From amazing defense mechanisms to astounding survival traits, the world is full of creatures
with specialized superpowers that are guaranteed to make us humans jealous.
Here are 12 Animal Abilities You Won’t Believe Exist!
#12.
“Borneo Hills Ninja Slug”- The Borneo Hills Ninja Slug was discovered in 2010 living
in the mountain of Malaysia and possesses some incredible traits.
The bright green slug has a partial shell that cannot fully form due to the acidity
of its habitats soil and has a uniquely long tail for slugs measuring at more than three
times the length of the creature’s head.
But the most amazing of its features is its ability to shoot quote unquote love darts
at its prospective mate.
These darts are made out of calcium carbonate and the slugs use them to fill the mate with
hormones to increase its odds of its counterpart wanting to reproduce.
#11.
“Hippo”-When the ancient Greeks studied hippopotamuses they were extremely curious
to why the semi-aquatic animals seemed like they sweated blood.
Sure it only took a couple thousand years but scientists have finally found the reason
for this bizarre fluid.
It is believed that hippos are in possession of the amazing ability to produce their own
type of natural sunscreen.
This comes in the form of hipposudoric acid and nor hipposudoric acid which appear red
and orange respectively.
Hippos sweat these acids out and it coats their bodies protecting their skin from the
harsh rays of the sun when they have to venture onto land.
These acids have also been found to assist the healing process in a hippo’s skin which
is prone to getting scratched or cut up from their environment.
The sweat acts as a natural antiseptic and fights off bacterias that could cause infections.
#10.
“North American Opossum”- Most people know that when opossums are cornered by their
prey they have the ability to seemingly shut their bodies down so effectively that the
prey can’t tell that they are alive.
But what happens when a venomous foe doesn’t go for this stunt and decides to attack anyway?
Well the opossum has an answer for that too.
You see opossums can produce a protein known as a Lethal Toxin-Neutralizing Factor which
acts like an antidote to venoms from such dangerous opponents as scorpions and snakes.
Amazingly this protein is not only able to neutralize and fight off the venoms of predators
in the opossums natural habitat but those of other species which live on far-off continents
like Australia and Asia.
#9.
“Flying Snake”- If you are walking through the jungles of Southeast Asia you may want
to be prepared in case you meet with the terrifying experience of a snake flying at you from high
up in the trees.
Well at least seeming like it’s flying.
You see this particular species of snake commonly known as Flying Snakes don’t possess wings
nor are they powered by jet engine, they are just incredibly good at jumping and gliding.
In order to sneak up on unsuspecting prey and to avoid the dangers of the forest floor
Flying Snakes have evolved the ability to flatten their bodies and float from branch
to branch.
The wriggle their bodies back and forth to steer through the air and remain aloft over
ridiculous distances.
They are considered to be superior gliders to even the flying squirrel, traveling up
to 300 feet in the air.
They use this technique to gobble up birds, lizards and even bats.
#8.
“Black Swallower”-If you dive over a mile and half down in the tropical regions of the
Atlantic Ocean you will find the gluttonous fish known as the Black Swallower.
The Black Swallower is an ugly beast that lacks scales and looks as though it hasn’t
evolved for millions of years.
Its diminutive size, with a length of only ten inches at the max, doesn’t stop it from
trying to gobble up anything in its path.
This unique aquatic specimen has the special ability of being able to stretch is stomach
to fit meals upwards of ten times its own mass and two times its own length.
Black Swallowers use their giant jaws and specialized teeth to ensnare their prey which
sometimes can even be too big for their flexible guts.
Many of these fish have been found washed ashore after trying to consume too much.
If a black swallowers eyes are bigger than its stomach it can lead to the fish they’ve
eaten decomposing in their stomachs as they cannot digest it fast enough.
The gases created by decomposing prey build up inside of them and can cause their stomachs
to burst.
The Black Swallower has been found swallowing fish as large as the snake mackerel which
you can actually see being digested inside them as when their stomachs stretch they become
translucent.
#7.
“Bombardier Beetle”- Bombardier Beetles are a group of more than 500 species of beetle
that live throughout the world and owe their names to one intense defense mechanism.
If these beetles come under attack from a predator or are merely startled they respond
with an explosive spray from their abdomen.
This spray is a mixture of chemicals known as hydroquinones and that of hydrogen peroxide
and can reach temperatures of almost 200 degrees fahrenheit which is plenty hot enough to dispatch
the Bombardier’s common nemesis: the ant.
The spray also has a pungent smell that can deter the beetle’s larger predators.
The beetle can shoot the chemical rapid fire in bursts of almost 20 rounds at a time with
considerable accuracy.
#6.
“Mimic Octopus”- Octopuses are some of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean
and Mimic Octopuses are thought to be one of the smartest species of them.
But its not necessarily their intelligence that is shocking it is their distinct method
of camouflage.
Mimic Octopuses were only formally discovered in 1998 and live in the mouths of rivers in
Indonesia.
Many octopuses use different varieties of camouflage, be it changing their color or
their skins texture but the Mimic Octopus is one of the few species of animal on Earth
that camouflages itself by impersonating several different species of aquatic life.
