Mother nature is so diverse that even today new creatures are being discovered every day. Most of these creatures are bizarre enough to open a whole new dimension of evolution. They vary in both features and size ranging from huge whales with tusks to small worms with ribbon like protrusion. While some creatures are extremely beautiful, others are odd-looking beyond reason. In this article, we have presented 20 such odd-looking creatures that you (including me) have probably never seen before.

1. Alligator Snapping Turtle
Alligator snapping turtle is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world. It is famous for its immensely powerful jaws which has a bite force of approximately 158 kgf. It has long, spring-like neck, and a thick scaled tail. The distinct alligator-like ridges on its shell inspired the name alligator snapping turtle. Due to its prehistoric looks, this turtle has earned another nickname: “dinosaur of the turtle world”. It is a master of camouflage and hides itself very well by letting algae grow on its shell. Also, it has a naturally-camouflaged mouth and a worm-like appendage on the tip of its tongue. This appendage is used to lure prey inside its mouth.


2. Strap-toothed whale
The sharp-toothed whale is a species of beaked whale. This whale species has a unique characteristic: two large tusks that grow up and over the upper jaw. These tusks (or teeth) emerge from the lower jaw and grow upwards. At the upper jaw, they bend at an angle of 45 degrees and these teeth from both sides encircles the upper jaw. Due to this form, sharp-toothed whale can’t open their mouth more than a few inches. These specially shaped teeth appear only in male sharp-tooth whales. Females of this species look the same as other whales, and that’s why they are difficult to spot. Due to restriction in the size of its prey, the sharp-toothed whale feeds mainly on squid.

3. Gharial
Of all the living species of crocodiles, gharial is the second largest in length. It is a fish-eating crocodile found in the northern Indian subcontinent. It is known for its extremely long and thin jaws. Male gharials develop a bulbous nasal growth at the tip of their snout when they reach sexual maturity. This nasal growth resembles an earthen pot, locally known as “ghara”, and it is the inspiration behind its name. Gharials spend most of the time in the water and only visit land to bask in the sun or to lay eggs in the sandbanks. The population of gharial declined 96 – 98% in the past 70 years due to overhunting. It is now listed under Critically Endangered species on the IUCN Red List.


4. Shoebill
The shoebill is a very large stork-like bird with huge a bulbous bill in the shape of a shoe. The bill is straw-colored with erratic grayish markings. The shoebill is quite tall and its height is in the range of 43 to 55 inches. It has an amazing wingspan ranging from 7’7″ to 8’6″. The shoebill hunts its prey in a lurking fashion. It stands still like a statue for a long period and launches a violent strike upon spotting a prey. The shoebill builds a nest with their mate to raise babies. Although they rarely raise more than one chick, they hatch 2-3 chicks. The younger chicks are kept as the backup in case the elder one is weak or dies.

Lalasticlala

5. Sarcastic Fringehead
The sarcastic fringehead is a very small and slender fish that has a length of 10-12 inches. It is fearless and extremely aggressive, and it charges towards anything that approaches its burrows. This aggressive behavior is the reason behind the word ‘sarcastic’ in their name. The fringehead part is due to the appendages present over their eyes. When two sarcastic fringeheads fights, they wrestle by pressing their mouth against each other. To any spectator, this act looks like kissing.

6. Purple Frog
The purple frog is a recently discovered frog species found in the Western Ghats in India. It spends most of its life underground and only comes out for mating during monsoon. Since it remains above land only for a few week, it has got scientific recognition so late even though locals have known it for a long time. Interestingly, the purple frog is the only surviving member of a group of amphibians which evolved 130 million years ago. Their diet mainly comprises of termites. They have touch-sensitive snout through which they seek out termites and suck them using a fluted tongue.

7. Promachoteuthis sulcus
The Promachoteuthis sulcus is a newly-discovered deep-sea squid possessing human-like mouth including teeth. These teeth are actually circular folded lips. Promachoteuthis sulcus uses razor-sharp beaks to chop and chew their prey. The beaks are located inside their mouth and are not visible from outside. These one inch long creatures have eight arms and two large tentacles. Today, there is only one specimen of this creature known to men. It was caught in 2007 by the German research vessel “Walther Herwig”. This specimen is an immature female Promachoteuthis sulcus which is only 25 mm long.

8. Black swallower
Black Swallower is a deep-sea fish which has the amazing ability to consume fish that are much bigger than its size and more than 10 times its own mass. Black swallower itself is quite a small fish and its maximum known length is 25 cm. It possesses an expandable stomach due to which it can swallow large preys. Sometimes it swallows such a large creature that the prey starts to decompose before it can be digested. This releases gas in its stomach which forces the swallower to the surface of the ocean and that’s how most specimens have been collected. In 2007, a 7.5 inch Black Swallower was found dead in the coast of Cayman Islands with a 34-inch mackerel in its stomach.

to be continued...

Scary

Add snake to it and see lala running in