101 Funny facts about animals that will shock you!

Most of us know a fair amount about the animal kingdom. We know that lions are the kings of the jungle, that pandas love bamboo, and that capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. But there are still plenty of funny facts about animals out there that will shock and amaze you! Here are 101 funny facts about animals…did you know, for example, that…?

#1. A baby kangaroo is called a “joey”.

#2. A group of frogs is called an “army”.

#3. A group of geese is called a “gaggle”.

#4. A group of owls is called a “parliament”.

#5. A group of rhinos is called a “herd”.

#6. A group of snakes is called a “bed”.

#7. A group of spiders is called a “clutch” or an “invasion”.

#8. Emus and ostriches are the only birds that can walk backwards.

#9. Gorillas burp when they are happy.

#10. Hyenas laugh when they are nervous.

#11. Lemurs are the only primates that live naturally in Madagascar.

#12. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

#13. Another funny facts about animals that we bet you didn’t know is that when a hippopotamus opens its mouth, more than half of its body can be seen.

#14. Zebra stripes are like fingerprints – no two zebras have the same pattern.

#15. There are over 1,000 different types of squirrels.

#16. The longest recorded lifespan for a goldfish is 43 years, which the average is 10 years.

#17. Butterflies taste with their feet.

#18. Cats have 32 muscles in each ear.

#19. Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump.

#20. Giraffes do not need to drink water every day.

#21. Horses can sleep standing up.

#22. Insects make up more than half the world’s animal population.

#23. Lobsters can live for over 100 years.

#24. Octopuses have 3 hearts.

#25. Pigs are the 4th smartest animal in the world (after chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants).

#26. Raccoons wash their food before they eat it.

#27. Skunks can spray their stinky liquid up to 10 feet away!

#28. There are more chickens than any other bird in the world. Did you know this funny facts animals about chickens?

#29. There are over 100 million dogs in the world.

#30. The biggest rabbit in the world is the Flemish Giant, which can weigh up to 22 pounds.

#31. The world’s smallest mammal title is shared by bumblebee bat and etruscan shrew, both weighing less than 2 grams.

#32. The tallest animal in the world is the giraffe, which can grow up to 18 feet tall!

#33. The heaviest animal in the world is the blue whale, which can weigh up to 200 tons.

#34. The fastest animal in the world is the cheetah, which can run up to 70 miles per hour.

#35. The loudest animal in the world is the howler monkey, which can make a noise that is audible up to 3 miles away!

#36. The longest snake in the world is the reticulated python, which can grow up to 33 feet long.

#37. The deadliest animal in the world is the mosquito, which can transmit diseases like malaria and Zika virus.

#38. Camels store fat in their humps, which they can use as energy and water when food is scarce.

#39. Chickens have more bones in their necks than humans do.

#40. Dogs sweat through their tongues, not through their pores like humans do.

#41. Dolphins can stay awake for two weeks at a time by sleeping with one eye open.

#42. Spiders are not insects – they are arachnids, which means they are more closely related to scorpions and mites than they are to flies and mosquitoes.

#43. Cheetahs are not able to roar, but they can purr like other cats – just at a much higher pitch that we can barely hear!

#44. Male lions have manes, while female lions do not – but both sexes have tails with black tufts at the end that act as ‘brushes’ to keep their backs clean while grooming themselves!

#45. The average lifespan of a housefly is just 14 days.

#46. The average lifespan of a mayfly is only 24 hours 🙁

#47. The smallest egg in the world was laid by a hummingbird – and it weighed less than 1/100 of an ounce!

#48. Bats are the only mammals that can fly.

#49. Insects have six legs, not eight – but some spiders have eight legs because they are actually arachnids, not insects.

#50. Caterpillars have 12 eyes, but butterflies only have two.

#51. The biggest spider in the world is the Goliath birdeater, which can have a leg span of up to 11 inches!

#52. Cattle can produce around 200 different vocalizations, which they use to communicate with each other.

