Odd and Trivial Facts

The wingspan of the Wandering Albatross is 3.5m (11 foot 6 inches). That of the Andean Condor is 32.m (10 foot 6 inches) and of the Mute Swan 2.3m (7 feet 6 inches). The Golden Eagle's wingspan is 2.2m (7 foot 3 inches) and the Grey Heron 1.9m (6 foot 2 inches).

Oscar Wilde's proper name was Final O'Flahertie Wills.

Some long-lived animals include Marion's Tortoise (Geochelone sumeirei) (152 years); another Tortoise (Testudo graeca) (116 years) the Deep Sea Clam (110 years); Killer Whales and Blue Whales (90 years); and Frshwater Oysters (80 years).

The seven virtues are prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, hope and love.

The Agentinosaurus was the largest dinosaur discovered to date. It weighed between 80 and 100 tonnes. (For comparison purposes, an African Elephant weighs 5.9 tonnes.) The Ultrasaurus also weighed over 80 tonnes while the Supersaurus was anywhere between 50 and 100 tonnes as was the Seismosaurus. The Brachiosaurus was 45 to 50 tonnes and the Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) 30 to 35 tonnes.

An early advocate of recycling was Gioachino Rossini, the composer. He used the overture for his opera Aureliano in Palmira again as the overture to Elizabeth, Queen of England. Even then he had no pangs of conscience when he decided to use it again as the overture to The Barber of Seville.