Check out these cool facts about endangered animals and plants around the country. We list hundreds here, but of course these facts are infinite. Aren't these species incredible? Learn more about many of the species we work to save (and of course check out the cool hellbender video at the bottom of the page).
+ Amphibians
Adult boreal toads have toxic skin secretions that effectively repel some predators.
Female Amargosa toads may lay up to 6,000 eggs in a single clutch.
The Barton Springs salamander has five toes on its hind limbs, but only four on its forelimbs.
The hellbender is also called "alligator of the mountains," "big water lizard," "devil dog," "ground puppy," "mud-devil," "walking catfish" and "waterdog."
Sometimes the Barton Springs salamander's stomach contents are visible through its translucent skin.
Male California red-legged frogs can emit mating calls from underwater, and even from beneath ice.
Like skunks, mountain yellow-legged frogs produce a stinky secretion when disturbed.
Adult tiger salamanders spend a quarter of their lives underground.
Hellbenders can grow up to two feet long and are the largest North American amphibians.
Around the turn of the 20th century — when people ate frog legs as a delicacy — approximately 80,000 red-legged frogs were becoming frog-leg meals each year.
+ Birds
The Mexican and northern spotted owls have call that sound like a small dog barking; this bold sound in the forest often betrays their location.
The black-breasted puffleg was adopted by the city of Quito, Ecuador, as its city bird on June 23, 2005.
In the family of a medium tree finch, the nest is built by the male.
The black-breasted puffleg is mostly silent, but sometimes it emits a weak tzeet, tzeet sound after taking flight.
Many owls, including the Mexican and northern spotted owl, swallow their prey whole and regurgitate pellets of indigestible hair, fur and bones.
The Rota bridled white-eye is called nosa luta by the Chamorro people, the native people where it lives on the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.
The magenta petrel was once thought to be extinct after it wasn't seen for 111 years.
The average weight of the Rota bridled white-eye is only about a third of an ounce.
Most owls have light-colored eyes, whereas the northern spotted owl's eyes are dark brown.
The Rota bridled white-eye has a down-pointing bill and brush-tipped tongue, perfect for feeding on nectar.
+ Fish
A fresh delta smelt smells like a cucumber.
Most longfin smelt die after spawning, but a few females may live and spawn a second time.
Sawfish intestines are shaped like a corkscrew, called a spiral-valve.
The Arkansas River shiner requires at least 80 miles of river to complete its life cycle.
The scales of the Moapa dace are small and embedded in its skin to give it a noticeably leathery texture.
The Pacific lamprey has no fins, jaws or bones.
Gila chub are thought to be highly secretive fish.
After breeding, female longfin smelt lay as many as 24,000 eggs, which will hatch about 40 days later.
Although they're fish, delta smelt are relatively weak swimmers, relying on tidal currents to transport them long distances.
The long, coiled intestines of Devils River minnows suggest that they eat mostly algae.
During breeding season, male Gila chubs develop vivid, red-orange bellies and some develop a lump of tissue behind their heads.
+ Invertebrates
After Hurricane Andrew ripped through southern Florida in 1992, the already-scarce Miami blue butterfly almost went extinct.
The four wings of dragonflies can move independently of one another and beat as many as 35 times a second.
It's said that giant Palouse earthworms can grow up to more than 1 foot long, spit when they're handled and smell like lavender.
While insects have a waxy layer on their exoskeleton, amphipods do not — so they rapidly gain or lose moisture according to their environment.
Each adult Quino checkerspot butterfly lives for only about 10 to 14 days.
Fairy shrimp breathe using lobes on the outer sides of their legs.
Throughout history, many cultures have believed that when people die, their souls go to heaven as butterflies.
Coral reefs cover only 1 percent of the ocean floor, yet they support 25 percent of all marine creatures.
Male Bay checkerspot butterflies can mate many times, but most females mate only once.