It mimic sea snakes by becoming striped like that of a sea snake and uses its arms replicate
the snakes behavior.
It impersonates lionfish by swimming just above the floor of the ocean and replicating
the fish’s fins by stretching out its arms.
They are also believed to be able to mimic jellyfish, sole fish, anemones and stingrays.
Scientists aren’t quite sure exactly how it chooses which creature to impersonate but
the signs point to the octopuses somehow being aware of which creature will best scare off
a particular predator.
#5.
“Kangaroo Rat”- If someone was to ask you which land animal can go the longest without
drinking any water, you might guess the camel but as it turns out there is a much smaller
mammal that holds this record.
It is the Kangaroo Rat which is native to one of the most arid places on Earth, Death
Valley and has evolved its special ability in order to survive in this environment.
While Camels can go just over two weeks without drinking water, the Kangaroo Rat can as long
as 5 years.
This is especially amazing because the average lifespan of the animal is only 3 to 5 years,
meaning they can live their entire lives without a drop of precious H2O.
Kangaroo rats can live this way because they aren’t very active creatures who usually
only have to exert energy in order to forage at night.
During these foraging campaigns they stock up on as many seeds and nuts as possible and
bring them back to their burrows.
They spend the majority of the hot desert day feasting on the seeds and sleeping.
From these seeds that are high in carbohydrates, the Kangaroo Rat is able to generate metabolic
water and enough energy for their nightly romps.
#4.
“North American Wood Frog”-In science fiction movies about space travel we frequently
see people cryogenically freezing themselves in order to make the trip less taxing.
While we may be years away from that type of technology scientist’s have been closely
studying one animal who can be completely frozen, thaw itself out and go about its day
as if nothing happened.
This creature is the North American Wood Frog and it lives throughout North America, though
mostly in Alaska and Canada where the winters can be especially frigid.
Instead of curling up in a burrow underground or migrating south during these winters the
North American Tree Frog just stays on the forest floor.
It does somewhat try to hide from would-be predators by nestling under leaves and branches
and here is where the magic happens.
When the world around starts to ice over the frog waits for snow or ice to touch its skin.
Once this occurs specialized proteins in the frogs circulatory system cause their blood
to freeze, which syphons water out of the frog’s body, effectively dehydrating it
like a piece of jerky.
So why aren’t they harmed by this process?
Because their liver produces insane amounts of glucose which maintains the integrity of
the frogs cell structures preventing too much water from being leached out.
Once the weather warms up their blood slowly starts pumping again and water is returned
to the cells, then the frog hops away to find its creature buddies and figure out what day
it is.
#3.
“Pistol Shrimp”-Dwelling in coral reefs all over the world is the Pistol Shrimp and
though you might not realize it with a casual glance these crustaceans own one of the most
astounding special abilities in the creature world.
Pistol Shrimps have two claws, one that is like a normal shrimp claw and is proportional
with their bodies and one that is of an imposing girth sometimes growing over half the size
of the shrimp’s body.
The size of the claw isn’t the only remarkable thing about it as the claw as the ability
to close with such an incredible force that it creates an air pocket under the water.
The claw snaps closed with a speed of over 100 feet per second.
The bubble that is formed pops and causes extreme heat to be released in a mere instant
reaching temperatures well over 7,000 degrees fahrenheit, nearly the temperature of the
sun’s surface.
Pistol Shrimps use the massive amounts of pressure created by the claw to knock their
prey unconscious or permanently disable them.
The sound that is produced by their snapping claw is said to be louder than that of a gunshot
and can even disrupt the sonar of submarines.
#2.
“Axolotl”- Is that a pokemon?
An alien?
Or is it a mythical creature?
No.
That’s an axolotl and it is a real creature that lives only in a lake near Mexico City.
These bizarre salamanders have a condition known as neoteny which means they keep certain
features of their larval stage their entire life making them look half-adult and half-tadpole
and cause them to reside permanently in water unlike other salamander species.
Other than being ridiculously adorable, these endangered amphibians possess the rare ability
to regenerate everything from limbs to their jaws and spinal cord.
Not only can they regenerate many of their features they don’t show any scarring after
the part is replaced.
They also have the unique ability to accept transplanted organs from other Axolotls without
the common hold-up of the host rejecting the organs.
These special abilities have scientists all over the world studying the creatures hoping
that they hold some secret to unlocking breakthroughs in medicine.
#1.
“Immortal Jellyfish”-Swimming in the waters around Japan and the Mediterranean Sea is
one of the most intriguing sea creatures you will ever hear about.
A tiny Jellyfish that has a maximum diameter of under 0.2 inches has unlocked an ability
that humans have been searching for for centuries: immortality.
That’s right the Immortal Jellyfish’s life cannot be ended by old age, though they
frequently perish from other means like being eaten or disease.
The immortal jellyfish possesses special cells that are different from any creature on Earth
that allow it to revert back to its polyp stage if any damage, aging or environmental
stress starts to affect it.
This process is called transdifferentiation and scientists have been intensely studying
it hoping to discover the secret to harnessing this type of power for humans.
What special animal ability do you wish you had and what would you do with it?