Bizarre Creatures

Soda Jack

Soda Jack

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Sep 12, 2013
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Angora Rabbit

The Angora rabbit is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft wool. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit.

Dugong

This strange creature, along with it’s relative the Manatee, are believed to be what Sailors used to confuse Mermaids for.

Geoduck

Nature’s “That’s what she said” joke to all of us. This a large edible burrowing clam of the Pacific coast of North America that usually weighs two to three pounds (about one kilogram)

Giant Coconut Crab

These are the largest land living anthropod on the planet!

Giant Isopod

The Giant Isopod, Bathynomus giganteus, is the largest member of the isopod family, a group of crustaceans closely related to shrimps and crabs. It is carnivorous and is a valuable scavenger, eating from the deep sea floor whatever falls from above, including bodies of whales, fish, and squid. The giant isopod can grow to a length of over 16 inches.

Indian Gharial

These guys can measure up to fifteen feet.

Long-Eared Jerboa

The long-eared jerboa is an incredibly adaptable animal, as it lives in extremely harsh conditions, with temperatures in the Gobi desert falling as low as -40°C in winter, and rising as high as +40°C in summer.

Matamata Turtle

The appearance of the mata mata’s shell resembles a piece of bark, and its head resembles fallen leaves. As it remains motionless in the water, its skin flaps enable it to blend into the surrounding vegetation until a fish comes close. The mata mata thrusts out its head and opens its large mouth as wide as possible, creating a low-pressure vacuum that sucks the prey into its mouth, known as suction feeding. The mata mata snaps its mouth shut, the water is slowly expelled, and the fish is swallowed whole; the mata mata cannot chew due to the way its mouth is constructed.

Monkfish

These guys are related to the Angler Fish.

Purple Frog

The frog spends most of the year underground, surfacing only for about two weeks, during the monsoon, for purposes of mating.

Vampire Squid

The vampire squid occupies meso- to bathypelagic depths throughout the world’s tropical and temperate oceans where little to no light penetrates. The vampire squid is vertically distributed between depths of 300-3000m with a majority of vampire squids occupying depths of 1,500-2,500m. The squid is considered small – reaching a maximum length of 28 cm with the approximate size of a football.
 
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If I see the Giant coconut crab on MY trash can, I'm moving immediately.
 
Atolla Jellyfish

Atolla jellyfish are pretty common. They’ve been found in every ocean of the world, but they’re not something you’re likely to come across at the beach because they usually live over 700 meters (2,200 ft) below the surface. Like many deep-sea creatures, they’re bioluminescent (they light up like fireflies). But atollas don’t use their lights to capture prey like anglerfish do—they use them to escape. If an atolla is caught by a predator, it emits a frenzy of bright pulses, like a strobe light. The light show attracts even bigger fish, which will go for the atolla’s attacker, giving it a chance to get away.The atolla also has a single, elongated tentacle, which it uses to capture prey. They grab their victim with the end of the tentacle and drag the helpless creature through the water, jerking it back and forth until it’s too tired to fight back—like a fisherman reeling in a big fish.

Antarctic Ice Fish

Extremophiles (animals that live in extreme conditions) are, as a rule are pretty unusual. But the Antarctic ice fish might take the cake. As the name suggests, they’re found in the deep waters around Antarctica, usually in temperatures lower than 0° C and at depths of up to a kilometer (about 3,300 ft). They’re completely colorless; even their blood is transparent. They still have blood, but it doesn’t contain any hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen and gives blood its redness. They’re the only vertebrate in the world with that characteristic, and researchers are still trying to figure out why the ice fish developed it in the first place. On top of that, their blood contains an antifreeze protein, which prevents their blood and soft tissues from freezing. It’s because of this protein that they can live in sub-zero temperatures without becoming a fishsicle.

