The world is full of wonders and discoveries. And if it seems to an adult that he has known everything about everything for a long time, then this is not so. Today in our article we will get acquainted with the 10 most amazing animals in the world, the discovery of which was a surprise for the scientific world.

Okapi or "forest giraffe"

This mammal lives in Central Africa, is a relative of the giraffe. But appearance it resembles a cross between a giraffe, a horse and a zebra. For the first time, the most amazing animal in the world was caught by the English journalist and traveler Henry Morton Stanley to open it to the world in 1909. The okapi has a velvety, short, brown coat with a copper sheen. At the withers, its height reaches 160 centimeters, and from head to tail - 2 meters. On the head are 2 large ears and expressive huge eyes, the muzzle is narrowed, like a giraffe.

Red-lipped damselfish

This creature lives off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Even though it is a fish, it does not swim well. For this reason, it prefers to walk along the bottom of the ocean at a depth of 30 meters. His appearance causes an involuntary smile: his lips are bright scarlet, as if the fish deliberately painted them with lipstick. What the most amazing animal in the world looks like, the photo perfectly demonstrates.

panda ant

Despite the name of the first part of the word "ant", this insect is a member of the wasp family. More precisely, these are hairy female wasps that do not have wings. For this reason, the animal was dubbed "ant". The unusual coloring, reminiscent of the panda pattern, turned the female wasp into a "panda ant" or "velvet ant". The species lives in countries Latin America(Chile). This insect does not bother building a nest. In order to lay eggs for future offspring, the wasp captures the home of the bees, where it performs all the necessary actions. Fighting her is problematic because she has a long sting, which she skillfully wields.

Goblin Shark (or Goblin Shark)

This mysterious and awesome shark is one of the most amazing animals in the world. Experts jokingly call it a "living fossil", as it is the only representative of the Scapanorhynchus family that lived for more than 125 million years on the planet. This shark was first caught off the coast of Japan in 1897. At the University of Tokyo, the fish lived for only 1 week, after which it died. She aroused great interest among the public due to her appearance, but she is not of interest from the point of view of the fishery.

For people, the goblin shark is not dangerous, since the depth of its habitat is about 100 meters, and the older generation prefers even greater depth. The animal is found in the oceans. It has poor eyesight, due to the lack of light in the places of its dwelling. It feeds on crabs, squids and other types of sharks. Nothing is known about how individuals reproduce. The color of the goblin shark is pale pink.

Spinosa umbonia cicada

Scientists have many questions and disputes regarding this insect. Since there is very little information about this beetle. His strange ornament serves as a tool for him to drink the juice of plants, piercing with a thorn, like a knife. The body of the female reaches only 14 mm, it has a green color with yellow streaks. Spinosa cicada lives in South America.

mantis shrimp

This representative of crustaceans is the most amazing animal in the world. It has massive jaws with which it wields, inflicting deadly bites on its prey. You can meet him in the reservoirs of the subtropics, the number of the species is huge. But finding such an animal is not so easy: the mantis shrimp often lives in its hole. Despite the threatening disposition, the appearance makes the animal attractive: a beautiful gradient color with a tortoiseshell pattern on the body.

Scientists have proven that the mantis shrimp has unique abilities for the animal world: the vision of a representative of crustaceans is able to recognize circularly polarized light. For example, a person can see light, color and brightness. And light or electromagnetic oscillations (that is, polarization) are not available to us.

saiga

This is a very unusual antelope with a soft trunk at the end of the muzzle. You can meet the saiga in Eurasia. His coat is long and soft, his body is strong, his color is yellow with a gray tint. Only males have horns, the shape is almost straight. The length of an adult individual reaches 1.3 meters, it grows up to 90 centimeters in height. Saiga live in small families, and with the onset of cold weather they unite in groups and go in search of satisfying pastures.

Animals have poor eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing are well developed. For this reason, some are of the opinion that animals are stupid. Since there were cases when the saiga rushed to a moving car. Of course, due to poor eyesight. It is very easy to tame these animals.

Narwhal

Believe it or not, the narwhal is a unicorn. The most amazing animal in the world is a mammal of the Unicorn family. The habitat of the predator is the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic. In terms of external structure, the narwhal is similar to belugas - the size and shape of the body, pectoral fins, and even color. The older the animal, the more spotting on its body. The narwhal has 2 upper teeth, one of which grows to the size of a tusk, twisted in a spiral (in males), and the other does not erupt. Adult individuals reach 4.5 meters, and weight reaches 1.5 tons.

Why the narwhal tusk is unknown. Definitely not for piercing ice, as this is a very sensitive organ. Presumably, it serves as a "device" that measures the physical and chemical state of water (temperature, pressure, pollution). Sometimes you can notice the unusual behavior of animals - narwhals cross tusks. Perhaps this is how they cleanse the body of growths.

Axolotl

The axolotl belongs to the Ambistom family, a larval form of an amphibian. The habitat of the larva is the mountain reservoirs of Mexico. The most amazing animal in the world has gills, which are located on the head in the form of shaggy processes that rise up. To remove organic accumulations, the larva presses them to the muzzle and shakes it. The uniqueness lies in the fact that the axolotl can breathe not only with gills, but also with lungs! If the reservoir where he lives is polluted, then he goes to the work of the lungs. In this case, his gills atrophy. In swimming, a wide and long tail helps him. The total length of the larva is up to 30 centimeters.

This is a very calm and non-initiative animal, which, mainly, only lies without moving. Sometimes it can move its tail and rise to the surface of the water to breathe. Despite its quiet disposition, it is a predator.

starship

The most amazing animal in the world belongs to the Mole family, living in Southeastern Canada and Northeastern America. A distinctive feature of the star-nosed mole is the structure of its muzzle in the form of a rosette, consisting of 22 soft fleshy processes. When the animal is in search of food, these processes are in constant motion (with the exception of the top two, which have a solid structure). When eating, the entire muzzle is drawn to food, like a flower bud. And while drinking, the star-nosed completely immerses the stigma in water for 5-6 seconds.

Finally

We have brought to your attention a small presentation of the most amazing animals in the world. Their diversity amazes minds and consciousness. These individuals are part of nature, in which we all coexist, but not everyone knows about them. There are still a lot of secrets ahead that humanity has to uncover.

