The smartest birds are members of the crow family

Of about the 10,000 species of birds in the world, the most intelligent are crows and their cousins: ravens, jackdaws, jays, and magpies. They can be taught, very quickly, to speak.

Albatrosses live longer more than most other birds in the wild

The wandering albatross, which has the greatest wingspan of any bird, is believed to live more than 80 years. The royal albatross has a lifespan of more than 60 years. In captivity, the sulfur-crested cockatoo, a popular pet, has been known to live more than 75 years.

The Arctic tern flies farther than any other bird

Every year, the Arctic tern makes a round-trip of 25,000 miles between the Arctic and Antarctic. It nests in Arctic regions, and when its young are grown, the whole family flies off to Antarctica.

The largest animals of all time eat tiny shrimp

The blue whale, the biggest animal ever to live on Earth, weighs about 300,000 pounds and can grow to almost 100 feet in length. Its main diet is a small shrimp-like creatures called krill, which are each smaller than one inch.

The giant squid can reach a length of 60 feet including tentacles

Giant squid have eyes the size of basketballs. They are the favorite food of giant sperm whales, themselves the largest carnivorous animals in the world. When being chased, many squid squirt a dark liquid to distract their attackers so they can escape.

The anglerfish uses an electric bulb as bait

The deep-sea anglerfish has long filaments with a light on the end, which dangles over the top of its head. Other fish mistake the light for food and swim into the anglerfish’s huge mouth. The anglerfish is able to produce chemicals that allow it to give off light or a glow. This is called bioluminescence. With its enormous mouth and expandable stomach, an anglerfish can swallow other fish as large as itself.

The largest saltwater fish lives on tiny plants

The whale shark, which eats only microscopic plankton, is the world’s largest saltwater fish. A whale shark may measure more than 50 feet in length and weigh more than 20 tons. It is mild-mannered and has even been ridden by divers.

The “man-eater” shark is the world’s largest carnivorous fish

The extremely dangerous great white shark is the largest carnivorous fish in the world. This super predator can reach more than 26 feet in length and weigh as much as 5,000 pounds.

The largest freshwater fish is a catfish

A giant catfish from Southeast Asia is the world’s largest freshwater fish. It averages 350 pounds and eight feet in length.

Rattlesnakes are born with temporary rattles

Rattlesnakes are born with a temporary small rattle at the end of their bodies. This temporary rattle is called a prerattle and it is shed a few days after the snake has been born. In its place grows the first part of the rattle called the button. As the snake grows, the rattle will grow more rings or segments.

The longest venomous snake in the world is the king cobra

The king cobra if Asia has been known to grow up to 18 feet. It is the world’s largest venomous snake. It is also thought to be the most intelligent snake. Its diet consists mainly of other snakes, but it has been known to attack other animals. An elephant will die within three hours of a king cobra biting its toe or trunk.

There is a frog that sweats deadly poison

The skin secretion of the golden poison dart frog of South America is the strongest biotoxin. A biotoxin is a poisonous substance made by an animal or plant. An adult golden poison dart frog contains enough poison to kill about 2,200 people.
The giant anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world
The heaviest snake is the anaconda of tropical South America. It can weigh up to 500 pounds and stretch out to 30 feet. The anaconda, which is not poisonous, attacks deer and caimans. Caimans are members of the crocodile family. Anacondas also crawl into trees to feed on birds.

Crabs and water fleas are cousins, and they’ve got a big family

Crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimps, barnacles, and water fleas are all crustaceans. There are more than 30,000 species of crustaceans.

Crab fisheries are centuries old

Crab fisheries are among the oldest industries in the United States. Crabbing for the blue crab was done in Chesapeake Bay as far back as the 1630s.

Some crabs use shells as trailer homes

Hermit crabs have no shell on their long, soft abdomens, so they have to find empty snail shells for protection. They drag these shells behind them like house trailers as they move about. If threatened, they retreat into the shell. Their enlarged right claw acts as a door, blocking off the opening of the shell from enemies.

Crabs use camouflage to hide from enemies

Crabs are masters of disguise. They’re sand-colored so they are hard to see on the seabed. Decorator crabs, or spider crabs, actually collect, cut, skillfully arrange, and cement algae, seaweed, and sea creatures on to their shells so that they look like part of the ocean floor.

Male fireflies attract females through a form of Morse code

The male firefly sends out a specific flash pattern of light as a signal. Some species can generate both red and green light. Fireflies, which are actually beetles, not flies, produce a chemical called luciferin that reacts with oxygen to create light.

Cockroaches are very old and very fast

Species of cockroaches existed 300 million years ago and remain practically unchanged today. A cockroach can run about 32 inches per second, which is the same as 2 miles per hour. This is the same as a lion running at about 70 miles per hour.

Dragonflies were once the largest creatures in the air

Millions of years ago, giant dragonflies ruled the air. They had wingspans of about 29 inches.

Goliath bird-eating spiders have 11-inch leg spans

The truly big goliath bird-eating tarantula spiders of South America weigh more than three ounces and have a leg span of more than 11 inches. They are the largest spiders known. They outweigh many birds, which weigh only two or three ounces.

Some spiders change color

Not all spiders spin webs to catch their prey. Crab spiders ambush theirs. They wait on flowers until an insect lands and then they seize it. Crab spiders disguise themselves by changing their color to match the color of the flower on which they are waiting.

Bees work hard for their honey

To make one pound of honey, worker bees must visit and tap about two million flowers.

most dinosaur fossils in the united states have been found in four states

Dinosaur fossils have been found in many states. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana lead in the number of dinosaur fossils around.

dinosaurs had lots of big teeth

The meat-eating dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex had teeth that were six inches long, which went along nicely with its 14,000 pounds and 18-foot height. Tyrannosaurus rex was about 40 feet long. Hadrosaurs had more than 2,000 teeth. When old ones wore out, new ones quickly grew in. Hadrasaurs may have looked like today's ducks. Their name, from Latin, means "duck-billed." A Hadrosaur was about 20 feet long and six feet tall.

some very fast dinosaurs could outrun a running ostrich

The meat-eating dinosaur Ornithomimus ran about 30 miles per hour, or as fast as an ostrich. Gallimimus, a dinosaur that ran on long hind legs, probably reached a speed of 35 miles per hour, as fast as a horse at full gallop.

the largest dinosaur eggs ever found were almost a foot long

All dinosaurs laid eggs, but some laid truly huge eggs. The eggs of the 100-million-year-old Hypselosaurus were 12 inches long and 10 inches wide. One of its eggs could weigh 16 pounds.

one of the largest dinosaurs ate 900 pounds of food a day

Brachiosaurus, a plant-eater, was about 40 feet tall and 70 feet long. It may have weighed as much as 80 tons. All it ate was vegetation - almost a half ton of plants everyday.

dinosaurs traveled in herds

Like elephants, many dinosaurs lived in herds. They kept their young at the center of the herd to protect them, just as elephant herds do today.

some dinosaurs had self-sharpening teeth

Certain dinosaurs ate only plants. They had self-sharpening teeth. As the dinosaur chewed its vegetables, its upper and lower teeth ground against each other. In this way the dinosaur's teeth were kept sharp.

the Triceratops had a horn on its nose

The plant-eating Triceratops had three horns, one over each eye and one on its nose. The horns were each nearly three feet long. Triceratops ("three-horned face") was about 20 feet tall and 30 feet long.

The Stegosaurus dinosaur had a very small brain

The Stegosaurus was a big dinosaur. It weighed almost 4,000 pounds, but had a brain that weighed only two ounces.