Page 8 - Animal Facts

50 million years ago there was an animal with the body like a gorilla and the head like a horse!

The Chalicotheres were a group of herbivorous mammals spread throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa approximately 55 million years ago. Fossils show long forelimbs and short hind limbs, which leads scientists to conclude that they walked with most of their weight on their hind legs.

Their front legs had long, curved claws which indicate that they walked on their knuckles, much like gorillas do. Chalicotheres had horse-like faces, and in fact, evolved 40 million years ago into smaller forest animals that were similar to early horses.

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The reason Bald Eagles got their name has NOTHING to do with them looking bald!

Bald Eagles aren’t actually bald. We all know that. They have white feathers in their head that some people might think make them look bald. That’s why they got the name, right?

No. In reality the Bald part of their name comes from an old English word ‘balde,’ which means white. So there you go, their name is actually much more accurate in Old English than in the English we speak today.

Once in danger of extinction, bald eagles have made a comeback thanks to strong laws protecting them. They can have a wingspan of up to 8 feet and weight up to 9 pounds. They have been the national symbol of the United States since 1782.

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Figs have digested wasps in them!

Figs are basically inverted flowers and they have the pollen inside the fruit. In order for the tree to pollinate the female fruits, they have developed a symbiotic relationship with a type of wasp that buries their eggs inside them.

When these baby wasps hatch, they mate immediately and the wingless males bite holes through the fig so that the winged females can escape. The females fly away and the males stay back and die.

Then, when it’s time for the females to give birth, they will crawl into other figs to lay the eggs. In the process, the females get their wings ripped off and she dies in there, the plant later digests it!

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In reality a Coyote is twice as fast as a Roadrunner!

Wile E Coyote should be able to catch the Roadrunner in a race. A roadrunner can only reach speeds of 20 miles per hour, while a coyote reaches speeds up to 43 miles per hour. However, there has never been a documented case of a coyote eating a roadrunner.

There are several reasons for this phenomenon, considering coyotes eat anything. For one thing, roadrunners rarely run in a straight line and for another thing they can fly. So, if they were being chased by a coyote, they’d just take to flight and get the heck out of dodge.In a foot race, though, the roadrunner would be dinner for the coyote.

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Australian Koalas are in danger of extinction because over half of them have chlamydia

Koalas live between 13 to 18 years in the wild. Males tend to not live near as long as the females due to their lives being more hazardous. They can all be subject to pathogens like chlamydia, too.

Among many issues it can cause reproductive tract infection. The infection easily spreads to mainland areas and the koala retrovirus can cause Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome which is similar to AIDS. Koalas are close to extinction in Australia and a good portion of the reason is from diseases like chlamydia. Another portion is due to poaching the animals.

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