Interesting and Unbelievable Facts

Lizards are reptiles with around  6,000 species . Their closest living relatives are snakes and worm lizards.  Lizards are present all over the world except  Antarctica  and extreme northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Four legs and feet in most lizards are their most prominent difference from snakes. They are also  distinguishable from snakes  due to the presence of external ears, movable eyelids, two lungs ( snakes have a single lung), and less flexible jaws. ( Source ) Thorny Devil, lives in  deserts  of Australia, cannot drink water directly due to structure of its mouth. It uses its feet and skin as a straw to sip water  from the sand. ( Source ) All the members of Whiptail lizards are female. They can  reproduce without male lizards,  thanks to the presence of extra chromosomes. ( Source ) Lizards can  detach their tail  for defense purposes. Most of them can re-grow their tail several times. But few lizards, like crested geckos, can not grow back their tail after los

Mules are the  offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. The mating of male horses and female donkeys produces hinnies. Both mules and hinnies can be male or female. Both mules and hinnies are almost always sterile . It happens due to an uneven number of chromosomes (63) in these hybrid mammals. It is the result of the different number of chromosomes in a horse (64) and donkey (62). ( Source ) But exceptions to this rule have been seen. There are a few recorded cases where mare (female) mules and hinnies gave birth to babies. ( Source ) Mules are superior to horses in several ways. They are more intelligent, healthier, and live longer than horses. Mules are also surefooted and can perform better than horses in hostile terrain. Mules are generally taller and faster than donkeys. The sound produced by mules is a mixture of horse and donkey’s sound. Due to several vital qualities, humans have  used mules  in wars and for other difficult jobs since ancient times. Their usage

There are more than 200 species of owls. They are present in all parts of the  earth except Antarctica and a few remote islands. The  oldest known fossil  of an owl is the 60-million-year-old leg bone. The almost complete owl fossil is 55 million years old. ( Source ) Owls are divided into  two families : typical owls and barn owls. The most prominent feature of barn owls is their heart-shaped facial disc. Owls are the most famous nocturnal (active during the night) birds . They can see better at night due to a large number of rods (used for better vision at night) compared to a few cones (used for color vision) in the retina of their eyes. Their large eyes also allow them to grasp a lot of light rays. ( Source ) However, not all owl species are nocturnal. Northern hawk owls and northern pygmy owls are the two  completely diurnal  (active during the day) species. Apart from them, few owl species are crepuscular (active at dawn or dusk). ( Source ) Owls have poor senses of smel

There are more than 300 identified species of hummingbirds. They are easily distinguishable due to their small size and other unique features.  The hummingbird’s most important sense is its vision. It has  excellent color vision  and sees colors similar to that of humans. They also can see UV (ultraviolet) light. ( Source ) Hummingbirds have the  largest brain  relative to their size among all birds. Their brain is 4.2% of their body weight. ( Source ) Hummingbirds have one of the  best memories  in the animal kingdom. They also may have episodic memory that is present only in human beings. ( Source ) Many hummingbird species spend winter and summer in different areas. For this purpose, they  migrate long distances  twice a year. In contrast to most other bird species, hummingbirds  migrate individually  instead of in flocks. Before these long migrations, these birds gain up to  40% of their original weight . Their unique flying technique assists them in  flying faster and consu

Along with Antarctica, Greenland is the only ice sheet area on earth. Ice sheets are areas permanently covered by ice with a size of more than 50,000 km 2 .  Greenland is also the world’s largest island . It covers an area of more than 2.1 million sq. km. The size of the second largest island, New Guinea, is only 821,400 sq. km. More than 80% area of Greenland is covered by permanent ice , the largest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere. It contains nearly 12% of glacier ice in the world.  According to research, the Greenlandic ice sheet is more than  400,000 years old . Some part of this ice is nearly one million years old. ( Source ) The Greenland ice sheet is melting at around 240 cubic km per year. The complete melting of Greenlandic ice will cause the sea level to rise by more than 7 meters (23 feet). Despite being one of the world’s largest countries by area, the population of Greenland is just over 55,000. Its population density (around 0.03 people per square km 2 ) i

Dinosaurs are extinct reptiles of the Mesozoic (mainly Jurassic period) era (which emerged around 250 million years ago). These animals  vanished from the  earth around 66 million years ago due to unknown reasons. More than 500 dinosaur species  have been discovered so far. According to  estimates, the total number of extinct species of dinosaurs could be 1,300 or more. ( Source ) The extinction event of dinosaurs is known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. It also wiped out 75% of all the animals and plants  present on earth at that time. According to a theory, this extinction event likely happened because of an asteroid hitting the earth. Other possible reasons include volcanic eruptions, climate change, etc. There were both meat-eating and plant-eating (and probably omnivore) dinosaurs. According to estimates, around 65% of dinosaurs were herbivores, while the remaining species were carnivores.   Many plant-eating dinosaurs were gigantic and had to eat a  large

With a population of more than 16.5 million, Guatemala is the most populated country in Central America. Guatemala has one of the lowest Human Development Index  (HDI) in the whole Latin American region. The country is just above Haiti and Honduras in this aspect. ( Source ) Guatemala has one of the highest rates of femicide  (murder of a female due to gender) in the world, only behind  El Salvador , Honduras, and  South Africa . In 2008, it also became the first country to recognize femicide  officially. ( Source ) It is generally recognized that human life started in Guatemala around 12,000 years ago. But there are few evidences that Guatemala is the  first human settlement  in Central America, with its initial human existence in 18,000 B.C. ( Source ) Guatemala’s politics after its independence came under the influence of  American fruit companies (especially the United Fruit Company). Therefore like a few other Central American countries (e.g. Honduras ), it was also labeled as

Ecuador is a small country in South America. The imaginary line of the equator passes through more than ten countries. However, Ecuador is the only country named after this line that bisects earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The majority population (around 70%) of Ecuador is composed of  Mestizos  (mixed European and Amerindian descent). It is one of the highest in  South America . Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is the  2 nd  highest capital city  in the world. It is located at an altitude of 9,350 feet above sea level. ( Source ) Galapagos Islands and the city of Quito (both in Ecuador) are two of the 12  earliest  UNESCO World heritage  sites . The UNESCO ID of these two sites is 1 and 2, respectively. ( Source ) In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the rights of nature . This law makes the ecosystem the defendant. There are around 25,000 species of vascular  plants  in Ecuador. Comparatively, there are just 17,000 plant species in th