Nature has created many unusual places on our planet. These are Niagara Falls and the Mariana Trench, the Grand Canyon and the Himalayas. However, she decided not to stop there. The result of her efforts were unusual and strange animals. Their appearance surprises people, and habits are alarming. “And where do they live - strange animals?” - may ask one who has never met them in his life. Yes, almost everywhere. Their home is deserts and tropical forests, the waters of the seas and oceans, mountains and steppes. But, unlike Niagara Falls, people rarely manage to look at these representatives of the fauna. After all, individuals of such species are simultaneously strange animals and rare. Let's get to know them better. And the top 10 strange animals of our planet will allow us to do this.
Kitoglav
This large bird begins our top 10 weird animals in the world. It lives on the territory of tropical swamps stretching between Sudan, as well as Western Ethiopia and Zambia. At the first glance at the whale-hunter, which is also called the royal heron, it seems that nature decided to play a trick on the bird and crossed the bird with a whale. It is because of its appearance that it belongs to the strangest animals that inhabit our planet.
Kitoglav, a royal heron, belongs to the order of ciconiiformes. The bird is the only representative of the whaleheads, whose name is translated from Arabic as "father of the shoe." And indeed, a beak of similar size cannot be found in any feathered.
Kitoglav is a fairly large bird. The height of this heron is truly royal and averages 1.2 m. And this with a wingspan of 2-3 meters and a weight of 4 to 7 kg!
The whale-headed planet is considered a strange animal due to the fact that in it you can find signs of three birds at once - a pelican, a heron and a stork. An East African woman has a truly unique appearance, the main decoration of which is a massive and long beak. Interestingly, with its size and shape, it resembles a shoe. The length of this remarkable beak is approximately 23 cm. The width is 10 cm. The bird uses its beak as a fishing tool. In this matter, the royal heron, without a doubt, has no equal.
The feathers of the bird are bluish-gray, and the beak is yellow. Powder fluff is on her chest. By the way, for all herons such a site is located on the back of the head in the form of a small puffing crest. The whale's neck is so long that it seems strange that it can withstand his head, on which is such a massive beak. The tail of the bird is short, and the legs are long and thin. According to its systematics, the whale comes closer to storks. With them, he found anatomical similarities. However, some common features of this bird of the "black continent" coincide with herons. One of them is the back finger. It is long and located on the same level as everyone else. In addition, the whalefin, like the heron, has two large powders, only one cecum and a reduced coccygeal gland.
The homeland of the royal heron is the swampy areas of the African continent, which are located south of the Sahara desert. Where do these very strange animals live? Their range is quite large. But at the same time, individual whale-breeding populations are small and scattered. The largest of them is the one located in South Sudan.
Kitoglav feels great in a swampy area. Its long legs are equipped with wide apart fingers. Such their location allows the bird to easily move along marshy soils. The whalehead is able to stand in shallow water for a long time, while maintaining immobility. The bird shows its activity, as a rule, at dawn. However, she can hunt in the afternoon. But if the whale hunter does not need this, he will surely hide from the African sun in the thick of coastal papyrus and reeds, growing in abundance in Sudan. You can meet this strange bird in the Congo and Uganda. However, it should be borne in mind that the royal heron is very rare in open areas. She is lazy and phlegmatic. If you go close to the feathered, then he will not take off and does not even move.
You can find out the whereabouts of these animals by strange sounds. Sometimes they look like piercing laughter, and sometimes they resemble the crackle of a beak of a stork. But most often, whale heads remain silent. The reason for this lies most likely in their gentle and calm disposition.
The main food of the royal heron is telapia, catfish or protopterus. The bird hunts them, being ambushed and waiting patiently when the fish swims up as close to the water surface as possible. The whalehead stands almost motionless, with its head down, but in constant readiness to instantly grab the victim with a huge beak, at the end of which there is a hook that firmly holds the fish and tearing it apart. He leaves no chance of salvation to anyone.
The nesting period of the bird falls during the hot season. In order to save the offspring, the whale with its beak, like a scoop, draws water to cool the eggs. Similarly, these strange birds shower their hatched chicks.
Whale heads are rare birds. Their number is only 10 thousand individuals, which is why this species was listed in the Red Book.
