What we don’t know about wildlife...

• What is the difference between the alligator and a crocodile?

These amphibians are very similar in appearance and both have an enlarged fourth tooth in the lower jaw that can be seen when a crocodile closes its mouth but cannot be seen in an alligator.

• The Polar Bear is a superior swimmer and can reach speeds of 6 and 1/2 mph using only it's front feet. This extreme Northern Bear is the most carnivorous of North American bears.

• A declaration has been made that there is a new elephant species roaming around Africa but the fact that the species has been there throughout is shocking. This suggests that instead of two species in existence today, now there are three namely, Asian elephants, African savannah elephants and African forest elephants. A team of scientists from Harvard Medical School, the University of Illinois and the University of York in the UK analyzed DNA from Asian elephants, African elephants and two extinct species. Thereafter, the scientists have determined that African forest elephants diverged from other African elephants about the same time Asian elephants split off from woolly mammoths.

• The Titanoboa is one of the most deadly snakes in the world, with an average length of about 13m (42ft). These snakes have lived in the rainforest of north-east Colombia for about 58-60 million years! A male Common Boa named ‘’Popeye’’ from the Philadelphia Zoo was the oldest snake ever lived! It lived for 40 years and 3 months and 14 days before it died on the 15^th of April 1977. Countries where most people die of snakebites are India and Sri Lanka!!

• Dolphins are marine animals and are among the most intelligent of the aquatic animals. Their friendly appearance and playful attitude have made them popular in human culture. Dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water BUT, then can hear frequencies ‘’10 times more than the upper limit of adult human hearing. Their teeth are believed to function as antennae to receive incoming sound and to pinpoint the exact location of an object. Scientists believe dolphins have no sense of smell as they lack an olfactory nerve and lobes.