Amazing Facts About Animals

This page is full of amazing facts about animals with pictures & information for kids ... and adults! Find out about some of the biggest, smallest and fastest animals in the world.

Amazing Facts About Animals: Introduction

On this page we're going to take a look at some of the planet's most amazing animals!

The animal kingdom is one of five kingdoms of living things (or six in the US, where microscopic species are classified slightly differently).

A ‘Kingdom’ is a category that we use to classify living things, so that we can understand them better. Another example of a kingdom is the Plant kingdom.

Animals can be split into two main groups: vertebrates (animals with backbones) and invertebrates (animals without backbones).

Only 5% of the world’s animals are vertebrates. The other 95% are invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans (animals like crabs and lobsters) and molluscs (animals like snails and octopuses).

Around half of the world’s vertebrates are fishes.

Around 75% of the world’s invertebrates are insects.

On this page we're going to look at some of the most amazing members of the animal kingdom. Below you'll find some additional animal lists that you can explore to find more amazing facts.

World Animal Lists

Click on any of the pictures below to find out amazing facts about animals from all over the world.

Rainforest Animals Facts

Rainforest Animals Facts
Click to discover amazing rainforest animal facts.

Discover amazing facts about rainforest animals: Rainforest Animals.

African Animal Facts

African Animal Facts
Click to discover amazing facts about African animals.

Learn about african animals, including lions, gorillas and African elephants: African Animals Facts.

Australian Animal Facts

Australian Animal Facts
Find out about some amazing Australian animals!

Australia is home to some of the world's most amazing animals. Learn about them here: Australian Animals.

Arctic Animal Facts

arctic animals facts
Click to find out amazing facts about animals that live in the Arctic.

Many Arctic animals have special adaptations for living in the cold. Learn about some of these incredible creatures here: Arctic Animals.

Endangered Animal Facts

Endangered Animal Facts
Endangered Animal Facts

Sadly, the list of endangered animals gets longer and longer. Learn about some of them here: Endangered Animals.
You can learn more about endangered animals at the IUCN website.

Antarctic Animal Facts

Antarctic Animal Facts
Antarctic Animal Facts

Discover the animals that inhabit the frozen world of Antarctica. You'll find amazing facts about whales, penguins, seals and birds … plus many other Antarctic species. Click here: Antarctic Animal Facts.

Amazing Facts About Animals With Pictures: Biggest, Smallest, And Fastest!

Scientists estimate that there are around 1,371,253 species of animal in the world today. This number is changing all of the time, with animals going extinct, and new animals being discovered.

Let’s learn more about some of the most amazing animals in the world!

The Biggest Animals In The World

Blue Whale

Blue Whale Swimming
Don't worry, this huge animal is only interested in eating krill!

The blue whale is the biggest animal in the world. In fact, this huge mammal is the largest species ever to have lived on Earth!

You can find out more about blue whales here.

African Bush Elephant

African Elephant With Baby
An African elephant female with her calf.

The biggest land mammal is the African bush elephant. It can grow up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall, and can weigh up to 3,200 kg (7,050 lb)!

Read more about African bush elephants here.

Giraffe

Giraffe
Giraffes have to be tall to reach the best leaves!

The tallest animal in the world is the Giraffe. Their long necks and legs help them to reach the leaves in their favourite acacia trees. Giraffes can grow up to 5.7 m (almost 19 ft) tall.

You can find out more about giraffes here.

Ostrich

Ostrich
Ostrich - the biggest bird in the world hatches from the biggest eggs in the world!

The biggest bird is the Ostrich. Ostriches live in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Ostriches grow up to 2.8 m (9.2 ft) tall and can weigh over 156 kg (344 lb). Ostriches also lay the biggest eggs.

Find out more about ostriches here.

Goliath Beetle

Scarabaeidae - Goliathus goliatus-2
Goliath Beetle
The Goliath Beetle, which lives in the tropical forests of Africa, is the world’s biggest insect.

Stick Insect

The insect in the photo isn't even the longest species of stick insect!
The insect in the photo isn't even the longest species of stick insect!

The longest insect is the Phobaeticus chani – a species of Stick Insect. It can grow up to 567 mm (22.3 in) long.

Green Anaconda & Reticulated Python

Green Anaconda
Green Anacondas are the largest snakes (but not the longest) in the world.

The heaviest snake in the world is the green anaconda. The world's longest snake is the reticulated python.

Find out more about Green Anacondas here.

Find out more about the reticulated python here.

Ribbon Worm

Lineus longissimus

The Ribbon Worm is a contender for the title of 'longest animal in the world'. This stripy brown sea worm grows up to 55 m (180 ft).

Another contender for this title is the lion's mane jellyfish, specimens of which have been found that were longer than a blue whale.

Largelionsmanejellyfish

The Smallest Animals

Kitti's hog-nosed bat / Bumblebee Bat

Kitti's hog-nosed bat Stuffed specimen

The smallest mammal in the world is the Kitti's Hog-Nosed Bat. This tiny creature, also known as the Bumblebee Bat, lives in Thailand and Burma. It weighs up to 2 g (0.071 oz)

Bee Hummingbird

hummingbird
The bee hummingbird is even smaller than the hummingbird pictured above!

The world’s smallest bird is the Bee Hummingbird (also known as Helena’s Hummingbird). It weighs between 1.6 and 2 g (0.056 and 0.071 oz) and is between 5 and 6 cm (2.0 and 2.4 in) long.

The Fastest Animals

Cheetah

Cheetah Fastest Animal On Land
Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal.

The fastest land animal is the Cheetah. This African cat can reach speeds of over 120 km/h (74 mph).

Find out more about cheetahs here.

Black Marlin

The fastest animal in the sea is the Black Marlin. This fish, that lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, can swim at speeds of up to 129 km/h (80 mph).

Peregrine Falcon

Pererine Falcon Flying
The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world.

The fastest bird is the Peregrine Falcon. It reaches speeds of up to 389 km/h (242 mph) when diving, making it the world's fastest animal.

Spine-Tailed Swift

White-throated Needletail 09a

The fastest bird in normal flight is the Spine-Tailed Swift (also called the White-Throated Needletail). It breeds in Central Asia and Russia, and migrates to Southern Asia and Australia. It has been recorded flying at speeds of 111.6 km/h (69.3 mph).

Amazing Facts About Animals Conclusion

We hope that you enjoyed finding out about these amazing animals. We’ll be adding more and more amazing facts to this page, so visit again soon!

Find out some more amazing animal facts on these pages: