapping turtle by three spiky ridges on its carapace, and a large, heavy, triangle-shaped head.
Corn snake
They are often mistaken for venomous copperheads.
Corn snakes are brighter and more slender. Adult corn snakes typically have large red-blotchy patter ...
Arctic fox
In freezing weather, polar foxes limit their movement and curl up to minimize heat loss.
They hide their head and limbs under their body and adopt the most optimal shape, which has a reduced heat transfer surface area to an absolute minimum.
Hippopotamus
Nowadays, Nile hippos live only in the central and southern parts of Africa.
They are most often found in the oases, lakes and rivers of Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Uganda, as wel ...
Portuguese man-of-war
They have natural predators.
The two main ones are the violet sea snail and sea slugs from the genus Glaucus. They also fell prey to loggerhead sea turtles and ocean sunfish.
Alligator snapping turtle
They can reach up to 80 kg in weight and around 75 centimeters in length.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are not aggressive towards humans, but will most likely sting when touched.
A jellyfish sting is painful and mostly not invasive, although it can be lethal.