The World's Weirdest Animals

The weirdest animals the world has ever seen. These are the weird of the weird that caught my eye.

Lacking any muscle, this unedible fish is a floating mass of gelatin. It remains buoyant as it is slightly less dense than sea water and manages to survive on edible matter that simply floats by. Living 800m deep, the blobfish was very rarely seen by humans. However, due to deep to fishing for other more desirable catches, the miserable looking creature is now under threat of extinction.

This mole is quite different to other moles. The most obvious is its magnificent snout with 22 fleshy, mobile, food-finding tentacles. The star nosed mole is also a competent swimmer, using its nose to forage for insects, molluscs and worms along the bottoms of streams.

Resembling more of a mop than a dog, the fur on this particular animal is considered the heaviest in the canine world. Males can grow to up to 30cm tall, and despite all those dreadlocks, they are surprisingly agile.

Quite understandably, many thought of the platypus to be a fraud when it was first discovered it was so peculiar. Instead of giving birth to live young, it is part of a group of mammals (the monotremes) to lay eggs. The male has a spur on its hind foot which can deliver a poisonous blow to humans, making it one of the only venomous mammals.

The world's largest nocturnal primate, this particular lemur fills the niche of a woodpecker with its odd way of finding food. Firstly it taps on trees to pin-point grubs, then using its rodent-like teeth it creates a hole. This allows it to insert its elongated middle finger inside the tree to prize out the sought out food. The aye-aye is believed to be a symbol of death to natives due to Malagasy legend, it is therefore killed on sight. It is due to this and habitat loss that the lemur is now an endangered species.

You may be quite familiar with this grumpy looking fish from the well known film "Finding Nemo". They got most of the facts right too. These fish dwell at the lonely dark depths of the oceans, luring lost smaller fish into their razor sharp tooth filled mouths by the use of their luminous organ. This however is only used by the females. The smaller males continuously search for a female with which to mate, once found, he latches onto her becoming a parasite. Overtime, he will completely fuse to her, reducing his own need for many of his bodily parts. He will therefore use the females bloodstream and completely lose his own eyes and all organs...except his testes. It is common for females to carry several males at any one time.

This insect begins life as a carnivorous aquatic larva, growing up to 12.5cm long. It is also known as the "King fly" for its features, namely its intimidating tusks. Adult males have such large mandibles that they are actually harmless to humans due to their poor leverage. They are used purely for decoration, intimidation and copulation purposes. Females, however, have shorter pincers that can inflict a blood-drawing bite. Neither sex are poisonous, however as a last defence they will emit a disgusting anal spray.

Recently discovered, this creature survives by boring into a fish, gnawing off it's tongue and residing in the organ's place inside the mouth. Oddly, the fish seems able to survive with its new tongue. Other than a quick nip, these creatures are not deemed harmful to humans.

This creature is a member of the isopods, which have remained unchanged for 160 million years. They live up to 6000ft down in the dark depths of the ocean and can grow up to one foot long...representing a giant white woodlouse. One of the many scavengers of the ocean floor, they feast on dead and decaying fish that has sunk to the bottom.

I have included a video of this one. You absolutely must see it, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, it shows perfectly the size and activity of the scavengers on the ocean floor.

With tentacles up to 3 metres long, this is one of the largest species of jellyfish. Tentacles are arranged into 8 bunches of 100, making their sting horrific. Results of a sting from this particular jellyfish include blisters, irritation, muscular cramp and may affect heart/respiratory function...this includes stings from stray fragments of tentacle. You'll find the jellyfish at around 20m deep in large swarms feeding on zooplankton, small fish and other jellyfish.

There are four ARBA (American Rabbit Breeder's Association) recognised Angora rabbit breeds: English, French, Giant and Satin. The fur ball is a variety of domestic rabbit, bred mainly for it's long soft hair which is removed by shearing or plucking. Originally from Turkey, it became a highly sought after pet in France in the 1700s before spreading to Europe and further to America by the 1900s.

The first thing one notices about the proboscis monkey is its massive nose. It has been suggested that it is a result of sexual selection, with females preferring a male with a larger nose. As a result of its gaseous digestive process, the monkey has a very large swollen belly.

Between 90-115mm long, the Pink Fairy is the smallest species of armadillo. It has the ability to completely bury itself in a matter of seconds when frightened. Inhabiting dry grasslands and sandy plains, the armadillo creates small holes near ant colonies, feeding on the larvae within. It is a nocturnal creature and spends most of its time underground, being classified as a "sand swimmer" alongside moles. The armadillo is well adapted to moving efficiently through the soil with its torpedo shaped body and a shielded head.

Given the shrub-like appearance of this tiny creature (20-24cm), its no wonder it became known as the leafy sea dragon. The protrusions are used purely as a cunning camouflage rather for any swimming purposes. It actually propels itself through the water using a pectoral fin on the base of its neck and a dorsal fin near its tail. To create the illusion that it is simply a stray piece of floating seaweed these small fins undulate so fast they are transparent.

Rarely found below a latitude of 70 degrees, the narwhal is one of two white whales in the Monodontidae family, meaning toothed whale. It's name derives from the Old Norse word Nar which translates to corpse (referring to the animals colour). Males are distinguished from females by the straight helical tusk extended from their upper left jaw that can reach 2-3m. The tusk is not used for catching prey, but its suggested to be sexual characteristic. The narwhals feed under dense pack ice up to 1500m deep on prey such as the flat fish.

Endemic to the island of Madagascar, this species of bat gains its name from the small suction cups on it's wrists and ankles. These suckers are used to stick to the sides of surfaces, for example the bats roost inside rolled leaves of palm trees. Scientists have recently discovered that they are able to stick to surfaces not using suction but a form of wet adhesive secreted from the body through the pads.

Discovered in 1976, this particular species of deepwater shark is extremely rare. As of 2010, only 50 specimens have been seen or captured. The shark feeds by swimming with its enormous mouth wide open, scooping up plankton and jellyfish. They can become very large with recordings up to 5.5 metres. As it's name implies, a megamouth shark has a rather large mouth (reaching 1.3m wide), filled with small teeth and surrounded by luminous photophores which may act as a lure for prey.

With a natural habitat of 600m below the sea surface, this shark is very rarely seen. With many primitive features this shark is often described as a "living fossil". It can reach a length of 2m and has its dorsal, pelvic and anal fin all towards the end of its body. This sharks feeding technique involves its incredibly flexible jaw (allowing it to swallow larger prey whole) and long body (bending back and lunging forward).

This type of crab has the largest leg span of any arthropod reaching up to 3.8 metres from claw to claw and weighing up to 19 kg. They may live up to 100 years, feeding upon shellfish and animal carcasses.

Thanks for having a read, I hope you have enjoyed it. Make sure you keep popping back frequently as I will be updating with new animals,pictures and videos whenever I can.