Emperor Shrimp

The tiny, colorful emperor shrimp looks looks more like a piece of candy than a living thing, but its striking color serves a very important purpose . . . actually, we have no idea why they’re so colorful, despite the fact that they’ve been studied since 1967. It’s possible that they just have no need for camouflage. Emperor shrimp live almost exclusively on the backs of a type of sea slug known as a nudibranch, specifically the Hexabranchus marginatus, which has few predators because it absorbs toxins from its food. There’s really nothing out there that would attack them anyway, so maybe they’re just showing off.

Blue Dragon Sea Slug

Most animals eat animals that are smaller than them. It’s just the way the world works. The blue dragon, on the other hand, laughs in the face of reason and goes straight for the biggest, most dangerous creatures it can find—like the Portuguese man o’ war, and if none of those are around, other blue dragons. By eating the tentacles of the man o’ war, blue dragons absorb the stinging cnidocyte cells, which they store in sacs in their bodies to use in self-defense if they’re attacked.But it gets weirder. Most sea slugs crawl along the bottom of the ocean. Blue dragons? They swallow an air bubble and float just under the surface of the water. When viewed from below against the water’s surface, they look something like a spider walking on a mirror. They just float wherever the waves take them, eating anything they run into.

Felimare Picta

The Felimare picta is a species of sea slug that lives in warm, subtropical waters, particularly around the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. There are six different subspecies of Hypselodoris, and they’re actually a subsection of the nudibranch sea slug, all of which are completely ridiculous. Nudibranches are fairly small, typically only growing to about 20 centimeters (8 in), although there have been a few recorded nudibranches that were longer than 64 centimeters (25 in). They’re mollusks (like snails), but instead of using shells for protection, they have a few other tricks up their colorful sleeves—like sweating acid. If that’s not Alien enough, we don’t know what is.

Gorgonian Wrapper

The waters of the Indo-Pacific hold some of the most diverse marine life on the planet, including the gorgonian wrapper. The gorgonian wrapper is a sea anemone, so yes, that terrifying thing is a predator. And it’s as ruthless as it looks—anemones like the gorgonian wrapper produce something called a cnidocyte, which is essentially a small, toxic shrapnel grenade. Cnidocyte cells line the tentacles of anemones, and when a fish brushes against one (or millions) of them, a trigger activates and the cell explodes, sending paralyzing harpoons into the fish. The biological process that fires the anemone’s venom is one of the fastest reactions in the animal kingdom. It takes less than 700 nanoseconds for the cnidocyte cell to shoot its deadly load (a nanosecond is one billionth of a second).

Wonderpus

With one of the best Latin names in the animal kingdom, Wunderpus photogenicus is a rare predatory octopus found off the coast of the Philippines. The name comes from the fact that people like taking pictures of them; they’re photogenic. But kittens are photogenic, and the wonderpus is anything but cuddly. They’re crepuscular hunters (they hunt at dawn and twilight) that stalk prey by creeping along the seabed on long, flattened tentacles. In stealth mode, their bright coloring fades until they blend in with the sand and coral. But try to attack one, and suddenly it becomes a violent blaze of red and orange, warning predators to stay away.And like most octopuses, wonderpuses are remarkably intelligent. This video shows a wonderpus building a wall of coral to hide behind. We’re learning more about the wonderpus every day (they were only discovered in 2006), but they’ve certainly made it easier on us—the patterns of white spots on their backs are completely unique to each individual, like a fingerprint.

Lionfish

There are 10 species of lionfish, and it goes without saying that they’re one of the most recognizable types of fish in the world. Savagely beautiful and incredibly dangerous, all 10 species are native to the Indian Ocean and southern Pacific, although two species were introduced to the East Coast of North America in the ’90s. This is turning out to be a problem because they breed like underwater rabbits and have no natural predators.In fact, the population explosion has gotten so bad that researchers in Honduras are actually trying to train sharks to eat lionfish. Normally, sharks won’t even go near the things. Right now, the only real danger to these predators is, ironically, themselves: In the absence of food, lionfish will eat each other.

