The Superstudent

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Monkeys are found naturally in the jungles and forests of the Southern Hemisphere. There are two ways to classify a monkey, the old world monkey (Asia and Africa) and the new world monkey (South America).

There are around 260 known species of monkey worldwide ranging from chimpanzees to the tiny pygmy marmoset. The monkey can be anywhere from just a few centimetres tall, with some species of monkey growing to more than a metre tall.

A monkey will mainly eat foliage, nuts, fruit, berries, insects, with the bigger species of monkey hunting small birds and mammals. Funnily enough monkeys never eat a banana as it is and instead they peel it first and throw away the peel.

Although both the New World monkeys and Old World monkeys have forward facing eyes, the faces of Old World monkeys and New World monkeys look very different, though again, each group shares some features such as the types of noses, cheeks and rumps.

It has been known for some organisations to train certain species of monkeys as monkey helpers to assist quadriplegics and other people with severe spinal cord injuries or mobility impairments. After being brought up in a human home as infants, the monkeys undergo extensive training before being placed with a quadriplegic. Around the house, the monkeys help out by doing tasks including microwaving food and opening drink bottles!

When a monkey yawns it apparently means that either the monkey is tired or the monkey is angry about something. Howler monkeys are the loudest species of monkey with the howler monkeys howl being heard as far as 10 miles away.

Monkeys use different noises, facial expressions and body movements to communicate with one another, with the monkey grinning being a sign of aggression. However, monkeys express affection and make peace with others by grooming each other.

The Lion is one of the largest, strongest and powerful felines in the world second only in size to the SiberianTiger. They are the largest cats on the African continent and are unique among felines in a number of ways but the biggest difference between Lions and other cats is that they are incredibly sociable animals that live together in family groups known as prides. Lions are also part of the big cat family meaning that both males and females are able to roar. Despite having once roamed across much of Africa and even parts of Europe and Asia, the world's remaining Lion population now resides in sub-Saharan Africa. However, with Lion numbers thought to have dropped by 30% over the past 20 years these enormous predators are sadly becoming more and more vulnerable in their decreasing natural environment.

Horses evolved over 50 million years from small many toed animals to the big beautiful, single-toed horses of today. The modern horse has been domesticated around the world for many reasons including transportation and battle.

Horses tend to live for about 30 years, and the oldest recorded horse at age 56 died in 2007. Horses graze on plant matter and vegetation, preferably tender green grass. The height of a horse is measured in hands, 1 hand being the same as 10cm (4 inches). The age of the horse is estimated by the pattern of tooth wear in his mouth.

An adult female is called a mare, and a young female is called a filly. An adult male is a stallion, and a young male is a colt. An unweaned baby of either sex is a foal. Castrated males and spayed females are called geldings. Mares carry their young inside them for approximately 11 months. When the baby horse is born, the young horse is often able to stand and then run about not long after birth. A mare comes into season one month after her foal is born. If she is remated then, she will have a foal at the same time each year.

Fishes are found in every ocean, lake, river and stream in all corners of the globe, in many sizes, colours and species. Most fish (depending on size) tend to eat plankton in the water, insects and smaller fish.

Fish respire through gills in the sides of their heads, allowing the fish to breath underwater. Fish return to the water surface for air at varying intervals. The electric eelfish can go for up to 10 minutes without resurfacing for air.

Due to the bright colours of fish, and the fact that fish are extremely peaceful animals, many people today now keep all kinds of fish in tanks and ponds.

There are numerous subspecies of the Asian elephant, these are the Indian Elephant, Sri Lankan Elephant, Sumatran, Borneo Elephant.

African elephants are larger than Asian elephants and have two subspecies which are the African Bush Elephant and African Forest Elephant.

The elephant is the only known mammal that, despite having knee joints, cannot jump! This is thought to be primarily due to the elephants sheer size but also because of the way that the elephants legs are built, they are short and stocky to support the elephants phenomenal weight.

