Weird Animals that are Real

Fact is stranger than fiction. Cliched but who can say otherwise. While surely creatures like Dementors and the Loch Ness monsters are creatures who have emerged from the darkest recesses of our imagination, there are some weird animals that exist surpassing any possible limits that our fantasies can take us to. In this article, we take a look at some of these weird animals that are oh-so-real.

Weird Animals of the World

With the diverse fauna that the planet earth is home to, it is difficult to make a definite list of all of those weird animals. There are many such animals, some of them now extinct, that can easily qualify for being the basis for monsters of the scariest books and movies. Unusual animals such as these have been a topic of discussion for a while now. These weird animals and creatures that are listed below are just some animals that caught our attention.

Alligator Gar
A fish that looks like an alligator, the Alligator Gar or Atractosteus spatula is a freshwater fish that is found in North America. The back of the fish is brown in color and the underside is a lighter shade. It has a scales that are shaped like diamonds and an elongated snout. On an average, the Alligator Gar weighs about 200 pounds and is 8 - 10 feet in length. This species of fish has the ability to survive outside water for as longs as two hours.

Angora Rabbit
Sure, sheep are bred for wool, but ever heard of a rabbit that is bred for its hair? Our second animal on the list is the Angora rabbit. These are domestic rabbits native to Turkey, which have long hair. They are docile animals that need proper Angora rabbit care, especially when being shorn off their soft hair. The Angora rabbit lives for almost 5 - 7 years and weighs about 2 - 3.5 kilos.

Axolotl
A Mexican mole salamander, one of the weird animals facts that helps it make to this list is that the larvae of this species does not undergo metamorphosis and therefore, the adults of the species are aquatic and possess gills. Another interesting fact about this salamander species is that it regenerates body parts. These aquatic salamanders, which are also known as the Mexican walking fish, are used in scientific research and are now on the list of animals on the brink of extinction being on the Red List of threatened animal species.

Aye-Aye
A lemur that is primarily found in Madagascar, the Aye-Aye is the largest nocturnal primate in the world. It has rodent like teeth and a long, thin middle finger, which it uses to tap on wood to find food. Aye-Aye is a near threatened species and looks like a vampire bat. Its habitat are rain forests and deciduous forests. One of the Aye-Aye facts is that these animals are considered to be bad omen and apparently signs of death.

Colossal Squid
The largest known invertebrate known to human beings, the Colossal squid is on an average around 12 - 14 meters in size. It is the largest squid species in the world in terms of mass and is also known as the Antarctic or Giant Cranch Squid. It belongs to the genus Mesonychoteuthis. This species of squid has been found in areas like Antarctica, southern South America, southern New Zealand and South Africa.

Glass Frog
One of the animals which does not scare the living daylights out of you is the Glass frog, which is native to South America. These frogs are called so because of their transparent abdominal skin, which makes their internal organs visible. These frogs are extremely tiny, measuring only 3 - 7.5 cm. Otherwise, these frogs are green in color. They are known to be cannibalistic in nature, eating their own offspring on occasions.

Komodo Dragon
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized this lizard as vulnerable. The Komodo dragon habitat is Indonesia, mainly the islands, Komodo, Rinca, Flores and Gili Motang. It is the largest species of the lizard family that is living and weighs about 70 kilos, growing to a length of 2 - 3 meters on an average.

Ocean Sunfish
The heaviest bony fish in the world, the ocean sunfish or Mola Mola weighs almost 1000 kg on an average. As the image accompanying this article shows, The main body of this fish is laterally flattened and it looks like a fish head with a tail. Their staple food is jellyfish, which they consume in large amount in order to develop their body. They are similar to puffer fish in appearance.

Star-nosed Mole
A small mole native to North America, this creature is a definite on any list of weird animals that are definitely real. The reason for their name, star nosed moles, are the eleven pink appendages around their snout which functions as a touch receptor that helps the animal in gaging direction.

While this was just a list of naturally found animals whose genetic traits make them misshaped and monster lookalikes, there are some animals who have earned the adjective, weird because of mutations conducted on them and/or birth defects. One of the most famous of these animals is Cy, a kitten that lived only for a day and was born with one eye and no nose. Cy could also qualify for competing in the category of weird animals names, called so for Cyclops, the mythical creature with one eye. Another such creature that was born with a genetic defect was Cham Leck, a cow who had six limbs. Mike, the headless chicken (you read that right) is in the Guinness Book of Records for being alive for 18 months without a head. There are many other such weird animals who have this disfigured form due to various reasons including human interference with animal genes. These animals earn weird monikers for their appearance and are shunned or feared due to the various socio-cultural and religious beliefs of various places. While these animals may seem like they are straight out our worst nightmares and imaginations gone wrong, the fact remains that they are real creatures.