Today is the 4th anniversary of #AnAnimalADay. 4 years ago today, I decided to brighten up Twitter, and now Bluesky, with fun animal facts. I did so for the last 1,460 days straight, never repeating an animal. With that said, I think it's time for a break. #AnAnimalADay is going on indefinite hiatus

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Malayan Tiger! 1 of the 6 tiger species alive today, it's native to certain parts of Malaysia, and it faces numerous threats from humans. Poaching and habitat destruction are killing these beautiful big cats. We must support conservation efforts to save tigers worldwide.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is one of the most infamous snakes of all-time: The Black Mamba! Native to sub-Saharan Africa, it's the second longest venomous snake on earth (up to 15ft long). Despite its fearsome reputation, this deadly snake is only aggressive to humans when cornered or threatened.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Chinstrap Penguin! Pretty easy to see where this wannabe boyband member gets its name. They're native to Antarctica/S. Pacific, and they can swim up to 50 miles in a single day in search of food. To sleep, they micro-sleep in 4second increments thousands of times per day

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Red-Bellied Lemur! This primate, like all lemurs, is native to Madagascar. They're adorable and form monogamous mating pairs, and then those pairs join other pairs to form small groups that forage together, mostly for fresh fruits, thus being an important seed spreader.

Despite the name, today's #AnAnimalADay is no wuss: The Snowflake Moray! This marine eel is abundant in the Indo-Pacific from Africa to Hawaii, and it has a strong jaw and slightly blunted teeth, both of which are perfect for cracking through tough crab shells (the main staple of its diet).

Today's #AnAnimalADay has an adorable name to match it's beautiful colors: The Rosy-Faced Lovebird! This member of the parrot family is native to Africa, and if the name wasn't cute enough, when they sleep, the sleep upright with their faces turned together and touching. True lovebirds indeed.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Indian Python! Although much smaller than its cousin the Burmese python, this is still one of earth's largest snakes. It can reach more than 11ft long, but it's a shy snake that rarely attacks. Due to their size, they're slow on land but move quickly in the water.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Harlequin Duck! This beautiful sea duck native to the Pacific coasts of N.America and Asia dive in the shallows for small mollusks and crustaceans. The males are more colorful than the females so they're easy to tell apart, and they form monogamous mating pairs.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the African Lion! This so-called "king of the jungle" (they don't live in jungles) has captivated us for literal centuries, and records of them being shown in "zoos" date back to the Roman Empire. The male's trademark mane is an indicator to females of good health for mating

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Sri Lankan Elephant! This is the largest subspecies of the Asian elephant, with the largest individuals topping the scales at over 12,000lbs! Unfortunately, as humans expand into their territory, they're coming into conflict with these beautiful elephants more often.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is one of our closest living relatives: The Chimpanzee! When I say we're close relatives, I mean it, sharing approximately 98.8% of our DNA with chimps. Humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor that lived 6-7 million years ago, and we've shared our planet ever since.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Yacare Caiman! This crocodilian of South America is a true success story for conservation. It's population was devastated by overhunting for its skin, but legislation and careful conservation has brought the species back from endangered status. Conservation works, people

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the White-Tailed Eagle! They're widespread throughout Eurasia, but due to humans being just terrible with poaching and habitat destruction, they're now pretty rare. They're one of the largest birds of prey on earth today, with a wingspan reaching up to 8ft across!

