Skip to content

Animal facts

Discover the remarkable lives of animals, one fact at a time.

Crocodile

  • There are about 18 species of true crocodiles.
  • The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile.
  • A saltwater crocodile's bite is the strongest ever measured in a living animal.

Crow

  • Crows can recognise individual human faces.
  • New Caledonian crows make hooked tools from twigs.
  • Young American crows often help their parents raise the next brood.

Cuckoo

  • Only the male cuckoo makes the famous "cuckoo" call.
  • A female cuckoo can lay an egg in a host's nest in about ten seconds.
  • Each female cuckoo usually specialises in one host species, and her eggs often look like the host's eggs.

Culpeo

  • The culpeo lives high in the Andes, up to about 4,800 m.
  • It also lives in deserts, scrub, grasslands and temperate forests.
  • In some regions, culpeos eat many European hares, which were brought to South America by people.

Cuttlefish

  • Cuttlefish are molluscs, not fish.
  • Cuttlefish have three hearts and blue-green blood.
  • A cuttlefish can change the colour and texture of its skin in a fraction of a second.

Deer

  • There are about 50 species of deer in the world.
  • Deer are the only animals that grow antlers, which fall off and grow back every year.
  • While antlers are growing, they are covered with soft, furry skin called velvet.

Dingo

  • Dingoes descend from dogs introduced to Australia thousands of years ago, probably by seafarers from Southeast Asia.
  • Australia's wide range of climates has produced dingoes that look slightly different in different parts of the continent. Related profile: Animals of Australia.
  • Desert dingoes are often red, golden or sandy and fairly compact, alpine dingoes are often pale or creamy, and northern dingoes tend to be lighter in build with a thinner coat.

Dog

  • Dogs can learn daily routines and anticipate familiar events, such as their usual walk. This does not show that they can read clock time as people do.
  • Some specially trained dogs have learned the names of many objects; this is not a typical vocabulary for every dog.
  • A dog's moist nose helps it pick up scent chemicals.

Dolphin

  • There are around 40 species of dolphin in the world.
  • Dolphins are warm-blooded marine mammals belonging to the cetaceans.
  • Most dolphins live in tropical and temperate seas, and a few species live in rivers.

Domestic sheep

  • Sheep have a good sense of smell and, like their wild relatives, have scent glands in front of their eyes and between their toes.
  • Sheep have a strong flocking instinct. They do not like being alone, which is why they stay together in groups.
  • Sheep usually have two main grazing periods: early in the morning and again in the late afternoon.