Fun Facts Archive

Some buzz on bees

A bee buzzing about a yellow flower.

Buzz-worthy facts on bees!

A puma by any other name

A picture of one of the bronze pumas.

The pumas have returned, flanking the entrance to the U-M Exhibit Museum of Natural History in new bronze glory, an event recently celebrated at the museum. In their honor, we share with you some puma facts.

What do you seen in these wasp faces?

Four photos of wasp faces.

Elizabeth Tibbetts, a U-M professor and researcher, studies the behavior of paper wasps. “Animals are communicating with each other all the time,” she said.

Northern American ground squirrels

An arctic ground squirrel standing on rocks.

Northern American ground squirrels have lowest known mammal hibernating temperature and more arctic animals of Alaska.

Some wonders of Brazil

A pile of various fruits.

There are over 40 types of common fruits in Brazil. The names of just a few are monkey pod, fruit for wolves, bully tree and armadillo fruit! Who knew eating fruit could be so much fun?

Mighty mite

A trap jaw ant holding an insect in its jaws.

The fastest animal is the trap-jaw ant. Its jaw movement has been clocked at 78 to 145 miles per hour - an action researchers say is the fastest self-powered predatory strike in the animal kingdom.

Which is more evolved: human or chimp?

A chimp sitting and looking at the camera.

Put a human and a chimpanzee side by side, and it seems obvious which one has changed the most since the two split off from a common ancestor millions of years ago.

Explore the Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web

Various drawings of animals.

A virtual museum of natural history, evolution and conservation biology.