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 their habits are alarming. "And where do they live - strange animals?" - one who has never met them in his life may ask. Yes, almost everywhere. Their home is deserts and tropical forests, waters of the seas and oceans, mountains and steppes. But, unlike Niagara Falls, a person rarely manages to look at these representatives of the fauna. After all, individuals of such species are both 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 starts our top 10 weirdest 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 shoebill, which is also called the royal heron, it seems that nature decided to play a trick on the feathered one and crossed the bird withwhale. It is because of her appearance that she belongs to the strangest animals that inhabit our planet.
Kitoglav, also known as the royal heron, belongs to the order of storks. The bird is the only representative of the whale-headed, whose name is translated from Arabic as "father of the shoe." Indeed, it is impossible to find a beak of a similar size in any feathered bird.
Kitoglav is a fairly large bird. The height of this heron is really royal and averages 1.2 m. And this is with a wingspan of 2-3 meters and a weight of 4 to 7 kg!
The shoebill is also considered a strange animal of the planet due to the fact that signs of three birds at once can be found in it - a pelican, a heron and a stork. The East African resident has a truly unique appearance, the main decoration of which is a massive and long beak. Interestingly, in its size and shape it resembles a shoe. The length of this wonderful beak is approximately 23 cm. The width is 10 cm. The bird uses the beak as a tool for catching fish. In this case, the king heron, without any doubt, has no equal.
The feathers of the bird are bluish-gray, and the beak is yellow. On her chest is powdered fluff. By the way, in all herons, such a site is located on the back of the head in the form of a small bristling tuft. The neck of the shoebill is so long that it seems strange that it can support its head, on which there is such a massive beak. The tail of the bird is short, and the legs are long and thin. According to its taxonomy, kitoglavapproaches 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 toe. It is long and is located on the same level with all the others. In addition, the shoebill, like the heron, has two large powders, only one caecum and a reduced coccygeal gland.
The birthplace of the royal heron is the wetlands 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 populations of the shoebill are small and scattered. The largest of them is the one located in South Sudan.
Kitoglav feels great in marshland. Its long paws are equipped with widely spaced fingers. This arrangement allows the bird to easily move through marshy soils. Kitoglav 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 during the day. But if the shoebill does not need this, then he will definitely hide from the African sun in the thick of coastal papyri and reeds that grow in abundance in Sudan. You can meet this strange bird in the Congo and Uganda. However, it should be borne in mind that the king heron comes out to open places very rarely. She is lazy and phlegmatic. If you go close to the feathered one, then it will not take off or even move.
You can find out about the whereabouts of these animals bystrange sounds. Sometimes they look like a shrill laughter, and sometimes they resemble the crackling of a stork's beak. But most often, the shoe heads remain silent. The reason for this lies, most likely, in their gentle and calm disposition.
The main food of the king heron is telapia, catfish or protopterus. The feathered hunts for them, being in ambush and patiently waiting for the fish to swim as close as possible to the water surface. The shoebill stands almost motionless, lowering its head, 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 caught fish and at the same time tears it apart. He leaves no chance for salvation to anyone.
The nesting period of the bird falls on the hot season. In order to save the offspring, the shoebill draws water with its beak, like a scoop, to cool the eggs. Likewise, these strange birds shower their hatchlings.
Kitoglavy are rare birds. Their number is only 10 thousand individuals, which is why this species was listed in the Red Book.
Scientists discovered the king heron in 1849. A year later, its full description appeared.
Glass Frog
Top strange animals continues this amphibian from the anurans 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 never ceases to amaze people with its ingenuity. Here, it would seem, what is strange and unusual can be inordinary frogs?
Of course, if we consider the glass beauty from above, then it is unlikely to have significant differences from the usual frog. For the first time, people described these strange animals in 1872. And by now, scientists have discovered about 60 of its species on the planet.
What is so remarkable about the appearance of the 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 has made the body of a frog from colored jelly. Because of this, the animal began to be called glass. Because 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 frogs, 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 bluish-green. But sometimes there are individuals that have bright green tones. Unusual in these strange animals and eyes. They are not on the sides, but look forward.
The first specimens of transparent frogs were found in Ecuador. However, continuing their study, biologists came to the unequivocal conclusion that the populations of these unusual beauties live in almost all of South America. In the north, the range of glass frogs reaches Mexico.
The behavior of strange animals is also unusual. Their main life activity takes place on trees. Habitat for glassfrogs serve mountain forests. Here on land they spend a significant part of their time. They only need water during the breeding season.
These strange animals have another feature of behavior. It consists in the relationship of the sexes, as well as in their role in the upbringing of their offspring. These frogs are a rather rare exception from the entire animal kingdom inhabiting the planet. The fact is that even from the moment when the little frogs are at the age of eggs, males begin to look after them. Females, after they have created an egg clutch, are simply impossible to find nearby. Caring "dads" have no choice but to protect the eggs alone, and then the young from various dangers. Protecting small 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.
