Animals — Page 6

Bees communicate the location of flowers through a dance.

When a bee finds a food source, it returns to the hive and performs a figure-eight dance. The angle of the dance…

Some turtles can breathe underwater through their anus.

The leatherback turtle and other aquatic species have sacs in the cloaca that absorb oxygen from the water. This…

The Greenland shark is the longest-living vertebrate in the world, living more than 400 years.

The Greenland shark grows only about one centimetre per year and reaches sexual maturity at 150. Age is determined by…

Butterflies taste through their feet.

Butterflies have taste receptors on their legs. When landing on a flower or leaf, they taste it and decide whether it…

Crocodiles swallow stones to help with digestion and buoyancy control.

Crocodiles swallow stones, called gastroliths, which stay in the stomach. The stones help grind food and regulate the…

Elephant gestation lasts about 22 months.

Elephant pregnancy is the longest among land mammals, lasting between 18 and 22 months. The calf is born weighing…

Frigatebirds sleep while flying.

Frigatebirds can sleep during flight, using only half of their brain at a time. This phenomenon, called…

Sloths only defecate once a week.

The sloth has an extremely slow metabolism. It descends from the tree only once a week to defecate, losing up to a…

Spider silk is stronger than steel by weight.

Spider dragline silk has a tensile strength greater than steel at equivalent weight. It is also very elastic, able to…

The cheetah roars like the lion and the tiger.

The cheetah cannot roar. It belongs to the subfamily Felinae, whose members have a rigid hyoid bone that prevents…

A tiger's roar can be heard up to 3 kilometres away.

The roar of an adult tiger can be heard about 3 kilometres away, thanks to the special structure of its larynx and…

The sex of sea turtles is determined by chromosomes.

The sex of sea turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand where the eggs are incubated. Higher temperatures…

Each dragonfly eye has more than 30,000 facets.

Dragonfly compound eyes contain up to 30,000 tiny lenses called ommatidia, giving them a nearly complete panoramic…

A bee can carry up to half its own body weight in nectar.

Worker bees carry nectar and pollen in their stomachs and on their hind legs. Consequently, they can carry up to half…

Some migratory birds use Earth's magnetic field to navigate.

Birds such as the flycatcher and the thrush use Earth's magnetic field as an internal compass during migration…

Scorpions glow under ultraviolet light.

Scorpions have a fluorescent substance in their cuticle that glows in blue-green tones under ultraviolet light…

Snakes detect the body heat of prey through sensory pits.

Some snakes, such as pit vipers and pythons, have loreal pits between their eyes and nostrils that detect infrared…

Owls cannot move their eyes because they are fixed in their sockets.

Owls cannot move their eyes because they are fixed in their sockets. To compensate, they can rotate their heads up to…

The sea otter has the densest fur of any mammal.

The sea otter has about one million hairs per square centimetre, the densest fur of any mammal. This density creates…

The tongue of a blue whale can weigh as much as an elephant.

The tongue of a blue whale can weigh about 2.7 tonnes, equivalent to an adult elephant. Its heart is also enormous…

Most bats are right-handed.

Most bats are left-handed. Studies show that about 70 percent of bats preferentially use their left paw to grip and…

Reindeer eyes change colour in winter.

In summer, reindeer eyes are golden and reflect little light. In winter, they turn blue and reflect much more light…

Male gentoo penguins offer stones to females as a courtship gift.

Male gentoo penguins look for the smoothest stone they can find and offer it to the female. If she accepts, she uses…

The snow leopard uses its tail to balance on cliffs.

The snow leopard has a long tail that can measure almost as much as its body. It uses it to balance on narrow…