These 20 Weird Animals Prove Nature May Have Been
Drunk. The Batfish Will Haunt My Dreams.
There are countless creatures that inhabit the world with us. Some are awesomely adorable, like puppies, kittens, baby elephants and bottlenose dolphins. Others, however… are not so much. These strange animals must have been created on a day when nature was in kind of a mood, because they just turned out weird.
Nature, go home. You’re drunk.
1.) Tarsier: These primates are found in Southeast Asia. They are unusual, with large eyes the size of their brains and extremely heavy heads.
2.) Mudskipper: These are completely amphibious fish, and they can use their pectoral fins to walk on land.
3.) Proboscis monkey: These monkeys are one of the largest species and are native to Asia. Their most unusual feature is the oversized nose that is used to attract mates. To make them even more comical, when communicating group status, males will honk.
4.) Geoduck: These aren’t ducks at all, but oversized saltwater clams. They can be over a foot long and their only natural predators are humans.
5.) Dumbo Octopus: These octopi are of the genus Grimpoteuthis, and have ear-like fins that come out of their heads. They hover above the sea floor, searching for polychaetes, pelagic copepods, isopods, amphipods, and other crustaceans for food (which they swallow whole).
6.) Bald Uakari: This small, new world monkey lives in the Amazon of Brail and Peru and is characterized by its bright red face. They live in the treetops and are unfortunately vulnerable to malaria.
7.) Narwhal: The narwhal is a medium-sized toothed whale and possesses a large “tusk” from a protruding canine tooth (which makes them look like underwater unicorns). It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia.
8.) Cape Rain Frog: This itty bitty frog is from South Africa and inhabits Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. It is threatened by habitat loss.
9.) Giraffe Weevil: This weevil lives in Madagascar. The Giraffe Weevil is an herbivore and is a unique bug, resembling a giraffe because of its long neck.
10.) Hooded Seal: These seals are found in the central and western North Atlantic. They’re named hooded seals because of the species’ unusual sexual ornament, a peculiar inflatable bladder on the head of the adult male. To attract a mate, the seals inflate the bladder.
11.) Axolotl: Or “water monster,” the axolotl is colloquially known as a “walking fish.” However, it is not a fish, but an amphibian. Instead of developing lungs and taking to land, the adults remain aquatic and gilled.
12.) Basket Star: Basket stars are a group of brittle stars, which have lots of many-branched arms. They generally live in deep sea habitats and in the wild they may live up to 35 years.
13.) Christmas Tree Worms: Spirobranchus giganteus, more commonly known as Christmas tree worms, are tube-building polychaete worms. They live on tropical coral reefs around the world and have two, tree-like protrusions.
14.) Deep Sea Jellyfish: This was found by NOAA’s Okeanos explorer in just 2013. The weird deep sea creature seems almost alien.
15.) Roughback Batfish: This strange fish is found along the coast of the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina in the USA to Brazil. It has bright red “lips” and WILL haunt your dreams.
16.) Mantis Shrimp: The mantis shrimp can come in countless varieties, over 400 species. These aggressive and typically solitary sea creatures spend most of their time hiding in rock formations or burrowing intricate passageways in the sea bed. They can either spear or smash their prey, each method being rapid and deadly.
17.) Saddleback Caterpillar: Although this fuzzy looking caterpillar seems like a cute Scottish terrier with a coat, it’s actually quite poisonous. Its spines and most of the rest of the body bear urticating hairs that secrete an irritating venom. Contact with the hairs causes a painful, swollen rash and sometimes nausea in humans.
18.) Planthopper Nymph: Planthoppers are tiny insects that often “hop” away to safety. The nymphs of many planthopper species produce wax from special glands on the abdominal terga and other parts of the body. These are hydrophobic and help conceal the insects.
19.) Pigbutt Worm: This is a newly discovered species of worm found by scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. It is round in shape, approximately the size of a hazelnut, and bears a strong resemblance to a disembodied pair of buttocks.
20.) Deep Sea Squid (with teeth): This specimen is the Promachoteuthis sulcus, a deep sea squid. Only one has ever been found. It was found by a German research vessel in the southern Atlantic ocean, around 6,000ft down. And also in your deepest fears.
(H/T BuzzFeed)
If one of these creepy crawlies didn’t give you the shivers… then you’re much tougher than we will ever be. The world around us is full of mysteries, but when it comes to strange creatures like these, it’s not so bad when they remain a mystery.
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