The female glass frog lays her eggs on the leaves of shrubs or trees that grow directly above the water. After tadpoles emerge 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 familiar frogs are quite unusual. It turns out that sometimes they are capable of strange friendship. Animals reaching land were recorded by one of the Indian photographers in 2006. The picture shows how the mouse deftly sat on the back of a frog, which delivers it to land. It happened during the period of rising water, which occurred due tosummer monsoon rains. Thanks to such a strange friendship, the mouse managed not to choke in the water.
Platypus
"What a strange animal!" - the one who sees this mammal for the first time will certainly say. British naturalists, who in 1797 received a parcel from Australia, were similarly surprised. It contained the skin of an animal. On the one hand, it looked like it belonged to a beaver, but instead of the usual mouth, it had a duck's beak. The scientific community immediately entered into a fierce debate. However, most of the researchers were skeptical about this fact, considering it to be a fake of some 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, another name took root for strange animals - platypuses.
For a quarter of a century, scientists have been racking their brains, not knowing which class to attribute this animal to. After they discovered the mammary glands in the female animal. After 60 years, scientists have proven that platypuses lay eggs. These animals were classified as monotremes. Mammals of this species, according to scientists, are approximately 110 million years old.
These strange animals of the planet are distinguished by an unusual flat beak, which ends their muzzle. However, it has nothing to do with birds. The beak of the platypus is formed by two long and thin bones that have the shape of an arc. They seem to be stretched bare elastic skin. That is why the beakanimal soft. It serves as an excellent tool for the animal for "plowing" the silt at the bottom of the reservoir. With it, the platypus catches the living creatures frightened after such manipulations, hiding it in the cheek pouches. Having stuffed them, the animal rises to the surface, where it settles down to rest right on the water. At the same time, he eats, grinding the food he has obtained with his horny jaws.
These amazing animals have versatile front paws. With a wide-open membrane between the fingers, the animals swim remarkably. If necessary, these paws can be used by the platypus 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 ones. When swimming, they act as a rudder. A flattened tail, which is very similar to a beaver's, helps the animal to choose the right direction in the water.
This mammal is also distinguished by its unique thermoregulation system. She allows the animal to stay in the water for hours until it completely fills its food bags.
Another difference between the platypus and most mammals is its poisonousness. On the thigh of adult males is a spur associated with a special gland, which produces a unique mixture during the mating season. With this poisonous cocktail, the platypus is always ready to hit its opponent, fighting with him for the “lady of the heart”. The secret of this gland can kill a small animal. If you touch these strange animals to people, then the painful sensations will remain for many days.
Tapir
Continue our top living on the planetstrange animals. The names of some of them are simply unfamiliar to most people. The same can be said about the tapir - a herbivore belonging to the order of equids, which in its appearance resembles a pig with a trunk. This clumsy animal has four toes on its front legs and three on its back. It 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 distributed in South and Central America, as well as in Southeast Asia. To date, there are 5 types.
These strange animals are also the most ancient on the planet. Scientists believe that this species has existed for at least 55 million years. Moreover, over such a long period, the animal has not changed much.
Tapirs feed on the fruits of corn or other crops that are found on agricultural land, visiting them at night. That is why farmers dislike them. In order to save the harvest, people shoot animals. By the way, they are also hunted because of their unusually soft and tasty meat.
Currently, tapirs are among the least studied mammals. Scientists still do not know exactly how the relations between animals develop within groups, and also why representatives of this species make very strange sounds similar to whistles.
Leaf-tailed gecko
Notice this strange animal that lives in the rainforests,located in Madagascar is very difficult. 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 big red eyes. That is why people call these animals satanic or fantastic. Scientists refer them to the flat-tailed genus. Satanic geckos live in the central and northern part of the island of Madagascar. This is an area covering approximately 500 square kilometers.
Adults of this species of geckos grow up to 9-14 cm in length. Most of their body is a wide and long tail, similar to a fallen leaf. Complements this image and the color of the animal. Sometimes it varies from yellow or green to gray-brown, and also dark brown. In males, an amazing tail is decorated along the edges with bumps and notches. This allows us to take the animal for an old leaf that has already begun to decompose. On the back of individuals, there is a pattern that looks like veins.
Flat-tailed geckos, thanks to their large eyes, see perfectly. This allows them to be nocturnal, feeding on insects. Above the eyes of geckos are small growths. They cast a shadow, protecting the reptile from the rays of the sun. The leaf-tailed gecko does not have eyelids. The animal uses its tongue to wet and clean its eyes.
