Birds & mammals at Melbourne Museum

Question: I heard that Melbourne Museum will have a new exhibition in the Science & Life Gallery all about birds and mammals opening later this year. When will this be? 

Answer: You heard correctly – Melbourne Museum will be opening a new exhibition in the Science & Life Gallery called Wild: Amazing animals in a changing world. Wild will open on 13 November 2009.

Below are some interesting animal facts to get you thinking about what you may see in the new gallery space prior to its opening later this year.

What mammal or bird has the…

Fastest heartbeat?
The hummingbird - hummingbirds are native to North and South America and are the little birds that hover mid air. They are also the only bird that can fly backwards.

Fastest runner?
The Cheetah - unlike other big cats, the Cheetah has blunt claws that cannot be retracted.

Fastest swimmer?
The penguin - penguins spend their life half on the land and in the water.

Fastest flyer?
The pigeon is the fastest straight line flyer, but a falcon is the fastest flyer overall, so falcons can hunt pigeons!

Slowest heartbeat?
The Blue Whale - Blue Whales can be up to 27 metres long. You can see the articulated skeleton of a Blue Whale outside the entrance to the Science & Life Gallery.

Slowest mover?
The sloth - there are both Two-toed and Three-toed Sloths found in tropical South America.

Tallest?
The giraffe - there are nine subspecies of giraffe and Africa is the only place where they can be found naturally.

Shortest?
The shrew - the shrew is a small mouse-like carnivorous mammal with a long, pointed nose.

Longest gestation?
The African Elephant - a female African Elephant is a cow and her young a calf, and a cow is pregnant for 22 months.

Shortest gestation?
The opossum - the gestation period of the opossum is between 12 and 14 days.

Biggest single families?
A Blue Tit can have up to 20 eggs and a mouse once had a litter of 14.

Found in the most places across the world – humans.