• Interesting Facts about Amphibians (3)
• Interesting Facts about Birds (22)
• Interesting Facts about Fishes (9)
• Interesting Facts about Mammals (48)
• Interesting Facts about Reptiles (16)

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Z

Vampire Bat

DESCRIPTION:         Pointed ears; longer thumb (incomparison to other true vampire bats); 20 teeth, with largest being 2 uppercanines and 2 upper incisors FUN FACTS: -Vampire bats have fewer teeth than anyother bat because they do not have to chew their food. -Along with flying, vampire bats canrun, jump, and hop with great speed, using their chest muscles to flingthemselves skyward. -Vampire bats in the same colony supporttheir roostmates by regurgitating blood to bats that are unable to find food. -Vampirebats don't suck blood. They make a small incision and lap up the blood of theirhosts.

Vultures

DESCRIPTION: The two families of vultures areclassified together based on superficial similarities. Both families have weakfeet adapted more for walking than clutching, and feathers that are mostlyabsent from their heads and necks. SIZE: 60-140 cm; Andean condors havea wingspan of up to 3 mmaking them one of the world's largest flying birds WEIGHT: Maximum weight of more than 12 kg for the Andean condor FUN FACTS: Vultures are such efficient feedersthat they can pick the body of a small animal clean in less than half an hour.Some vultures go one step further by eating the bones as well, thus making sureno part of a meal is wasted. When vultures bask after meals, theheat of the sun dries any potentially bacteria-ridden bits of food that easilyfall off, helping them remain healthy. Vultures have keen eyesight. It isbelieved they are able to spot a three-foot carcass from four miles away on theopen plains. In some species, when an individual sees a carcass it begins tocircle above it. This draws the attention of other vultures that then join in. Once the vultures have landed, theyfight and bicker over feeding spots. For the most part, many vulture speciesare relatively silent, but not when it comes to a prime place at the dinnertable! Once on the carcass, vultures planttheir feet for stability and pull at the flesh with their beaks. Many speciesof vultures feed together with little competition, because they do not feed onthe same kind of meat within the carcass. When white-backed vultures (Gypsafricanus) of Africa spot dying or deadanimals, they descend upon it, plant their feet in the remains, and pull theflesh apart with their beaks. New World vultures include Andeancondors (Vultur gryphus) and Californiacondors (Gymnogyps californianus). The extremely large Andean condors eatmostly carrion, although they may attack small or weak animals such as newbornllamas, lambs, or old goats. Despite their great size, they fly effortlesslyfor hundreds of miles in search of food and some have been seen gliding at analtitude of 4,472 m. Turkeyvultures (Cathartes aura) and black vultures (Coragyps atratus) are widespreadacross the Americas.Rare for birds of prey, turkey vultures actually have a keen sense of smell,while black vultures rely on their eyesight to find food.

Walrus

DESCRIPTION: Walruses are very distinctive having alarge, robust, fusiform body that is usually reddish-brown in color. On theirhead region, walruses lack external ear flaps, have hundreds of short,vibrissae (whiskers), and both males and females possess large tusks. Likeother pinnipeds, the fore and hind limbs of a walrus are modified intoflippers. Although hair is present on the rest of the body, it is absent on theflippers. The foreflippers are short and square in shape with tiny claws on alldigits, and the hind flippers are triangular in shape with larger claws on thethree middle digits. On land, walruses are capable of rotating their hindflippers under their pelvic girdle to walk on all fours in a similar manner tosea lions.Adult males are slightly larger than femaleswith longer and stouter tusks. SIZE:  The Pacific subspecies is larger than the Atlantic. Newborn calves are about 95-123 cm long.Male -  2.7-3.6 m,Female - 2.3-3.1 m WEIGHT: Newborn claves weigh about 45-75 kg. Male: About 800-1,700 kg, Female:        About 400-1,250 kg FUN FACTS: Walruses spend about two-thirds oftheir lives in the water. Highly social in nature, huge herds of walruses haulout (leave the water to get on land) on sea ice to rest and bear their young.Most walruses live where the air temperature is about -15 to 5C (5 to 41F). A thick layer of blubber insulates thewalrus. Blubber may be up to 15cm (6 in.)thick. During the winter, blubber may account for one-third of a walrus's totalbody mass. Blubber also streamlines the body and functions as an excess energyreserve. To locate food, walruses use theirvibrissae (whiskers). A walrus has about 400-700 vibrissae on its snout.Vibrissae are attached to muscles and are supplied with blood and nerves. Awalrus moves its snout through bottom sediment to find food. Abrasion patternsof the tusks show that they are dragged through the sediment, but are not usedto dig up prey. Walruses may also take in mouthfuls of water and squirtpowerful jets at the sea floor, excavating burrowing invertebrates such asclams and may consume 3,000-6,000 clams within a single feeding. Theprimary functions of the walruses' prominent tusks seem to be aiding in haulingout on ice and rocky shores and in establishing social dominance.

