From animals that can easily adapt to pretty much any conditions, to ones that have altered
their bodies to survive in any weather here are 10 animals with bizarre adaptations.
10.
Plethodontidae One of the most basic things that animals
need to survive is oxygen, and most creatures have lungs to do just that.
But for the family of Salamanders known as Plethodontidae, they don't have that option,
because they don't have lungs.
These unique Salamanders breathe directly through their skin, and the tissues that line
their mouths.
You might think that such a unique species of Salamander would be small in terms of number,
but this family actually makes up the largest among all Salamanders.
Pretty cool huh?
One of the most unique of this family though is the "ET Salamander", a member that was
found in Ecuador back in 2009.
It was named after the creature from the Spielberg film due to its oddly-shaped head.
Despite it being found in 2009, there's still not much known about this creature, but expeditions
are being done to learn more.
9.
Okapi The Okapi were first discovered by European
travelers in the 20th century.
And when they saw them, they thought it to be the unicorn of legend.
Mainly because they thought it had one horn, when actually it has two.
Close enough!!
Despite the Okapi not being out in the open too often, scientists were able to study them
more, and through that study they were found to have a very special tongue.
This tongue of the Okapi is actually over a foot long, and just as bizarre, it's not
shaped like a "regular" tongue.
Actually, it's shaped like a tube.
This allows the Okapi to grasp onto leaves from high trees and then bring them down.
It also has the length to be able to lick and clean its own eyeball.
And in case you were curious, the closest relative to the Okapi isn't a horse, or a
zebra, it's actually a giraffe.
8.
Maned Wolf At first glance, the Maned Wolf from South
America may appear to be a wolf, or a Red Fox, or a interesting hybrid between these
species.
But in fact, it is not.
Instead, the Maned Wolf is a unique member of the Canid Family (Which does indeed include
wolves and foxes), but, the creature is not related to them in full, they are their own
creatures.
Which already makes them special.
But what truly makes them unique compared to the other members of their family is their
legs.
As you can see, the legs are much longer than most foxes and wolves out in the wild.
But the reasoning for these legs is a bit unclear in the eyes of scientists.
The more prevailing theory is that because the Maned Wolf lives in South America, the
creature needed to deal with all the tall grass and vegetation in the area.
Thus, through longer legs, it's able to keep its head above the grass, and be able to ensure
that it can hear predators and prey around it.
This is definitely a family trait because wolves and foxes are also very alert creatures
by nature.
Its ears have also been adapted to ensure that all sounds reach them, including the
subtle scurrying of rats, which are part of its meal most times.
7.
Wood Frogs When winter comes, animals on land adapt to
the situation in their own unique ways, but for the Wood Frog, it's another matter.
They don't run, or hide, or burrow themselves into the ground or in a tree.
Instead, the Wood Frog just freezes over where it stands.
I do mean this in the literal sense.
Its insides will freeze through the water that is naturally inside of them.
This "new state" that is finds itself in is so deceiving, that if you were to go and find
a Wood Frog after they've "frozen over", you'd think they were dead.
As they won't try and run when you get close, they won't have a "pulse", and you can pick
them up and basically do anything to them as long as they are still frozen.
Which begs the question, "how do they get out of this state?"
The answer is temperature.
When it's warm enough to "melt them", they return to their regular living state.
To the extent that they can be up and hopping around in a matter of minutes despite being
"frozen" for several weeks or months depending on their location.
And then when winter comes once more, they freeze up and repeat the cycle.
6.
Kangaroo Rat The Kangaroo Rat is a small creature that
likes to live in the western parts of North America.
Yet they're called this because they have big legs that are bipedal, and thus allow
them to hop around like a Kangaroo.
So thus, Kangaroo Rat.
As for their true adaptation though, they have the ability to survive without drinking
a single drop of water.
This adaptation came to be because they like to live in desert areas, and as you know,
a desert can be notorious for only having certain amounts of water to go around.
Thus, the Kangaroo Rat developed a way to engage in desert travel without having to
search for water itself.
That being said, that doesn't mean that the Kangaroo Rat doesn't need moisture, as that
is actually a vital thing for life to survive, including for this creature.
What they do to compensate is that they get it from a place that isn't typical: seeds.
The Kangaroo Rat likes to eat seeds, and its body has become able to extract all the moisture
from these seeds.
Seeds are tiny and might lead you to think they don't get much moisture.
But they don't need a lot, they just enough to survive until their next water source.
5.
Gerenuk The Gerenuk is a type of antelope, and just
like most antelope, they live on the African plain.
However, they don't eat the same way as its species does or as other creatures on the
plain like gazelles do.
