When I was younger I had a book about strange animals.
My favorite one was always the Horned Lizard, because I thought it was a bad-ass defense to squirt blood out of your eyes.
I wish I could do that.

Man, God sure is creative, isn't he?

"The octopuses of the genus Grimpoteuthis are also known as "Dumbo octopuses" from the ear-like fins protruding from the top of their head-like bodies, resembling the ears of Walt Disney's flying elephant."



And here's a cyanea octopus that can change it's skin colour and texture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckP8msIgMYE

Another weird creature with the following description on wikipedia: "It [the ghost slug] has no eyes, and is white in colour. Unlike the majority of slugs, it is a nocturnal carnivore, feeding on earthworms at night using its blade-like teeth." and "As more information is gathered, the distribution of the species will be monitored to check that it does not become an invasive pest species as it presumably spreads across South Wales."

AAAAAH!

Dunno if it's as unknown as I think, but it's pretty awesome.



"The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is an Arctic species of cetacean. It is a creature rarely found south of latitude 70°N. It is one of two species of white whale in the Monodontidae family (the other is the beluga whale). It is possibly also related to the Irrawaddy dolphin.

The English name narwhal is derived from the Dutch name narwal which in turn comes from the Danish narhval which is based on the Old Norse word nar, meaning "corpse." This is a reference to the animal's colour. The narwhal is also commonly known as the Moon Whale.

In some parts of the world, the Narwhal is colloquially referred to as a "reamfish.""

Sadly horny-toads, as we Texans call them, although once extremely plentiful throughout eastern Texas, are now quite rare. Fire ants attack the young, we're told.

T

Are you complaining that someone posted photos of a sea otter? Do you not have a heart?

by watching them clean themselves with their ADORABLE LITTLE BEAR PAWS

Good stuff so far. Karma for everyone who posted cool creatures.

Lots of people know about jellyfish, few know about siphonophores.



Instead of one organism, these are super-organisms of multiple creatures closely related to jellyfish. Some of these deep sea siphonophores are thought to be the longest animals in the world. In the case of this siphonophore, the head will be a specialised propulsion organism, and each segment of the "spine" is a feeding organism with a long tendril and a primitive stomach and nothing else. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see the blue glow, that lights up the faint tendrils hanging down from the main siphonophore chain. Anything small that passes through that veil will be stuck, poisoned, and dragged slowly upwards to be digested. Remember the creatures that would hang upside down from the ceiling and pull you up and try to eat you in Half-Life 2? This siphonophore is basically the jellyfish equivalent of a truck dragging a huge chain of smaller, glowing, poisonous versions of them behind it. And it can grow to over a hundred metres long. If you're a fish, you're basically fucked.

Zombie Snails

A species of worm that acts similarly to the cat parasites, only in a more gruesome and graphic way.

This little guy is called the "Pistol Shrimp".  In is the closest thing that Earth has to an animal with real Super Powers.

The Pistol Shrimp has one large claw that is specially designed to SHOOT SHOCKWAVES THAT ARE AS HOT AS THE SUN at it's prey from a distance.

Here is a video of the thing in action