Strange and Bizarre Creatures
Featured, Science — By BB Admin on January 12, 2011 4:53 pmHuman beings seek out the strange and unusual in books, movies, television, video games, and comic books. We dive headfirst into the worlds of C.S. Lewis, of Lewis Carrol, of Tolkien, of World of Warcraft, of superheroes, delighting in the magical things those skilled authors managed to think up. Sometimes we forget that the world we live in is just as weird, magical, and bizarre as the worlds we escape to.
Take, for instance, some of the amazing creatures that exist in our world.
Naked Mole Rat
This is the Naked Mole Rat. The standard size for one of these puppies (and “puppies” is an acceptable nickname, as these creatures are also called “Sand Puppies”)is about 3 or 4 inches, and they only weight a couple ounces at most. As a group, they have a highly organized social structure, almost like ants or bees. There is a queen and everything. They live underground and have tiny lungs that make it so they don’t need a lot of air.
“Horror” Frog
OK, it’s weird enough that this frog looks hairy. It’s a land-dwelling frog that goes to the water to reproduce. Take that weirdness a step further and what do you get? A frog that intentionally breaks its own toes to allow claws made out of bone to protrude from its appendages. That’s all, I think. I think I’ll let you marinate in that one for a minute. For more info, google Trichobatrachus robustus. Weird, huh?
Angora Rabbit
These furry creatures are mainly bred for their fabulous coats, which I think it super wrong. Unless they just shear the animal like a sheep and let it stay alive. In which case it might be kind of a relief for the rabbit to get all that hair of him or her for a while. Also, it would be neat to have these rabbits around just to pet every now and then. It would be even cooler if it could do tricks, or if it herded lesser rabbits.
Pangolin
The Pangolin is the only mammal that has scales. Or, the only one that is supposed to have scales. Keratin scales, that is. They curl up into a ball when threatened, and their fingernail-like scales protect them.
These guys also have very long tongues that extend internally all the way into their tummies. The long tongue is for finding and catching insects, a Panolin’s favorite food. Another defense mechanism is that they excrete foul smelling gas from their anus. Like my Uncle Phil.
Chinese Giant Salamander
Ew, right? This guy is seriously endangered, because the region of China where he is indigenous is all polluted and stuff. He eats bugs and frogs and fish. He can be this pinkish color, or green, or gray. He can’t see all that well, so he has sensory nodes all over his body that help him find his way around.
Star Nosed Mole
Maybe I should have saved the “ew” for now, huh? This star nosed mole eats worms and other small things, and is covered with water repellent fur so’s to repel, well, water. It’s easy to tell these moles from other moles because of those fleshy little things coming out of their faces. There are eleven of them total (so saying that they have eleventy fleshy appendages is correct) and they are how the tiny mole gets around.
Komondor Dog
Hungarian. Livestock-protecting. Dreadlocked. ADORABLE! You’ve probably seen these corded-coat dogs in dog shows on The Animal Planet. If you haven’t, they are super cute. They also look kind of like they are hovering. These are good dogs for family – like other herding dogs they are mostly calm and docile. Unless somebody messes with their charge. Then, watch out!
Glass Frog
I know we already included a frog on this list, but come on! You can SEE THROUGH this one! How totally awesome/bizarre is that? There are technical names and all that stuff, but you can look it up. I don’t want to diminish the magic of SEE-THROUGH-FROGS!
Axolotl
These friendly-looking creatures are also salamanders. They are sort of undeveloped – the adults never go through metamorphosis, so the adults live underwater and have gills. They also (how cool is this) have the ability to regenerate almost every part of their body. Awesome.
So, take that, those who say our world is boring. Not boring. Not by a long shot.
19 Comments
Just to add a note. My friend raises Angora rabbits. That particular one is an English Angora in a show coat. There are larger breeds with fur like this and smaller breeds. It takes over a year for it to get it that long. Most people that have them do keep a bunch. They do sheer them like sheep actually. But the wool is is fine and soft, it must be spun together with a stronger fiber like sheep or llama.And, They make great pets if the coat is kept mostly short. they can be trained to do tricks. Except herding :) Enjoy!
Just to add a note. My friend raises Angora rabbits. That particular one is an English Angora in a show coat. There are larger breeds with fur like this and smaller breeds. It takes over a year for it to get it that long. Most people that have them do keep a bunch. They do sheer them like sheep actually. But the wool is is fine and soft, it must be spun together with a stronger fiber like sheep or llama.And, They make great pets if the coat is kept mostly short. they can be trained to do tricks. Except herding :) Enjoy!
That Axolotl is just disturbing. Its as if it came out of a cartoon or anime scene.
Hey, no hating on axolotls. I’ve had two. They’re quite nice pets. And pretty cute, especially when babies. :)
the axolotl totally looks like a whooper! (pokemon)
YYYEEESSSSS
According to a couple of sites the Angora rabbits are shorn and not skinned!
i had an axolotl….it was freakin awesome! :D
oh, and it was pink :)
I don’t normally stop to leave comments on these lists but, just for the record: 1) The Komondor is not a herding dog. It is a guard dog, which carries a drastically different temperament than most herding breeds. 2) For that reason, they are not particularly good family dogs for most families. They’re bred to guard livestock and would rather be independently guarding their animals than tolerating children. However, if you raise them as puppies with a family, you will likely have a dog that is fiercely protective of that family. Don’t think for a second that if your kids are playing in the yard and someone wanders in that the Komondor won’t react or bite the intruder. It will happen and if you own this kind of dog, you need to know what you’re getting. Not to mention the grooming sucks for most normal people. Ever met someone with dreadlocks like this that didn’t stink? So does this dog.
I love my Komondor but they aren’t for everyone.
You forgot to add that Komondor dogs are massive, and it takes a lot of effort to look after the fur and keep it healthy. It’s a large version of the Puli dog, and I hope nobody decides to buy one without knowing what the hell they’re doing.
Another interesting note about glass frogs,some of the species also have an entirely green skeleton to help in camouflage.
Angora rabbits are not killed for their fur. You give them a haircut every 3 to 4 months. They are bred to be very calm and docile; so they are a nice, though high maintenance, pet. They require grooming weekly which involves brushing or blowing out the coat with a forced air dryer (like dog groomers use). They also need a special high fiber diet to help prevent hairballs (called wool block) which can be deadly.
Eleventy =/= eleven.
Eleventy refers to 110. So no, the mole does not have eleventy fleshy nose protrusions.
If you are gonna write articles on something, PLEASE at least get your information straight. You obviously dont know anything about angora rabbits and everything you said in that part was totally idiotic. And on the Komondor, I’m honestly not even sure that is a picture of one. That dog is -matted-, not corded. HUGE difference. And as stated before, your information on them is incorrect as well.
Heather – ouch. Thanks for your extremely negative feedback. I hope to do better next time. As for the angora rabbits, I was trying to be funny. As for the Komondor dogs – every dog breed website out there says their coats are “corded” but if you have better information please feel free to provide some sources to enlighten me.
Even if the information is incorrect, I think it’s a cool collection of pictures.
The dog looks like a dirty mop. I almost want to give it a bath.
the naked mole look like ham…
Some facts may be wrong, but you still have to admit it’s pretty cool.