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Blue Shark! They're one of the fastest swimmers in the ocean, reaching top speeds over 40mph. Female blue sharks give birth to live young, with litters of pups (yes, a baby shark is called a pup) numbering 25-100 individuals! That's a lot of hungry mouths to feed.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Mantled Howler Monkey! This is one of C. America's largest monkeys, and it eats just a ton of leaves every day. Problem is, leaves don't provide much nutrition, so it also spends large chunks of the day sleeping. Their loud namesake calls can carry for several miles.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Nile Monitor! As the name suggests it's native to Africa though not limited to the Nile River. It's Africa's longest lizard (capable of growing 7+ft long) and is packing sharp teeth and claws for defense and for tearing through prey items. They're also great swimmers.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Marbled Cat! This is a small species of wild cat native to the high elevations of India, Thailand, and the Himalayas. It's about the size of your average house cat, but with a super long tail (as long as the rest of its body combined). They hunt in the forest canopies.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the largest member of the dolphin family: The Orca! That's right, you may know it as a killer whale but it's a big dolphin. They can be found in a wide array of ocean habitats and thankfully in the wild this apex predator is chill with humans and won't attack us.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Yellow Garden Spider! This common spider is found from S. Canada all the way to Colombia. Though this somewhat large spider may seem scary, they're not aggressive at all and will only bite as a last resort. Even then, their bite is comparable to a bee sting for danger.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Green Milkweed Locust! I picked a creature with green and weed in the name for no particular reason today. This insect is native to Africa, and when disturbed it will flash its bright red/blue wings as a warning. If continually disturbed, it will release a noxious fluid.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is adorable and you know it: The Alpine Chipmunk! This rodent is found only in the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. There's not much water up there, so they get all they need from food. They spend half the year hibernating, which sounds great to me.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the White Marlin! This billfish (meaning it has that long poker for a nose) is native to the Atlantic and grows to around 9ft at its largest. They're near the top of the food chain in their habitat and most any fish they can manage based on size is fair game, like tuna.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is The Ethiopian Wolf! It's about the size of a coyote, and it's one of the world's rarest canines. They have a hyper-specific diet of Afroalpine rodents, which have highly specific habitat requirements, so this wolf can only be found in areas with this food source.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Common Watersnake! I picked this snake because yesterday while cleaning up trash on a riverbank, I found one caught in a net (DISPOSE OF NETS PROPERLY FFS). Thankfully I was able to cut him free and relocate him. These snakes are harmless to humans, so I wasn't in danger

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Sand Tiger Shark! Don't let that name and appearance fool you, this is a fairly placid shark with no record of ever fatally harming a human despite spending a ton of time in the shallows so divers see them often. It can grow over 10ft long, but ones that size are rare.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Cuban Tree Frog! This relatively large frog (largest tree frog species in N.America) is native to the Caribbean, but its adaptability has sadly made it an invasive species in the US, including as far away as Hawaii. They're voracious predators, even eating smaller frogs.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Common Moorhen! These waterbirds are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. As the name suggests, they make their home in marshes and swamps, and they have a nasty habit of nest parasitism (lay their eggs in another bird's nest), both with other moorhens and random birds.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Tamaraw! This small species of buffalo is native only to the island of Mindoro, Philippines. Sadly, human encroachment into its native habitat has rendered this beautiful bovine critically endangered. The wild population is likely less than 200 remaining individuals.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Steller's Jay! It kinda looks like a blue jay we're all familiar with got an emo hairdo, but it is a separate species (though it's related). They're native to W North America and has a whopping 13 subspecies with subtle differences like head plumage varying between them

Today's #AnAnimalADay has a nose for the ages: The Proboscis Monkey! It's native only to the island of Borneo, and while they might look different, both males and females have pretty iconic noses. Males have that bulbous nose and females have noses out of Whoville. The nose helps amplify their calls

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Yellow Boxfish! This beauty (named for its box-shaped body) starts out yellow as a juvenile and gradually turns more blue with age. They're popular in aquariums but spook easily. When spooked it releases a toxin that kills the other fish in the tank and likely itself too

Today's #AnAnimalADay feels like it should really be a crocodilian (#GoGators), so let's meet the Morelet's Crocodile! This croc, native only to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, can grow to ~10ft long (though only males get that big, and it's rare). Basically any creature they can overpower is food.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Western Santa Cruz Tortoise! This highly endangered subspecies of Galapagos tortoise only lives on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos. Luckily for this species, 4 brand new members of the species were just born at the Philadelphia Zoo in a huge win for conservation!

