#10 Strangest Animals: Aye-aye

This reclusive little chief is indeed one of the ugliest animals on earth, and also one of the most bizarre. Found only in Madagascar, it has a length of 14 to 17 inches and a long tail. Its body is covered in long, wired hair that ranges in color from gray to black with protective, whitish hair. His face resembles a fox, but his teeth are constantly growing like a rodent. aye-aye uses echolocation like a bat and can climb trees upside down like a squirrel. Its eyes are round and squinted, orange or brown. The animal also has a specialized third finger that it uses to pierce the cavities made of its teeth and pull out the larvae. The natives consider him evil and kill him on sight, and the Ai is in danger.

#9 Strangest Animals: Okapi

Is it a giraffe? Is it a zebra? Is it the result of the giraffe and zebra getting too warm? The okapi is also known as the zebra giraffe, and is actually a close relative of the giraffe but not any kind of hybrid. This strange and oddly attractive animal is 4.9 feet tall at the shoulder and about 8 feet long. Females are a little longer. Its neck is long but not as long as its cousin, and it has a smooth dark brown or reddish brown coat and zebra stripes on the legs and hind limbs. Males, not females, have bones on their heads. This animal is threatened with extinction and is found naturally only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This shark,  Megachasma pelagios  looks fearsome with its aquarium-sized mouth, but it’s a peaceful plankton feeder much like basking whales and sharks. Only discovered in 1976, it is an elusive species that lives in the depths of the warmest waters in all of the world’s oceans. Unlike other sharks, it is not a swimming champion, has a soft body and appears to expend minimal energy to maintain its movement. It has a white belly and is brown, dark blue or gray on top. It also has strange and prominent lips. The mouth can be over 4 feet wide and contain up to 50 rows of small teeth on the upper jaw and 75 rows on the lower. The shark can reach 18 feet and weigh more than 2 tons. Its conservation status is the least alarming, but then again, scientists don’t actually know how many gigantic sharks there are.

#7 Strangest Animals: Pangolin

This animal, which has been in the news recently for its possible role as a carrier of Covid-19, comes with its own shield. Also known as a scaly anteater, it is covered with scales made of keratin, the same things that make up other animals’ hair, fur, claws, and nails. They are the only mammals known to have these types of scales, which has made them the focus of attention, for good or bad. Overhunting and habitat destruction have rendered most of the six pangolin species endangered, critically endangered or endangered. This is true although the animal protects itself by curling up into a ball and presenting sharp scales when threatened

#6 Strangest Animals: The Hairy Frog

Hair and fur are usually traits of mammals, and possibly some insects, but they are almost never seen on amphibians and reptiles. Hairy frog, also known as wolverine or horror frog, is an exception. The males of these frogs, which are about 4 to 5 inches long, grow hairs on their sides and thighs during the breeding season. They are not really bristles but dermal papillae, and they have arteries that help the frog absorb more oxygen. It functions very much like the gills that a frog has while it is a tadpole. The male frog will need additional oxygen because after the female lays eggs in the water, he is the one guarding them.

Another unusual thing about this frog is that it has retractable claws, like a wolverine. Claws are made of bone, and can only be removed if the frog breaks the bones of its toe and allows the claw to rip through its skin. This frog is found in West Africa, particularly in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Although the frog is invulnerable, it is hunted and eaten.

#5 Weirdest Animals: The Tsetse Fly

Found in tropical Africa, the tsetse fly is responsible for spreading sleeping sickness. This is not what makes it strange, since many insects are vectors of diseases. What makes this fly unusual is that the larva grows in the mother’s womb, and the mother feeds it with milk. These reproductive strategies are supposed to belong to mammals.

The tsetse fly allows the female to fertilize only one of her eggs at a time, and the baby undergoes larval stages while in her womb. During the development of the larva, the mother feeds it with a substance that is very similar to milk, although it is still in its womb. The tsetse fly mother then gives birth to the larva when it reaches its third larval stage. Then the larva crawls to the ground, becomes pupated and lives for about a month on the food it received from its mother.

#4 Strangest Animals: The Platypus

Everyone knows about the platypus but that doesn’t make it any less weird. In fact, the more people learn about this animal, the more bizarre it becomes. Of course, the platypus has a beak like a duck, webbed feet like an otter, eyes like a hagfish and a tail like a beaver. It is a mammal that lays eggs, and the male has poisonous spines on his hind feet. Its fur glows under a black light, and it finds prey through electrical signals picked up by receptors on its bill. The left ovary functions only in the female platypus. When Europeans first encountered it, they thought the platypus was as fake as a Fijian mermaid. The San Diego Zoo is the only zoo in America that has a platypus exhibit. Others include Taronga Zoo and Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Australia.

#3 Strangest Animals: Puffer Fish

Another entry as one of the ugliest creatures in the world, this pinkish-white fish has the face of a disgruntled old man. Also called head fat, it’s found in the deep waters off New Zealand and Australia. One large fish was found from a depth of 3,900 feet. To be fair, Blobfish doesn’t really look like her most famous photoshoot. When pulled from the depths of the ocean at great speed, it experiences a shock so severe that it collapses to a point. Most puffer fish caught are about a foot long and weigh about four pounds. A predator is likely to ambush or simply pick up any food that gets close enough.

#2 Weirdest Animals: Sponges

The sponge is one of those marine animals that looks like a terminal but isn’t. In fact, it cannot be said that the sponge looks like a plant so much as it is said that it is a living creature that fell from outer space. This animal consists of unspecialized cells interspersed with channels and pores, and does not have a digestive system. She does not have a brain or nervous system. It does not have a rotating device. It has no internal organs. It is alive only because ocean currents bring it food and oxygen and remove waste. The sponge was the first animal to distinguish itself from a common ancestor among each animal, and may have been around 750 million years ago. However, the life of sponges is surprisingly complex, and the study of these creatures is called sponge science.

#1 Strangest Animals: Tardigrades

Also called the water bear, boar, and piglet, this microscopic creature is nearly indestructible. It is also everywhere. It is in Antarctica and in bodies of water, in rainforests, mud volcanoes and deserts.. It has even escaped exposure to outer space itself. It can survive in temperatures close to absolute zero and temperatures as high as 300 degrees Fahrenheit. It can withstand radiation and pressure levels that could kill a human. If necessary, tardigrades can go without food and water for 30 years or more and tolerate drought for a decade. A small, fleshy, segmented animal with eight legs and clawed feet, it eats unicellular plant matter and invertebrates are smaller than it. Count on water to exist until the heat death of the universe.