Aristotle observed that dolphins gave birth to live young who were attached to their mothers by umbilical cords and so, in the book Generation of Animals, written around 340 B.C., he classified dolphins as mammals. It was not until the nineteenth century that this statement was confirmed by modern science. [ Animals | Ancient Greek Science and Philosophy ] (source)
There is only one recorded battle in which both sides used elephants. In the Fourth Syrian War, in 217 B.C., Antiochus III of Syria used Asian elephants when attacking Ptolemy IV's Egyptian army with its smaller North African elephants (now extinct). While the Asian elephants were victorious, the Egyptian army would go on to win a smashing victory at Raphia on the Egyptian border. [ Ancient Civilisations | Animals ] (source)
According to Roman historian Suetonius, it was rumoured that one consul and coregent of Rome was a horse - Emperor Caligula's favourite, Incitatus, who was accorded honour at every turn. Caligula's successor, Claudius, did not invite Incitatus in to dine, as had Caligula, but the horse was still decently treated, in his ivory manger, with a golden drinking goblet for partaking of wine. [ The Roman Empire | Animals ] (source)
During the hundred days of the opening games at the Colosseum in Rome, in 80 A.D., over 5,000 animals were killed, including elephants, tigers, lions, elks, hyenas, hippopotamuses, and giraffes. [ The Roman Empire | Sports and Games | Animals ] (source)
The lions used by the Romans in the Colosseum were Barbary lions, whose manes covered nearly half of their bodies. While the export of lions to Rome threatened their population, greater damage was done after Roman times, when they were killed by Arabs, encouraged by governments that exempted tribes that killed lions from taxation. The creature's last stronghold was in the Atlas Mountains, where the last true Barbary lion was killed in 1922. [ Animals | Lasts ]
Perhaps the most strange annual culinary affair was hosted by Clodius, a rich Roman actor who had one hundred birds given voice lessons at a cost of approximately $250 per bird. He then had these birds made into a pie for his guests. He then offered a drink which contained a dissolved pearl worth about one-half million dollars. [ Animals | Strange But True ]
The Canary Islands got their name not from canaries but from the wild dogs that the Romans found when they landed there. They called the island Insulae Canariae, which means "Island of the Dogs." [ Animals | Place Names ] (source)
The ancient Vikings navigated by depending on the instincts of birds. They took on board several ravens, releasing them one at a time as they sailed westward. If the raven flew back along the course from which it had come, the Viking ships continued due west. But when a raven flew a different way, the ships would change course, following its flight path in search of new lands. [ Vikings | Animals ]
Horses were not commonly used for farm work until the twelfth century, because the chest harness in use since Roman times was inefficient. The invention of the shoulder harness, the "horse collar," enabled them to pull much greater weights, such as farm implements. (source)
The fourth Moghul Emperor, Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627, had a harem of 300 royal wives, 5,000 more women, and 1,000 young men for alternate pleasures. His stables contained 12,000 elephants, 10,000 oxen, 2,000 camels, 3,000 deer, 4,000 dogs, 100 tame lions, 500 buffalo, and 10,000 carrier pigeons. [ India | Animals | Monarchs ] (source)
The first successful corneal transplant was performed as early as 1835 by a British army surgeon in India whose pet antelope, who had only one eye, had a badly scarred cornea. He removed a cornea from a recently killed antelope and transplanted it into his pet's eye. The operation was a success, and the pet was able to see. [ Animals | Medicine | India ] (source)
A well-intentioned philanthropist, Eugene Scheifflin, instituted a project in the 1890's to bring to America each type of bird mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. As Hotspur talks about the starling in Henry IV, Part I, starlings were let loose in New York's Central Park. There are now millions of starlings throughout all of North America. [ Books and Literature | Animals ] (source)
The Wake Island rail was only discovered in 1903 and was extinct by 1946. It was wiped out when the island was occupied during World War II by Japanese soldiers, who found it a tasty delicacy.
The only wild horses in the world are Przewalski's horses, from Mongolia. Although they became extinct in the wild in 1968, they have since been re-introduced to their native Mongolia. All other horse breeds are descended from horses that were once domesticated.
A group of magpies is called a tiding, one of ravens an unkindness, one of turtledoves a pitying, one of starlings a murmuration, one of swans a lamentation, one of ponies a string, one of rattlesnakes a rhumba, one of crows a murder, one of cobras a quiver, one of foxes a skulk, one of emus a mob, one of elks a gang, one of cats a clowder, one of flamingoes a pat, and one of bears a sleuth. Groups of geese are named in a peculiar manner; when they are on the ground they are called a "gaggle", but in the air they are called a "skein". [ Animals | English Words ] (source)
Some crabs near Danno-ura in Japan have patterns on their shells bearing an uncanny resemblance to a face of a samurai. When caught, these crabs are thrown back in commemoration of the Heike samurai clan, who lost a naval battle there in 1185. The patterns on the crabs' shells are inherited, and it is believed that the patterns evolved because fishermen tended to throw back crabs with patterns resembling faces. So, crabs with patterns that most resembled a face had a better chance of survival. Eventually, the pattern of the face of a fierce, scowling samurai evolved. (source)
India has a bill of rights for cows. [ India | World Countries | Animals ]
King Alexandros I of Greece (1917-1920) died from blood poisoning after being bitten by his pet monkey. [ Animals | Monarchs ] (source)
Ostriches never stick their heads in the sand, not for any reason at all. [ Animals | Misconceptions ] (source)
The Falkland Islands have a human population of around 2,000 but a sheep population of 700,000, making 350 sheep for each person. [ World Countries | Animals ] (source)
In 2002, a new species of centipede, Nannarrup hoffmani, was found in Central Park, in the middle of New York City, New York.
A frozen woolly mammoth was found on the banks of the Beresovka River, in Siberia, that was almost in a complete state of preservation. Investigating scientists were able to eat its meat, and buttercups were found in the creature's mouth. (source)
The word "jumbo" comes from the name of Jumbo the circus elephant. Jumbo was killed on September 15, 1885, after being hit by a locomotive in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. In 1985, a life-size (3.35 metres tall) plaster statue of Jumbo was unveiled in St. Thomas. It was sculpted in New Brunswick and, ironically, was transported to St. Thomas entirely by truck. [ Transportation | Animals ] (source)
Winnie-the-Pooh is based on a real bear. On August 24th, 1914, a Canadian soldier and veterinarian named Harry Colebourn, en route to a training camp in Valcartier, Quebec, purchased an orphaned black bear cub for $20 in White River, Ontario, which he named Winnipeg, or Winnie for short. When his unit was sent over to France during World War I, Colebourn loaned her to the London Zoo, intending to take her back to Canada after the war. However, Winnie's gentle disposition made her the zoo's top attraction, and on December 1, 1919, he donated her to the zoo. In the mid 1920's, writer A. A. Milne often took his young son, Christopher Robin, to the zoo, and Christopher named his teddy bear "Winnie-the-Pooh" after Winnie. A. A. Milne went on to write several best-selling children's books about Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh. [ Animals | Books and Literature ]