Scientists discovered the royal heron in 1849. A year later, its full description appeared.
Glass frog
Top strange animals continues this amphibian from the tailless family. But do not think that such a frog is made of glass. The photo of strange animals shows that at first glance they may seem the most ordinary. However, nature does not cease to amaze people with its ingenuity. Here, it would seem that strange and unusual can be in ordinary frogs?
Of course, if we consider the glass beauty from above, then it is unlikely to have significant differences from the usual quack. For the first time, people described these strange animals in 1872. And so far, scientists have discovered about 60 of its species on the planet.
What is remarkable about the appearance of a glass frog? The abdomen of the animal has a special structure. Through his skin you can see the insides of this beauty. It seems that nature made the frog's body of colored jelly. Because of this, the animal began to be called glass. After all, it practically glows through.
In length, such frogs grow up to 3-7.5 cm. If we compare the size of their body with other types of tree frogs, then it is very small. At the same time, visual fragility makes the strange frog even smaller. The paws of the animal are also transparent. Some species have a barely noticeable fringe on them. The skin of transparent frogs is painted in a bluish-green color. But sometimes there are individuals with bright green tones. Unusual in these strange animals and eyes. They are not on the sides, but look forward.
The first instances of transparent frogs, researchers found in Ecuador. However, continuing their study, biologists came to the unequivocal conclusion that populations of these unusual beauties live in almost all of South America. In the north, the range of glass flakes reaches Mexico.
The behavior of strange animals is also unusual. Their main vital activity takes place on trees. The habitat for glass frogs is mountain forests. Here on land they spend a significant part of their time. They need water only when the breeding season begins.
These strange animals have one more feature of behavior. It consists in the relationship of the sexes, as well as in their role in the education of their offspring. These frogs are a rather rare exception from the entire animal world that inhabits the planet. The fact is that even from the moment when small frogs are at the age of eggs, males begin to look after them. Females, after they created egg laying, are simply impossible to find nearby. Caring “daddies” have no choice but to protect eggs alone, and after that, young animals from various dangers. Protecting little frogs, the glass male becomes very aggressive, and sometimes even enters into a fight. At the same time, he will fight with his enemy until victory.
A female female glass frog lays eggs on the leaves of shrubs or trees that grow directly above the water. After the tadpoles appear from it, they immediately fall into the water and continue to live and develop in it. Here they sometimes become the prey of predatory fish.
By the way, sometimes even the usual crocodiles are very unusual for us. It turns out that sometimes they are capable of strange friendships. Animals getting to land were recorded by one of the Indian photographers in 2006. The picture shows how the mouse cleverly sat on the frog’s back, which delivers it to the land. This happened during the period of rising water, which occurred due to summer monsoon rains. Thanks to such a strange friendship, the mouse managed not to choke in the water.
Platypus
“What a strange animal!” - Whoever sees this mammal for the first time will certainly say. A similar surprise was with British naturalists, who in 1797 received a parcel from Australia. It contained the skin of an animal. On the one hand, it looked like it belonged to a beaver, but instead of a normal mouth, it had a duck beak. The scientific community immediately entered into fierce debate. However, most researchers were skeptical of this fact, considering it was a fake of a joker who sewed a duck beak to the skin of a beaver. And only two years later, these strange animals (photo below) were discovered by the English naturalist George Shaw. He also gave them a Latin name. However, a little later, for strange animals, the name caught on another - platypuses.
For a quarter of a century, scientists puzzled, not knowing which class this animal belongs to. After they discovered mammary glands in a female animal. After 60 years, scientists have proven that platypuses lay their eggs. They attributed these animals to a single-pass unit . According to scientists, this type of mammal is approximately 110 million years old.
These strange animals of the planet are distinguished by an unusual flat beak, which ends with their muzzle. However, he has nothing to do with the bird. Two long and thin bones, having the shape of an arc, form the beak of the platypus. They seemed to stretch bare elastic skin. That is why the beak of the animal is soft. It serves as an excellent tool for the animal to "plow" the sludge located at the bottom of the reservoir. The platypus also catches the living creatures, scared after such manipulations, hiding them in cheek pouches. Having filled them, the animal rises to the surface, where it arranges to rest right on the water. At the same time, he has a meal, grinding his food with his horny jaws.