Regional State Educational State Institution for Orphans,

and children left without parental care

"Special correctional school– boarding school for orphans,

and children left without parental care,

With handicapped health of the city of Sayansk"

research

"Amazing Animals of Planet Earth"

Completed:

3rd grade student

OGOKU SKSHI, Sayansk

Kuleshov Andrey

Supervisor:

teacher primary school

Pilipenko Natalia Yurievna

Sayansk 2015

    Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…….2

    Theoretical part……………………………………………………………...……3

a) Marmoset ……………………………………………………………………..……....3

b) Hoatzin……………………………………………………………………………….. 3- 4

c) Holothuria…………………………………………………………………………………4-5

5

4. List of literature used…………………………………………………..……6

Introduction

Research topic "Amazing Animals of Planet Earth..." I chose,

because I'm interested in learning about the life of animals on our planet. I like to read books, magazines, encyclopedias, look at pictures about animals. I wanted to know what unusual animals live on Earth: where they live, how they look, what they eat.

I really like to learn everything new, surprising, unusual, so it was very interesting for me when preparing for the conference.

Relevance of the chosen topic- Many animals have disappeared due to the fault of man, so it is very important to know what animals have survived on the globe, whether there is a danger of their extinction.

Goal of the work: to study, select and systematize scientific material on this topic.

Object of study: various animals, their life and adaptation to external environment by studying the material in the scientific literature.

Based on the object to achieve the goal, the following tasks:

Discover unusual animals of the planet Earth, the existence of which I did not even suspect.

Collect interesting, unknown to me facts about unusual animals.

Determine if there is a danger of their disappearance.

1. Introduction

A huge number of living organisms live on our planet, striking in their diversity. Among them are polar bears - the kings of the Arctic and scorpions - the kings of the desert. These are penguins, the indigenous inhabitants of Antarctica and the amazing animals of Australia. And what unusual marine animals live in the seas and oceans. The air is the habitat of a variety of birds and insects. For many inhabitants of the animal kingdom, rivers and soil are their home.

In total on earth lives about 1 million 500 thousand species varied animals. They inhabit the entire globe: land, seas, rivers, oceans. In other words, their habitat is diverse: water, air, earth.

2. Theoretical part

Today we will present to your attention stories about the most amazing and incredible animals on the planet, the inhabitants of the earth, air and water.

marmoset

Amazing creation of nature - marmoset mammal. This is rare, the little-known animal is the smallest monkey in the world. The length of her body is about 12 cm, and the length of her tail is 15 cm. Despite her small size, marmosets are relatives of both the huge orangutan and the man himself.

They live in the dense tropical forest of South America, in swampy and humid areas. They are on the list of protected species.

The marmoset is dark or dark brown in color, and the hair on the head and tail is sometimes red, white, or silvery brown.

Marmosets lead a strictly diurnal and predominantly arboreal lifestyle. They mainly feed on plant foods: tree sap, fruits, seeds, flowers, nectar and mushrooms. Insects are also an important food source.

Animals have fast, sharp and completely unexpected movements. Sometimes they manage to disappear so quickly that a person seems to have no time to blink an eye. This ability is the marmosets' only defense when they come face to face with a stronger opponent. They live big family, raising children as a pack.

Marmosets in nature are very shy and cautious. Their enemies are snakes, cats, birds of prey. But this little monkey can be tamed and then it becomes a real friend to a person. In captivity, marmosets live 18 years, 5-6 longer than in nature.


Hoatzin

Lives in the rainforests of the Amazon bird with hands . This an amazing bird the size of a crow - hoatzin. The main color of the color is red-brown with a greenish tinge, decorated everywhere with colored inserts: the tips of the tail feathers are white, on the head there is a red-orange crest of thin feathers, the face is blue, and the breast is light brown or reddish. All this beauty is securely held on strong legs. The tail is long, the wings are wide. Long neck ends with a small head with a chic decoration in the form of a high tuft.

Unlike their feathered relatives, in addition to two ordinary paws, the chicks have additional ones that perform the duties of hands. These are modified wings with claws. Wings-paws help to hold tightly to tree branches, as well as to hang for a long time. With their help, hoatzins deftly move within a few days after birth. When a fledgling chick, deftly moving all four limbs, climbs up or down a tree trunk, it is very easy to mistake it for some outlandish lizard. Another strange hoatzin chicks can swim. In the water, they hide from enemies if they find them not in the nest. Turning into an adult bird, the hoatzin loses its claws and the ability to swim. But he gets the opportunity to "sing."Interestingly, he does not sing like many ordinary birds, but croaks like a frog.Hoatzin almost does not fly, most of the time it rests onand rarely comes down to earth.In its appearance, the hoatzin resembles the first bird - Archeopteryx.

The hoatzin feeds on leaves and builds its nest from them. Hoatzins are the only ruminants. Its strong defensive weapon is its pungent odor, and its meat is unfit to eat.

The main danger of the extinction of the marmoset and hoatzin is the deforestation of the rainforest.

Holothuria

The next unusual animal lives in sea ​​depths- ThisHolothuria.

They are also called sea pods or sea cucumbers. Their closest relatives are starfish and sea urchins. They usually live on the seabed. Only a few live near the surface of the water.

The holothurian has an elongated, cylindrical body and can be red, black, blue, green or brown. The size of the sea cucumber depends on the species. The smallest can be around 30 cm, while the largest species can reach up to 1 meter in length.

Despite the fact that the sea cucumber has a skeleton, it is soft to the touch, as the skeleton is made up of plates and spines. These marine inhabitants do not have a brain. Sea cucumbers have five rows of tentacles on the surface of the body. Thanks to them, they move and use them for feeding.

When faced with danger, the sea cucumber is capable of expelling internal organs along with the toxic substance. All missing organs can be restored in the next 1.5-5 weeks.

The lifespan of sea cucumbers is 5 to 10 years in the wild.

sea ​​cucumbers play important role in the purification of nature. Their activity is mainly at night.

These animals are used as a delicacy, and in Asia - as part of. Although exploitation of sea cucumbers is increasing, they are still abundant in the wild and are not on the list of endangered species.

