From aggressive frilled lizards to deadliest bites and everything in between, here are
9 of the weirdest reptiles in the world.
9.
Spider-Man Lizard This little guy bears an uncanny resemblance
to our our spidey hero!!
It’s bright red and blue coloring looks just like the legendary comic book character.
Known as the Mwanza Flat-Headed Rock Agama, or the spiderman agama for obvious reasons,
this lizard is native to Africa, specifically Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
However, they have been known to live in people’s huts if they are within range.
This lizard loves to bask on rocks in semi-arid deserts.
This very active species of lizard is known to live in groups, led by the most colorful
male!
If you were to have one as a pet, you should actually get at least three of them to keep
them happy.
However, the defining feature of the Rock Agama is its ability to change colors during
certain parts of the season.
It lives up to its namesake by being able to flush its head and neck with a red or orange
color, giving it a deep contrast with its body, which can range from violet to dark
blue.
They've also been known to have white spots along their back, as well as shades of black
and brown in non-breeding seasons.
Funnily enough, one of Spider-Man's most legendary villains is called "The Lizard", and even
takes the form of a man-sized (and shaped) crocodile.
8.
Speckled Cape Tortoise When most people think about tortoises, they
think about massive turtles that can live forever, but in the case of the Speckled Cape
Tortoise, it’s tiny!!
The Speckled Cape Tortoise is actually the smallest breed of tortoise in the world!!
The males are only about 3 inches long, and the females are just slightly bigger at 4
inches.
They are perfect to hold in the palm of your hand!
In fact, they use that size to their advantage by being able to fit into the smallest cracks
of rocks or other crevices in order to be safe from predators.
The Speckled Cape Tortoise is native to South Africa, and lives in very arid regions.
It'll find an outcropping of rocks and then move around the area to find succulents.
Because of their unique size, many poachers and exotic pet dealers try and capture the
Speckled Cape Tortoise in order to sell them.
The illegal pet trade has been the worst threat to the species but habitat loss and threats
from other animals are also not helping.
7.
Leaf-Nosed Lizard Found in the Knuckles Forest of Sri Lanka,
the Leaf-Nosed Lizard is a reptile that lives up to its name.
This creature actually has an extension of its face near its nose region that looks like
a leaf!
But it's not a random "addition" to its body, nature is very purposeful!
This appendage helps the lizard blend in very well with its environment.
It'll cozy up to plants and trees to make it seem like it's just a part of the plant,
allowing prey to get really close, and then without warning, it will snap it up!!
Further adding to its skill, the Leaf-Nosed Lizard is also able to change its body color.
It can turn bright green to blend in with leaves and shrubbery, or, turn a reddish-brown
to camoflauge with bark.
It uses this ability to hide from predators as well as hunt prey.
This skill was likely learned through evolution.
Scientists have determined that the Leaf-Nosed Lizard is not a very agile reptile, so it
built in this defense mechanism to try and give it a better chance out in the wild, kind
of like a chamaleon.
However, deforestation and fires have harmed the Knuckles Forest, and like many other animals
here, the Leaf-Nosed lizard is an endangered species.
And now for number 6, but first if you are new here, be sure to subscribe before you
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6.
Frilled Lizard One of the most easily recognized lizards
in the world, the Frilled Lizard (which is also known as the Frilled Dragon, Frilled
Agama and Frilled Neck Lizard) can be found in Australia and New Guinea.
What makes this lizard so recognizable is its frilled neck.
When it feels threatened, it'll rise up on its hind legs, open up its mouth, pop up the
skin around it’s neck while it hisses everywhere!!
This dramatic display makes the lizard look much more aggressive and when it comes charging
at you with it’s mouth wide open and legs everywhere you’ll know what I mean!!
It can be very effective against predators.
The Frilled Lizard is a member of the dragon family and can grow to be about 3 feet long.
Its bipedal movement is quite rare for lizards, with its legs splaying left and right, yet
it does the motion flawlessly.
Some scientists even say it does this even when it’s not threatened by another creature.
Maybe it’s just practicing.
Fun fact, even though they are known for running and charging with their large frill, they
actually live in large trees of the tropical woodlands.
It heads down to the floor to search for food, or deal with predators when it needs to.
Many of these lizards are often kept as exotic pets.
5.
Hognose Snake These critters are famous for their cute little
face.
There are three different species of Hognose Snake, found in the United States and Mexico,
Madagascar, and South America.
Its defining characteristic though is what it does when threatened by an enemy.
They are known as the drama queen of snakes!!
First, it'll act like a "typical snake", and rear itself into an attack position, not unlike
a cobra.
