Animals

Tuesday, 13 October 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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Gila monster
Although it is listed as a near-threatened species, it is protected by state laws in the U.S.
Mostly, it is prohibited to collect them from the wild, and in some states, it is illegal to possess one as a pet. In New Mexico, it is listed as Endangered and under full protection.
Fleas
Fleas are holometabolous.
They undergo all four stages throughout their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult (called imago).
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.”
Ladybugs
Ladybug larvae are quite distinctive.
They have a prolonged abdomen, black with yellow or orange dots, with legs sticking out of their body. Some say they resemble miniature alligators.
Central bearded dragon
It inhabits rocky deserts, semi-deserts and forest areas of central Australia.
Hammerhead sharks
Hammerhead sharks swim at a slight angle, due to differences in their fins length.
Their pectoral fin is shorter than their first dorsal fin, and tilting allows them to use longer fin to swim efficiently.
Axolotl
The axolotl is native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in the Valle de México, Mexico City.
Today, axolotls can be found only in the southern parts of Lake Xochimilco since Lake Chalco was artificially drained in the late 1860s to prevent flooding.
Sloth
The Bradypodidae, also called three-toed sloths, are a monotypic family of terrestrial, arboreal mammals.
The only genus belonging to this family is the sloth (Bradypus), with the following species: sloth dwarf sloth three-toed sloth fringe sloth
True seals
Seals, or animals included in the seal family, are predatory marine mammals.
There are nineteen species of Phocidae (also called true seals or earless seals):Mediterranean monk ...
Gila monster
Unlike snakes, the Gila monster produces its venom in salivary glands at the end of its lower jaws.
It has to bite its prey to release the toxin into the open wound.