When conducting research, my teacher and I used a variety of materials: encyclopedias, the Internet, educational literature. The magazines In the World of Animals, Funny Animals, Geolyonok, Anthill, Animals of Our Planet, etc., helped us a lot.

Conclusion

Having studied the materials of books, encyclopedias on my topic, I came to the conclusion that the animal world is large and diverse. No encyclopedia is able to even briefly tell about absolutely all representatives of animals. It is possible that scientists have yet to discover new species that are still unknown to science.

Manimal world is interesting,

And wonderful in riddles

As in nature, where they live,

How they walk or run.

What do they eat, how do they get it?

Paths where they hide theirs,

interesting creatures,

And a source of knowledge!

Bibliography

1. Big Encyclopedia"Why". Publishing house "Rosmen", Moscow, 2003

2. Children's encyclopedia. " Big Book questions and answers for the very smart. Publishing house "Modern writer", Minsk, 2008

3. Children's encyclopedia. What's happened? Who it? 1,2,3 vol. Publishing house "AST", Moscow, 2003

4. Interactive encyclopedia. Makhaon Publishing House, 2011

5. Who? Where? Why? An illustrated encyclopedia for little whys.

Publishing house "Eksmo", Moscow, 2010

6. Shkolnik Yu.K. Animals. Complete encyclopedia. Publishing house "Eksmo", Moscow, 2010

7. These mysterious animals., Rosmen publishing house, Moscow, 2010

8. "The Great Encyclopedia of the Schoolchild". Publishing house Rosmen. M.2000

9. "A Child in a World of Search". Ed. Dybina O.V. M. 2009

10. Poglazova O. T. The world, 1st grade Smolensk, "Association 21st century", 2012

11. Shkolnik Yu.K. Animals. Complete encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo, 2008

12. Encyclopedia "Secrets of wildlife", Moscow "Drofa", 2000.

    Internet resources

    "In the world of animals" 1998,

    "Funny Animals" 2009,

    "Geolyonok" 2003,

    "Anthill" 1994

    "Animals of our planet".


The variety of shapes, colors and sizes of creatures that inhabit our planet surpasses even the richest imagination. We are pleased to present you the most unusual animals in the world. Some of them look like characters from a science fiction movie about Mars, others seem to come from another dimension, but they all live on Earth and were created by mother nature.

25. Octopus Dumbo

The funny octopus opens the hit parade of amazing creatures. He lives at great depths (from one hundred to five thousand meters) and is mainly engaged in the search for crustaceans and worms on the seabed. The octopus got its name, reminiscent of a baby elephant with large ears, thanks to two unusually shaped fins.

24. Darwin's Bat

Creatures from the bat family are found in the waters around the Galapagos Islands. They are terrible swimmers and have instead learned to walk the ocean floor on their flippers.

23. Chinese water deer

This animal has earned the nickname "Vampire Deer" for its prominent fangs, which are used in battles for territory.

22. Starship

The small North American mole gets its name from the circle of 22 pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of its snout. They are used to identify starfish food (worms, insects and crustaceans) by touch.

21. Ay-ay

In this photo - one of the most unusual animals in the world with the name "ay-ay" or "arm". This Madagascar native is notable for its unique foraging method; it knocks on trees to find larvae and then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts an elongated middle finger to pull out prey.

20. Living Stone

Pyura Chilensis are living, breathing organisms found on Chilean beaches. Their appearance allows them to avoid predators. Interestingly, these creatures have both male and female organs and can reproduce without the help of a partner.

19. Pacu fish

Freshwater fish with human teeth are found in rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as in Papua New Guinea. A nightmare for local fishermen who are afraid to swim in the water because they confuse male testicles with nuts falling from trees into the water.

18. Drop fish

One of the strangest animals in the world. By the appearance of this creature, we can say that it is the embodiment of despondency. It lives in deep waters off the coast of Australia and Tasmania.

The blob fish lives in the depths and its flesh is a gel-like mass with a density slightly less than that of water. This allows the "dull" creature to stay afloat.

17. Eastern long neck turtle

These turtles can be found throughout Australia. Their wonderful necks can reach a length of up to 25 cm.

16. Surinam pipa

The leaf-like appearance of the Suriname pipa is a natural defense against predators. These toads have a unique breeding method: the female lays eggs and the male releases sperm at the same time. The female dives down and the eggs fall on her back, into the cells, where they are until the time comes for the young peeps to be born.

15. Yeti Crab

The "hairy" claws of this crustacean, which lives in the depths of the southern part, contain many filamentous bacteria. They are needed to neutralize poisonous minerals from the water and, possibly, serve as food for their carrier.

14. Bearded man

These beautiful birds live on Everest, in the Himalayas and other mountainous regions in Europe and Asia. They were almost destroyed because people were afraid that bearded men would attack animals and children. Now there are only 10,000 of them left on Earth.

13. Pike blenny

They live in the waters west coast Americans can grow up to 30 cm in length and have intimidatingly large mouths. Their pike blennies demonstrate to each other as if they are kissing. Whoever has a larger mouth is more important.

12. Decorated tree kite

A living nightmare for many people: a snake that climbs trees and then jumps down. Before the jump, the reptile curls up into a spiral, and then abruptly turns around and throws itself into the air. In flight, it stretches out and lands smoothly on a lower branch or other tree. Fortunately, flying snakes do not pay attention to people, they are more interested in bats, frogs and rodents.

11. North American cahomizli

The homeland of this cute animal from the raccoon family is the arid regions of North America. They are so easy to tame that miners and settlers once kept them as companions and gave them the nickname "miner's cat".

10. Striped tenrec

It lives only in the tropical forests of Madagascar. The tenrec is somewhat porcupine-like, and the quills in the central back can vibrate. With their help, animals locate each other.

9. Pink sea cucumber

It looks like a character from a science fiction movie, but in reality it is a harmless creature. And it looks more like a jellyfish than its relatives holothurians. Around its red mouth are tentacles that dig up edible dirt from the bottom of the sea. From there, it enters the creature's intestines.

8. Rhinopithecus

Famed broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough once remarked that these marvelous monkeys, with their stump noses and blue "masks" around their eyes, looked like "elves." Can you look at them and say, plastic surgery gone too far." Rhinopithecus live in Asia, at altitudes up to 4000 meters and are rarely seen by humans.

