Ten of the most unique animals found on our planet
15th June 2024
Authored by Weirdsmiths
With a biodiversity so strong it is home to over 8.7 million individual species, our planet is full of wonderfully amazing, and equally unique, animals. To categorise the weirdest and best of the lot is pretty difficult, but we’ve managed to compile a list of the ten most fascinating and eye catching in our opinion.
Take a look for yourself, see what you think, and have a deeper dive on weird animals to see what you think we could add in the future!
Tapir
Tapiridae - Native to Central America, South America and Southeast Asia.
From an anatomical standing, the tapir is actually quite a regular animal, very similar to a pig in appearance and sharing many ancestors with various other species of animal. Where the tapir differs, however, is in its oddly looking, flexible snout.
The proboscis of a tapir is actually quite similar to the trunk of an elephant in its function, offering a full range of movement that allows for the grabbing of foliage to then be pushed to the mouth. When discovering a scent, the tapir will often flick their snout high and show their teeth, similarly to a horse, and can often be seen exhibited by bulls during mating season.
There are four species of tapir still in existence, all of which have slightly different characteristics and a different length snout, with the Malayan tapir holding the title of longest.
Amazon River Dolphin
Inia geoffrensis - Native to South America
Also known as the pink river dolphin, the Amazon River Dolphin is the largest species of river dolphin residing in the rivers of South America. They acquire their nickname from their distinct pink colour that develops in adults, predominantly on their underside, but visible all over their body.
Due to the biodiversity of the Amazon Rainforest, these dolphins have one of the most varied diets of any toothed whales, consisting all the way from fish to turtles, frogs and crabs. It is an endangered animal primarily due to accidentally being killed in fishing accidents, as well as through habitat loss and pollution, making sights of the animal rarer and rarer as time goes on.
While these river dolphins can be found in some captivity around the world, river dolphins in general are quite hard to keep captive due to their difficulty to train and high intelligence. There is often a high mortality rate amongst captured or rescued dolphins.
Star Nosed Mole
Condylura cristata - Native to North America
Despite their nightmare-fuelled appearance, the Star Nosed Mole is a harmless creature that feeds on small invertebrates in the wet lowlands of North East USA and Eastern Canada.
The mole is clearly on this list due to its eye catching snout, with 22 appendages that resemble more of a hand than a nose of any other creature. The nose of the mole is so powerful that it can detect seismic activity within the Earth, electrical activity within its prey, and can even determine whether something is edible within 8 milliseconds – one of the fastest response times of any animal.
The Star Nosed Mole is functionally blind, so it’s nose is important for absolutely everything it does. It is so effective for movement, foraging, and even the ability to smell underwater, that it has been the subject of extensive study for how brains and senses work.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey
Rhinopithecus roxellana - Native to China
No, this isn’t some CGI creature from the world of Pandora in Avatar, this is a real blue-faced monkey found in the mountainous forests of Central and Southwest China.
Though it is still unknown why the monkeys have blue faces, due to the climate of their habitat, they are equipped with the ability to withstand colder temperatures than any other primate (other than humans). They are distinct in their appearance of both their skin and their golden-orange fur, where they stand out in the white snow.
These monkeys display a few attributes that are unusual for other primates, such as the females mating with multiple males as to cause paternal confusion; ultimately preventing elder males from killing the young through fear of killing their own offspring. Many females and young will often huddle together to sleep and keep warm in lower parts of trees, but males will often be seen sleeping solitarily or on the look out for predators. The exact nature of these sleep clusters is also unknown, though it is thought to be an anti-predatory response, as well as a way to regulate heat.
Blobfish
Psychrolutes microporos - Native to Australia and New Zealand
Often regarded as the ugliest create to exist, the Blobfish is a type of bottom-dwelling deepwater fish that features a relatively flat body shop with a wide mouth, resulting in its unnaturally ugly appearance.
Due to the pressure of the depths of the ocean in their natural habitat, Blobfish look drastically different when pulled to the surface. Namely, they do not possess as jelly-like of a body or nose in their home, being quite small in size. Though little is known of how the Blobfish functions in its natural habitat, it is thought to consume almost anything it comes into contact with and function very similarly to most deep sea fish, with an ability to withstand immense pressure and toxins.
Water Bears
Tardigrades - Native in diverse parts of our world
Though technically a micro-animal that is barely visible to the naked eye, tardigrades are eight legged creatures that are found in mosses and lichens, feeding on their cells, algae and small invertebrates.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about tardigrades, other than their striking appearance, is that they are practically invincible. Not only can they handle extreme temperatures and pressures on both ends of the scale, they are also able to survive a severe lack of air, high radiation exposure, dehydration and starvation – in fact, they have even survived in the vacuum of space!
Part of the resilience of these creatures must be attributed to their length of existence, with evidence that they have been on Earth for hundreds of millions of years, surviving on bacteria and plant life, as well as a carnivorous few who eat smaller tardigrades.
Saiga Antelope
Saiga tatarica - Native to Central Asia
Looking like a creature straight out of the Star Wars Universe, the Saiga antelope is one of the most striking looking members of the Bovidae family. Much like the Tapir, the Saiga features in this list very much due to its nose; namely, it’s bloated nostrils.
As with most distinctly weird looking body parts on animals, the nostrils of the Saiga have a necessary function for the survival of the animal. Given the climate of its home habitat, primarily in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the weather can change quite dramatically. With hot summers and freezing winters, their noses can help regulate the temperature of the air they breathe, as well as filter out any dust that may be kicked up during their huge migrations.
Jellyfish
Various species - Native to the ocean
With more than 2000 known types of jellyfish in existence, we are cheating a little bit to classify them all as one… but, no list of unique wildlife would be complete without the majority-water-based transparent creature.
The category of jellyfish is one of the most unique in the animal kingdom due to its age and characteristics. The exact ancestry of them is unknown, but it is estimated that they have existed on Earth for between 500 and 700 million years, making them the oldest multi-organ animal group. That last term might seem surprising given their appearance, but yes, jelly fish do have organs!
Despite lacking a central brain like most animals, some jellyfish, like the Box, do have a cluster of neurones that function in a similar fashion, allowing sensory responses. There are even species of jellyfish that are biologically immortal, as they do not age and they regenerate their own cells as needed. Jellyfish have been the subject of study for centuries, ultimately helping to define how we look at what constitutes life and, subsequently, living creatures.
Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus - Native to the ocean
Though pretty standard in comparison to some others on this list, the blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have exist on Earth, and therefor one of the most unique. The maximum recorded weight of a blue whale is 190 tonnes, though larger whales have been seen and not weighed, estimating them to weigh up to 250 tonnes – roughly the weight of 8 houses.
With only four or five recognised populations of blue whale, they are quite rare to see for the most part, however at one time they were a very abundant animal in our waters. Between the late 19th Century and 1966, the blue whale was hunted to near extinction by whalers, but luckily the population is now protected, yet still endangered.
The unique nature of the whale doesn’t stop with its colossal size either, as they have been known to interbreed with other species of whale, specifically fin whales. Though the exact number of hybrid offspring is unknown, approximately 3.5% of all blue whale’s DNA is thought to be derived from fin whales, showing the real impact of interbreeding and evolution in action.
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum - Native to Mexico
By far the cutest addition to this list of unique animals is the smiling salamander that is the axolotl. Similarly to the blue whale, the axolotl faced near extinction due to human interference, leaving the species critically endangered with an unknown number in the wild.
Despite being amphibious, the axolotl does not transform through metamorphosis, and they remain aquatic in both habitat and physical make-up. Axolotl’s also posses a unique ability in nature: regeneration; not just of their limbs like other amphibians, but also of their eyes and brain too, an ability they keep throughout their entire lifespan. One heavily desired feature of the axolotl is its ability to accept transplants from other individuals without rejection, with their bodies restoring to full functionality.
Top top it all off, axolotls have been known to not only repair existing limbs, but still regenerate new ones, giving them additional appendages for a more unique appearance.
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