I need help with russian животные

[Serkat]

Hey there, I'm 1 week into Russian. Can anybody tell me if I would be correct to assume that sometimes (or always) adjectives can be used as nouns? E.g. животное - animal - животные - animals Can I also say животный - male animal and животная - female animal? Я люблю соседей и животных, а не деть. What is this phenomenon called? Can I do this with all adjectives? Where can I find info on this?