Animals

Wednesday, 3 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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Grey heron
Although they lead a solitary life, they group during the breeding season to increase the chance of finding a pair.
We call such a group of herons a siege. When they encounter a competitor, they point their beaks down and rush towards him to scare him.
Brazilian wandering spiders
Approximately four thousand people a year are bitten by the Brazilian cottonmouth.
Only 0.5 percent of those bitten suffer serious health complications from it. Mortality is even rare ...
Arabian oryx
Oryx herds are mixed and consist of 12 to 18 animals, but in fertile valleys with trees and with considerable vegetation cover they may number up to 60 animals.
In each herd there is a dominant male and other immature males and females. Within the herd, oryxes ...
Mallard
They produce one brood a year, the female lays 8 to 13 eggs.
They are light cream and measure 58 x 32 mm. They are laid every other day and the female begins to ...
Sea lamprey
A single female of sea lamprey lays between 30,000 and 100,000 eggs.
After mating, both parents die.
Ocean sunfish
In search of food, they can dive as deep as 600 m (1 968 ft).
It is estimated that sunfish must eat 1% to 3% of their body mass a day. Foraging takes them usually about half a day. After a long presence in cold depths, ocean sunfish need to bask in the sun.
Coyote
It is a carrier of diseases and parasites.
Among North American carnivores, coyotes are probably the carriers of the greatest number of disease ...
American mink
Minks are very skillful hunters and will eat basically anything that is within their reach.
Their menu includes small mammals (hares, muskrats, shrews), frogs, arthropods, insects, fish, birds, and bird eggs.
Corn snake
They are often mistaken for venomous copperheads.
Corn snakes are brighter and more slender. Adult corn snakes typically have large red-blotchy patter ...
Alpaca
Outside of South America, most alpacas are bred in New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada and Europe.