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And the award for the world’s weirdest animal goes to…

surprised monkey

There are plenty of reasons we need a list of the world’s strangest animals besides just proving that these creatures really do exist. Among this list you’ll find Halloween costume ideas, ideas for faces you can make behind the teacher’s back, and new names you can call your friends. Plus, if you’re ugly, you won’t feel nearly as unattractive after laying eyes on these hideous beasts.  Without further ado, here are the world’s weirdest animals.

The world’s weirdest animals

Naked mole rat

This grinning naked mole rat is embarrassed to be caught with not clothes

The naked mole rat, also known as the sand puppy or desert mole rat, is notorious for its lack of hair and funny-looking buckteeth. The naked mole rat’s overly large teeth stick out of its mouth which allows it to dig with its teeth while keeping dirt out of its mouth.

Because of its unusual look and tendency toward shyness, the naked mole rat spends most of its time underground. However, its dank, oxygen-deprived underground lair affords the naked mole rat a superpower – it needs very little oxygen and with a low metabolic rate – it barely breathes.

The naked mole rat has not only no sense of self-worth, but no sense of pain. You can poke a naked mole rat with a pin and without even flinching, it will whimper, “Go ahead, poke me again. I deserve it.”

In a noble attempt to rejuvenate admiration from humans, naked mole rats love to eat snakes. Unfortunately, in a pinch they will also eat their own poop which puts them right back on the bottom rung of the ladder to popularity.

Yangtze giant softshell turtle

Yangtze giant softshell turtles are critically endangered

That giant softshell turtle is found in China. It’s a critically endangered species (due to habitat loss) and only three are known to live on the planet. Its pig-like snout and bulging forward-facing eyes make it look like it’s holding its breath for a very long time.  Growing up to 220 lbs., they are the largest freshwater turtle in the world.

Gobi Jerboa

Gobi Jerboa with giant ears

The Gobi Jerboa is a rodent (aka “rat”). They prefer a life of isolation (OMG, look at those ears!) away from condescending eyes, in the desert sands of China. With ears three-times as large as their heads (Yikes, look at the size of those things!), they have a keen sense of hearing and become quite saddened when they overhear the other animals talking about their ears (you could cause a solar eclipse with those flappers!). Their large ears also help them cool their bodies but do not allow them to fly.

Dumbo octopus

Dubmo octopus sticks his tongue out at the camera

The Dumbo octopus or Grimpoteuthis (bless you) live in the deep sea sometimes as deep as 13,000 feet below the surface. They have suckers and spines on their eight webbed arms and huge ear-like fins above their eyes that they flap to swim about.

Aye-aye primate

Pick yourself up off the floor - it's only a aye-aye primate

The aye-aye primate is a type of lemur native to Madagascar. They have long teeth and unusually long middle fingers which tends to draw them into fights when they wave at a friend. They use their long teeth to gnaw holes in trees and have evolved from using their middle fingers for communication (for pointing of course) to using them to stick into tree holes to pull out grub worms.

Scientists find the aye-aye so weird; they are not sure how to classify it. It has properties of rodents, squirrels, and feline cats.

Villagers think the aye-aye is a harbinger of doom and believe their appearance means someone is about to die. In fact, their unusual name comes from a native Madagascarian word which translates to “We don’t know what it is but for Pete’s sake, keep it away from me.”

Japanese spider crab

The man in this photo was never seen again

The Japanese spider crab lives around Japan. They can weigh up to 50 lbs. and with legs up to 12 feet long, have the largest legs of any arthropod.  This is the last known photo of the man in the picture above.

Dugong

The Dugong or sea pig

The Dugong has many complementary names including sea camel, sea cow, and Geek Slop’s favorite, the sea pig. They are a marine animal with a vacuum-cleaner like snout and can grow up to 15 feet long and weigh more than 2,000 lbs. When humiliated, they dive underwater where they can hold their breath for six minutes or more.

Pink Fairy armadillo

Pink Fairy Armadillo gone wild

The Pink Fairy armadillo is the smallest species of armadillo in the world. About the size of a child’s hand, they hail from the deserts of Argentina. With only a single, small strip of hard shell for protection, Pink Fairy armadillos never fight back preferring to run and hide until the manlier armadillos lose interest and just go away.

Star nosed mole

Star nosed mole feels with those creepy little appendages

The star-nosed mole is a small (about 8 inches) mole found in Canada and northern United States. Their alien-like nose contains more than 25,000 sensory receptors and is used as a touch organ. Their noses are so sensitive; they can detect seismic wave vibrations in the earth. The star nosed mole is also the fastest eating animal known. They can identify and consume a meal in about 120 milliseconds. They are particularly adept at tunnel hide and seek where it is notoriously difficult to tell if they are coming or going.

Blobfish

Blobfish - voted the world's ugliest animal

The blobfish is a deep-sea fish found in the waters of Australia and New Zealand. They live at depths of about 4,000 feet below the surface. Unlike many other deep-sea fish, instead of gas bladders, the fish’s flesh is made of a gelatin like substance that floats. The blobfish has almost no muscle or bone mass and simply floats around eating whatever drifts into its mouth.

Sarcastic fringehead

A scientist with a sense of humor named the neoclinus blanchardi the “sarcastic fringehead” just moments before he disappeared, never to be seen again.  Hailing from the California coast, they are small, but ferocious.  They grow up to a foot long and hide under rocks from which they spring forth to devour errant clams, fish, and small children.

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