Appreciating Unusual Animals

[SwordSong]

There's a lot weird critters in this world that doesn't get enough recognition/love, so this thread is made to rectify it.

Note: For "unusual" animals only. If it's something you keep as a pet or regularly see in your yard, it probably doesn't count. If it's ever used as a main character (or even main sidekick) in a mainstream film or TV show, it probably doesn't count either.

So, without further ado...

Numbat - a marsupial about the size of a squirrel. Only eats termites. Currently endangered due to feral cats.

Fat-tailed dunnart - an even smaller mouse-like marsupial. IMO, it looks like a cross between a fennec fox and a rodent. It's related to the Tasmanian Devil.

Greater Bilby - another marsupial. This one looks like a shrew with kangaroo legs and rabbit ears. There used to be another variation called lesser bilbies, but they're now extinct, so greater bilbies are mostly just known as bilby.

Tenrec - isn't actually related to hedgehogs and are a closer cousin to elephants.

Aardwolf - neither an aardvark nor a wolf. Actually a type of hyena. Insectivore rather than carnivore and eats mostly termites

Let's bring on the adorably weird animals from all over the world.

 

[Envylope]

These would be great additions to a story.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

Frogfish

 

[JayMark]

Baby Blob Fish

 

[Eldoria]

Tapirs... they have four species. They originate from the Americas but, oddly enough, can also be found in Southeast Asia.

The idea of them crossing the Pacific Ocean is simply unbelievable... unless the ancient continents were connected (for example, by frozen sea ice?).

Regardless, they are exotic prehistoric animals that still exist today.

 

[JayMark]

This thread now has its quota of Quokkas.

 

[Corty]

These are the same animal(s). Yes. Every section in these things is an individual creature, doing different things as they come together as one organism, like some deep-sea republic of unseen horrors.

Siphonophore​

 

[Omarfaruq]

the axolotl. ?
It’s a type of salamander, but what makes it super weird is that it never really grows up. It keeps its juvenile features, like gills and a finned tail, throughout its entire life, a phenomenon called neoteny. And if it loses a limb—or even parts of its heart or brain—it can regrow them completely!

 

[JayMark]

View attachment 45784
the axolotl. ?
It’s a type of salamander, but what makes it super weird is that it never really grows up. It keeps its juvenile features, like gills and a finned tail, throughout its entire life, a phenomenon called neoteny. And if it loses a limb—or even parts of its heart or brain—it can regrow them completely!

Axolotl is in the cool kids club now. Sorry.

 

[Omarfaruq]

Axolotl is in the cool kids club now. Sorry.

But it's unusual ?

 

[Worthy39]

Civets, often called civet cats for their vaguely feline appearance, fall into the family of Viverrids, and have no relationship to cats.

Edit: I think there are about 17 species of civets.

 

[JayMark]

Giant Spider Crab

 

[Conqueror_Quack]

Indian pig nosed frog

Hose centipede

Short tailed shrew

 

[Conqueror_Quack]

Blanket octopus

 

[Conqueror_Quack]

Argonaut (paper nautilus)

 

[Worthy39]

The Amazon Wolf fish. Their habitat is unfortunately too murky to take photos of them in the water.

 

[Conqueror_Quack]

Hummingbird moth

 

[Anonjohn20]

An Atretochoana Eiselti, while technically a caecilian (underwater worm), they are often bullied by humans; we colloquially call it a "penis snake."

 

[Conqueror_Quack]

View attachment 45821
An Atretochoana Eiselti, while technically a caecilian (underwater worm), they are often bullied by humans; we colloquially call it a "penis snake."

Not as bad as the granulated sea star

 

[SwordSong]

Civets, often called civet cats for their vaguely feline appearance, fall into the family of Viverrids, and have no relationship to cats.View attachment 45790Edit: I think there are about 17 species of civets.

One type of civet, the Asian palm civet, sometimes eat coffee beans, then poop out half-digested beans.

Then some people actually harvest them as coffee called kopi luwak, and it's one of the most expensive coffees.