7. Mantis shrimp

The colorful stomatopod or mantis shrimp spends most of its life hiding in burrows. Able to break through the walls of aquariums by moving at speeds up to 80 km per hour. During mating games Mantis shrimp actively fluoresce, with the wavelength of the fluorescence corresponding to the wavelength that the pigments in their eyes can perceive.

6 Panda Ant

Among the most unusual animals on the planet is a fluffy panda-colored creature. In fact, this is not an ant, but a wingless wasp that lives in South America. It is very similar in appearance to an ant, but, unlike it, has a powerful sting.

5. Leaf-tailed gecko

The master of disguise hails from Madagascar. Thanks to its leaf-shaped tail, it can fit into the "interior" of the local jungle.

4. Gerenuk

It is hard to believe that this long-necked charmer is not a mini-giraffe, but a real African gazelle. In order to reach the high branches, the gerenuk lacks only the length of the neck. You still have to stand on your hind legs.

3 Chinese Giant Salamander

It can grow up to 180 cm long and weigh up to 70 kg. If you are in China and see such a creature in a local reservoir, then you should know that the water in this reservoir is very clean and cold.

2. Angora rabbit

Looks like the result of an experiment on crossing Bigfoot with a kitten. Angora rabbits were exceptionally popular in the 17th and 18th centuries among European nobility. They were not eaten, but kept as pets.

1. Goblin shark (aka goblin shark)

Number one on our top 25 strangest creatures is the rare shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil". This is the only surviving representative of the Scapanorhynchus family, whose pedigree is about 125 million years old. Goblin sharks live all over the world at depths of more than 100 m, so they are not dangerous for swimmers.

Unusual animals live everywhere. They hide from people underground and in the depths of the sea, in the hot sands of deserts and impassable jungles, in mountain caves and in swampy swamps. Of course, all representatives of the animal world are amazing in their own way, but on our planet there are many truly mysterious and strange animals that most people know almost nothing about. Some creatures have such a strange appearance that one involuntarily wonders if the aliens who tried to get lost in the diversity of our fauna? Do you want to know more about them? Then we present to your attention the rating of the most amazing and unusual animals of our planet.

The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is an unusually interesting rodent that lives in Africa.

A naked mole rat lives (also called a desert rat) in underground tunnels and rarely gets out to the surface. A creature resembling a sausage is remarkable not only for its specific appearance, although naked, covered with sparse hair, wrinkled pale skin, and especially protruding teeth, you will agree, make an indelible impression. They say that with its teeth, sharp and hard as a diamond, the beast is able to gnaw through even concrete!

These animals are also unusual in that they have an exceptionally high life expectancy for rodents (up to 30 years). Naked mole rats do not have strokes, heart attacks, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, fatal liver and kidney diseases, and organs and tissues do not wither at all over time. This is the only creature that practically does not feel pain. Another unique feature of the animal is that it can do without oxygen for up to 20 minutes! This ability makes naked mole rats related to plants!

Naked digger has recently been under the scrutiny of scientists. Perhaps someday, thanks to this very creature, gerontologists will be able to answer the question: How to slow down aging?

herbivore dracula

Herbivore Dracula (Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum) - Uncommon bat, a very rare and understudied species. Found in northern South America. Despite the frightening name and specific appearance, these creatures are harmless. They feed exclusively on plant foods - ripe fruits and berries.

Gymnur

Hymnurs (lat. Galericinae) are the closest relatives of the prickly hedgehogs familiar to us, but their appearance is not at all a hedgehog. These strange creatures they rather resemble possums, shrews or rats, but of enormous size - up to 45 centimeters in length, and a few tens of centimeters more fall on a bare, like a rat's tail. The gymnur even has a second name - the moon rat. But most importantly, they do not have thorns at all!

Moon rats live in the tropical rainforests of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. If ordinary hedgehogs are protected from enemies by thorns, then the gymnur is more original here: near the base of the tail of the moon rat there are glands that secrete a liquid with a strong unpleasant odor. They say that the animal smells very strongly of onions!

Madagascar bat

A very unusual lemur lives in the dry forests of Madagascar, not at all like its relatives. Arm, or ah-ay (aye-aye) (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a mammal from the order of semi-monkeys, the only representative of the family of bats. This is truly an amazing creature! Expressive orange-yellow or greenish eyes, huge leathery ears and a fluffy tail about 60 long are the main decoration of the arm. The body of the animal, about 40 cm long, is covered with stiff straight dark hair. A distinctive feature of the animal is elongated thin fingers with long and slightly bent nails.

Between zoologists for a long time there were heated debates: what species should this amazing creature be attributed to - rodents or lemurs? In the end, they still came to the conclusion that this is a lemur, only slightly deviated in the course of evolution from the general trunk of the group. You can read more about the Madagascar arm.

Cuban flint tooth

The Cuban flint tooth (Solenodon cubanus) is an extremely interesting relic animal. Scientists believed that it disappeared more than a hundred years ago, but it has appeared again! Compared to other insectivores, this animal is quite large - body length 28-35 cm plus a long bare tail, weight - no more than 1 kilogram. Outwardly, the sand tooth looks like a rat, a shrew, and a hedgehog. This unusual animal lives in the mountain forests of Cuba. The muzzle of the animal is extended into a proboscis. The front paws are equipped with long, thick and hard claws that help it dig holes.

The animal was called a slit-tooth because it has a groove-slit in one of the front lower teeth, and poison passes through this groove! The animal will seem dangerous to few people, but its bite is poisonous! For humans, the poison is not fatal, but the poisoning of the body is guaranteed.

Poisonous mammals are extremely rare in nature - these are platypuses, some types of shrews and insectivorous slit-tooths living in Cuba and Haiti. The venom of the flint teeth is not inferior in toxicity to that of a snake, but nature, having provided these cute animals with such a formidable weapon, has played a truly cruel joke on them. The fact is that sloth teeth are very temperamental, but at the same time they are not immune to their own poison and die en masse even from light bites received during mating fights.

When the open-tooth is angry, the fur on its back stands on end, and the animal begins to squeal and grunt loudly, just like a piglet. But in general, this animal is a coward, and even an ordinary domestic cat can easily cope with it. That is why there are very few flint teeth left in nature, they hide well, and it is not so easy to find them.

