Animals

Friday, 3 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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Axolotl
Axolotls do not transform into adults.
It is due to the lack of thyrotropin, a hormone necessary for the thyroid gland to produce hormones allowing metamorphosis.
Sea otter
At least one million sea otters were killed before the hunting ban was imposed.
Narwhal
Narwhal was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Karol Linnaeus in his work "Systema Naturae".
Dodo bird
The name dodo, adopted in the English-speaking world, first appeared in an account by the travel writer Thomas Herbert in 1634.
He assumed that it came from Portuguese. In this language, the word “dodo” means “stupid.”
Asian elephant
Asian elephants have one more toenail on each foot than their African cousins.
Goblin shark
Goblin shark was discovered in 1898 in Japanese waters.
It was described by American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan, who recognized it not only as a new species but also as a new family and genus.
European pine marten
They reach sexual maturity at the age of 14 months.
However, they rarely mate at this time and usually postpone reproduction until their second or third year of life.
Red-necked wallaby
They are good swimmers, and their swimming style is similar to that of dogs.
Turtles
Land tortoises are very slow they rarely exceed a speed of 0.5 km/h.
They have short, columnar legs that resemble the feet of an elephant.
Sperm whale
The species was first described in 1758.
This was done by Swedish naturalist Charles Linnae in his landmark 10th edition of Systema Naturae, ...