Animals

Thursday, 8 January 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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Hammerhead sharks
Their length ranges from 0.9 to 6.1 meters, and their weight ranges from 3 up to 580 kilograms.
The biggest of the genus is the great hammerhead. The record holder is a female caught in 2006 who weighed almost 581 kilograms. The reason for her unusual weight, however, was pregnancy.
Basking shark
In the past, basking sharks were known as sea serpents.
Because these sharks sometimes swim in large groups on the surface, occasionally one behind the othe ...
Red panda
Red pandas are native to southwestern Asia and the eastern Himalayas.
Luna moth
The NatureServe conservation status for the luna moth is G5 (secure).
Northern pike
They live in the northern hemisphere.
Their range extends from Alaska through Canadian territory, Europe, Middle East and Central Asia to the Sea of Okhotsk.
Platypus
The platypus is well adapted to diving.
These adaptations include: bradycardia (a condition in which the heart rate is less than 60 beats p ...
Fleas
Fleas are holometabolous.
They undergo all four stages throughout their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult (called imago).
Insects
The most numerous insects are beetles.
More than 400,000 species of these insects have been described so far, making up about 40% of all in ...
Arabian oryx
By the early 1960s, the population of oryx had declined to between 100 and 120 individuals, and in 1972 the Arabian oryx was seen in the wild for the last time.
Oryxes were hunted extensively for their meat and as trophies. In the 1930s, oryx hunting with motor ...
Turtles
The largest turtle species alive today is the leatherback turtle.
Representatives of this species reach a body length of 220 cm and a maximum weight of 700 kg. The re ...