Animals

Wednesday, 17 June 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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Guinea pig
Folklore traditions regarding guinea pigs are numerous.
They make up gifts, are used in customary social and religious ceremonies, and are often invoked in ...
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are commonly found in water tanks all over the world.
They occupy both surface waters and the deep sea.
Shoebill
Shoebills exhibit the phenomenon of siblicide. This is the elimination of weaker individuals by stronger siblings to eliminate food competition.
When the parents of hatched Shoebill chicks leave the nest in search of food, the stronger individua ...
Alpaca
In the United Kingdom, alpacas are sometimes used as pasture guards.
Although they are rarely aggressive, they are attached to flocks of free-grazing sheep, where they w ...
Blue tang
Royal blue tang cannot be bred in captivity. Yet.
A group of scientists managed to breed a royal blue tang in 2016, so hopefully captive-bred may be available in some time.
Insects
The oldest insect fossils date back 400 million years.
The greatest flourishing of insect diversity occurred in the Permian (299 - 252 million years ago). ...
Platypus
In reserves, the platypus can be seen in special aquariums, as of 2013 only in Australia.
Octopus
The equivalent of the kidneys in octopuses is the so-called nephridia.
Ocean sunfish
The newly hatched sunfish is tiny, measuring about 2,5 mm (0,1 in).
If they are lucky enough to survive and develop into fry, they need only 15 months to achieve a size of an adult.  To increase the chance of survival, juveniles swim in schools.
Hedgehogs
Their back and sides are covered with spikes.
Spikes are transformed hair, sturdily attached to their bodies. They are neither poisonous nor particularly stingy.