With millions of species of animals roaming the planet, some of them ended up a bit stranger than the rest. Some of them look like they are made up of spare parts, while others have incredibly odd behaviour. Some have managed to exist in places that no living creature should exist, while others look like throwbacks to the prehistoric era. Frankly, some of them look more like one of those made-up creatures you thought lived under your bed when you were young. Here are the ten strangest animals that inhabit our planet - don't blame us if one or two of them pop up in your nightmares.
10. Dumbo octopus
With ear-like fins on top of a body that looks like a head and short arms, it's clear how the Dumbo octopus got its name. One of the rarest octopods on earth, they are found at extreme depths, up to 7,000 meters below sea level. The fins aren't just for looks; they're used as an additional mode of locomotion to compliment the usual octopus method of shooting water through their funnel. Unlike Dumbo, these guys can't fly, they just coast along above the ocean floor looking for small prey.
9. Echidna
The first of a number of Australian animals on this list, the echidna is one of two members of the monotreme order of mammals, which means that it does not birth live young, but lays eggs. They are covered in spines, and have long snouts lined with electroreceptors, a feature only found on land in echidnas and platypuses. Its strangest feature is, by far, its reproductive system. The female has a reproductive tract with two branches, while the male has a penis with four heads. During mating, two of these heads are rendered inactive, while the other two grow inside for reproduction. The next time the male tries to breed, the heads that were inactive in the previous copulation are used, and the swapping continues every time.
8. Goblin shark
With a long, pointy snout and crooked, nail-like teeth, it's pretty clear how this shark got its name. It ranks pretty highly on the list of animals that will haunt your dreams. Scarier still, the Goblin shark can actually shoot its jaws forward at incredible speed, in front of its mouth, to snatch fish. Don't worry too much, though, as this demon of the deep sea is flabby and slow, and keeps to depths of 100 meters or lower.
7. Axolotl
This smiling salamander is one of the most unique amphibians in the world. Aside from the genial outward appearance, the axolotl is neotenic, meaning that the adults remain aquatic and gilled instead of going through a metamorphosis when reaching sexual maturity. Unlike most other neotenic salamanders, the axolotl can actually be forced to metamorphose through an injection of iodine. They also have the ability to regenerate almost any of their body parts. While axolotls are nearly extinct in their native Mexico, they have thrived in captivity, and have become prized by the scientific world as well as by civilians as pets.
6. Kakapo
Pity the kakapo - this New Zealand native had it really good until European settlers arrived. A fat, flightless, smelly, nocturnal parrot, the kakapo developed plumage and defensive actions to protect itself from airborne predators. Unfortunately, reacting to danger by freezing in place has not proven to be a good method of survival when being hunted by the ground-based, scent-tracking dogs and cats brought by early settlers. Thankfully, this one-of-a-kind bird has a long life span, which has allowed for a conservation effort to be put into place to bring them back from the brink of extinction.
5. Frill-necked lizard
While it is large for a lizard, and can certainly look menacing with the giant frill, the frill-necked lizard is thankfully only interested in insects. But plenty of animals are interested in the lizard, so it has adapted its body to present a frightening display meant to scare off potential predators. Should the display fail, this guy has one more trick up its sleeve - they can run extremely fast, and are capable of running on just their hind legs when they pick up speed. This is exceptionally helpful when trying to escape predators in its native Australia, such as quolls and dingos.
4. Aye-aye
With bulging eyes, giant ears, and cartoonish tufts of hair, the Aye-aye could definitely haunt your dreams. Thankfully, this lemur merely looks terrifying. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate, but it doesn't wander around looking to steal souls - it just wants some grubs. They have a unique way of getting those grubs, using its fingers to tap on trees until it finds them, then gnawing a hole in the tree. After the hole is there, the Aye-aye uses its extra-long middle finger to pull the grubs out for a quick lunch.
3. Star-nosed mole
While it looks as though a cartoon cigar exploded in its mouth, the fleshy appendages around the snout of the Star-nosed mole are actually finely-tuned sensors that are helping scientist to further understand how sensory information is processed by the human brain. These nasal tentacles identify food by touch, which is very helpful for the little rodent, as it is blind. These feelers are so sensitive that they allow the mole to make the decision whether an object is prey or not in the shortest amount of time of any mammal, which has caused a number of scientist to question if sight is, in fact, the number one predatory sense.
2. Blobfish
Existing in the deep water off the coast of - where else - Australia, the blobfish is a rather sad looking fish out of water, but this is due to the strange adaptations to its preferred waters. While many fish use gas bladders to create buoyancy, the blobfish does it by being made up of gelatinous mass with a slightly lower density than water. The blobfish is also lacking in muscle, so much of its existence is spent floating along with the current and eating whatever floats right in front of it.
1. Platypus
At the top of the list is an animal that, given all that we know of the world of fauna, still confuses many of us as to just how it exists. When it was first discovered, scientists thought it was a hoax - an egg-laying mammal with the face of a duck? Not to mention that it is semi-aquatic, nocturnal and, as some unfortunate scientists found out, venomous. Additionally, they have evolved electroreception to help locate prey, much like bats and sharks, but unlike the echidna mentioned earlier, the platypus has almost 40,000 electroreceptors, providing incredible accuracy. This little creature - they only grow up to around 50 centimetres in length - is so completely bizarre that it is one of the only creatures in the world to be the one and only representative of its family and genus for scientific classification. Appropriately, as the strangest of strange, it has become an iconic symbol of Australia.
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