Muskrat

The muskrat (Desmana moschata) can rightfully be referred to as a rare and unusual animal. This animal of the mole family lives on Earth for more than 30 million years! Today it is found only in the basins of the Volga, Don, Dnieper and Ural rivers. More about desman.

Binturong

This mammal from the viverrid family can be found in the rainforests of India, Nepal and Burma. It is also called "bear cat" or "raccoon bear" because of its appearance. Indeed, disheveled and massive, the binturong (Arctictis binturong) is very reminiscent of a round-headed bear cub, only with a long tail and squirrel-like tassels on the ears. The unusualness is enhanced by the clumsiness of the animal, as well as the grunting sounds it makes.

In its diet, which consists mainly of fruits, it also differs from other viverrids: it uses insects, birds, fish or carrion less often than relatives. All day the beast sleeps in the crowns of trees, and only when it gets dark does its active life begin. With a weight of more than 10 kg, it is completely inconvenient for the binturong to run and jump along the branches on its short legs, so it moves slowly from branch to branch. Powerful legs, sharp claws and a tail, reaching a length of 90 cm, help him in this. With his tail, he can hold on to a branch like a hand. Also, thanks to the tenacious tail, a massive beast can hang upside down on a branch. Such a prehensile tail is unique among Old World mammals.

Surprisingly, the bunturong smells like popcorn! Under the tail is an odor gland that secretes a secret with which the binturong marks trees, thus transmitting information to its fellow tribesmen.

Sirichta

Sirichta (Tarsius syrichta), or as it is also called, Philippine tarsier, is found in the Philippines - in rain forests or in bamboo thickets. This tiny animal whose body length is about 15 cm, 8 of which falls on the tail, and the weight does not exceed 100 grams, leads an arboreal lifestyle. A distinctive feature of the sirihita is that the eyes are simply huge for such a crumb, in addition, the eyes can glow in the dark! The head of the animal can turn on the neck almost 180 degrees. A wide mouth and large bare, very mobile ears give the appearance of this creature even more originality. Yes, it is difficult to call him handsome, the locals are even a little afraid of tarsiers, considering them to be ghosts.

Tarsiers are famous for their jumping ability - they jump very far compared to their own size - up to 1 meter.

The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is found in the swampy areas and wet grasslands of North America. It is unique in that twenty-two skin growths (or tentacles) resembling a star are located on its muzzle. The star-carrier spends his whole life underground, where his eyes are completely useless, and his nose helps him find his way through the labyrinth of tunnels. The starfish feeds on worms, snails and insects, which it finds with its sensitive nose, using both smell and touch.

Platypus

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) lives in streams, ponds and rivers in Australia. These animals usually reach a length of 30-40 centimeters and weigh about 2 kilograms.

The unusualness of the platypus is that it combines the features of mammals, birds, reptiles and even fish. Looking at it, you won’t immediately understand whether it’s a bird or such an animal ... In fact, these creatures are mammals, although they lay eggs. The platypus is a bit like a beaver, but with a soft beak covered with elastic skin that no other animal has. Under water, the platypus closes its eyes and uses its beak, with which it senses weak electrical impulses emanating from prey. With the help of its beak, the platypus digs in the mud in search of small fish, frogs and insects. Scientists are still arguing about the origin of this species, but only one thing is clear - this is a unique creation of mother nature, which differs from all other species that now live on planet Earth.

Male platypuses have poisonous spurs on their hind legs. Animal venom is unlikely to kill a person, but it causes severe pain at the injection site. But for small animals, this poison is often fatal.

Sloth

This unusual cat-sized mammal lives in South and Central America. The sloth (Bradypodidae) became famous for its extraordinary slowness. He sleeps for 15 hours a day, while he can do this, hanging on one paw, and long claws help the animal to stay on a branch. The rest of the time, he slowly moves from branch to branch, absorbing the leaves of tropical trees.

During the rainy season, the sloth can hang for weeks without moving, and blue-green algae multiply in its coat, giving the animal's skin a greenish color.

pygmy marmoset

The dwarf marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) is the most amazing species of monkeys that live on planet Earth. The size of an adult animal is 11-15 cm plus a tail up to 22 cm long, the weight does not exceed 150 grams. The crumbs live in the forests of South America, settle on the edges of the forest, along the banks of rivers. They spend almost all their time on trees, feeding mainly on tree sap, sometimes insects and fruits. They rarely come down to the ground.

fenech

This unusually cute creature is a tiny fennec fox. It lives in the deserts of North Africa. The fennec fox differs from its relatives in its miniature body size and disproportionately large ears. These huge ears, up to 15 cm long, are not only a unique tool to catch the slightest rustle, but also to cool the body, because the desert fox has no sweat glands, and the vast surface of the ears is a kind of thermoregulation tool. The sensitive ears of the animal cannot endure harsh sounds.

The fox cub is also famous for its jumping ability - the baby can easily jump 70 cm up and 120 cm forward. You can learn more about fenech from this article.

Okapi

Okapi (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), or forest giraffe, lives in the forests of the Congo. This animal is very rare, and the story of its discovery is one of the loudest zoological sensations of the 20th century.

A sad donkey in front, a zebra in the back, and a forest giraffe in general. The okapi has such a long (up to 35 cm) tongue that he can use it to clean his ears. The coloration is also very unusual: the body is reddish-brown, the legs are white with dark transverse stripes on the thighs; the tail ends with a tassel.

Zebu

Zebu (Bos taurus indicus) is a humpback bull that lives in South-East Asia. This is the most ancient and mysterious representative of bovids. Scientists around the world are puzzling over its origin. The unusual animal has a high relief hump on its back and short widely spaced horns.

The health of humpback bulls is excellent: they easily endure diseases that kill cattle of other breeds. Mostly domesticated zebu are used as draft and pack animals, and zebu racing is very popular in some places in Southeast Asia. Of course, a humpback bull is far from being as graceful as a thoroughbred horse, but it can compete with any horse.

