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25 Crazy-Looking Creatures

whatchamacallits More on PawNation: Birds, Bugs, Exotic, Fish and Marine, Weird

By Kelli Bender Nov 28, 2012

  • Alamy
    1 of 25

    Think you know every critter in the animal kingdom? Think again. Test your species smarts and see if you recognize some of the weirdest-looking animals from around the globe.

    JUMPING SPIDER

    Family: Salticidae

    Habitat: Forests throughout the world

    Fun Fact: Jumping spiders in Cuba have been known to dance the rumba!

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  • MBARI
    2 of 25

    PIGBUTT WORM

    Family: Chaetopteridae

    Habitat: Deep seas

    Fun Fact: Researchers believe this creature may be the larva form of another, but still need more time to study the relatively new species. 

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  • Alamy
    3 of 25

    HOODED SEAL 

    Family: Phocidae

    Habitat: Northern Atlantic Ocean 

    Fun Fact: Male hooded seals have an inflatable bladder located on top of their head. 

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  • Chris Allen/EOL
    4 of 25

    BONE-EATING SNOT FLOWER

    Family: Siboglinidae

    Habitat: Deep ocean waters

    Fun Fact: These sea creatures bore through the bone of whale carcasses to feast on the lipids inside. 

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  • NPS
    5 of 25

    GUINEAFOWL PUFFER

    Family: Tetraodontidae

    Habitat: Eastern Pacific Ocean 

    Fun Fact: This puffer sports impressive buck teeth.

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  • Hugo Claessen/Wikimedia
    6 of 25

    SURINAM TOAD

    Family: Pipidae

    Habitat: Forests and marshes in South America

    Fun Fact: This toad has no teeth or tongue. 

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  • snowmanradio/flickr
    7 of 25

    TAWNY FROGMOUTH

    Family: Podargidae

    Habitat: Mainland Australia 

    Fun Fact: Tawny frogmouth owls mate and stay together until one dies, constantly repairing their nest for new children.

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  • Public Domain
    8 of 25

    ALMIQUI

    Family: Solenodontidae

    Habitat: Forests of Cuba

    Fun Fact: The Almiqui is one of the few mammals with venomous saliva. 

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  • Brittany Steff/Smithsonian's National Zoo/facebook
    9 of 25

    TENTACLED SNAKE

    Family: Colubridae

    Habitat: South East Asia

    Fun Fact: Tentacled snakes can stay underwater for up to 30 minutes before coming up for air. 

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  • Jurgen Appel/Wikimedia
    10 of 25

    PINE PROCESSIONARY

    Family: Thaumetopoeidae

    Habitat: Woods of Southern Europe

    Fun Fact: As a caterpillar, these moths move through the woods in nose-to-tail lines. 

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  • Wikimedia
    11 of 25

    COOKIECUTTER SHARK 

    Family: Dalatiidae

    Habitat: Tropical ocean basins

    Fun Fact: This shark gets its name because it eats by taking small pieces from various animals. 

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  • EOL Learning and Education Group/Wikimedia
    12 of 25

    GREEN SEA SLUG 

    Family: Plakobranchidae

    Habitat: Tidal marshes 

    Fun Fact: Green sea slugs are hermaphrodites, but rarely self-fertilize. 

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  • Wikimedia
    13 of 25

    LONG-EARED JEROBA

    Family: Dipodidae

    Habitat: Southern Mongolia 

    Fun Fact: The jerobas locate insects by performing a series of fast leaps and listening for the bugs' movements. 

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  • NOAA
    14 of 25

    GLASS SQUID

    Family: Cranchiidae

    Habitat: Deep sea 

    Fun Fact: Many glass squids are bioluminescent. 

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  • Michal Manas/Wikimedia
    15 of 25

    LEOPARD SLUG

    Family: Limacidae

    Habitat: Throughout Europe

    Fun Fact: These slugs mate in mid-air while hanging from a thick thread of mucus. 

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  • NOAA
    16 of 25

    OCEAN SUNFISH

    Family: Molidae

    Habitat: Tropical waters worldwide

    Fun Fact: The female sunfish produces more eggs than any other vertebrate. 

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  • Katka Nemcokova/Wikimedia
    17 of 25

    AMAZONIAN GIANT CENTIPEDE

    Family: Scolopendridae

    Habitat: Rainforests of South America

    Fun Fact: These insects can grow to be over 12 inches long. 

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  • Alamy
    18 of 25

    VIOLET SEA SNAIL

    Family: Muricidae

    Habitat: Saltwater worldwide

    Fun Fact: These underwater snails travel upside down. 

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  • Alamy
    19 of 25

    GEODUCK

    Family: Dalatiidae

    Habitat: Northwest coast of the United States 

    Fun Fact: Geoducks are one of the longest-living organisms in the world. 

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  • Greg Hume/Wikimedia
    20 of 25

    HONEYPOT ANT

    Family: Formicidae

    Habitat: Throughout Australia 

    Fun Fact: These ants store honey inside their bodies to be used as living storage. 

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  • Alamy
    21 of 25

    BLANKET OCTOPUS

    Family: Tremoctopodidae

    Habitat: Tropical ocean waters

    Fun Fact: A blanket octopus is immune to the stings of a Portuguese man o' war jellyfish. The creature will actually rip off the jellyfish's stingers and uses them as weapons. 

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  • Davehood/Wikimedia
    22 of 25

    TARANTULA HAWK

    Family: Pompilidae

    Habitat: Worldwide

    Fun Fact: This insect catches tarantulas and lays an egg in their abdomen, so when their child is born it immediately has something to eat. 

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  • Haplochromis/flickr
    23 of 25

    MIMIC OCTOPUS

    Family: Octopodidae

    Habitat: Bays of Indonesia and Malaysia 

    Fun Fact: This octopus can mimic 15 different sea creatures through arm and body contortion. 

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  • Peter Ellis/Wikimedia
    24 of 25

    ALBERT'S LYREBIRD

    Family: Menuridae

    Habitat: Rainforests of Australia

    Fun Fact: The Albert's lyrebird builds platforms to do its courtship displays on.

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  • USDA
    25 of 25
    Next: More Crazy-looking Creatures

    ANT DECAPITATING FLY

    Family: Phoridae

    Habitat: Tropical Area Worldwide 

    Fun Fact: This bug gets its name because it lays its eggs in the thorax of fire ants, which eventually causes the ant's head to fall off.

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8 Comments

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patriciamilthorpe

You people amaze me. Do any of you do your research before printing? The Tawny Frogmouth is NOT an owl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sheeze and we don\'t have Duckbilled platypuses either. The Saltwater Croc on the wall in the Outback Steakhouse is a freakin Freshwater Alligator..........ARGGGGGGGGGG

May 06 2013 at 4:04 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
noah.brewer

ok now the Geo Duck i am lost on that one

March 06 2013 at 4:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Nicewealth

Owls are awesome, beautiful creatures!

December 20 2012 at 4:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
erikbelfast

Spiders are good.

December 05 2012 at 5:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
inkjunky1

those spiders creep me out...i don't like the way they can jump.....and i assume they can bite because i have seen one with a cricket in its mouth

November 30 2012 at 5:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
boogy.boogy

So many species of everything on earth. interesting....

November 29 2012 at 10:14 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Jean Donnel

Jumping spiders also live with us in our houses and apartments. They are the most expressive looking spiders. Love them.

November 29 2012 at 4:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
l82

Scary

November 28 2012 at 9:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

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