#53. Tigers are the only cats that can swim – and they often do, enjoying the water to cool off from the heat or to catch fish!

#54. Owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees, but they cannot move their eyes.

#55. Peregrine falcons can dive at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour – making them the fastest animals in the air!

#56. Dogs can see in color, but they are partly colorblind because they can’t distinguish between red and green.

#57. Cats have better night vision than dogs, but they can’t see in color – everything appears to them in shades of gray.

#58. Frogs can jump up to 20 times their own body length!

#59. Toads can puff up their bodies to make themselves look bigger and scare off predators.

#60. Salamanders can regenerate lost body parts, like tails and limbs.

#61. Lizards can detach their tails if they are grabbed by a predator, which will grow back over time.

#62. Snakes can go for months without eating because they digest their food very slowly.

#63. Koalas sleep for up to 22 hours a day – that’s more than any other mammal!

#64. Sloths spend most of their time hanging upside down from trees, and only come down to the ground to urinate and defecate.

#65. Polar bears are left-handed, meaning they prefer to use their left paws when they catch prey.

#66. Grizzly bears can run up to 35 miles per hour – that’s as fast as a horse!

#67. Pigs have poor eyesight, but they make up for it with an excellent sense of smell.

#68. Sheep can recognize faces, and they can even remember the faces of other sheep for years.

#69. Goats have rectangular pupils, which give them a wider field of vision than humans.

#70. The smallest spider in the world is the Peacock spider, which is barely bigger than a grain of rice.

#71. Horses have poor eyesight, but they make up for it with their excellent sense of hearing.

#72. Donkeys are often used as beasts of burden in many parts of the world because they are strong and can carry heavy loads.

#73. Mules are a cross between a donkey and a horse, and they are often used as pack animals because they are sure-footed and can carry heavy loads.

#74. Zebras are black with white stripes, or white with black stripes – there is no such thing as a ‘zebra with brown stripes’!

#75. The quagga was a subspecies of zebra that lived in Africa, but it became extinct in the late 1800s.

#76. Ostriches can run faster than horses, and they can also sprint up to 43 miles per hour!

#77. Ostriches are flightless birds.

#78. Penguins are excellent swimmers, and they can dive to depths of over 1,000 feet.

#79. Penguins mate for life, and they often build their nests out of pebbles.

#80. There are 17 species of penguin, and the largest is the emperor penguin – which can grow to be over 4 feet tall!

#81. The smallest penguin is the little blue penguin, which is also known as the fairy penguin.

#82. Kiwis are the only birds that have nostrils at the end of their beaks!

#83. Eagles can see their prey from more than two miles away.

#84. Bald eagles get their name from the white feathers on their heads, not because they are actually bald.

#85. Woodpeckers can tap their beaks up to 15 times per second!

#86. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

#87. Beavers can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes at a time.

#88. There are more than 10,000 species of birds in the world. 

#89. The ostrich is the largest bird in the world, and the hummingbird is the smallest.

#90. Condors have the largest wingspan of any land bird.

 #91. Pelicans can hold more than three gallons of water in their beaks.

#92. There are about 1,400 species of bats in the world.

#93. The biggest bat is the flying fox, which has a wingspan of up to six feet!

#94. The smallest bat is the bumblebee bat, which has a wingspan of just six inches.

#95. Bats use echolocation to navigate in the dark. When they emit a sound, it bounces off objects and comes back to them, telling them where the object is. Most bats eat insects, but some species of bat eat fruit, nectar, or even blood!

#96. The vampire bat is the only mammal that feeds on blood. 

#97. Squirrels can jump up to 20 feet in the air!

#98. If a shark stops swimming, it sinks. That’s because sharks don’t have a swim bladder, which most fish use to float.

#99. Koalas have fingerprints like humans.

#100. Bees don’t have eyelids, so when they sleep, they keep their eyes open.

#101. Raccoons are excellent climbers, and they can descend a tree head-first.

Did you know all of these funny facts about animals? Which one shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments below!