In this section, "animals" classifies insects, fish, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Just not humans even though we are mammals.
- The most venomous spider is called the phoneutria, which means "murderess" in Greek. It is also known as the Brazilian Wandering Spider. It lives in Brazil, mostly the Amazon Rainforest.
- Boxwood is a shrub once found in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is ranked as "critically endangered" by the I.U.C.N. (I have no clue what that is.)
- The largest predatory fish is the Great White Shark. That's predictable, but did you know that adults average 14 to 15 feet in length and can weigh up to 1700 pounds! They are listed as the most dangerous shark. It has caused 251 out of 1860 confirmed, unprovoked shark attacks on humans.
- The longest snake fangs belong to the venomous Gaboon viper of Africa. The fangs are two inches long.
- The largest burrowing mammal is the wombat. They live in Australia and can grow up to four feet in length. Their top weight is 77 pounds. The burrows get up to 65 feet long and can be even 6 feet underground with interconnecting tunnels...lots of them.
- The leatherback sea turtle is the largest living turtle species. They live in Nova Scotia, Cape Sable, South of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The world's smallest parasite is the pneumocystis jiarovbcii. It causes pneumonia in humans and it is 0.01-0.02 inches long.
- The laziest freshwater turtle is the Cantor's Giant Softshelled. It is native to the Makong River in Cambodia (Asia). It spends 95% of its life motionless in the riverbottom waiting for prey. It only surfaces to breathe air twice a day!
- The most tentacled octopus is just a common octopus, taken alive in Matoya Bay in Japan. It had 96 tentacles because all of the normal tentacles (8) had branched out into many different ones!
