Animal Facts
Learn about some of the strange and unusual facts and terms in the animal kingdom.
When Were Cats Domesticated? Did Cats Domesticate Us?
Why Cats Sleep at Your Feet, According to Science
15 Most Expensive Cat Breeds in the World
38 Colorful Birds You Didn't Know Exist
14 Big Lizards That Outsize Your Cat (and Many Dogs)
No, the Leaf Sheep Sea Slug Is Not an AI Hallucination
Yangtze Finless Porpoise: The World's Only Freshwater Porpoise
Sunda Tiger: A Critically Endangered Subspecies in Sumatra
The Sumatran Orangutan Faces Large-scale Habitat Loss
The Most Recent Extinct Animal Was Last Seen in 1995
Carcharodontosaurus Rivaled T. rex as a Shark-toothed Hunter
Kaprosuchus Was a Giant, Dinosaur-eating 'Boar Croc'
Learn More / Page 2
Venomous and poisonous mean very different things and are often used incorrectly. We'll clear up the confusion.
The Gila monster is the most venomous lizard on U.S. soil. But despite the fact that its bite can be debilitating, its venom can also save lives.
By Mark Mancini
We know dogs have been trained to sniff out everything from burglars to bombs. Now a group of researchers is hoping some savvy canines can help detect coronavirus, too.
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More than 70 percent of pet owners play music for their pets so Spotify has created custom playlists just for your furry friends (and your favorite iguanas, too).
The grudge match that was popularized in Rudyard Kipling's short story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a mystifying one, but a few specialized traits allow mongooses to add venomous snakes to their list of entrées.
The green iguana isn't native to the Sunshine State. So how did this invasive lizard get there and become the state's menace to society?
By Mark Mancini
Gastroliths, or "stomach stones," are found in animals from chickens to sea lions. But what are they for?
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Animal sanctuaries should provide animals with excellent care for the rest of their lives. But many don't. So how do you know if a sanctuary is legit?
The magic of a blacker-than-black chicken like the Ayam Cemani is in its genetics.
Geckos have abilities that definitely take lizardhood up a notch.
Chameleons change color whenever they feel agitated, exhilarated, threatened or excited. OK, but how?
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There's a four-legged security officer patrolling your airport and this canine is on a mission to find illegal fruits and veggies.
Rabbits and hares can be fluffy bundles of laziness or superbly rambunctious, but do they really go crazy in March?
By Bambi Turner
Don't let this fear keep you from using the porcelain throne! Snakes in toilets are extremely rare occurrences.
By Bambi Turner
Many marine and aquatic mammals can survive without breathing by slowing their heart rates and redirecting blood from their extremities to their brains, hearts and muscles.
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The iconic horses step tall to promote wind power, which creates 100 percent of the electricity used to make Budweiser beer.
By John Donovan
Miraculously, many animals are able to ride out some of Mother Nature's most powerful storms. But how?
By Mark Mancini
Not all animals have red blood flowing through their veins. Meet some our blue-blooded, green-blooded and, yes, transparent-blooded fellow creatures.
By Mark Mancini
Check your chicken's earlobes (yes!) to know what color eggs you'll get.
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Animals leave their marks on the ecosystem in ways you probably never imagined.
By Mark Mancini
Do non-human animals have equivalent categories to our A, B and O blood designations? Can animals donate blood?
Whether through biology or behavior, nonhuman animals have to avoid sun damage just like we do.
No, a tardigrade's not a type of time-traveling police box on "Doctor Who." It's an ancient water bear, of course!
By Oisin Curran
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The toughest animal in the world has just released its first sex tape, and as with all things water bear, things get pretty freaky.
There's little we can imagine that Mother Nature hasn't already dreamed up in one of her fouler moods. Care to meet some creatures with frightful features?