These amazing animals have universal forepaws. With a wide-open membrane between the fingers, the animals swim remarkably. If necessary, these legs can be used by the platypus and for digging. In this case, the animal bends the membrane. The claws on the fingers immediately protrude forward. The hind legs of the animal are weaker than the front. When swimming, they serve as a rudder. To choose the right direction in the water helps the animal and a flattened tail, which is very similar to a beaver.
This mammal is distinguished by a unique thermoregulation system. She allows the animal to be in the water for hours until he completely fills his food bags.
Another difference between the platypus and most mammals is its toxicity. On the thigh of adult males there is a spur associated with a special gland, which produces a unique mixture in the mating season. With this poisonous cocktail, the platypus is always ready to hit his rival, fighting with him for the "lady of the heart." A small animal secret of this gland can kill. If you touch these strange animals to people, then the pain will remain for many days.
Tapir
We continue our top of strange animals living on the planet. The names of some of them are simply unfamiliar to most people. The same can be said of tapir - a herbivore animal belonging to the equidae squad, which in its appearance resembles a pig with a trunk. This clumsy animal has four toes on its front legs and three on its hind legs. He has a narrow, oblong head with erect ears and small eyes, which ends with an elongated upper lip. Tapirs have a short tail and long legs.
These animals are common in South and Central America, as well as in Southeast Asia. To date, there are 5 species.
These strange animals are also the oldest on the planet. Scientists believe that this species exists for at least 55 million years. Moreover, over such a long period, the animal has not changed.
Tapirs feed on the fruits of corn or other crops found on agricultural land, visiting them at night. That is why farmers do not like them. In order to preserve the crop, people shoot animals. By the way, they also hunt for them because of their unusually soft and tasty meat.
Currently, tapirs are among the most poorly studied mammals. Scientists still do not know exactly how the relations develop among animals within groups, and also why very strange sounds like whistles are made by representatives of this species.
Leaf-tailed gecko
It is very difficult to notice this strange animal that lives in tropical forests located in Madagascar. The fact is that representatives of an unusual species of geckos are outwardly similar to dry or fallen leaves, among which they live.
Some of the leaf-tailed animals have large red eyes. That is why people call these animals Satanic or fantastic. Scientists attribute them to the genus flat-tailed. Satanic geckos live in the central and northern parts of the island of Madagascar. This is an area covering an area of ​​approximately 500 square kilometers.
Adult individuals of this species of geckos grow in length up to 9-14 cm. Most of their body is a wide and long tail, similar to a fallen leaf. Complementing this image and coloring of the animal. Sometimes it varies from yellow or green to taupe, as well as dark brown. The males have an amazing tail decorated along the edges with bumps and grooves. This allows us to take the animal for the old one, which has already begun to decompose the sheet. On the back of individuals there is a drawing that looks like veins.
Flat-tailed geckos, thanks to their large eyes, see perfectly. This allows them to maintain a nocturnal existence, eating insects. Above the eyes of the geckos are small growths. They cast a shadow, protecting the reptile from the rays of the sun. The leaf-tailed gecko has no eyelids. To wet and clean the eyes, the animal uses its tongue.
Geckos breed eggs, which the female lays several times a year. After 2-3 months, small geckos appear from them, the size of which does not exceed the diameter of a 10-penny coin.
The Belgian naturalist George Albert Bulenger first described this species in 1888.
Sometimes leaf-tailed geckos are kept in captivity. However, once domesticated, strange animals breed very rarely. That is why the vast majority of specimens that are sold in pet stores are caught in the wild. It is worth noting that the uncontrolled capture of these animals has now put them on the brink of extinction.
Stargazer
This animal is certainly located in any of the tops of the most incredible, amazing and strange inhabitants of our planet. And they include him in these lists primarily because of the nose, which is unique in appearance. At first glance, those tentacles that end the face of the animal seem like an anomaly. However, it is not. That is exactly what the nose of a healthy and absolutely normal individual of this species of moles looks like. The tentacles diverging in all directions made the animal a real phenomenon created by nature.
Twenty-two skin growths on the nose of the animal are constantly in motion. With their help, the animal feels the surface to which it is approaching, and also digs underground passages. Moreover, such a nose also serves as the organ of touch.