Elephants are herbivores that spend around 22 hours eating! The elephant searches for green leaves in the tree tops but it is not uncommon for the elephant to tear down the tree to get the leaves.

One old elephant related myth is that elephants are afraid of mice. There are a number of theories from where this arose such as the size difference (elephants are one of the biggest land animals, mice are one of the smallest), the fear from the elephant that a mouse could crawl into the elephants trunk and nest, and the fact that mice have been known to crawl over elephants while they are sleeping so they can get to any left over food, are also viable possibilities. Whether or not elephants are actually scared of mice is unknown, however tests show that elephants are definitely not as comfortable with mice around as you might expect.

There are numerous species of bird found in a wide variety of habitats all around the world. Birds are one of the most thriving groups of animals on the planet as they generally have their habitat (the skies) to themselves.

Birds can be easily distinguished from other animals due to their sharp, pointed beaks, thin legs, wings and feathers covering their bodies. Although all bird species have wings, some are actually flightless animals that only use their wings for balance and not for flying. Where other birds, such as penguins, use their wings for swimming.

Birds are often omnivorous animals, generally eating nearly anything that they can find. Most species of bird survive on a diet primarily consisting on insects and plants such as fruits, nuts, berries and seeds.

Birds are also distinctive in the fact that they lay eggs in a similar way to other animalgroups such as fish and reptiles. Birds often make nests in the trees or on the ground in which to lay their eggs.

Bears are large dog like mammals found all around the world. There are eight different species of bear that are found in a wide range of habitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, mainly the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Most bears are nocturnal, solitary animals only really congregating during the bears mating season. The mother bear will then raise her cubs until they too, are old enough to live on their own. Bears generally have an excellent sense of smell and are also fantastic at climbing trees, swimming and are able to run at speeds of up to 35 mph for short periods of time.

All bears are generally classified as carnivores but most species of bear today have adapted various herbivorous traits. For example, the giant panda has a diet that primarily comprises of bamboo. Most species of bear tend to hunt fish over land animals, although its not uncommon for a bear to not eat fish at all.

In Viking northern Europe, the locals firmly believed that by wearing a shirt made of bear skin, the wearer would adopt the powerful characteristics of the bear such as the bears strength and courage. Legend has it that the word berserk is said to originate from this belief from the way the affected men adopting these bear attributes behaved, but whether this is true or not is hard to tell.

The Malaysian sun bear is the smallest of the existing bear species, with the average adultsun bear measuring around 1 meter tall. The polar bear is generally the biggest species of bear with the adults growing to over 3 meters tall. The grizzly bear found in North America is the only other species of bear where the adults can get to this size, but it is uncommon.

Cats (domestic cats) seem to date back to around ancient Egyptian times, when they were worshiped and heralded as sacred animals to the Gods in Egypt. The cat has since become an honored and valued member of family homes worldwide.

A cats senses are superior amongst the animal world, with exceptional sight, smell and taste, cats are able to subtly sneak up on, and catch their prey with immense success.

Despite the cats unbeatable night-vision, a cats eyesight during the day is actually not too dissimilar from a humans! Due to this, cats are more nocturnal hunters looking for small rodents and birds.

The average domestic cat sleeps for around 18 hours a day and tends to spend their waking time hunting for food. Despite wild cats being solitary animals, the domestic cat is known to enjoy attention from humans and other animals and will often even get on well with some dogs.

Dogs are thought to have been first domesticated in EastAsia thousands of years ago. People primarily used dogs for guarding the hunters and areas of land.

Todays domestic dog is actually a subspecies of the graywolf, a type of dog that is feared by most humans. Many people today, in all countries around the world, keep dogs as household pets and many even regard their dog as a family member.

There are currently around 800 different species of domestic dog worldwide. Included are mountain dogs such as Saint Bernards or Huskys and territorial guard dogs like the Neapolitan and Tibetan Mastiffs.