Nature and Wildlife: Animal Facts

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Animal Facts

Animal Species in the World

There are more than a million animal species in the world. There are 6,000 species of reptiles, 73,000 kinds of spiders, and 3,000 types of lice. For each person there are about 200 million insects. The 4,600 kinds of mammals represent a mere 0.3% of animals and the 9,000 kinds of birds are only 0.7% of all mammals. The most numerous bird specie is the red-billed quelea of southern Africa. There are 100 trillion of them.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

Animal Life Expectancy

Here is a quick reference guide to how long certain animals live.

Most animals have a life span far less than that of humans. Right now the average life span for a human is between 75 and 80 years of age.
The average life spans listed below are from the most years expected to live to the least years expected to live. Of course, the life expectancy of an animal depends on many factors, including its environment, its food supply, and whether or not it is captive.

Average Life Spans

Galapagos tortoise - 200+ years

Box turtle, carp - 100 years

Gray whale - 70 years

Alligator, chimpanzee, African parrot, humpback whale - 50 years

African elephant - 35 years

Dolphin, gorilla - 30 years

Horse, snake - 20 years

Black bear - 18 years

Tiger - 16 years

Lion, lobster, domestic cat, cow, tarantula, - 15 years

Domestic dog - 13 years

Camel, moose, sheep - 12 years

Ferret, giraffe, pig, squirrel - 10 years

Chicken, white-tailed deer, goat - 8 years

Kangaroo - 7 years

Chipmunk - 6 years

Beaver, domestic rabbit - 5 years

Guinea pig, hamster - 4 years

Mouse - 3 years

Opossum - 1 year

Worker bee - 5 weeks

Adult housefly - 4 weeks

Extreme Life Spans

These animals have far exceeded their life expectancy. This does not happen often, so they are worth mentioning.

Parrot - 80 years

Elephant - 69 years

Alligator - 68 years

Catfish - 60 years

Eagle, eel, giant salamander - 55 years

Horse - 50 years

Cobra - 28 years

Queen ant - 15 years

In the mammal species, it would appear that larger animals tend to live longer than smaller ones. Man lives longer than many mammals. Next comes, elephants, monkeys, horses, and down the line to the tiny house mouse that has the shortest life span.

But, there are definitely exceptions to this rule. For example, in a same species scenario, larger dogs do not live as long as smaller dogs. Mutts (or mixed breeds) tend to live longer than pure bred dogs, and it does not really matter what size you are talking about.

It is generally believed that one human year equals seven years for a dog. The fact is that for the first 2 years, 10.5 dog-years are equivalent to one human-year, and then 4 dog-years per human-year for each year after that.

40 Amazing Facts about Animals

All creatures - 90% of all living creatures live in the sea

Fish - Fish don’t drink water, they absorb it through the skin

Whale - The heart of a blue whale is about the size of a VW Beetle

Shark - Sharks never get sick

Dolphin - Dolphins can hear sounds underwater from over 15 miles / 24 km away

Octopus - An octopus has three hearts

Oyster - An oyster changes its sex several times in life

Mussel - Mussels can change their gender

Mole - Moles can dig tunnels totaling up to 75 feet / 23 m in one night

Elephant - Elephants can take up nearly 9 liters of water with their trunk

Elephant - Elephants eat up to a ton of grass daily

Red deer - Red deer sleep no more than 5 minutes a day

Puma / cougar - Pumas / cougars can jump as far as 60 feet / 18 m

Pig - Pigs aren’t able to look at the sky

Kangaroo - Kangaroos can not jump backwards (not even Skippy the bush kangaroo)

Rabbit - Rabbits love licorice

Mouse - A mouse has more bones (225) than people (who have 206)

Rat - Rats find their way out of a maze more quickly when plays Mozart‘s music is playing

Ostrich - An ostrich egg requires 40 minutes of cooking before it is hard

Hen - A hen lays about 300 eggs a year

Duck - A duck’s quack is said not to generate an echo – we have our doubts!

Woodpecker - Woodpeckers hammer their beak into trees up to 20 times per second

Parrot - Chocolate is deadly to parrots

Condor - A condor can soar for up to 9 miles / 15 km without flapping its wings

Insects - On 2.5 km² of forest floor there are as many insects as there are people on Earth

Grasshopper - A grasshopper will only jump in temperatures above 63 F / 17°c

Fly - Flies take off backwards

Mosquito - Only female mosquitoes bite, but they all love the color blue

Albatross - An albatross can sleep while flying

Mite - An average of 6 billion dust mites live in a normal mattress

Cockroach - Cockroaches are said to eat anything except cucumbers

Cockroach - Cockroaches can live for nine days without a head before starving

Beetle - Being able to carry 850 times its own body weight makes rhinoceros beetles the strongest animal in the world

Snail - Snails are hermaphrodites and can fertilize each other

Leech - Leeches are said to have 32 brains

Earthworm - The longest earthworm ever found was 22 feet / 6.7 m long
Silkworm - Silkworms have 11 brains
Tapeworm - Tapeworms eat themselves if they can’t find food

Aphid - Aphid females are born already pregnant

Some Animals Have Slowly Lost Their Sense of Taste Over Millions of Years

What creatures can only taste salt?
Answer: Dolphins & Whales. They can only taste salt!