Stargazer belongs to the class of mammals. Its habitat is the territory of North America. The animals are considered wonderful swimmers. This allows them to find food not only underground, but also in water. As a rule, their diet consists of worms and mollusks, small crustaceans and larvae.
The natural enemies of star-carriers are birds of prey, in particular, owls, as well as skunks and cuns.
The natural range of the starfish is greatly reduced due to the economic activities of people. Nevertheless, animals are not currently classified as endangered or rare species.
Ragman
In addition to terrestrial inhabitants, there are also strange marine animals. One of them is the rag. This is a seahorse, which scientists attributed to the order of radiant fish. The habitat of this creature is the territory of the Indian Ocean, located not far from the Australian continent. The rag is inhabited in coral reefs, and also prefers dense thickets of seaweed located at a depth of up to 20 m.
The rag is a tiny fish that has a strange and at the same time bizarre shape. Its length can reach 30 cm. There are many flexible growths on the body of the rag. They are intended to perform a camouflage function. In water, such growths sway, creating a fish similar to seaweed. Thanks to this disguise, it is almost impossible to see a seahorse. The body of the fish has a yellow color. However, if necessary, the skate can change it to the tone of the coral.
There are practically no muscles in the body of the rag. There are few nutrients in it. Because of this, predatory fish for the rag are not particularly dangerous. Only a ray is feeding on this species of ray-feathers. In the form of its body, the rag is similar to other skates. He has the same small head, an elongated muzzle and an arched body. The eyes of the animal move independently of each other.
At present, the rag is on the verge of extinction. Its habitat is poisoned by industrial emissions, and divers prefer to catch a strange marine animal for their collections. That is why the Australian government took control of the rag.
Yeti Crab
This animal was first discovered in 2005. In the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from Costa Rica, at a depth of 2228 m, researchers found an unusual creature. In the form of his body, it was a crab familiar to everyone. Only the "clothes" located on its pincers turned the animal into a furry animal. It was the funny look of such an unusual find that led scientists to jokingly call this yeti crab.
However, not only the appearance of this creature was unusual. The marine animal, which was assigned to the family of blind white crabs, also had an unusual anatomy. The fifth pair of walking legs of such inhabitants of the sea was transformed into appendages located near the oral cavity. They resemble the peculiar hooks necessary for an animal to extract accumulated prey from claws. Then, using these same appendages, food is sent to the yeti crab by mouth.
Initially, scientists decided that the claw coating of this creature is a fur. However, after studying the animal in more detail, the researchers found that it was not wool at all, but rather densely growing long bristles. The found crab had a body length of 15 cm. Moreover, it was completely blind. Of course, the sight of an inhabitant of 2 km depth, where the sun does not penetrate, is not necessary.
By the way, the fluffy claws of this crab are not only its decoration. They serve as original filters for water purification. In addition, many different bacteria accumulate in the bristles, saving the animal from poisonous hydrogen sulfide.
Drop fish
This strange animal is the most bizarre of all deep-sea ocean creatures. It lives off the coast of Australia at depths from 600 to 1200 m.
The size of this fish is in the range from 30 to 35 cm. However, some of its specimens grow up to 60 cm. The body of a drop fish is very strange. It is watery and jelly-like. It is with this that its name is connected. In droplet fish, muscle is completely absent. Hunting small invertebrates, it either resides in one place or swims with the stream, with its mouth open, into which prey falls.
This species of marine animals is poorly studied by humans. Currently, drop fish is on the verge of extinction. It is caught by local residents and used in cooking as a delicacy. Often, she accidentally gets into fishing nets along with lobsters and crabs.
In this creature, the structure of the front of the head is strange. It seems that the fish is constantly frowning, and the expression of its “face” is unhappy. Such an unusual appearance and led to the fact that this creature is considered one of the most bizarre on the planet.
Red Wolf
Among the strange animals of Russia, special attention is drawn to a very rare species that belongs to canids. Outwardly, its representatives are a cross between a jackal, a fox and a wolf. This species is rare, and is endangered.
The red wolf differs from the usual one in coloring, as well as in a long tail and more fluffy hair. This unusual and strange animal is widespread in the territory stretching from the Tien Shan to Altai, and further south up to the Malay archipelago. Accurate information on the number of populations of this beast is currently lacking.