All Andrew's dune scarab beetles emerge from the sand, where they spend most of their lives, and take flight within a few minutes of each other.
Abalone shells are prized for their irridescent inner layer, commonly known as "mother-of-pearl."
+ Mammals
An Arctic fox's paws are sheathed in dense fur during the winter, which explains this species' scientific name lagopus — meaning "rabbit footed."
Northern flying squirrels don't really fly, but glide from tree to tree— sometimes long distances of more than 25 yards.
A family of Arctic foxes can eat dozens of lemmings each day.
Northern flying squirrels are known to vocalize with repeated warning calls and high-pitched "chirps."
During winter hibernation, Kenai brown bears go for more than 100 days without eating, drinking or passing waste. Also, while they may look heavy and cumbersome, they can sprint at remarkable speeds of 35-40 miles per hour.
Ocelot fur was once considered valuable, with a single cat worth approximately $400 (in 1990s prices), and it would take an unlucky 13 ocelots to make one fur coat.
Island foxes colonized the modern-day Channel Islands 16,000 years ago, when the islands were a single, big land mass.
Traditional Blackfeet Indians believed the grizzly bear to be people's closest animal relative. The great bear — known as Old Grandfather, Old Honey Paws, or Crooked Tail — wasn't feared or considered a threat; in fact, grizzlies were revered as healers and were the most esteemed of all animals.
Right whales — like north Pacific and north Atlantic right whales — are so named because long-ago whalers thought they were the "right whales" to kill (that is, the easiest).
The fisher is the only animal tough and clever enough to prey regularly on porcupines — no easy feat.
The Pacific pocket mouse has very hairy hind feet, giving the species one of its most distinguishing features.
The killer whale, or orca, is actually an intelligent, social predator known to form lasting social bonds — living in highly organized "pods" where everyone cares for the young, sick, or injured.
The maximum lifespan of ribbon seals may approach 30 years, and they likely live about 20 years on average.
+ Plants
The name "milk vetch" (as in Peirson's milk vetch) can be traced back to the 1500s, when European farmers believed the plant increased the milk yield of their goats.
One Cook's lomatium population in Jackson County has been almost completely annihilated by a baseball sports complex.
The Huachuca water umbel is also known as the cienega false-rush.
The Cook's lomatium is a member of the parsley family, a family that also contains the deadly poison hemlock.
Seedling establishment for Canelo Hills ladies' tresses requires a symbiotic association between plant-root tissue and fungi.
The flower heads and stalk of the Ash Meadows gumplant are sticky to the touch — just like gum.
The Lane Mountain milk vetch can survive underground for several years.
Unlike barrel cacti, which have lengthwise ribs, the Pima pineapple cactus has conical seections that give it a bumpy appearance.
Seagrasses are flowering plants the live underwater. Like land plants, they also produce oxygen.
+ Reptiles
The flat-tailed horned lizard can squirt blood from its eyes — a defense behavior that is common to all horned lizard species.
Sea turtles like the loggerhead and leatherback are unable to draw their heads into their shells like land turtles. Instead, their thick, scaly skin protects them from predators.
The average life expectancy of map turtles ranges from 15-20 years, but the longest observed lifespan of a Barbour's map turtle in captivity was more than 31 years.
When faced with an unfamiliar tortoise, the desert tortoise may hiss grunt, whoop or make popping sounds.
Alameda whipsnakes are good climbers that can escape into scrub or trees.
Temperature plays a role in the gender of baby leatherback sea turtles, with warmer nests producing more females.
The Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard's nose is equipped with a structure that allows it to continue breathing underground without inhaling sand.
Whipsnakes hold their heads high off the ground, like cobras, when hunting for prey.
Desert tortoises spend at least 95 percent of their lives in underground burrows.
The eastern massasauga is said to be the only venomous snake in Michigan.
This video originally appeared on the Center's YouTube channel, with the music courtesy of St. Louis band FIRE DOG.