Animals

Monday, 1 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, ...

Did you know?

Spotted hyena
The spotted hyena was the first described in 1777 by German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben.
It was once thought that the mottled hyena’s name Crocuta came from the Latin word “crocutus,” which ...
Insects
Some insects have adapted to living alone while others form huge communities, often hierarchical.
The most common solitary insects are dragonflies, less commonly beetles. Insects that live in groups include bees, wasps, termites, and ants.
Spiders
Young spiders are by nature much more aggressive than mature ones. From a developmental point of view, this makes sense.
A spider that eats more food will grow larger as an adult. Therefore, we can hypothesize that the larger the spider we encounter (concerning representatives of its species), the more aggressive it is.
Platypus
The platypus has a large brain.
Gila monster
The genus Heloderma dates back to the Miocene (23,3—5,333 mya).
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.
Bird of Paradise
By eating fruits whose seeds they do not digest, they help to spread them.
The seeds are excreted along with the droppings and germinate in moist soil - this makes wonderbirds brilliant jungle sowers.
Turtles
All turtles lay their eggs on land, although copulation occurs in different environments.
Terrestrial turtles copulate on land while marine turtles copulate in the water and only the fertili ...
Arabian oryx
Pregnancy of females lasts 240 days, a calf is born, which the mother nurses for 2.5 months.
Oryxes reach sexual maturity at the age of 2.5 to 3.5 years and live up to more than 20 years.
Spiders
The excretory system of spiders is composed of iliac glands and Malpighian tubules.
They capture harmful metabolites from the hemolymph and direct them to the cloaca, from where they escape through the anus.