Waterbuck

Sitatungas(Naakong) are even more specialised than red lechwe, feeding only on aquaticvegetation. The sitatunga have splayed hooves to enable them to walk in thewater. These animals are very shy and can be seen especially well when thewater is very low."Water Kudu" is the Afrikaans translation for thesitatunga. As with the bushbuck, sitatunga are also members of the Tragelaphusfamily (Kudu and Nyala are other members).

Wattled Curassow, Red-Wattled Curassow

DESCRIPTION: Large, terrestrial bird; males havebulbous red-orange knob and wattle on bill. FUN FACTS: They sleep high in the forest canopy atnight. The male curassows' brilliantly coloredknobs and wattles are used in sexual displays and pair bonding. Themales make a low-pitched booming sound and emit a long whistle that sounds likea firecracker.

Whale

A mammal, by definition, breathes air into thelungs, is warm blooded, feeds its offspring milk and has body hair. Mammalsevolved from reptiles some 70 million years ago and some like whales returnedto the waters approximately 16 million years after leaving it. The platypus isa duck-billed, beavertailed and otter-footed poisonous mammal that is alsospecial because it lays eggs. However, the eggs develop in the uterus for amuch longer time than that of egglaying non-mammals and the young ones are fedmilk — something unique to mammals. It is believed that monotremes (the classof platypus-like mammals) branched from other mammals early in evolution. Theother mammals evolved into either placental or marsupial groups. The class ofmammals that evolved into whales do not lay eggs at all.

White Bengal Tiger

Whitetigers are very rarely found in the wild. In about 100 yeas only 12 whitetigers have been seen in the wild habitats of India. They are almost extinct andmost of the ones living are in captivity, mainly in zoos. This specific tigeris neither an albino or a seperate subspecies of the tiger. They are simplywhite colored and have black stripes that makes them special. It has blue eyesand a pink nose. It also has prestine white colored fur. The white tiger isborn to a bengal tiger that has the recessive gene needed for white coloring. Apure white tiger has no stripes and are completely white in color.

Zebra

Zebra isthe only hoofed mammal who has the most distinctive coat on its body. Thestripes on the coat are as unique as fingerprints in humans, because no twozebras have these stripes exactly alike, although each of the three species hasits own general pattern. The stripeson zebra, the scientists assert, are as some form of camouflage. The patternsmay make it difficult for predators to identify a single animal from a runningherd and distort distance at dawn and dusk. Also because of their uniqueness,stripes may also help zebras recognize one another. Zebras are social animalsthat are accustomed to living in herds. They graze together, primarily ongrasslands. Zebras of plains are the most common species. They live in smallfamily groups consisting of a stallion male, several females, and their young.These units may combine with others to form splendid herds but family memberswill remain close within the herd.  Zebras areconstantly aware of lions and hyenas. Some zebras within a herd remain alert todanger. If a zebra is attacked, the other members of its family willimmediately come to its defense, attempting to drive off predators and byencircling the wounded zebra.

<< [Первая] < Предыдущая 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Следующая > [Последняя] >>

List of Animals English Globe