Weird facts about animals that you probably never knew.

Animal Of 2023

FACT FILE

• Cuban crocodiles have been known to gallop like a dog.
• Cuban crocodiles eat meat in the wild
• Cuban crocodiles have been considered CR (Critically Endangered) by the IUCN (International Union of Conservation of Nature) Red List.

Velociraptor

From the movie series, Jurassic World they picture velociraptors as giant featherless lizards when really it is the opposite, Velociraptors were actually the size of a turkey and were covered in feathers.

MORE FUN FACTS

• Velociraptors were one of the fastest runners of their time.

• Velociraptors mainly hunted in deserts and would often fight another desert-dwelling species called protoceratops.

• Velociraptors are also one of the smartest dinosaurs discovered, with the smartest being troodon.

Squirrels

Squirrels can survive falling from any height

Ground squirrel

Indian Giant squirrel

Fox squirrel

MORE FUN FACTS

• Squirrels will bury their food underground to stock up for hibernation

• 'Hibernation' is when an animal falls asleep for all winter, for example: Grizzly bears

Burmese Python

Burmese pythons have been known to be able to open doors with lever handles.

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• Burmese pythons are one of the six biggest snakes in the world.

• Burmese pythons have been known to eat large animals such as alligators and gazelle.

• When these giant snake are born in captivity, they have been known to turn yellow.

Domestic Cat

Domestic cats are one of the only animals able use every single one of their muscles when they jump.

Cats do not always land on their feet.

Cats are descendants of a species of cat living in North Africa called the African Wildcat.

Cats purr because they have evolved to make humans more loving toward them.

MORE FUN FACTS

• The most popular names for cats in the U.S.A are Tiger and Samantha.

• Only 22 breeds of cat can have a solid black coat.
  

Platypus

Platypi have a sixth sense which is being able to sense vibrations.

Platypi are 'monotremes' meaning they are mammals which lay eggs.

• The plural of platypus is 'platypi'

• Platyi mainly eat worms and crustaceans

• Male platypi have a stinger on one of their hind legs which they use to defend itself and its family.

• Monotremes were the first types of mammals, they have been around since the Mesozoic Era!

Velvet Worm

These worms will spray sticky slime at their prey to stop them form moving so they can be eaten.

Velvet worms have been alive since the dinosaurs so they are called 'living fossils'

Velvet worms eat insects, arachnids and other worms.

Cane Toad

Cane toads are also known as 'Marine toads'

Cane toads are from South and Central America but are invasive in Australia.

Cane toads will eat any small animal (including snakes).

<-- Death Adder, a snake which is eaten by cane toads.

Spider Monkeys

Instead of a thumb, spider monkeys have a stub because these monkeys use their hands mainly for climbing and swinging and not for holding things.

There are a few different species of Spider Monkey.

Butterflies

Butterfly wings are made up of a lot of scales.

Monarch Butterflies are a migrating species, meaning they travel from one place to another depending on the season.

Monarch butterflies travel to Canada in the Summer and Mexico in the Winter.

Glass Frog

If you look at the belly of a glass frog, you willl be able to see their organs clearly

When a male glass frog protects its eggs, it will use itself as a decoy to protect he eggs from wasps and then kick the wasps

<-- Don't they look similar?

Pigeons

Pigeons go as fat from home as they want, and never forget, this is how pigeon racing and messenger pigeons were created.

There are many different species and breeds of pigeon, but the ones you see every day are called rock pigeons or rock doves.

We often think of pigeons just as ordinary birds but take a look at

the Victoria-crowned pigeon, I don't think you will think of this bird

as ordinary.

If you keep on breeding pigeons, you will

end up with the same thing- rock pigeons

Australian Saddleback Tumbler pigeon

Wood pigeon

Victoria-crowned pigeon

Rock pigeon

Dilophosaurus

In the Jurassic World movies, Dilophosaurus was pictured as a dinosaur as big as a Leonberger dog, when in real life the dilophosaurus would be 4 metres long!

Jurassic World also had the dilophosaurus spit venom, when the only venomous dinosaur we know is the Sinornithosaurus which didn't even spit venom!

MORE FUN FACTS

Dilophosaurus was carnivorous

dinosaur from the Jurassic period.