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A selection of the 30 most unusual creatures of our planet...
Based on materials: wikipedia.org & animalworld.com.ua & unnatural.ru

Madagascar Suckerfoot
Found only in Madagascar. At the bases of the thumbs of the wings and on the soles of the hind limbs, the suckers have complex rosette suckers, which are located directly on skin(unlike suckers in suckers bats). The biology and ecology of the sucker-foot is practically not studied. Most likely, it uses folded leathery palm leaves as shelters, to which it clings with its suckers. All suckers were caught near the water.

Rabbit angora (lady's)
These rabbits look quite impressive, there are specimens whose hair reaches 80 cm in length. Their wool is highly valued, and a wide variety of things are made from it: stockings, scarves, gloves, just fabrics, and even linen. One kilogram of wool of this rabbit is estimated at about 10 - 12 rubles. One rabbit produces about 0.5 kg of this wool per year, but usually much less. Most often, angora rabbits are bred by women, which is why it is sometimes called "ladies". The average weight of such a rabbit is 5 kg, body length 61 cm, chest girth 35-40 cm, but other options are possible.

marmoset monkey
This is the most amazing species of monkeys living on Earth. The weight of an adult does not exceed 120 g. When you look at this tiny creature the size of a mouse (10-15 cm) with a long tail (20-21 cm) and with large Mongoloid eyes with a conscious look, you feel some embarrassment.

coconut crab
This is one of the representatives of decapod crustaceans. Habitat, this animal is the western part Pacific Ocean and islands in the Indian Ocean. This animal of the land crayfish family is quite large for representatives of its species. An adult can reach 32 cm in length and weigh up to 3-4 kg. For quite a long time it was mistakenly believed that a palm thief could crack coconuts with its claws in order to then eat them, but now scientists have proven for sure that this cancer, despite the enormous strength of its claws, is not able to crack a coconut, but it can easily break your arm ...

Coconuts split when falling make up their main source of nutrition, which is why this crayfish was called the palm thief. However, he is not averse to eating other food - the fruits of plants, organic elements from the earth, and even God's creatures similar to themselves. His character, meanwhile, is timid and friendly.

The coconut crab is unique in its kind, its sense of smell is as highly developed as that of insects, and besides, it has organs of smell that ordinary crabs lack. This feature developed after this species came out of the water and settled on dry land.

Unlike other crabs, they do not move sideways, but forward. They don't stay in the water for a long time.

Sea cucumber. Holothuria
Sea cucumbers, egg-pods (Holothuroidea), a class of invertebrates of the type of echinoderms. The modern fauna is represented by 1150 species, divided into 6 orders, which differ from each other in the shape of tentacles and calcareous ring, as well as the presence of some internal organs. There are about 100 species in Russia. The body of the holothurian is leathery to the touch, usually rough and wrinkled. The body wall is thick and elastic, with well-developed muscle bundles. The longitudinal muscles (5 bands) are attached to the calcareous ring around the esophagus. At one end of the body is the mouth, at the other - the anus. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of 10-30 tentacles that serve to capture food, and leads to a spirally twisted intestine.

Usually they lie "on their side", raising the anterior, oral end. Holothurians feed on plankton and organic residues extracted from bottom silt and sand, which is passed through the digestive canal. Other species filter their food with sticky mucus-covered tentacles from the bottom waters.

hellish vampire

This animal is a mollusc. Despite its outward resemblance to an octopus or squid, scientists separated this mollusk into a separate series Vampyromorphida (Latin), because, only it has retractable receptive bead-like filaments.

Almost the entire surface of the body of the mollusk is covered with luminous organs - photophores. They look like small white discs that grow at the ends of the tentacles and at the base of the fins. Photophores are absent only on inside webbed tentacles. The infernal vampire has very good control over these organs and is capable of producing disorienting flashes of light lasting from hundredths of a second to several minutes. In addition, it can control the brightness and size of color spots.

Amazonian dolphin
It is the largest river dolphin in the world. Inia geoffrensis - as scientists called it, can reach 2.5 meters in length and weigh up to 200 kg. Young individuals are light gray in color, but brighten with age. Body Amazonian dolphin full, with a narrow muzzle and a thin tail. Round forehead, slightly curved nose and small eyes. You can meet the Amazonian dolphin in the rivers and lakes of Latin America.

starship
The starfish is an insectivorous mammal from the mole family. You can meet such an animal only in Southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Outwardly, the star nose differs from other animals of this family and from other small animals, only it has a snout structure in the form of a rosette or an asterisk of 22 soft moving fleshy naked rays. The size of the star nose similar to its European counterpart, the mole. Its tail is relatively long (about 8 cm), covered with scales and sparse hair. When the star-bearer is looking for food, the rays on the stigma are constantly moving, with the exception of the two middle upper ones, they are directed forward and do not bend. When he eats, the rays shrink into a compact ball; while eating, the animal holds food with its front paws. When the star-bearer drinks, it lowers both the stigma and all the whiskers into the water for 5-6 seconds.

Fossa
These amazing animals live only on the island of Madagascar, they are nowhere else in the world, even in Africa. Fossa is the rarest animal and the only representative of the genus Cryptoprocta, while the fossa is the largest predator that lives on the island of Madagascar. The appearance of the fossa is a little unusual: it is something between a civet and a small cougar. At times, the fossa is also called the Madagascar lion, the ancestors of this beast were much larger and reached the size of a lion. The fossa has a strong build, a massive and slightly elongated body, its length can reach up to 80 cm (on average, the fossa body reaches 65-70 cm). The legs of the fossa are high, but rather thick, in addition, the hind legs are longer than the front ones. The tail of this animal is very long, often reaches the length of the body and reaches 65 cm.

Japanese giant salamander
The largest amphibian found in the world, this salamander can reach 160 cm in length and weigh up to 180 kg. In addition, such a salamander can live up to 150 years, although the officially attested largest age of a huge salamander is 59 years.

Madagascar rukonozhka (or Ai-Ai)
Madagascar arm (lat. Daubentonia madagascariensis) or ah-ah, this is a mammal of the semi-monkey suborder; the only representative of the family of rukonoki. One of the rarest animals on the planet - there are only five dozen individuals, which is why it was discovered relatively recently. The largest animal of the nocturnal primates.

