Animals Facts for Kids
Amazing facts about creatures big and small
Elephants show behaviours consistent with mourning — they return to where a relative died, gently touching the bones with their trunks and standing in silence.
The mantis shrimp can punch with the speed and force of a small-calibre bullet, shattering crab shells and even cracking aquarium glass.
Flamingos stand on one leg to conserve body heat. When one leg is tucked against the warm body, the bird loses less heat through the water.
Female sea turtles return to the exact beach where they hatched — sometimes decades later — to lay their own eggs, navigating by Earth's magnetic field.
Chameleons change colour primarily to communicate their mood and social status, not mainly for camouflage as many people believe.
Spider silk is, weight for weight, about five times stronger than steel — scientists are trying to replicate it for use in body armour and medical sutures.
Virginia opossums are immune to the venom of most North American pit vipers, including rattlesnakes, due to a special protein in their blood.
Male bowerbirds arrange objects in a specific gradient from small to large around their bower — creating an optical illusion that makes the bower look bigger to a watching female.
Bottlenose dolphins develop unique signature whistles that function like names — other dolphins use that whistle to address an individual dolphin directly.
Geckos can walk on walls and ceilings using millions of tiny hairs on their feet that create molecular attraction forces called van der Waals forces — no sticky glue needed.