It'll try and intimidate its foe into backing off.
But, when that doesn't work, the Hognose Snake will pull a 180, and act like it’s dying
a slow and painful death.
It will lie on its back, wriggle around like its "writhing in pain", then go so far as
to have blood come out of its mouth, and even excrete a smell that is similar to fecal matter
(which to a predator will smell like decomposing flesh).
While a predator might want to kill fresh prey and eat it, this act makes it seem like
their food has something wrong with it, and more often than not, they will leave the snake
alone.
The whole time this happens, the Hognose snake is watching it’s potential killer through
its side-eye, "still" state.
And once the threat is gone, it'll "revive itself", and go on its way.
In fact, Hognose snakes are so timid in behavior that there aren't that many recorded cases
of them biting humans.
4.
Desperate Leaf Chameleon Found in Madagascar, the Desperate Leaf Chameleon
is a tiny little reptile!
It is only about 3 centimeters long from nose to tail tip, making it one of the worlds'
smallest reptiles.
Its size also has led many to wonder just how it survives since there are so many predators
bigger than itself.
However, despite its small size, it's able to lay eggs that are actually bigger than
they are in terms of width and height!
Scientists are very confused as to how this is possible!
The Desperate Leaf Chameleon is known as a "forest specialist", including, like most
chameleons, being able to change their body color depending on the situation.
They're even able to give their bodies a "mohawk" coloring, meaning a streak of color down their
spine that is different from the rest of their body.
Sadly, the name Desperate Leaf Chameleon is actually derived from their current living
situation.
As the forests of Madagascar are being cut down, the chameleon, and many other creatures
in Madagascar are in critical danger of being extinct.
3.
Gharial The Gharial is a species of Crocodile that
is found exclusively in India, what's more, they are one of the most endangered species
of crocodile (and animal) in the world, as they were last counted as having less than
300 in terms of population size.
What separates the Gharial from other crocodile species is that it has a really thin, long
snout.
Males have a large growth at the end called a ghara, which means pot.
They use it to make noises and blow bubbles to impress females.
This is in stark contrast to other crocodiles, which use their wide, powerful jaws to chomp
down on food both large and small.
However, for the Gharial, it's not like that at all.
In fact, they are actually quite incapable of attacking many large creatures.
Instead, they use their 110 teeth to catch fish, insects and frogs.
They use their mouths unassumingly by opening up their jaw and laying the bottom part still.
Then they just wait for fish to swim into their range, and they'll chomp down.
So if you ever run into one of the few that are left, don’t worry, they won’t be stalking
you like other crocodiles might!
2.
Marine Iguana The Galapagos Islands are home many unique
creatures, including one that Charles Darwin himself described as "Hideous-Looking Beasts"
that were disgusting and clumsy.
Not very nice, but Darwin was fascinated by the Marine Iguanas and made extensive observations
on them.
And for good reason!
While they might not be the most beautiful things in the world, they do represent one
of the strangest evolutionary changes the world has ever seen.
These lizards are the only seagoing lizards in the world.
Despite living on land, they will swim in the frigid Galapagos waters to search for
underwater algae and seaweed.
Scientists are not quite sure why this is, but they believe that iguanas from South America
must have drifted out to sea millions of years ago and ended up on the Galapagos.
From there, they evolved into the marine iguanas we see today.
1.
Komodo Dragon Found off of an island in Indonesia, the Komodo
Dragon is one of the most feared creatures on the planet.
The Komodo Dragon is the largest and heaviest lizard on Earth.
It can reach about 10 feet long and can weigh well over 300 pounds at times!
Not unlike a mythological dragon, the Komodo Dragon’s reputation precedes them.
They will attack anything that they think will be a good meal.
It has a large jaw and throat that will allow it to swallow large chunks of meat really
quickly.
It has a very deadly bite with venomous saliva that will kill its prey slowly over the course
of a few days.
Then the Komodo will locate the body, by sight and by smell.It uses its sharp, serrated teeth
to rip off the flesh.
These creatures were so fearsome that many people actually believed that they were a
myth at first, until several explorers brought dead and living proof of them.
An unusual trend has emerged in recent years though, locals to the island have noted that
the Komodo Dragons have gotten much more aggressive towards humans.
And no one has a good explanation as to why this is.
Probably because we are scary and like to hunt everything.
Also it is interesting to note that Komodo dragon venom doesn’t seem to affect other
dragons.
They will often bicker and bite at each other but they don’t seem to have any problems
with bacteria or venom.
Scientists are trying to find out how they do it!
Thanks for watching!
What did you think of these weird reptiles?
Which one was your favorite?
Let me know in the comments below.
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