Geckos reproduce by eggs that the female lays several times a year. After 2-3 months, small geckos appear from them, the size of which does notexceeds the diameter of a 10-kopeck coin.
This species was first described by the Belgian naturalist George Albert Bulenger in 1888
Sometimes leaf-tailed geckos are kept in captivity. However, once domesticated, strange animals rarely reproduce. 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 verge of extinction.
Starship
This animal is certainly 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 its appearance. At first glance, those tentacles that end the muzzle of the animal seem to be some kind of anomaly. However, it is not. This is exactly what the nose of a he althy and absolutely normal individual of this type of mole looks like. The tentacles spreading in all directions made the animal a real phenomenon created by nature.
Twenty-two skin growths on the animal's nose are constantly in motion. With their help, the animal feels the surfaces it approaches, and also digs underground passages. At the same time, such a nose also serves as an organ of touch.
Starship belongs to the class of mammals. Its habitat is the territory of North America. The animals are considered excellent swimmers. This allows them to find food not only underground, but also in water. As a rule, their diet consists of worms and molluscs, small crustaceans andlarvae.
The natural enemies of star-nosed birds are birds of prey, in particular owls, as well as skunks and mustelids.
The natural range of the starfish has been greatly reduced due to the economic activities of people. Nevertheless, the animals are not currently classified as endangered and rare species.
Rag-picker
In addition to the terrestrial inhabitants, there are also strange sea animals. One of them is a rag-picker. This is a seahorse, which scientists attributed to the order of ray-finned fish. The habitat of this creature is the territory of the Indian Ocean, located near the Australian continent. The rag-picker settles in coral reefs, and also prefers dense thickets of seaweed, located at a depth of up to 20 m.
The rag-picker is a miniature 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-picker. They are designed to perform a camouflage function. In the water, such growths sway, making the fish look like seaweed. Due to this disguise, it is almost impossible to see a seahorse. The body of the fish is yellow. However, if necessary, the skate can change it to match the coral tone.
There are practically no muscles in the body of a rag-picker. It also contains few nutrients. Because of this, predatory fish do not pose a particular danger to the rag-picker. Feeds on this species of ray-finned only stingray. In the shape of its body, the rag-picker is similar to other skates. He has the same small head, stretched forwardmuzzle and arched body. The animal's eyes move independently.
Currently, the rag-picker is on the verge of extinction. Its habitat is poisoned by industrial emissions, and divers prefer to capture the strange marine animal for their collections. That is why the Australian government took the rag-picker under its protection.
Yeti Crab
This animal was first discovered in 2005. In the South Pacific, near Costa Rica, at a depth of 2228 m, researchers found an unusual creature. According to the shape of its body, it was a crab familiar to everyone. Only the “clothes” on its claws 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 turned out to be 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 in such inhabitants of the sea was transformed into appendages located near the oral cavity. They resemble the kind of hooks that an animal needs to extract accumulated prey from its claws. Further, with the help of the same appendages, the food is sent by the yeti crab to the mouth.
At first, the scientists thought that the cover of this creature's claws was fur. However, after studying the animal in more detail, the researchers found that it was not wool at all, but densely growing long bristles. The found crab had a body length of 15 cm. Moreover, he was completely blind. Of course, an inhabitant of a 2-kilometer depth, where the rays of the sun do not penetrate, does not need vision.
By the way, the fluffy claws of this crab are not only its decoration. They serve as a kind of filters for water purification. In addition, many different bacteria accumulate in the bristles, saving the animal from poisonous hydrogen sulfide.
Blobfish
This strange animal is the most bizarre of all ocean deep sea creatures. It lives off the coast of Australia at depths from 600 to 1200 m.
The size of this fish ranges from 30 to 35 cm. However, some of its specimens grow up to 60 cm. The body of the drop fish is very strange. It is watery and jelly-like. It is with this that its name is connected. The drop fish has no musculature at all. When hunting small invertebrates, it either stays in one place or swims with the current, while opening its mouth into which prey falls.
This type of marine animal is poorly studied by man. Currently, the drop fish is on the verge of extinction. It is caught by locals and used in cooking as a delicacy. Often she accidentally gets caught in fishing nets along with lobsters and crabs.
This creature has a strange structure of the front of the head. It seems that the fish is constantly frowning, and the expression of its "face" is unhappy. Such an unusual appearance has led to the fact that this creature is considered one of the most bizarre creatures on the planet.
Red Wolf
Among the strange animals of Russia, a verya rare species that belongs to the canine. Outwardly, its representatives are something between a jackal, a fox and a wolf. This species is rare and endangered.
From the usual red wolf differs in color, as well as a long tail and more fluffy hair. This unusual and strange animal is distributed in the territory stretching from the Tien Shan to Altai, and further south to the Malay Archipelago. Accurate data on the number of populations of this animal is currently not available.