Arm body length 30-37 cm without tail, 44-53 cm with tail. Weight - about 2.5 kg. The head is large, the muzzle is short; ears are large, leathery. The tail is large and fluffy. Fur color is dark brown to black. They live in the East and North of the island of Madagascar. They lead a nocturnal lifestyle. They feed on the fruits of the mango tree and coconut palms, the core of bamboo and sugar cane, wood beetles and larvae. They sleep in hollows or nests.

This animal is one of the most unique mammals on the planet, it has no similar features with any other animal. The arm has a thick, wide head with large ears, because of this, the head seems even wider. Small, bulging, immobile, and burning eyes with smaller pupils than those of a nocturnal monkey. Its muzzle, which bears a great resemblance to the beak of a parrot, has an elongated body and a long tail, which, like the rest of the body, is seldom covered with long, bristle-like hair. And finally unusual hands, and these are precisely the hands, their middle finger looks like a withered one - all these features, connected together, give the ah-ah such a peculiar look that you involuntarily rack your brains in a vain zeal to find a related creature similar to this animal "- wrote in his book "Animal Life" by A. E. Bram.

Listed in the "Red Book", ah-ah the most wonderful animal, over which a serious danger of extinction hangs. Daubentonia madagascariensis is the only surviving representative of not only the genus, but also the family.

Guidac
The photo shows the longest-lived and at the same time the largest (up to 1 meter in length) burrowing mollusk in the world (the age of the oldest individual found is 160 years). The concept of Guidak is taken from the Indians and translated as - "deep digging" - these gastropods can indeed dig deep enough into the sand. From under the thin fragile shell of the giodak, a “leg” protrudes, which is three times the size of the shell (there were cases that specimens with a leg length of more than 1 meter were found). The clam meat is very tough and tastes like abalone (this is also a clam, terribly tasteless, but with a very beautiful shell), so the Americans usually cut it into pieces, beat it off and fry it in butter with onions.

liger
Liger (English liger from English lion - "lion" and English tiger - "tiger") is a hybrid between a male lion and a female tigress, looking like a giant lion with blurry stripes. In appearance and size, it is similar to the cave lion and its relative, extinct in the Pleistocene. american lion. Ligers are the largest big cats in the world today. The largest liger is Hercules from the Jungle Island interactive theme park.

Male ligers, with rare exceptions, have almost no mane, but unlike lions, ligers can and love to swim. Another feature of ligers is that female ligers (ligers) can produce offspring, which is unusual for feline hybrids. The unusual gigantism of ligers is due to the fact that ligers receive genes from the lion father that promote the growth of offspring, and the tigress mother does not have genes that inhibit the growth of offspring. Whereas the tiger father does not have genes that promote growth, and the lioness mother has growth inhibiting genes that are passed on to her offspring. This explains the fact that the liger is larger than the lion, and the tigrolev is smaller than the tiger.

Imperial tamarin
The name of the species (“imperial”) is associated with the presence of lush white “whiskers” in these monkeys and is given in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Body length - about 25 cm, tail - about 35 cm. Weight of adults - 250-500 grams. Tamarins feed on fruits and are diurnal. They live in small groups of 8-15 individuals.

Emperor tamarins inhabit the Amazonian rainforest and are found in northwestern Brazil, eastern Peru and northern Bolivia. In the east, the range is limited by the Gurupi River, in the upper Amazon by the Putumayo River in the north and the Madeira River in the south. Although the species lives in hard-to-reach places, its conservation status rated as vulnerable.

Cuban flint tooth
Cuban flinttooth, an outlandish creature similar to big hedgehog with a funny long-nosed muzzle, when it bites, it kills insects and small animals with poisonous saliva. For humans, the shale-tooth is not dangerous, rather the opposite. Until 2003, the animal was considered extinct, until a few specimens were caught in the forest. There is no immunity to its venom, so fights between males are usually fatal for all participants.

kakapo parrot
The New Zealand kakapo parrot, also known as the owl parrot, is probably the most unusual parrot in the world. He never flies, weighs 4 kilograms, croaks in a nasty voice and is nocturnal. It is considered extinct in nature due to the ecological imbalance caused by rats and cats. Experts hope to restore the kakapo population, but it is very reluctant to breed in zoos.

Cyclocosmia (Cyclocosmia)
This type of spider stands out from the representatives of its kind only with a very original shape of the abdomen. Cyclocosmia breaks through minks in the ground with a depth of 7-15 cm. Its abdomen, at the end, is, as it were, chopped off and ends with a chitinized flat disc-shaped surface; it serves to close the entrance to the mink when the spider is in danger. This method of protection was called Pragmosis (eng. Phragmosis) - a method of protection in which an animal, in case of a threat, hides in a hole and uses part of its body as a barrier, blocking the path of a predator.

Tapir
Tapirs (lat. Tapirus) are large herbivores from the order of equids, somewhat resembling a pig in shape, but with a short trunk adapted for grasping.

The sizes of tapirs differ from species to species, but as a rule, the length of a tapir is about two meters, the height at the withers is about a meter, and the weight is from 150 to 300 kg. Life expectancy in the wild is about 30 years, the cub is always born alone, pregnancy lasts about 13 months. Newborn tapirs have protective coloration, consisting of spots and stripes, and although this color seems to be the same, nevertheless different types there are some differences. The front paws of tapirs are four-toed, and the hind paws are three-toed, on the fingers there are small hooves that help to move along the dirty and soft ground.

Mixin
Myxina (lat. Myxini) common lives at depths of 100-500 meters, the predominant habitat is near the coasts of North America, Europe, Iceland, East Greenland. Sometimes it can be found in the Adriatic Sea. In winter, hagfish sometimes descends to great depths - up to 1 km.

The size of this animal is small - 35-40 centimeters, although sometimes there are giant specimens - 79-80 centimeters. Naturalist Carl Linnaeus, who discovered this miracle in 1761, initially even included it in the class of worms because of its specific appearance. Although in fact hagfish belong to the class of cyclostomes, which are the historical predecessors of fish. The color of hagfish can be different, but the predominant colors are pinkish and gray-red.

A distinctive feature of hagfish is the presence of a series of holes that secrete mucus, which are located along the lower edge of the body of the animal. It should be noted that mucus is a very important secret of hagfish, which is used by animals to penetrate into the cavity of the fish chosen as a victim. Mucus plays an important role in the respiration of the animal. Mixina is a real slime making plant, in particular, if you put it in a bucket full of water, then after a while all the water will turn into slime.

