Today we have a look at 7 of the toughest creatures in the animal kingdom.
You won't believe how strong and resilient some of them are.
Number 7: The Snow Leopard A species of large cat, also known as Panthera
Uncia, the snow leopard lives in the high, rugged mountains of South and Central Asia,
in areas ranging from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan and Russia in the north to India and China
in the east.
They inhabit rocky outcrops and ravines and steep cliff areas at altitudes of 9,800 to
17,000 feet.
These strong felines are perfectly adapted to the rough environment they inhabit.
The snow leopard is primarily known for its beautiful thick fur with a white, grey or
soft-yellowish coat and ringed spots of black on brown.
This pattern acts as a camouflage for their prey, which mainly consists of wild goats
and sheep.
Unusually among cats, they also consume a considerable amount of vegetation, including
twigs and grass.
While on the hunt, which usually takes place at dusk, snow leopards stalk their prey and
ambush it from heights of 20 to 50 feet.
Mating pairs are known to hunt together.
Snow leopards are capable of killing prey that exceeds their body weight by up to four
times.
They are commonly the apex predators of their environments.
Their powerful hind limbs enable them toleap for up to 30 feet, which amounts to more than
six times their body length.
They also have very large paws that are completely covered in fur and which prevent them from
sinking into the snow while offering protection against the cold.
Their long and flexible tails are covered in thick fur and help them maintain their
balance over rocky terrain.
Unlike other big cats, snow leopards have gray or light-green eyes.
Due to the fact that they live in some of the most remote areas in the world these solitary
animals are rarely seen in the wild.
They are also considered to be an endangered species, with an estimated number of 3,500
to 7,000 of them still living in the wild.
Global warming, loss of food resources and the fact that herders will kill snow leopards
to prevent them from attacking their livestock are among the main reasons behind the species’
endangered status.
Number 6: The Komodo Dragon With an average length of 8 to 9 feet and
weighing up to 200 pounds, Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards in the world.
They have flat heads, bowed legs and long, thick tails.
They are armed with long claws and their rough and durable skins are reinforced with bony
plates called osteoderms.
These animals have several features that make them impressive predators.
According to the Smithsonian Zoo, the Komodo Dragon’s keen sense of sight enables it
to see objects located at distances of more than 985 feet away.
However, this gigantic lizard primarily relies on its sense of smell to detect food.
Using its forked tongue, it samples the air.
Afterwards, the airborne molecules are analyzed by special organs located on the roof of its
mouth.
If the smell is more concentrated on the right tip of the tongue, the Komodo dragon will
know that its prey will approach from the right.
They are formidable hunters, capable of taking down large prey such as deer, carrion, water
buffalos and even humans.
Their serrated teeth, which are similar to shark teeth enable them to easily shred through
their prey.
Despite the fact that, for a brief period of time, they can run up to 13 miles per hour,
their preferred hunting approach is ambushing their prey from a stealthy position.
They spring up on their prey, using their large feet to knock it over.
Then they start biting into it, reportedly being able to eat nearly 80% of their bodymass
in a single feeding.
According to National Geographic, even if the victim escapes the Dragon’s serrated
teeth, it has a high chance of dying from blood poisoning as the lizard’s saliva reportedly
contains over 50 bacterial strains.
The lizard then tracks down the remains using its exceptional sense of smell.
Number 5: The Dung Beetle Despite usually being only around an inch
long the dung beetle is capable of some extraordinary feats.
When considering the strength-to-bodyweight ratio, the dung beetle is the strongest living
creature on Earth.
The Taurus Scarab is a species of dung beetle where the male can pull objects that weigh
up to 1,141 times its own body weight.
That is the equivalent of an average-sized human being pulling weights of over 80 tons.
Dung beetles may be found on every continent around the world with the exception of Antarctica.
As their name indicates they primarily feed on animal excrement.
In one night, this insect can bury dung 250 times heavier than its own body weight.
Dung beetle species are divided into three categories: dwellers- those that simply live
in manure, rollers- beetles that roll the dung in round balls, which are then used as
breeding chambers or as a food source and tunnelers-those that bury the dung where they
find it.
Researchers have found that some dung beetle species orient themselves and navigate using
the Milky Way.
This makes them the only known non-human animal that does this.
The Scarabaeus zambesianus is an African dung beetle species that navigates using the polarization
patterns in moonlight.
The Scarabeus sacer, and other dung beetle species were given a sacred status in Ancient
Egypt.
They were viewed as being connected to Khepri, the god of the rising sun, who, according
to mythology, creates himself out of nothing.
The Ancient Egyptians believed that the dung beetle reproduced by depositing semen into
the dung ball and that there were only males in the species.
In Ancient Egypt, the scarab was also a popular funeral symbol linked to the theme of death
and rebirth.
Number 4: The Saltwater Crocodile The largest of all known living reptiles,
the saltwater crocodile, is a hyper-carnivorous apex predator with a broad distribution around
the world.
They may be found in areas ranging from India’s eastern coast, throughout Southeast Asia and
the north of Australia.
They mainly inhabit rivers, marshes and lakes but they have been known to travel long distances
at sea, due to the fact that they are excellent swimmers.
Male Saltwater crocodiles can reach up to 23 feet in length while weighing almost 2,600
pounds.
They have one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom reportedly being able to
generate a force of 7,700 pounds per square inch.
‘Salties’, as they are often informally referred to, have a valve at the bottom of
the mouth, which seals it off from the throat, enabling them to open their mouths underwater.
They are formidable ambush predators.
With only their eyes and nostrils above the surface, saltwater crocodiles lurk close to
the edges of the waters they inhabit.
