Using vocabulary words

Mammals

Mammals

Mammal Facts

• Mammals are warm-blooded animals. Their body temperature remains about the same their entire lives.


• All mammals have hair, even dolphins and whales that live in the ocean.


• Most mammals are born live, not from eggs. There are two mammals that hatch from eggs, including the spiny anteater and the duckbilled platypus.


• Most mammals are helpless when they are babies. Adult mammals protect and help care for babies until they can survive on their own. The mammal most famous for caring for their babies is the mother kangaroo who carries their babies in their pouch until they are about one year old. Mammals like mice, only care for their young for about 1 month. Elephants care for their young for a long time, up to 10 years. How long do you think your parents will care for you?


• All mammal babies drink milk from their mothers.


• All mammals except ant eaters have teeth


• Bats are the only mammals that can fly.


• Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and also mammals. The can run up to 70 mph. The fastest cheetah clocked in a zoo for the 100 meter dash is 5.95 seconds which is almost twice as fast as the fastest human recorded. To run this fast the cheetah has a stride length of nearly 22 feet. The long jump record for a human is just over 29 feet. The cheetah has the perfect body for speed and has enlarged lungs, nostrils and heart to be able to get enough oxygen to run fast.


• Orca (Killer) whales are one of the fiercest hunters of all animals. They are known to attack whales and even polar bears. Orcas are also very smart and are featured in aquatic shows where they can show off their intelligence


• Koalas sleep the longest of any animal. They sleep 22 hours a day.


• Dolphin and whale babies do not sleep the first month of their life

Birds

Birds

Birds facts

• Birds are bipedal animals, which means they have two feet and can stand, walk, and run.
• There are about 10,000 living species making them the most numerous vertebrates and they inhabit ecosystems all over the world including the Arctic and Antarctica. Many of the species migrate long distances.
• They are warm-blooded animals that can lay eggs. These eggs are usually laid in a nest and are incubated by the parents.
• Most birds take care of their young for an extended length of time after hatching.
• Birds have feathers and a beak with no teeth.
• Birds have a very lightweight but strong skeleton.
• Birds have forelimbs that are covered with feathers and are called wings. The wings and lightweight skeleton allows them to fly.
• Birds range in size from the 2 inch Bee Hummingbird to the Ostrich which can grow to 9 feet tall.
• Birds are also social animals which participate in social behaviors. They are known to work together in breeding, flocking, hunting and mobbing predators that threaten them.
• They communicate using songs and calls. They can also communicate by using visual signals, such as quickly flapping their wings.
• About 120–130 species have become extinct since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then.
• The extinction of many species of birds is blamed on human activity.
• There are currently about 1,200 species of birds are threatened with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them.