There are more than 9,000 known species of birds, 6000 species of reptiles, 4,200 species of amphibians, about 4,600 species of mammals and more than 23,000 species of fishes in the world.
Pterosaur, the flying reptiles from the family of dinosaurs, had a flexible tail which could be used as a whip. It is estimated that there were about 120 species of pterosaur. The very light skeleton and thin bones, mostly hollow, enabled them to fly easily.
At a mere 5 cm height, the dwarf willow that grows on Greenland's tundra is the smallest of any other species of tree in the world.
Penguins can plunge into water to a depth of 260 stay there up to 18 minutes.
It is believed that as many as 95 per cent of the species that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct.
Bird's brain may no longer equated with low intellect. have reportedly shown that birds deserve a higher place in the intellectual pecking order. Song birds can learn up to 2000 different melodies, Scrub Jays can remember things which happen at specific times or places, African grey parrots can use words and numbers correctly in conversation with humans, and pigeons can memorise up to 725 different visual patterns.
Parrot is the only bird that can move both the upper and lower part of its beak. It can also see its back fully.
Sooty tern is a bird that can fly for 3 to 4 years continuously.
The Indian glass perch, an edible freshwater fish, has a fully transparent body.
The great spotted woodpecker, which incubates its egg for only 10 days, has one of the shortestin cubation periods among other birds. The wandering albatross which incubates its eggs up to 82 days has the longest incubation period for a bird.
