Really, Really Weird Animals (AMAZING PHOTOS)

The animal world is amazing. Discover some species you have probable never heard about.

1. Red-lipped Batfish

It's a fish that can be found on the Galapagos Islands. Red-lipped Batfish is actually a pretty bad swimmer, and uses its pectoral fins to walk on the bottom of the ocean.

2. Goblin Shark

This is a very rare shark, the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. Given the depths at which it lives, the goblin shark poses no danger to humans.

3. The Panda Ant

The Mutillidae are a family of more than 3,000 species of wasps (despite the names) whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Found in Chile, they are known for their extremely painful stings. Black and white specimens are sometimes known as panda ants due to their hair coloration resembling that of the Chinese giant panda. 

4. Pénis Snake

In the language of science this eyeless animal is actually called Atretochoana eiselti. It is a large, presumably aquatic, caecilian amphibian with a broad, flat head and a fleshy dorsal fin on the body.

5. Umbonia Spinosa

These thorn bugs use their beaks to pierce plant stems to feed upon their sap. Their weird appearance still poses many questions to scientists.

6. Glaucus Atlanticus

Otherwise called blue dragon, this animal is a is a species of blue sea slug. You could find it in warm waters of the oceans, as it floats on the surface because of a gas-filled sac in its stomach.

7. Mantis Shrimp

Also called the “sea locusts“, “prawn killers” and even “thumb splitters”, this is one of the most common predators in tropical and sub-tropical waters; little is known about them, however, because of how much time they spend hiding in their burrows.

8. Giant Isopod

 

The largest existing isopod. The enormous size of the giant isopod is a result of a phenomenon known as deep sea gigantism. This is the tendency of deep sea crustaceans and other animals to grow to a much larger size than similar species in shallower waters.