Strangest Animals! [Episode_3]

Strangest Animals! [Episode_3]

Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms for sustenance.

1. Gila monster

(Image Source: toyzone)

The Gila monster is found in the desert areas of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The Mexican Gila monster is normally found in the dense forests of southern Mexico. The Gila monster is a tenacious biter. Quite often, the victim must be cut free from this aggressive lizard. 

Patients who have the misfortune of being bitten by a Gila monster experience severe pain at the site of the bite. Systemic symptoms include blue-tinged skin; respiratory problems such as shallow, rapid breathing; irregular heartbeat; ringing in the ears; fainting; nausea; vertigo; and weakness. If a fatal bite is received, patients will go into respiratory arrest and die.

2. Elephant Seal Bull

(Image Source: Arkive)

The Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) patrols the beaches – dominant bull males are known as “beachmasters” – of Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Antarctica and the islands of the Southern Ocean. Graceful and powerful swimmers, Elephant Seals are also champion divers, plunging as deep as 6,000+ feet (2,000+ meters) in search of squid, octopi, skates, rays, and eels. They’ve been known to supplement their diets with penguins and even the odd small shark. 

Male Elephant Seals grow much larger than the females, in fact the largest Elephant Seal ever recorded tipped the scales (probably literally) at 11,000 lb or 5,000 kg; and measured 22.5 ft (6.9 m) from the tip of its “trunk” to the end of its tail. Numbers like these make Elephant Seals the largest carnivores on Earth. Perhaps the ugliest as well: between its jiggling fleshy proboscis, fulsome blubbery girth and drab gray coloration, bull Elephant.

3. Mata Mata Turtle

(Image Source: bexandrob)

The Mata Mata inhabits slow moving, black water streams, stagnant pools, marshes, and swamps ranging into northern Bolivia, eastern Peru, Ecuador, eastern Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern and central Brazil. The mata mata is strictly an aquatic species but it prefers standing in shallow water where its snout can reach the surface to breathe. 

Mata Mata turtle may grow to be about seventeen and a half inches long. The mata mata turtle is often mistaken for rocks and sunken logs. Their brown, black, golden yellow and orange shells give them this appearance. The adult turtles are usually brown or black.

4. Warthog

(Image Source: The Web)

Cross a hog with a toad and mix in a little rhino just for fun, and what you get is a Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus). This wild member of the pig family has got a face that makes barnyard porkers look like movie stars. Warthogs are considered to be non-endangered and are commonly found roaming Africa’s savanna grasslands for young green shoots and tubers. Their “warts” are actually bony protrusions on their skulls, more prominent in males where they are used to fight with rivals. Warthogs also have several pairs of tusks – actually overgrown canine teeth that curve wickedly like sabers.

At least somebody loves warthogs. Much like the way cleaner birds are allowed to remove parasites from creatures such as rhinos and crocodiles, warthogs will tolerate Banded Mongooses grooming them, either singly or in groups. The mongooses reward? All the tasty tics, fleas and other skin parasites they can eat.

5. Adder Venom

(Image Source: toyzone)

Location: South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin and Niger in the western part of the continent and portions of east Africa as well.

Often an adder bite goes unnoticed or is confused with an insect sting until the ensuing pain gets the victim’s attention. Unfortunately, at that point, administering anti-venom may be too late. Adder venom attacks the blood and nervous system. The venom of an adder bite is less toxic than that of a puff-adder, but it is far more toxic when injected intravenously. 

Victims of viper bites exhibit the same symptoms as victims of cobra bites. In addition to bleeding from the gums, chills and fever, severe poisoning is indicated by swelling or haemorrhaging above the elbows or knees. These symptoms normally appear within two hours of the bite. Following a bite on the hand, the entire arm will become swollen within a half hour and skin will become purple. The victim will perspire heavily, vomit blood, and collapse within an hour. The nose and eyes bleed and loss of vision occurs, with subsequent loss of consciousness. Death, caused by cardio-respiratory arrest is inevitable if the anti-venom is not administered quickly.  

6. Elephant Shrew

(Image Source: sharenator)

The Elephant Shrew, also known as Golden-rumped, are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa.  

The Elephant Shrew although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest.

7. Tasmanian Devil

(Image Source: LiveScience)

Tasmanian Devils are voracious eaters, known for loud vocalizing (especially when eating) and are prone to fight amongst one another – often when eating. Method of eating, Tasmanian Devils are mainly scavengers but can also bring down live prey such as wombats, small kangaroos and even sheep.

Devils can eat up to 40 percent of their weight at a sitting and they’re remarkably efficient, consuming meat, fur and bones using the strongest bite of any living mammal: up to 5,100 psi. Here’s a short video presentation on the Tasmanian Devil: Bite of the Tasmanian Devil, via National Geographic

Though ugly in appearance, disposition and deportment, Tasmanian Devils deserve our sympathies – they’re rapidly dying off from transmissible cancer and may become extinct in the next 20 to 40 years. Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) is spread when Tasmanian Devils meet, fight, and bite each other on the face – which is the standard greeting procedure. First seen in 1996, DFTD affects between 20 and 50 percent of Tasmanian Devils and has caused them to be declared Endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in 2009.

