The largest recorded contiguous colony of ants in the world stretches 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometres) from northern Italy, through the south of France to the Atlantic coast of Spain, and is made up of a species of Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) introduced into Europe during the 1920s.

Reaching an average height of 6 feet tall and weighing 400 to 500 pounds, the mountain gorilla is the largest of the great apes. Found only in the mountains of Rwanda, Zaire, and Uganda, mountain gorillas have been victimized by poaching as well as the destruction of much of their natural habitat. Like all other subspecies of gorilla, the mountain gorilla is considered an endangered species.

Unlike bony fish, sharks do not have gas-filled swim bladders for buoyancy. Instead, they rely on a large liver filled with oil.

About 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail. These bones are called "caudal" vertebrae. A cat's tail, made up of these vertebrae, ligaments, tendon and voluntary muscle, is used primarily to communicate and to maintain balance.

The Navy Marine Mammal Program at San Diego's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) trains dozens of bottlenose dolphins (as well as sea lions) to help the U.S. Navy. In the past, the U.S. military has used dolphins in conflicts in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. Today, thanks to their intelligence, speed, and echolocation skills, dolphins are trained to find enemy swimmers, locate underwater mines, and guard nuclear arsenals.

Grizzly bears have a biting force of over 1200 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch)--enough to crush a bowling ball!

The average daily diet of a giant panda consists of 20 to 30 lbs of bamboo. Given this voluminous diet, the giant panda defecates up to 40 times a day.

In humans, oxygen is bound to hemoglobin, a molecule that contains iron and gives blood its red color. In spiders, oxygen is bound to hemocyanin, a molecule that contains copper rather than iron, making their blood blue.

Kangaroo rats obtain enough water from the metabolic oxidation of the seeds they eat to survive and don't need to drink water at all.

Terminal velocity is the fastest that an object will ever fall, no matter what height it is dropped from. Squirrels (unlike most other mammals) can survive impacts at their terminal velocity. Which means no matter what height you drop a squirrel from, it will probably survive.