Top 10 weirdest animals

Ella Knutson

What is the weirdest animal on earth? Is it giraffes, towering above us at 19 feet tall, or is it jellyfish, . Or how about lemur, elephant or goat. What if I tell you that there are animals that make those animals seem normal. What if I tell you that there are animals that I can Garrity that you have never heard of, that you don't even know inhabit this planet with the rest of us.

These animals can be found all over the world, whether in the highest peaks or the deep sea, deep in the rain forest or out in the desert. The differences between the animals are all weird, strange, and some seem out of this world. Whether they are different because of what they do, what they look like, or even both.

There are well over 1 million species of animals, found all over the world, and you may be able to name over a hundred, from, giraffes, elephants, butterflies and snakes. Even if you can name a lot of them. I promise there are ones you have never heard of. 

Imagine flying through the sky while swimming in the deep sea. Swinging through the rain forest or running through a meadow. All throughout the world are different habitats. Different places where animals live. And while some, we know almost everything that lives there, like a meadow or up in the mountains, what about the deep oceans, or deep in the rainforest. What about the places we haven't explored deep enough. So even if we have discovered over 2 million different species, there are still probably hundreds if not thousands left to find.

The world has so many different species that some of them may have gone under the radar. Sometimes for something to be weird, you have to not be exposed to it, take humans for example. We are mostly hairless beings who have figured out how to enter space. You may think some animals are weird, but these animals are even weirder. 

Hairy Frog
 

Frogs are already a weird animal. Weather with poisoned skin, neon colors, or camouflage deep in the undergrowth. Aloha probability one of the weirdest frog types is the wolverine frog, or , more commonly known as the hairy frog. 

These frogs live along the bottom left part of Africa, and they live in lighter areas of the rainforests and along rivers. These frogs are endangered species, partly because people eat them. People find these frogs a la cause and hunt them with spears. That's because of where these frogs get their name, wolverine frogs. 

These frogs do something that no other frog species does. That is this frog breaks its own bones in the back of its legs which pierce through their skin to use a claws. Then when the frog is done protecting itself, it brings the bone back into its skin and it heals within a few days. This behavior is interesting because it is mimicking the way a wolvorive uses its claws, except, with bone.

  Also these frogs do another thing that is very interesting. The males in this frog species grow hair on their sides and legs during the breeding season. This is because these frogs stay and protect the eggs until they hatch and their “hairs” help to absorb more oxygen so they can stay in the water longer.

 Siphonophore

You may have heard of the Portuguese man of war, and even seen a picture. You may have thought "looks like a jellyfish" but really it is a siphonophore. A creature that is not one but many creatures, all so reliant on another that they can not survive apart.

 They are basically  a giant colony of life, floating along in the ocean, catching fish, and surviving. There are many different types of siphonophores, such as the giant siphonophore, Portuguese man of war and Calyciflorae.  

Each one looks similar, but is vastly different. The Portuguese man of war looks like a plastic bag floating in the water with long tentacles under the water reaching up to 100 feet long. To the giant siphonophore, Who lives in the deep and will burst if it goes up past the sunlight zone. 

These animals have a very interesting hunting system. While varying from creature to creature. All siphonophores all share a similar hunting technique. Some of the micro creatures, which sting, hang low in the water. This is the part that looks like tentacles. When a fish swims into them, the fish gets stung and stunned. Next there are some micro creatures that, when the tentacles have caught a fish, reach down and drag the fish back up to the main body and give them the digestive microorganisms, which digest the food and send it out to all the other micro creatures. Finally there is the ‘head’ that keeps it afloat in some cases and in other cases is like the boss of all of the other mirco organisms.

Komondor dog

Chances are you have seen this mop like a dog, but how much do you know about them? The Komondor dog breed has long white or gray hair that resembles a mop. The dog's coat started out as thin and curly as a puppy but eventually combined together to create the thick hair chunks. 

This dog breed originates from Hungary, and during WW2 and the cold war they almost went extinct because of WW2. but in 1960 the USA got in contact with Hungary and brought the breed back. 

These dogs are sheep herding dogs and their coat actually helps them to blend into the herd. When these dogs turn 1 is when their coats start to clump together. The reason their coat looks like that is so they can blend into the herd of sheep and scare of predators like wolves from the inside

These dogs commonly live to be about 10 - 12 years old. And don't have very many health problems. 

Echidna

Have you ever heard of a platypus? They are similar to beavers in the sense that they mostly live under water, but they also lay eggs and are mammals. 

