9 fascinating facts about the animal kingdom they didn't teach you at school

We were all taught things about animals at school that we were able to recite perfectly when asked by a teacher.

An octopus has eight tentacles and the cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world - that, we know.

But do you know how the lemur got its name? Or why a flamingo stands on one leg?

There's an abundance of fascinating facts about the animal kingdom, and we've picked 9 of our favourites from Flamingo Land's files.
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1. Kangaroos

We all know that a baby kangaroo is called a Joey, but did you realise how small they are when they're first born?

A newborn kangaroo is actually no bigger than a cherry.

Flamingo Land

And we'll throw in another fun fact for free - when they need to defend themselves, kangaroos will growl like dogs.

2. Flamingos

If you've ever seen flamingos in a zoo, you might have noticed that they hang about in groups standing on one leg.

Why? There's no particular scientific reason other than that they're simply more comfortable that way. That's it.


But a far more fascinating fact about these birds is that their eyes are actually BIGGER than their brains, which might surprise you because their eyes aren't very big at all.

And if you've ever wondered about the name Flamingo, it derives from the Latin meaning 'flame' - probably because of their bright colour.

3. Lemurs

Speaking of name meanings, the lemur has a pretty good one.

The word comes from the old Latin name for ghosts or spirits, referring to the animals' wide, staring eyes and their preference for moving about at night.

You probably wouldn't want to spot one of them looking at you in the dark, that's for sure.

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Lemurs are found on the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. They are primates and found nowhere else in the world.

Ring-tailed lemurs grunt, purr and mew like house cats, and also bark like dogs!

4. Poison arrow frog

They might look pretty, but these little froggies can be deadly.

Some speces of poison arrow frog produce a type of toxin that is so powerful, a drop that weighs just 1/100,000 of an ounce could potentially KILL a human.

So it's best to keep a safe distance from these little fellas.

5. Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus - whose name, literally translated, means river horse - spend their days in the water as their skin is susceptible to sunburn.



But did you know that hippos were once thought to 'sweat' blood?

They don't quite sweat blood - but they do have a red pigment in their glands which makes their sweat look a bit bloody.

This also acts as a sunscreen to protect them.



6. Meerkats

We associate these cute little animals with sitting around lazily, falling asleep in the sun (as well as selling car insurance, of course).

But they're actually hard little workers - and very good at digging.



Meerkats’ curved front claws act as shovels and they can move several hundred times their body weight in sand in one day.

They've probably earned that nap, then.


7. Baboons

Ever wondered why baboons have those pink bottoms? It's certainly not for cosmetic reasons - but there's actually a pretty important explanation.


The red skin on a baboon’s bum is really a leathery seating pad which allows them to sit and sleep upright.

Thanks to this, they're more comfortable wherever they choose to sit (or nap).

8. Sea lions
Sea lions can eat over 5% of their body weight in one day - that's a whole lot of fish.

They're also pretty skilled divers, hunting on their own for their food.


Their dives can last up to TEN minutes and reach 26 to 98 metres in depth.





9. Tortoises

In human reproduction, we all know that the sex of the baby is decided by the joining of mum and dad's chromosomes.

Once the fertilisation of the egg has happened, there's no changing it.

But in tortoises, the sex of babies is determined by the temperature at which they are incubated.