Animals are pretty amazing.
Their antics, beauty, ferociousness all make us marvel at the wonder of nature.
But then there are a few animals who are simply so different that they make us think if God
was playing a practical joke!
Lets take a look at some of the weirdest animals.
22.
Axolotl.
Considering that they look straight out of a comic book designed by a stoned artist,
there are also other weird things that the axolotl is known for.
Its common name, the Mexican walking fish might give you a clue!
They are actually small salamanders found near Mexico city but considering that it is
an endangered species, you might spot many of them.
The axolotl can even regrow its limbs, has lidless eyes and comes in white and black colours!
21.
Yeti Crab.
Crabs are generally associated with their red claws.
But the kiwa hirsute, or the yeti crab, was discovered in 2005 and they actually have
fur on their legs and claws!
And although it might not be related to their fur, but they are almost blind.
And the hair is not all for show either.
It contains filamentous bacteria which helps remove the poisonous minerals from the waters
where it lives!
20.
Anglerfish.
These fish are ugly, to say the least.
But they are also very smart.
They have a small protrusion in the head which they wiggle about to attract other fish which
think of them as bait.
And then the hunter becomes the prey as the anglerfish proceed to kill those fish!
Also they are kind of bi-sexual in nature.
When observed, it seemed as if the anglerfish had parasites attached to them but further
inspection revealed that the parasites were in fact remains of male ceratoids!
19.
Pangolin.
Anteaters and armadillos are both fascinating creatures.
Imagine if they ever had a baby together!
That would look like the pangolin.
It is an oddly shaped mammal with a protective keratin shell and is the only mammal known
to have one!
Which is what unfortunately makes it a very rare and unique catch for traffickers and
sadly, the pangolin is today a threatened species.
18.
Frill neck Lizard.
When you think of dinosaurs, lizards are actually the one animal which come pretty close to
them.
And it seems evolution obviously forgot a few things when it was working on the frill
neck lizard.
Also known as the frilled dragon, this lizard has a large amount of extra skin around its
head which are supported by long spines of cartilage.
And when the lizard is threatened, this skin flares out and makes the lizard look pretty
dangerous.
And not just that, when it is running at full speed, it runs on 2 legs which makes it look
even more alarming!
17.
Dumbo Octopus.
Perhaps these octopus were inspired the Disney flying elephant as they have ear like fins
protruding from their heads.
It kind of makes it look cute but they are not easy to spot.
They are extremely rare and found mostly at extreme depths in open ocean, unlike other
octopus.
Their skin is transparent, but they can make it flush at will and that adds to their intrigue
factor!
16.
Angora Rabbit.
Looking at these rabbits, you would really wonder if there was extra fur lying around
which they decided to put on!
The angora rabbits have very long and soft hair, and were very popular pets among the
French royalty in the mid 1700s.
And as they really have very good hair, they are also reared in some places to make wool!
15.
Tasmanian Tiger.
Is it a dog?
Is it a tiger?
Take your guess!
Or well, you might not be able to as the Tasmanian tiger became extinct in the 20th century.
These animals belonged to the Australian continent although they had been extinct from everywhere
except the Tasmanian island even before Europeans came into Australia.
Since then, the gradually decreasing habitat and hunts have made them extinct!
14.
Platypus.
Of all the creatures in the world, perhaps no one will be able to match the weirdness
of the platypus.
It is technically a mammal but lays eggs and stays mostly in the water!
Not to mention that they have the bill of a duck on their face.
Which is the reason why scientists think it is an important link in evolution and why
it has appeared as a mascot for Australia on many occasions!
13.
Narwhal.
When you think of whales, you generally do not associate them with tusks.
That is until you meet the narwhal, which is a type of white whale.
They are instantly recognizable because of their long and heavy tusks which can be up
to 10 feet long and 22 pounds heavy!
Since its natural habitat is in the Arctic sea, scientists believe that the purpose of
the tusk was to break the ice but turns out that is not the only purpose.
The males with the longer tusks get to mate more often!
Guess size does matter!
12.
Leafy Sea Dragon.
If you see a drifting sea weed, you might want to think twice about picking it up because
you could end up with a leafy sea dragon in your hand!
It has green, orange and golden hues on its body and is covered with leaf like appendages
which actually serve as a good camouflage!