Echidnas are their cousins. Echidnas live all over Australia, and they are considered one of Australia's most widespread mammals because they live on mountains, in the outback, in forests, almost everywhere. They are also ( aside from the platypus ) the only mammals that lay eggs

There are two different types of echidnas, a long beaked one, native to New Guinea and a short beaked one, native to australia. Echidnas have toothless jaws, which means that they have no teeth on their jaws

Also, out of all the mammals, they have the second lowest body temperature, and their top speed is 2.3 kilometers per hour.

Short horned lizard

The scolding hot heat of the Arizona deserts may not be as hot as places like the sahara desert, but it is still difficult for things to grow and live there unless adapted perfectly. 

The short horned lizard is rare to see, because it has evolved to camouflage, nearly perfectly into the rocky sand. Unless you see a movement, you won’t find them.

 They are covered in little scales that look like sikes that would hurt, but they are actually very soft. The only horns on this lizard are on the back of its head that look like dragon horns. These are so they can’t be eaten by a snake. 

Since these lizards can’t run very fast, when they are in danger, they puff up and look threatening, and if that does not work, they shoot blood from the corners of their eyes.

Okap1

In the plains of the dominican republic of the congo, there lives a cousin of the giraffe, the okapi, these animals are roughly the same size as an deer, and have dark brown fur, except on their back legs, which look like zebra stripes, 

They have a long tongue, like giraffes, and eat mostly leaves, but also eat twigs and branches. This species is endangered.

Surprisingly, the okapis appearance is to help it blend in with its surroundings in the rainforest, it mimics streaks of sunlight coming through the trees.

Okapis prefer to be alone, staying within a certain area of the rainforest, but they have been known to ( and enjoy ) playing, grooming, and eating, with other okapis.

Aya-Aya

Deep in the forests of madagascar, there is a lemer, that does not look like a lemer. The Aya - Aya, although technically a lemer, is one in two species like it. Its cousin, the giant Aya-Aya, is extinct. 

The aya-aya has large eyes, mostly because they are nocturnal. They also have large ears and very interesting hands. 

The Aya Aya is similar to a woodpecker, in the sense that they eat bugs from inside the tree. These creatures have one finger that is very thin with little to no muscles on it. This finger is for tapping on the tree in order to hear where bugs might be. The other finger is very long and has a lot of muscle, this finger is for taking bugs out of trees. 

These animals are mostly solitary, although they don’t really care If other Aya-Aya’s come into their area.

Megamouth shark
In the 1970’s a US navy ship put down their anchor off the coast of california. When they tried to pull it back up they were met with some resistance. After a struggle, they finally pulled it up and there was a large shark tangled in the chain. 

But, this shark was unlike anything anyone on that ship had ever seen before. It had a large mouth, reaching all the way across its face. It turned out that this was a new shark species that had never been found before. This shark species ( which was later named megamouth ) is a filter feeder. 

Filter feeder sharks feed on plankton. To feed, these sharks take a big mouth full of water and plankton, then, they filter out the water, leaving just the plankton. The reason this shark had never been discovered is because, in general, filter feeders are hard to find. They follow the plankton so, in the daytime they are deep by the bottom of the sea and at night they are closer to the surface. 

While megamouth sharks have been found all over the world, they have been found the most near japan. 

Pink fairy armadillo

Armadillos are common. Being found all over the world. There are up to 7 different species of armadillos, and some people even keep them as pets. All types of armadillos have hard gray shells, but one type is different. 

The pink fairy armadillo is a small type of armadillo. About the size of a man's hand. They have light pink shells and cream colored fur underneath their shells. Aside from their size and looks, there are other things about this animal that make it unique. 

For example, their shells are surprisingly soft, so they have a hard time protecting themselves. That leads to the second weird trait about them, and that is their digging speed.

  Since these animal shells are not hard enough to protect them, they can dig incredibly fast, and have a hard butt plate, so if danger comes around, they just dig a hole and block the entrance with their butt.

Pangolin

Have you ever heard of the pangolin? Pangolins are the world's most trafficked animal, with their numbers decreasing rapidly all over Asia, they need help. 

Pangolins are animals that seem similar to the armadillo, but are very different. Even though, when in danger, they roll up into a ball and they are covered in scales so they are protected. Which is similar behavior to the armadillo. They are well adapted to survive almost every predator, except humans.

Pangolin numbers have been decreasing faster and faster mostly because in places like India, China and other places in Asia, it is said that pangolin scales are good for healing, so they grind up their scales and use them in medicines, and things like that. Although pangolin scales are made from keratin, which is the same substance that our fingernails are made from.

Pangolins eat ants, and are well enough adapted to be able to not be bothered by ants trying to bite them because they have no opening that ants could bite them. Also, pangolins' tongues are longer than their body. 

By now you know about a handful of the weirdest animals, from okapi to hairy frogs. This world is full of wanderers and weird things, and some may be just outside your door, and you don’t know. But all you have to do is look for it.