Giant Siphonophore

Visually, this thing doesn’t look like much, but you need a sense of scale to really appreciate the giant siphonophore; they live in the deep sea and can reach lengths of more than 40 meters (130 ft). That’s the height of a 13-story building and longer than a blue whale, the world’s largest vertebrate.But the giant siphonophore isn’t really a single animal, per se; it’s actually a colony of millions of creatures called zooids. Each cluster of zooids has a specialized purpose: Some are responsible for eating, others digest the food, and others have the task of defending the colony. When they all work together, the colony functions like a single organism. It’s like a country or (perhaps more accurately) a stack of midgets in an overcoat. And because siphonophores live so deep (about a kilometer down, or half a mile), they’re constantly under a ridiculous amount of pressure—half a ton for every square centimeter of surface area. As a result, they’re difficult to study. When brought too close to the surface, they pop like a balloon because of the reduced pressure.

Bobbit Worm

There’s nothing about the bobbit worm that isn’t grotesque or morbid. Even its name came from a court case in 1993, involving a woman named Lorena Bobbitt, a knife, and . . . something else that looks like a worm. Equal parts Tremors Graboid and unholy hellspawn, the bobbit worm can grow up to three meters long (10 ft). It burrows into the sea bed, leaving a small portion of itself above the surface. When a fish wanders by, the worm lunges out, snags the fish with its massive pincers, and drags it underground. Most specimens haven’t been found in the ocean—but accidentally stowed away in saltwater aquariums. They hitchhike into the aquarium in rocks and gravel taken from the ocean, then slowly grow under the radar. In 2009, a giant bobbit worm was found in Blue Reef Aquarium in England. It was noticed when the aquarium workers took apart the tank to figure out why all their fish were disappearing.
 
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Dragon Slug
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Blob Fish

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Tufted Deer

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The Babirusa

Babirusa, meaning “Hog-deer”, are members of the pig family found in Wallacea, or specifically the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula and Buru. If a babirusa does not grind its tusks (achievable through regular activity), they will eventually keep growing so as to penetrate the animal’s own skull.

Pink Fairy Armadillo

The pink fairy armadillo is approximately 3.5-4.5 inches long, excluding the tail, and is pale rose or pink in color. It has the ability to bury itself completely in a matter of seconds if frightened. It is a nocturnal animal and it burrows small holes near ant colonies in dry soil, and feeds mainly on ants and ant larvae near its burrow. It uses large front claws to agitate the sand, allowing it to almost swim through the ground like it is water. It is torpedo-shaped, and has a shielded head and back.

The Fossa


The fossa is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal that is endemic to Madagascar. The fossa is the largest mammalian carnivore on the island of Madagascar and has been compared to a small cougar. It has semi-retractable claws and flexible ankles that allow it to climb up and down trees head-first, and also support jumping from tree to tree.

The Gerenuk


The gerenuk, also known as the Waller’s gazelle, is a long-necked species of antelope found in dry thorn bush scrub and desert in Eastern Africa. The word gerenuk comes from the Somali language, meaning “giraffe-necked”. Gerenuks have a relatively small head for their body, but their eyes and ears are proportionately large. Gerenuks seldom graze but browse on prickly bushes and trees, such as acacias. They can reach higher branches and twigs than other gazelles and antelope by standing erect on their rear legs and stretching their elongated necks.

Naked Mole Rat

This creature has a lot of characteristics that make it very important to human beings. For one it is resistant to cancer. They also live up to 28 years, which is unheard of in mammals of its size. It seemingly does not age much in those 28 years either. It remains “young, healthy and fully fertile for almost all its days, which for an elderly animal is equivalent to an 80-year-old woman having the biological make-up of someone 50 years younger.” The naked mole rat is used in both cancer research and the study of aging. Not only making it a bizarre creature, but an incredibly important creature as well.

Irrawaddy Dolphin


The Irrawaddy dolphin is a species of oceanic dolphin found near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. Genetically, the Irrawaddy dolphin is closely related to the killer whale.