Today's #AnAnimalADay the Cairo Spiny Mouse. As the name suggests, they're native to Egypt and have unusually stiff hairs similar to a hedgehog's spines for defense. They grow to about 10in long from nose to tail tip, with the tail being about half that. They forage in the desert for seeds & insects

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Melon-Headed Whale! Named for that lovely round-ass head, these toothed whales in the dolphin family are rarely seen by humans in the wild. These are super social whales, traveling in groups that can number in the hundreds of individuals, seeking out squid and small fish

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Central American Bushmaster! This pit viper is massive, with the potential to grow 10ft long! It lives exclusively in the jungles and forests of C. America and always near a water source. It slithers through the leaf litter hunting rats and other small rodents.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Sitka Deer! This subspecies of the mule deer is named for Sitka, AK, where it calls home (along with parts of Canada and other parts of Alaska). Due to harsh Alaskan winters, their population can fluctuate between way high and crazy low, but it always bounces back.

Today's #AnAnimalADay would like to remind us all that body-shaming isn't cool: The African Fat-Tailed Gecko! This ground-dwelling gecko uses that namesake tail to store up energy reserves as fat, and as a result it can go days without eating. When threatened, it can also drop that tail and escape.

It's #AprilFoolsDay, so we need a silly-sounding choice for #AnAnimalADay, like the Maroon Clownfish! It may not look like the orange and white clownfish you're used to, but it does have a symbiotic relationship with anemones like you're probably familiar with. They're native to the Indo-Pacific.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the DeKay's Brownsnake! It gets the honor because I saved one from my garage yesterday, and he was a delightful little fellow. They only grow to about a foot long, and they're native to the Eastern half of the USA and Mexico. They're harmless and mostly eat slugs and worms.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Silver-Haired Bat! This bat is found throughout most of the USA and S. Canada. I know a lot of people are afraid of bats, but these little guys are our friends. They only eating bugs--mostly moths and spiders. That said, they can carry rabies so best to leave them alone.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Golden Coin Turtle! This golden-domed turtle is native to China grows to about 10in long and spends its time in its freshwater ecosystem hunting. Sadly, they're an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and hunting has made them critically endangered in the wild.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Belted Kingfisher! This fishing bird of North America is somewhat unique in the bird world in that the females are more colorful than the males. Females have the brown/orange "belt" across their stomach that the males lack. They dive headfirst into water to catch fish.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Mekong Giant Catfish! This critically endangered catfish from SE Asia holds the distinction of being the world's largest catfish species! They can grow to 8+ ft long and weight over 700lbs, making them also the largest fish species that lives exclusively in fresh water.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Picasso Bug! This insect is a member of the shield-backed bug family, and those namesake colors are a warning to anyone who bothers them. This is a species of stinkbug, and it will emit a foul odor when threatened. It's native to Africa, and it mainly feeds on flowers.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Short-Beaked Echidna! These spiny little critters are one of 4 species of echidna, all of which are monotremes. That means that even though the short-beaked echidna is a mammal, it lays eggs! They've got super-powerful front limbs & claws, making them excellent burrowers

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Queen Scallop! That's right, before scallops get to your seafood section of the menu they're living animals, with the queen scallop making its home in the Atlantic. They feed on plankton, and this species is commercially vital, mostly farmed in large scallop fisheries.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Painted Bunting! This colorful bird is in the cardinal family and native to the US and Mexico. Only mature males at least 2 years old have that fancy plumage. Females/juveniles are a more drab green/brown. They used to be a popular cage bird but now they're protected.

Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Rough Green Snake! Despite its rough name, this is a super placid snake that doesn't attack humans. In the super rare case it does bite, it's nonvenomous and completely harmless to us. That said, human interaction can stress them out (ditto), so best to leave them alone.