Animal Kingdom Trivia: Nature Facts That Sound Impossible

The animal kingdom is a quiz-master’s dream: strange, wonderful and full of facts that sound impossible. Here is a collection to sharpen your nature round.

Land Animals

• An elephant is the largest land animal and can weigh several tonnes.
• A group of lions is called a pride, while a group of crows is called a murder.
• Sloths move so slowly that algae can grow on their fur.
• A cheetah is the fastest land animal, reaching sprint speeds few other creatures can match.

Sea Life

• Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.
• The blue whale is the largest animal to have ever lived — bigger even than the largest dinosaurs.
• Sharks have existed for roughly 400 million years, longer than trees.
• A starfish can regrow a lost arm.

Birds & Insects

• The ostrich is the largest living bird and cannot fly, but it can run remarkably fast.
• A hummingbird can beat its wings dozens of times every second and even fly backwards.
• Honeybees communicate the location of food to the hive with a “waggle dance”.

Why These Stick

Animal facts are easiest to remember when they surprise you. Pair each one with a mental picture — a whale bigger than a dinosaur, a starfish growing a new arm — and it will stay with you for years.

Feeling wild? Take a free Animals & Nature quiz and see how many of these you can turn into points.