If Rihanna only knew about this.
If a mop and a feather duster had a baby....
The Long-Wattled Umbrella Bird is no stranger to falling drops of water. It lives in the Choco rainforests in Ecuador and western Colombia. While the hanging feather wattle at its neck doesn’t expand upwards and shade the bird, it is inflatable and amplifies its powerful calls.
Wow. What a wattle.
Photos via Lost in Birding, Nat Geo
The devil wears leaves.
Okay maybe one leaf.
Tails from the creep.
The Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko is endemic to Madagascar and is a master of disguise amongst foliage. One of many leaf-tailed gecko varieties, the Satanic version has horn-like formations on its head and often comes with red eyes. Madagascariffic!
Photos via DailyMail, Flickriver
Stop...
Listen...
What's that sound?
The Bat-Eared Fox is the unprofessed Hearo of the African Savannah. This nocturnal bat fox trails herds of hoofed animals to feed on the insects that feed on excrement. Ginormous ears let them hear termites, dung beetles and other underground creepy crawlies. That’s some superpower.
WA
WA
WEE
WA
The Turtle Frog of western Australia feeds on termites, digging through sand head-first — unusual for a frog but commonplace for a turtle. With a snub nose and stubby physique, this species only bring us to the Creepy Animals mathematical conundrum:
IF [heroes in a half shell = turtle power] THEN [heroes without a shell = frog power] ??
Photos via WAM, Blog on Forest Health,
Meowch.
The ultra elusive, uber evasive, super rare Bornean Bay Cat had never been seen by a living human until a specimen was captured alive (above) in 1992. The nocturnal cat species lives only on the island of Borneo and due to rapidly increasing deforestation, a population of less than 2500 is estimated!
Cat. At bay. In Borneo.
Photo via Mongabay
Shine on.
These radiant gold and silver beetles (Chrysina aurigans [left] and Chrysina limbata [right]) live in the dense rainforests of Costa Rica. And they’re gorgeous. We only wish we could wear precious metals from head to toe. Shamefully, these insects actually use their reflective bodies to hide amid vegetation by replicating shiny surfaces like beads of water.
What? How? Why?
The beetle’s wings manipulates light. According to NewScientist, ‘Light travels at different speeds through each of the 70 or so layers of exoskeletal chitin. Part of the light is reflected off each layer, and the intensity of the reflections is amplified as they constructively interfere with one another, creating an opulent sheen.’
Photo via Eduardo Libby. Want more bling? We do too:
The lustrous blue of the Green Dock Beetle.
Photo via MObugs
The green sheen of the Metallic Scarab Beetle.
Photo via What’s That Bug
The iridescent opalescence of Chrysolina Fastuosa.
Photo via Jaap Polak
The glitzy gloss of the Purple Metallic Beetle.
Photo via Bugguide.net
Bare bare birdie.
Laying shame to the Bald Eagle.
Clearly the Bare-faced Bulbul has nothing to hide. And yet, this Bulbul has barely faced human contact. The songbird was only recently discovered in central Laos twittering about the steep features of the limestone karst region near Pha Lom.
Photo via Bird Forum
Now open wide...
Just a little wider...
That's it.
Grows like goliath, hunts like a tiger and swims like a fish. The Goliath Tigerfish lurks the waters of the Congo River system and several other lakes in southern Africa. This fish is remarkably adept at swimming and killing due in part to an air-filled sac in its body that allows it to detect vibrations from animals in the water. Those razorsharp spikes in its mouth may also help the cause.
Many thanks to dear reader John C. for shoring up this goliath creepy animal.
Gluttony.
Greed.
Sloth.
The Honeypot Ant is the perfect metaphor for how to survive in the post-consumer world: save and spend when needed. Just two easy steps.
1. SAVE
When food is abundant, the honeypot ant gets it’s nom on courtesy of other worker ants that feed it till it’s nearly bursting at the seams. The ant converts the food into a sweet liquid-y substance which is stored within the swollen abdomen. In this state the ant can balloon to the size of a grape, unable to move much within the colony walls.
2. SPEND WHEN NEEDED
When food is scarce, the honeypot ants regurgitate their stored nectar to feed their nest mates. According to Wikipedia, ‘in certain places, they are eaten by people as sweets and are considered a delicacy.’ Who’s hungry now?
Special thanks to dear reader Marcie for sending us this little treat. “Sloth” photo by Greg Hume.
I don't think you're ready for this Jelly.
Game over, jellyfish. Play again. And again. And again. And again...
Turritopsis dohrnii just won’t quit. The aptly named Immortal Jellyfish is the only creature in the world that can revert back to its juvenile form after reaching sexual maturity. How, you ask?
The process is called transdifferentiation, whereby one type of cell is transformed into another type of cell. The Immortal Jellyfish can do this with its entire body.
The adult Immortal Jellyfish looks and floats like…a jellyfish. But when conditions aren’t ideal, it turns into a “blob-like cyst”, anchors to a surface and undergoes reverse metamorphosis back to its juvenile form as a mere polyp. It’s like a full-grown frog turning back into a lowly tadpole.
Scientists believe it can repeat its life cycle indefinitely. Since they’re constantly cheating death, the Immortal Jellyfish are now spreading from their native Caribbean to waters all over the world.
Photos via Peter Schuchert and Nat Geo