8. Narwhal

(Image Source: unknown)

The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is an Arctic species of cetacean. It is a creature rarely found south of latitude 70°N. It is one of two species of white whale in the Monodontidae family (the other is the beluga whale). It is possibly also related to the Irrawaddy dolphin.  

The English name narwhal is derived from the Dutch name narwal which in turn comes from the Danish narhval which is based on the Old Norse word nar, meaning "corpse." This is a reference to the animal's color. The narwhal is also commonly known as the Moon Whale. In some parts of the world, the Narwhal is colloquially referred to as a "reamfish."

9. Long-beaked Echidna

(Image Source: sharenator)

Echidnas are one of the two types of mammals that lay eggs (the other one is platypus). The long-beaked echidna is found in New Guinea, where it is widespread.  

The Long-beaked Echidnas are easily distinguished from short-beaked echidnas by their long snouts, which account for two-thirds of the length of the head.

10. Proboscis Monkey

(Image Source: roblind)

The Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis larvatus) also known as Long-nosed Monkey is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey. It is the only species in monotypic genus Nasalis. The most distinctive trait of this monkey is the male's large protruding nose. The purpose of the large nose is unclear, but it has been suggested that it is a result of sexual selection. The female Proboscis Monkey prefers big-nosed male, thus propagating the trait.  

Males are much larger than females, reaching 72 cm (28 inches) in length, with an up to 75 cm tail, and weighing up to 24 kg (53 pounds). Females are up to 60 cm long, weighing up to 12 kg (26 lb).

The Proboscis Monkey also has a large belly, as a result of its diet. Its digestive system is divided into several parts, with distinctive gut flora, which help in digesting leaves. This digestive process releases a lot of gas, resulting in the monkey's "bloated" bellies. A side-effect of this unique digestive system is that it is unable to digest ripe fruit, unlike most other simians. The diet consists mainly of fruits, seeds and leaves.

11. Naked Mole Rat

(Image Source: Wikipedia)

Not only do Naked Mole Rats (Heterocephalus glaber) look bizarre, they ACT bizarre as well. The critters’ lifestyle is more akin to that of ants or bees than to mammals. They’re nearly hairless, have poor vision and lack the ability to feel pain. On the plus side, Naked Mole Rats do not appear to get cancer and health researchers consider them very attractive subjects. Nobody else does, though. 

This disgusting animal luckily spends a lot more time underground than the Star Nosed Mole. However, and as such has adapted to a life underground where it’s so dark physical beauty obviously doesn’t count for anything.

12. Sun bear

(Image Source: ucumari)

Standing 4 ft in length, found in tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, makes this bear the smallest member of the bear family. Distinctive pale orange-yellow horseshoe shaped marking on a chest and same color around the muzzle and the eyes reflect its name.

The Sun Bear does not hibernate, and, as a result, it can reproduce year-round. The offspring reach sexual maturity after 3-4 years and may live up to 30 years in captivity.

13. Long-eared Jerboa

(Image Source: N02)

The Long-eared Jerboa, also known as “The Mickey Mouse of the desert” – mouse-like rodent with a long tail, long hind legs for jumping, and exceptionally large ears. The jerboa, found in the deserts of Mongolia and China, is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.  

The breeding period of the Long-eared Jerboa occurs twice per season, and this mating act happens right after one has awoken from hibernating. The average numbers of young ranges from two to six. Very little is known when it comes to how they take care of their young

14. Star-nosed Mole

(Image Source: wikipedia)

The Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) is a small North American mole found in eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States. It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura.

It lives in wet lowland areas and eats small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms and molluscs. It is a good swimmer and can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. Like other moles, this animal digs shallow surface tunnels for foraging; often, these tunnels exit underwater. It is active day and night and remains active in winter, when it has been observed tunnelling through the snow and swimming in ice-covered streams. Little is known about the social behavior of the species, but it is suspected that it is colonial.

The Star-nosed Mole is covered in thick blackish brown water-repellent fur and has large scaled feet and a long thick tail, which appears to function as a fat storage reserve for the spring breeding season. Adults are 15 to 20 cm in length, weigh about 55 g, and have 44 teeth. The star, which is less than half an inch in diameter, is divided into a high resolution central fovea region and less sensitive peripheral areas. It is much larger than the nose of other mole species, covering 0.92 cm2 per touch, compared to 0.11 cm2 covered by the noses of other mole species. These are used to identify food by touch, such as worms, insects and crustaceans. Article Source: wikipedia, webecoist, itsnature, sharenator, iguides & toyzone