(Weird creatures that we never knew existed) Creatures! Creatures! and Creatures. Ya, I know them. There’s a cat! Oh, a parrot just flew by. And that’s a dog. Wait, it’s just three of them. There are millions that I don’t know and I bet even you don’t.
So, let’s dive in together and discover some amazing and weird creatures we never knew existed.
1. Pistol Shrimp
From Clint Eastwood in the man with no name to Cowboy Bebop’s Spike, gun-slinging cowboys have been around for a long time fascinating us with their actions and one liner-“Aim for the heart Ramon”. But these guys have been around for much longer. Meet mother nature’s original gunslinger and our number 1 creature in the list of weird creatures, the pistol shrimp. These guys can shoot hot bubble bullets to hunt! It also has regenerative abilities i.e. it can regrow a claw if it loses it for some reason (as if being Frank Castle wasn’t enough it had to go full on Deadpool).
2. Tufted Deer
We all cried so much when Bambi’s mother died. I bet ya we wouldn’t have been that attached if Bambi and his mother looked like a bloodthirsty vampire deer – The tufted deer, another unknown creature in our list of weird creatures. Don’t worry don’t drink blood, they are herbivores like the rest of ’em. They are unique in their appearance as they have two vampires like teeth coming out from their mouth. They are shy during the day and active during the night (Man! these guys need to have a Twilight movie of their own).
3. Blobfish
Weird creatures that we are unaware of include the Blobfish. Yeah, it looks exactly like it sounds i.e. like a blob. Look at it, it looks sad doesn’t it. Well, even we will be sad if we were named as world’s ugliest animal. But it’s not their fault. They cannot survive at sea level. When taken out of the water they turn into a blob and die. The Blobfish resides at the bottom of the ocean and are used to high water pressure. No one has ever seen a live one.
4. Pink Fairy Armadillo
Whoa! what is that? Doesn’t it look like a cute little rabbit wearing an armor and is on its way to fight for Aslan in Narnia? Though as much as we want it to be true it is not. This little guy is an armadillo and the body armor not really a protective one. It is rather used to keep this cute little rodent warm.
5. Pangolin
Man! doesn’t this creature look amazing? It looks like something that would come out of your Pokeball or something straight out of a fantasy movie. It’s impressive armor provides it protection from predators. They walk on their hind leg and would surely make fantastic pets. It is believed that their scales cure everything from cancer to acne. Sadly they are illegally smuggled a lot drastically decreasing their number.
6. Glaucus Atlanticus
God! isn’t that slug a beauty. Yup you heard me right it’s a slug. Appropriately named the blue dragon these guys are very much a reality. Wouldn’t you love to have one of these? But wait till you read about them, they are poisonous! They aren’t venomous all on their own but they increase their arsenal capability by stealing the poisons of their prey. These slugs are hermaphrodite and after mating both the slugs can produce egg strings.
7. Archerfish
Well if you were impressed by Robin Hood wait till you hear about these guys nature’s own version of Robin Hood. These guys are great archers. They shoot an arrow made of water droplets at their prey which then falls to their doom in the water for the Archerfish to feast upon. From gunslingers to archers mother nature sure is bad-ass.
8. Penis Snake
Is it a penis, is it a snake no it’s neither of them, it’s both of them. It’s a Penis snake! Okay! okay! I know I destroyed the joke. The list of weird creatures includes this little guy which is more closely related to worms than to snakes. It’s another name is Manconda (yup I am not making this up). It is the largest tetrapod to lack lungs. The world is very much in dark about them as no one knows much about them. I just included it to creep you guys out and also it is fun to look at.
There are so many amazing and weird creatures that we are left to explore. The World indeed is a powerhouse of diversity.
P.S: I would like to pay my heartfelt gratitude to Anirban Bhattacharya and Shubham Shaswat for the incredible support in the process of writing this article.