In a moment they snap and lunge at their prey, propelled by their strong and muscular tails.
They can reportedly leap as high as 7 feet.
They use their massive jaws and sharp teeth to bite into their prey, which they either
swallow whole or drag underwater to drown.
When killing larger prey the crocodile will engage in a behavior known as the death roll.
This means that once the Saltwater crocodile drags its victim into the water, it will use
its own bodyweight and advanced swimming ability to roll over and over again, twisting and
turning its prey until the limbs separate from the torso, or the torso breaks down into
smaller chunks which the crocodile can then swallow whole.
The death roll usually means certain death for any prey trapped in the jaws of a Saltwater
crocodile.
Number 3: The Wolverine Even though wolverines are the largest members
of the Mustelidae family, their proportions rarely exceed those of a medium-sized dog.
However, wolverines are remarkably strong and ferocious.
They may be found in the subarctic and alpine tundra and boreal forests of the Northern
Hemisphere, in the US state of Alaska, northern Canada, in the west of Russia, Siberia and
mainland Nordic countries in Europe.
They are known primarily as scavengers, their stocky and muscular bodies, strong jaws and
sharp, crampon-like claws also make them versatile and powerful predators.
There have been documented instances where wolverines have taken down prey larger than
themselves.
Examples include elk, bison, moose, and caribou.
There has even been one account where a wolverine killed a polar bear, which is a remarkable
feat, especially when considering the fact that polar bears are the apex predators of
their environment.
Wolverines are also good climbers and can travel 15 miles over a 24-hour period in order
to search for food.
They also have a keen sense of smell, being able to detect their prey even when it is
buried under 20 feet of snow.
This is why, wolverines have been known to dig into burrows and kill animals while they
are hibernating.
Their strong jaws enable them to chew through the bones and even the teeth of their prey.
These omnivorous animals have been known to use the snow as refrigerators with the purpose
of stockpiling meat and keeping it fresh.
When food resources are scarce wolverines will return to the stockpile to eat.
Number 2: The Honey Badger Honey badgers have been described as the most
fearless creatures in the world.
They are the largest species of terrestrial mustelids in Africa.
They may also be found in Southwest Asia or in the Indian subcontinent.
Adult males typically measure around 27 to 42 inches from head to tail with a shoulder
height of 9 to 11 inches and weigh from 20 to 35 pounds.
The sides of their lower bodies and heads are pure black and their upper bodies are
covered by a large white band that goes from the tops of their heads to the base of the
tail.
Primarily a carnivorous species, the honey badger does not have many natural predators.
This is mainly due to its ferocious defensive abilities and very thick skin that protects
it from the teeth and claws of other predators.
Its durable skin is also remarkably loose enabling the animal to twist and turn freely
within it, thus helping it avoid capture.
The honey badger’s body seems to be perfectly designed for fighting.
The skin around its neck is 0.24 inches thick, its ears and eyes are small, and it has strong
claws that are shorter on the hind legs and much longer on the forelimbs.
Its skull has a very solid build with a broader braincase than that of a dog’s.
Honey badgers are predominantly solitary animals that live alone in the holes they have dug.
They are skilled diggers, capable of making tunnels into hard ground in less than ten
minutes.
During breeding season they may hunt together and even though hunting may occur at any time
of the day, they tend to become nocturnal in developed areas with large human populations.
Their powerful jaws enable them to easily bite through tortoise shells and they often
kill and eat snakes, even large and highly venomous ones such as cobras.
They devour their prey in its entirety including feathers, skin, flesh, hair and bones.
Their name comes from their preference for bee honey, and they will often search for
beehives in order to acquire it.
Honey badgers are notorious for their toughness, ferocity and strength.
When escape is impossible, they will fight much larger predators such as hyenas or lions.
Honey badgers are also considered to be intelligent animals that have exhibited a capacity for
using tools.
Number 1: Tardigrades Also known as the water bear or the space
bear, the Tardigrade is widely considered to be the most resilient animal on Earth.
It is an almost microscopic creature, usually less than one millimeter in size, with a scrunched-up
head and a plump, long body.
It has eight legs and four to eight claws on each of its hands.
Water bears mainly survive by eating fluids and sucking the juices out of moss, lichens
and algae.
According to the BBC, some Tardigrade species are carnivorous and even cannibalistic.
What makes the water bear nearly indestructible is its ability to survive in almost any habitat.
Although they typically prefer to live on moist pieces of moss, in sediment at the bottom
of lakes or in other wet environments, research has proven the wide range of situations and
extreme temperatures that water bears can survive in.
They can withstand temperatures higher than 300 degrees Fahrenheit and lower than minus
458 degrees Fahrenheit, which is close to absolute zero.
They can survive boiling liquids, radiation and extreme pressures, six times greater than
those at Marianna Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, without any protection.
A 2007 experiment has revealed that, for at least 10 days, these creatures can survive
the combined effects of solar UV radiation and the vacuum of space.
Water bears can also go without food for more than 30 years.
In many cases their survival is ensured by the fact that they enter an almost death-like
state, named cryptobiosis.
They retract their heads and legs and curl into a dehydrated ball, called a tun.
While in cryptobiosis, their internal organs are protected by a sugary gel called trehalose
and their metabolic activity can be reduced to almost 0.01% of the normal level.
In this state they also produce antioxidants while a protein called ‘Dsup’, which is
short for ‘damage suppressor’, further protects their DNA from levels of radiation
one thousand times over the lethal limit for humans and other animals.
They can come back to life within a few hours of being reintroduced in water.
In 2016, scientists brought back to life an egg and two tuns that had been in cryptobiosis
for over 30 years.