Useless Trivia: 63 random facts about the animal kingdom!

Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. All animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs: they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.

Let’s see some totally useless facts about them!

1. The word “animal” comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, having soul or living being.

2. In everyday non-scientific usage the word excludes humans – that is, “animal” is often used to refer only to non-human members of the kingdom Animalia. Often, only closer relatives of humans such as mammals and other vertebrates, are meant.

3. The biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans.

4. Gorillas can catch human colds and other illnesses.

5. A newborn Chinese water deer is so small it can almost be held in the palm of the hand.

6. Ostriches can run faster than horses, and the males can roar like lions.

7. A lion in the wild usually makes no more than twenty kills a year.

8. The female lion does ninety percent of the hunting.

9. The only dog that doesn’t have a pink tongue is the chow.

10. Turtles, water snakes, crocodiles, alligators, dolphins, whales, and other water going creatures will drown if kept underwater too long.

11. Almost half the pigs in the world are kept by farmers in China.

12. On average, dogs have better eyesight than humans, although not as colourful.

13. Deer have no gall bladders.

14. There is an average of 50,000 spiders per acre in green areas.

15. Snakes are carnivores, which means they only eat animals, often small ones such as insects, birds, frogs and other small mammals.

16. In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while they’re moose hunting.

17. The bat is the only mammal that can fly.

18. The leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.

19. Some male songbirds sing more than 2000 times each day.

20. The only mammals to undergo menopause are elephants, humpback whales and human females.

21. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep to keep from drifting apart.

22. Blue-eyed lemurs are one of two (non-human) primates to have truly blue eyes.

23. A tarantula spider can survive for more than two years without food.

24. For every human in the world there are one million ants.

25. If you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground it can’t hop – they use their tails for balance.

26. If you keep a goldfish. in a dark room, it will become pale.

27. Squirrels plant thousands of new trees each year simply by forgetting where they put their acorns.

28. Cows can sleep standing up, but they can only dream lying down.

29. The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.” uses every letter of the alphabet.

30. The average fox weighs 14 pounds.

31. When playing with female puppies, male puppies will often let them win, even if they have a physical advantage.

32. Turtles can breathe through their butts.

33. Cows have best friends.

34. Gentoo penguins propose to their lifemates with a pebble.

35. A prison in Washington pairs up “death row” shelter cats with select inmates as part of a rehabilitation program. It seems to be a pretty wonderful thing for both the inmates and the cats.

36. Kangaroos use their tails for balance, so if you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t hop.

37. The scientific name of the red fox is Vulpes vulpes.

38. Alligators can live up to 100 years.

39. A single elephant tooth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

40. The turkey is one of the most famous birds in North America.

41. A housefly hums in the key of F.

42. During World War II, Americans tried to train bats to drop bombs.

43. Canis lupus lupus is the scientific name for a grey wolf.

44. To escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaw, push your thumb into its eyeballs-it will let you go instantly.

45. It is much easier for dogs to learn spoken commands if they are given in conjunction with hand signals or gestures.

46. Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death.

47. Male rabbits are called “bucks,” females are “does.”

48. The flamingo can only eat when its head is upside down.

49. Animals generate 30 times more waste than humans which is 1.4 billion tons every year.

50. Ants never sleep. Also they don’t have lungs.

51. A group of owls is called a parliament.

52. Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles.

53. Apple and pear seeds contain arsenic, which may be deadly to dogs.

54. Cows have four stomachs.

55. An anteater is nearly 6 feet long, yet its mouth is only an inch wide.

56. The blue whale weighs as much as thirty elephants and is as long as three Greyhound buses.

57. A herd of sixty cows is capable of producing a ton of milk in less than a day.

58. A grasshopper can leap 20 times the length of its own body.

59. At birth, baby kangaroos are only about an inch long – no bigger than a large water bug or a queen bee.

60. Norway knighted a penguin.

61. In China, killing a Panda is punishable by death.

62. Pigs’ org*sms last for 30 minutes.

63. A study measuring the effects of music found that cows produce more milk when listening to soothing music. They produce the most when listening to R.E.M’s “Everybody Hurts.”