They have no teeth or stomach and feed exclusively on mysidopsis shrimp and the good news is
that the Australian government has actually given them a protected status since 1982!
11.
Glowing Sea Turtles.
Shiny and glowy things are always amazing to look at.
And while there are some animals which are known to produce a glow from time to time,
a recent discovery revealed a fascinating new turtle.
It was the first glowing reptile ever found and biologists think that the bioluminescence
is a way for them to communicate with each other!
10.
Glass Frog.
Many of us might have spent time dissecting a frog to see what its inside looks like!
Which might be what prompted the Diane’s bare hearted glass frog to evolve.
These frogs are a recent discovery and the most startling fact about them is that their
underside is translucent, so you can pretty much see all of its organs with the naked
eye!
Although you will have to have a 20-20 vision, because these guys are just about an inch
long!
9.
Sunfish.
When you go fishing, you probably hope to get a nice big catch!
But you might just have a little more on your hands than you want if you happen to catch
the sun fish!
They are the heaviest bony fish in the world and can weigh around 2 tons!
Try reeling that in!
The fish is found mostly in temperate and tropical waters around the world and true
to their love for fish, the Japs, Koreans and Taiwanese consider the sun fish a delicacy!
8.
Saiga Antelope.
Found mainly in Russia, Kazakhastan and Uzbekistan, you might be forgiven for thinking that this
antelope has a major disease.
The Saiga antelopes have a large and flexible nose which kind of looks like a snail is sitting
on their face!
But this giant nose helps them filter out dust and regulate temperatures as well!
Unfortunately, over 120,000 saiga antelopes were found dead recently because of an epizootic
illness.
7.
Gharial.
Looking at this creature, it might look like someone was trying to make a crocodile and
forgot what it was supposed to look like when it came to the head.
The gharial is a large reptile that has a long and thin snout, but don’t think that
that makes it any less dangerous.
There are 110 teeth in that snout and it is estimated that only 235 of these creatures
are alive today, and all of them in the Indian waterways!
6.
Red Lipped Batfish.
If you ever want to see what an angry fish looks like, just do a search for the red lipped
batfish.
They are found mostly in the Galapagos islands and they look like a child painted a lip on
them.
No wonder they look so angry!
And that’s not the only thing weird about it.
They also have a horn and are usually found walking on the ocean floor rather than swimming!
Guess if you got it, you should flaunt it!
5.
The Bush Viper.
If you happen to find yourself face to face with the bush viper, you would be easily forgiven
for thinking you are having some sort of alien dream.
These snakes are found in the trees of Western and central Africa’s rainforests and they
can actually change the colour of their scales to match the surroundings and become very
hard to spot.
Thankfully, they live very far away from human settlements usually which is actually a very
good thing because their poison is very dangerous and fatal to humans with no known antidote!
4.
Aye Aye.
Gross and disgusting will be the first words that will come into anyone’s minds as they
look at the aye aye.
These animals are found mainly in Madagascar and they are primates, which means that they
are closely related to us!
The tail of the aye aye is longer than its body and they have large eyes and ears and
are found on the top of trees, and never really want to come down from them!
They are also pretty sensitive to sound and use echolocation along with tapping trees
with their fingers to figure out where insects are by sound!
3.
Streaked Tenrec.
So what would you get if a porcupine ran into a crazy hair designer?
The streaked tenrec!
These little creatures are found in Madagascar and are actually mammals covered in spines.
Except that the spines are yellow which kind of makes its very intriguing!
Oh, and they also make insect like chirping sounds for some reason!
2.
Okapi.
So if you were making a zebra and kind of got tired mid way through the stripes, you
would get an okapi!
Although they make look like a cross between a zebra and a horse, the okapi are actually
related to giraffes and are found in the Congo region.
In fact, so weird is the okapi that it was thought to be a myth until it was discovered
by scientists in 1900! Okapis are known to prefer solitude and they communicate by making
sounds we can’t hear.
Which is a good thing, considering that they are on the verge of extinction!
1.
Aardvark.
Put in parts of different animals like the kangaroo’s tail, pig’s face and rabbit’s
ear, and you get an aardvark!
Found mainly in sub-saharan Africa, the aardvark are nomadic, following ants and termites,
making holes for homes along the way which get turned into nests for porcupines and warthogs,
once they abandon it!
Have you ever seen any of these weird animals?
Do let us know what it feels like to see them up front in the comments section below and
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