While antelopes and gazelles are good on land in regards to running and jumping, they cannot
reach the trees.
So, the Gerenuk evolved to give themselves longer necks and skinny legs.
What this rather unique evolution does is allows the Gerenuk to stand on its back legs
to prop itself up against a tree, then use its neck in order to reach the food it wants
to get.
If you're curious as to why a creature would feel the need to have this adaptation, it's
because on the African plain, there's a lot of competition.
For example, there are 91 species of gazelle that live in Africa, and during dry seasons,
it's a bit tough to feed all the mouths.
But because the Gerenuk is the only one of these particular animals that can reach trees,
it means that they're able to get their food without much worry.
As in all things though, there is a catch to this adaptation.
Because the legs of the Gerenuk are so skinny, the bones inside them are fragile, and thus
if they stay on their hind legs too much, they'll break.
In fact, there have been many cases of this happening to Gerenuk's.
Still, despite this, it's a useful advantage to have in a place with a lot of other animals.
4.
Notothenioidei Have you ever wondered how fish in the Antarctic
survive?
The waters around the area are incredibly cold, and thus you need to have some keen
adaptations to survive in them.
For the suborder known as Notothenioidei, they have a very simple way of combating the
cold.
Mainly, they have "antifreeze" in their veins.
This isn't a joke exactly.
No, they don't have the antifreeze you put in your vehicle to keep it from freezing up.
But, they do have proteins within their systems that actually do a very similar thing.
These proteins will actively find ice crystals that make it into the fish's blood, and then
bind to them so that they can't freeze their insides.
So to the fish, they can swim within these cold waters without fear of getting frozen
over.
So powerful is this adaptation that 90% of the fish that live in the Antarctic waters
are from the suborder Notothenioidei.
3.
Irrawaddy Dolphins as a species have been known to be
very kind to humans, even saving their lives in certain circumstances.
However, a more "commercial" use for getting help from dolphins has been found in the dolphin
species known as the Irrawaddy.
The Irrawaddy primarily live in the waters of southeast Asia, such as the Bay of Bengal,
and for many years, they observed the local fisherman capture fish.
So, one day, they adapted their behavior to actually help them catch fish...in exchange
for some fish themselves.
Which means you could define this adaptation as "you scratch my back, I scratch yours."
The dolphins will actually lure in the fish, and then the fisherman release their nets
and bring them in.
The Irrawaddy are "rewarded" with fish before the nets are brought in for the fishermen.
Believe it or not, no other animal in the wild has adapted this way so that they can
benefit off of human behavior in this way.
Which is actually rather astonishing given how long humans and animals have been around
one another.
This new relationship has been so profitable for certain fisherman that there are actually
battles to get the best Irrawaddy, and make sure they're not stolen by others.
2.
Greater Short-Horned Lizard The greater short-horned lizard is a predator
itself, and is a patient one.
But when predators come its way, it has an adaptation that scares them off pretty quick.
This lizard has a way of exerting pressure within its body to actually build up packets
of blood.
Then, when the predator is close enough, it'll actually squirt the blood its "stored up"
at the predator in question, and it'll squirt it from its eye.
This defensive tactic is useful for two reasons.
One, the sudden action of squirting blood is likely very off-putting, and will make
the predator think that there is something very wrong with the lizard.
The other reason for this being a deterrent is that the blood itself is very potent in
terms of taste.
If the lizard is able to project the blood into the foes mouth, they'll get a taste most
foul.
So between the sight and the taste, predators will want to have nothing to do with them.
It may sound disgusting, but in the animal kingdom, you need to use whatever is at your
disposal in order to stay alive, and that's what the Greater Short-Horned Lizard does.
1.
Sunda Flying Lemur The best way to think about the Sunda Flying
Lemur is by comparing it to an animal with a similar trick, the Flying Squirrel.
However, unlike Flying Squirrels, who have very furry extensions of their bodies rooted
onto their arms, the Sunda Flying Lemur actually has skin flaps that it uses to glide around.
Very massive skin flaps.
After it extends the flaps, the skin allows the Flying Lemur to cover an area that is
actually six times the size of the lemur when its skin is all compressed.
And yet, the flap itself is thinner than a millimeter.
In terms of its life, the Sunda Flying Lemur uses this skin to glide around the trees of
Southeast Asia, and in fact, it only lives in the tall canopies of the trees in that
area.
It will never touch the ground willingly unless something drastic happens.
The hands and feet of the Sunda Flying Lemur are adapted as well to being very useful for
climbing.
So it always has a way up or across depending on the need.
Further ensuring that it never reaches the ground.
This creature is also one of only two known species of animal called the Colugo, and the
other one is the Philippines Flying Lemur.
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