Markhor


The markhor is a large species of wild goat that is found in northeastern Afghanistan and Pakistan. The species is classed by the IUCN as Endangered, as there are fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan. While chewing the cud, a foam-like substance comes out of its mouth which drops on the ground and dries. This foam-like substance is sought after by the local people, who believe it is useful in extracting snake poison from snake bitten wounds.

Yeti Crab

Also known as the Kiwaidae, this crab is a type of marine decapod living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The animals are commonly referred to as “yeti crabs” because of their claws and legs, which are white and appear to be furry like the mythical yeti

Snub-Nosed Monkey

Snub-nosed monkeys live in various parts of Asia and get their name from the short stump of a nose on their round face. Snub-nosed monkeys inhabit mountain forests, in the winter moving into deeply secluded regions. They spend the majority of their life in the trees and live together in very large groups of up to 600 members. They have a large vocal repertoire, calling sometimes solo while at other times together in choir-like fashion.
 
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The Maned Wolf


The Maned Wolf is the largest canid in South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur. This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees throughout South America. The maned wolf is the tallest of the wild canids and it’s long legs are most likely an adaptation to the tall grasslands of its native habitat.
Southern Right Whale Dolphin

The southern right whale dolphin is a small and slender species of mammal found in cool waters of the southern hemisphere. They are fast active swimmers and have no visible teeth and no dorsal fin. They are very graceful and often move by leaping out of the water continuously
Southern Red Muntjac


Found in south Asia, it has soft, short, brownish or greyish hair and is omnivorous, feeding on grass, fruits, shoots, seeds, birds’ eggs as well as small animals. It sometimes even displays scavenging behavior, feeding on carrion. It gives calls similar to barking, usually upon sensing a predator. Males are extremely territorial and—despite their diminutive size—can be quite fierce. They will fight each other for territory using their antlers or their tusk-like upper canine teeth, and can even defend themselves against certain predators such as dogs.
Cyphonia Clavata

It is a species of treehopper called Cyphonia Clavata that literally has an ant growing out of its head. Well not literally, the ant-like thing on its head is an appendage that hides the treehopper’s actual body from predators.
Sunda Colugo

Also known as The Sunda flying lemur, it is not actually a lemur and does not fly. Instead, it glides as it leaps among trees. It is strictly arboreal, is active at night, and feeds on soft plant parts such as young leaves, shoots, flowers, and fruits. The Sunda Coluga can be found throughout Southeast Asia in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore
Tufted Deer

The Tufted Deer is a small species of deer characterized by the prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over a wide area of central China. It is a timid animal, mainly solitary or found in pairs and prefers places with good cover, where it is well camouflaged.
Lamprey


Raccoon Dog


The Raccoon Dog, or Tanuki, is a canid indigenous to East Asia. The raccoon dog is named for its resemblance to the raccoon, to which it is not closely related. They are very good climbers and regularly climb trees.
Patagonian Mara

The Patagonian Mara is a relatively large rodent found in parts of Argentina. This herbivorous, somewhat rabbit-like animal has distinctive long ears and long limbs and its hind limbs are longer and more muscular than its forelimbs.
The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher


The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher is found in forests and woodlands throughout most of the Amazon basin. They are about 6 1/2 inches in length and like to dart out from branches to catch flying insects or pluck them from leaves. They build very large nests (sometimes up to 6 feet long) on a branches near water. The nest hangs over the water which makes it hard for predators to reach.
Zebra Duiker

The zebra duiker is a small antelope found in Ivory Coast and other parts of Africa. They have gold or red-brown coats with distinctive zebra-like stripes (hence the name) Their prong-like horns are about 4.5 cm long in males, and half that in females. They live in lowland rainforests and mostly eat leaves and fruit.
 
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Sailors must have been real drunk to confuse Dugongs with mermaids.
 
Asia has been crossed off my list of places to visit.
 
Saiga Antelope:

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Sarcastic Fringeheads:

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Gobi Jerboa:

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Star-Nosed Mole:

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Aye-aye:

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