Compared to other members of the animal kingdom, humans are pretty good at tasting things. Our primate biology gives us the ability to detect five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (or savory). These five basic tastes create the nearly limitless flavor profiles of all the foods we enjoy (or detest) — but not all animals are so lucky. Birds, for example, can’t detect spiciness in foods, which is why a pigeon could munch on a Carolina Reaper without a second thought. Taste also varies widely among mammals, and dolphins and whales may be some of the worst off, because they have devolved to only taste salt. That’s right — these unfortunate creatures have slowly lost their sense of taste over millions of years.

In 2014, scientists analyzed the genomes of 15 species of baleen and toothed whales, and found a massive loss of taste receptors across the board. Although these receptors were technically still present, they had been irreparably damaged by genetic mutations. Researchers were particularly surprised by the loss of bitter receptors, as many toxins in the sea have a bitter taste. This slow-but-steady loss of taste is likely tied to how whales and dolphins eat, as they tend to swallow prey whole rather than chew like many fellow mammals do. So while slowly losing their sense of taste is certainly a bitter pill to swallow, luckily these cetaceans can’t taste it anyway.

Some Interesting Facts About Animals

A cockroach can live for 9 days without its head.It only dies when it cannot eat.

A crocodile's tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth and cannot move it. So, a crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. The scales of a crocodile are made of ceratin, the same substance that hooves and fingernails are made of.

A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A snail can sleep for three years. A snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. One pair is longer than the other and houses the eyes. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way around.

African elephants only have four teeth to chew their food with.

Animals are either right-handed or left-handed. Polar bears are left-handed.

An ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

Cats, camels and giraffes are the only animals in the world that walk right foot, right foot, left foot, left foot, rather than right foot, left foot

Dogs: There are 701 types of pure breed dogs. The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki. The world's smallest dog is the Chihuahua, which means "tiny dog in the sky." There are about 54 million dogs in the US, and Paris is said to have more dogs than people. The coyote is a member of the dog family and its scientific name, "canis latrans" means barking dog.

Male mosquitoes are vegetarians. Only females bite and suck blood.

Sharks are immune to all known diseases. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. It is impossible to out-swim a shark - sharks reach speeds of 70 km/h (44 mph). Humans can run about 35 km/h (21 mph).

Starfish don't have brains.

The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car. The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant.

There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, a nation of 17 million people. New Zealand is home to 4 million people and 70 million sheep.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Turtles can breathe through their butts.

Links to Interesting Wildlife Websites

Animal Pgotos - National Geographic

Bird Field Guide

Dinosaurs Explained

Dinosaurs: Illustrations

Other links to wildlife preservation and learning

Photo Galleries of Animals of the National Zoo of USA

Photo Galleries of Animals of the St. Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm in St. Louis

SharkBreak for Relaxation

Collective Nouns for Animals, Baby, Genders & Plurals

This list of collective nouns for animals (also called collective terms and terms of venery) can never be definitive but it is fun. A “collective noun” refers to “plural-only” words such as cattle for cows and people for person. Detailed grammar definitions are beyond the scope of this collective nouns for animals ADDucation list! There are currently around 5,400 mammal species worldwide which includes bats, whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

