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The animals below are all strange for their own reasons... which is your strangest animal?
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Anglerfishes are not only extremely scary and strange looking, but have an unusual method of both mating and hunting. In hunting, a modified first spine from the first or spinous dorsal fin. This spine protrudes above the fish's eyes, with a fleshy growth (the esca) at the tip of the spine. This growth can be wiggled so as to resemble a prey animal, and thus to act as bait to lure other predators close enough for the anglerfish to devour them whole.
Click to find out why scientists could only find female angler fish... |
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Tarsiers are a kind of prehistoric monkey (a prosimian). They have enormously large eyes on a rather small body...the tarsier of Southeast Asia has the largest eyes relative to body size of any living creature! They also have the longest continuous fossil record of any primate. Close encounters with these strange, nocturnal beings are still a rare opportunity.
The tarsier's long digits are tipped with rounded pads that allow gripping on almost any surface, like Spiderman! It is said that Stephen Speilburg used tarsiers as his inspiration for one of his movie characters...
Click here to find out which one! |
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The male narwhals has a single extraordinarily long tusk, which is a tooth that projects from the left side of the upper jaw and forms a left-handed helix. It is rare creature found south of latitude 70°N.
Some medieval Europeans believed narwhal tusks to be the horns from the legendary unicorn. As these tusks were considered to have magic powers
The Narwhal is an Arctic species of cetacean with a body similar to that of a Beluga whale and Irrawaddy dolphin. It is a rare creature, resembling an aquatic unicorn! Click here to find out what the tusks are used for... |
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Praying mantids are one of the few insects that can turn their heads.
An interesting behavior that has been observed in captive praying mantises: during or after mating, the female will bite the head off of the male, eating the head and sometimes the body of the male!
A praying mantisis name for their "prayer-like" stance.
Click here to find out more about this freaky looking insect! |
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Armadillos are a bit strange looking with their bony armor shell. They can also hold their breath and walk on the bottom of a lake or any body of water for 6 minutes!
Their armor is formed by plates of dermal bone covered in small, overlapping, epidermal scales called "scutes". Though this is meant for armor, they usually protect themselves in other ways... click here to find out! |
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Chameleons have quite a few freaky characteristics. Some have the ability to change their color. The skin color is changed under influence of mood, light, and temperature.
Their eyes can be moved independently of each other. They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously!
Another freaky trait: they have elongated, sticky tongues (sometimes longer than their own body length!) Click here to find out why...
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Bee hummingbird - The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird and the smallest warm-blooded vertebrate (animal with a backbone) in the world...
An adult male weighs about 1.95g, less than the weight of two paper clips, and has a nest that is only 3 cm across!
Click here to learn more about hummingbirds... |
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