Animals Facts for Kids
Amazing facts about creatures big and small
Red pandas have a 'false thumb' — an extended wrist bone — that helps them grip bamboo stalks while eating, much like a giant panda.
Sailfish rapidly change the colour of their skin from blue to a shimmering silver when hunting, which is thought to confuse schools of fish.
Baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort, just like human babies suck their thumbs.
A hummingbird's heart can beat up to 1,200 times per minute during flight. To fuel this, they must eat roughly every 10 to 15 minutes.
Cephalopods such as octopuses and cuttlefish are masters of colour-changing camouflage, yet most are technically colour-blind. Scientists believe they may detect colour through their skin instead.
Sea otters have a favourite rock that they keep in a special pouch of skin under their arm. They use it to crack open shellfish on their bellies.
Wombats are the only animals in the world that produce cube-shaped droppings, which they use to mark their territory.
Tardigrades, also called water bears, are microscopic animals that can survive in the vacuum of outer space and extreme radiation.
The axolotl can regrow entire lost limbs, including parts of its heart and brain, making it one of the most regenerative animals on Earth.
The mantis shrimp has 16 types of colour receptors in its eyes — humans only have three — allowing it to see colours we cannot even imagine.