Animals	Babies & Infants called?	Collective nouns for animals	Male	Female	Animal Plurals
Ant	antling	a colony or an army of ants	winged male, aner	queen, worker	Ants
Antelope	calf	a herd of antelope	herd	doe	Antelope or Antelopes
Ape	baby	a shrewdness or a troop of apes	bull	female	Apes
Baboon	infant	a troop of baboons	bull	female	Baboons
Badger	kit, cub	a company, colony or cete of badgers	boar	sow	Badgers
Bat	pup	a cloud or colony of bats	male	female	Bats
Bear	cub	a sleuth or a sloth of bears	boar	sow	Bears
Beaver	pup, kitten, kits	a family, lodge or colony of beavers	male	female	Beavers
Bird	fledgling, nestling, hatchling, chick	a flock, flight (in the air), congregation or volery of birds	cock	hen	Birds
Buffalo	calf	a herd of buffalo	bull	cow	Buffalo, buffalloes, buffaloes
Cat	kitten	a clutter, clowder, kindle or litter of cats/kittens	tom, tomcat	tabby, queen	Cats
Camel	calf, colt	a herd, flock, train or caravan of camels	bull	cow	Camels
Cattle	calf	a herd or drove of cattle	bull	cow	Cattle
Cow	calf	a herd or kine of cows (12 cows are a flink)	bull	cow	Cattle
Coyote	pup, whelp	a band or pack of coyotes	dog	bitch	Coyotes
Deer	fawn, yearling	a herd, mob or leash of deer	buck	stag	Deer or Deers
Dog	puppy, pup	a pack of dogs	dog	bitch	Dogs
Donkey / Ass	colt, foal	a herd or pace of asses	jack, jackass	jenny, jennet
Dolphin / Porpoise	pup, calf	a school or pod of dolphins/porpoises	bull	cow	Dolphins / Porpoises
Electric eel	leptocephalus (larva), elver (juvenile)	a bed or swarm of eels	cassi	emily	Eels
Elephant	calf	a herd of elephants	bull	cow	Elephants
Elk	calf	a gang of elks	bull	cow	Elks
Ferret	kit	a business or flensing of ferrets	hob	jill	Ferrets
Fish	fry (plural noun)	a school, shoal, run, haul or catch of fish	male	female	Fish, fishes
Fox	cub, pup	a troop, an earth, a skulk or leash of foxes	dog, reynard	vixen	Foxes
Gerbil	pup	a horde of gerbils	buck	doe	Gerbils
Giraffe	calf	a tower of giraffes/giraffe	bull	doe	Giraffes
Goat	kid	a flock, herd, tribe or trip of goats	billy (domestic), evec	nanny	Goats
Guinea pig / Cavy	pup	a group of guinea pigs	boar	sow	Guinea pigs
Hamster	pup	a horde of hamsters	buck	doe	Hamsters
Hare	leveret	a down or husk of hares	buck	doe	Hares
Hedgehog	piglet, pup	an array of hedgehogs	boar	sow	Hedgehogs
Hippopotamus	calf	a bloat of hippopotamuses/hippopotami	bull	cow	Hippopotamuses or Hippopotami
Horse	foal, yearling, or colt (male), filly (female)	a herd, team of horses (in harness), string of horses (for racing), rag of colts, pair or harras of horses, a stud of mares	stallion, colt (young)	mare, filly (young)	Horses
Hound	pup	a pack, sute, mute or cry of hounds	dog	bitch	Hounds
Kangaroo/ Wallaby	joey	a mob or troop of kangaroos	jack, buck, boomer	jill, doe, flyer, roo	Kangaroos
Koala	joey	a population or colony of koala	buck*	doe*	Koalas
Leopard	cub	a leap (leep) of leopards	leopard	leopardess	Leopards
Lion	cub	a pride of lions	lion	lioness	Lions
Llama	cria	a herd of llamas	male	female	Llamas
Manatee	calf	a herd of manatees	bull	cow	Manatee or Manatees
Mole	pup	a labor/labour or company of moles	boar	sow	Moles
Monkey	infant	a troop, tribe, barrel, cartload, wilderness of monkeys*	male	female	Monkeys
Mouse	pup, pinkie, kitten	a mischief of mice	buck	doe	Mice
Mule	foal	a barren, pack, rake, span or team of mules (when in harness)	john	molly	Mules
Otter	pup, whelp	a romp of otters	dog	bitch	Otters
Ox	stot, calf	a herd, drove, (when driven in a group), team, (in harness) or yoke of oxen	bull, steer (castrated)	cow	Oxen
Panda	cub	a cupboard or an embarrassment of pandas*	boar	sow	Pandas
Person / Humans	baby, infant, child	a crowd of people	man	woman	People
Rabbit	bunny, bunny rabbit, kittens	a colony, nest, or warren of rabbits (strictly, where they live)	buck	doe	Rabbits
Rat	pup, pinkie, kitten	a pack or swarm of rats	buck	doe	Rats
Reindeer	fawn	a herd of reindeer	buck	doe	Reindeer or Reindeers
Rhinoceros	calf	a crash or herd of rhinos	bull	cow	Rhinoceros or Rhinoceroses
Seal / Sea Lion	pup	a pod, harem, trip or herd of seals	bull	cow	Seals
Sheep	lamb, lambkins, cosset	a flock, meinie, mob, parcel, trip, herd, hurtle, down or a drove/drift of sheep (when driven in group)	ram	ewe	Sheep
Squirrel	pup, kit, kitten	a dray, scurry or colony of squirrels	buck	doe	Squirrels
<Swine / Hog / Pig / Boar	shoat, trotter, farrow, pig, piglet	a sounder, drift, trip of swine or doylt of swine, a herd, flock or drift of pigs (when driven), a parcel of hogs, a sounder of boars	boar	sow	Swine
Tiger	cub, whelp	a streak, swift or an ambush of tigers*	tiger	tigress	Tigers
Walrus	cub, pup	a pod or herd of walruses	bull	cow	Walruses
Weasel	kit	a gang or pack of weasels	buck, hob, jack, dog	doe, bitch, jill	Weasels
Whale	calf	a school, shoal, gam, or pod of whales (smaller groups)	bull	cow	Whales
Wolf	pup, whelp	a pack, herd of wolves or rout/route of wolves (when moving)	dog	bitch	Wolves
Zebra	colt, foal	*a cohort or herd of zebras, (dazzle or zeal of Zebras )**	stallion	mare	Zebra or Zebras

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