The hagfish's fins are actually not developed, they are difficult to distinguish on the long body of the animal. The organ of vision - the eyes see poorly, they are masked by light patches of skin in this area. In the round mouth there are as many as 2 rows of teeth, there is also one unpaired tooth in the region of the sky. Mixins "breathe through the nose", while water enters the hole at the end of the snout - the nostril. The respiratory organs of hagfish, like all fish, are gills. The zone of their location are special cavities-channels that run along the body of the animal. Hagfish hunts only for those fish that are sick, weakened (for example, after spawning) or got into gear, nets installed by man. The attack process itself takes place as follows: the hagfish eats through the wall of the fish body with its sharp teeth, after which it enters the body, consuming first the internal organs, and then muscle mass. If the unfortunate victim is still able to resist, then the hagfish passes into the gills and fills them with mucus, abundantly secreted by its glands. As a result, the fish dies from suffocation, leaving the hunter the opportunity to eat her body.

nosach
Nosach, or Kahau (lat. Nasalis larvatus) is a monkey that is widespread in only one small area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe globe - the valleys and coast of the island of Borneo. The proboscis belongs to the family of thin-bodied marmoset monkeys and got its name due to the huge nose, which is a hallmark of males.

So far, it has not been possible to establish the exact purpose of such a large nose, but, obviously, its size plays a role in choosing a mating partner. The coat of these monkeys is yellowish-brown on the back and white on the belly, the limbs and tail are gray, and the face is not covered with hair at all and has a fairly bright reddish, and in the cubs it has a bluish tint.

The size of an adult proboscis can reach 75 cm, excluding the tail, and twice as much - from the nose to the tip of the tail. The average weight of a male is 18-20 kg, females weigh almost half as much. Almost never moving away from the water, the proboscis were known as excellent swimmers who can overcome more than 20 meters under water. In the open shallow waters of tropical forests, proboscis move, like most primates, on four limbs, but in wild mangrove thickets (otherwise they are called rainforests islands of Borneo) they walk on two legs, almost vertically.

Axolotl
Representing the larval form of the ambistoma, the axolotl is considered one of the most interesting objects for study. Firstly, axolotls do not need to reach an adult form and undergo metamorphosis in order to reproduce. Surprised? The secret lies in neoteny - a phenomenon in which sexual maturity occurs in the axolotl even in "childhood" age. Note that the tissues of this larva react rather poorly to the hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.

Experiments have shown that a decrease in the water level at home breeding these larvae contributes to their transformation into adults. The same thing happens in cooler and drier climates. If an axolotl lives in your aquarium, and you want to turn it into an ambistomy, then be sure to add the hormone thyroidin to the larva's food. A similar result can be achieved with an injection. As a rule, the transformation of the axolotl will take several weeks, after which the shape of the body and its color will change in the larva. In addition, the axolotl will forever lose its external gills.

In the literal translation from the Aztec language, the axolotl is a “water toy”, which is consistent with its appearance. Once you see an axolotl, you are unlikely to forget its unusual, bizarre appearance. At first glance, the axolotl resembles a newt, but has a rather large and wide head. The smiling "face" of the axolotl deserves special attention - tiny beady eyes and an exorbitantly wide mouth.

As for the body length of an amphibian, it is about thirty centimeters, and axolotls are characterized by the regeneration of lost body parts. The natural habitat of the axolotl is concentrated in Xochimailco and Chalco - the mountain lakes of Mexico.

If you look closely at the head of an amphibian, you can see six long gills, symmetrically located on the sides of the head. The gills of the axolotl outwardly resemble thin shaggy twigs, which the larva cleans from organic residues from time to time.

Thanks to their wide long tail, axolotls are excellent swimmers, although they prefer to spend most of their lives on the bottom. Why bother with unnecessary movements if the food itself floats into the mouth?

At first, biologists were surprised respiratory system axolotl, including both lungs and gills. For example, if the aquatic habitat of the axolotl is not sufficiently oxygenated, the larva quickly adapts to this change and begins to breathe with lungs.

Naturally, the transition to lung breathing has a negative effect on the gills, which gradually atrophy. And, of course, you should pay attention to the original coloring of the axolotl. Small black spots evenly cover the green body, although the belly of the axolotl remains almost white.

Zoologists have speculated about what it is that attracts the candira to the human genitals. The most plausible assumption seems to be that the candiru are extremely sensitive to the smell of urine: it happened that the candiru attacked a person a few moments after he urinated into the water. It is believed that candiru are able to find the source of the smell in the water.

But the candiru does not always penetrate the victim. It happens that, having overtaken the prey, the candiru bite through the skin of a person or the gill tissue of a fish with long teeth that grow in their upper jaw, and begin to suck blood from the victim, which causes the body of the candiru to swell and swell. Candiru hunt not only for fish and mammals, but also for reptiles.

Tarsier
Tarsier (Tarsier, lat. Tarsius) is small mammal from the order of primates, the very specific appearance of which created a somewhat ominous halo around this small animal weighing up to one hundred and sixty grams.

Particularly impressionable tourists say that when they first see how huge shining eyes stare at them without blinking, and the next moment the animal turns its head almost 360 degrees and you look straight at the back of its head, it becomes, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. By the way, local natives still believe that the head of the tarsier exists separately from the body. Well, this is all speculation, of course, but the facts are obvious!

There are about 8 species of tarsiers. The most common are the Bankan and Philippine tarsier, as well as a separate species - the ghost tarsier. These mammals live in Southeast Asia, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines, as well as in adjacent territories.

Outwardly, tarsiers are small animals, the size of which does not exceed sixteen centimeters, with large ears, long thin fingers and a long tail of about thirty cm, and at the same time with very little weight.

The coat of the animal is brown or greyish, and the eyes are much larger in comparison with human proportions - about the size of an average apple.

In nature, tarsiers live in pairs or small groups of eight to ten individuals. They are nocturnal, and feed exclusively on food of animal origin - insects and small vertebrates.

Their pregnancy lasts about six months and a small animal is born, which, a couple of hours after birth, clutching its mother's fur, will make its first journey. Average duration the life of a tarsier is about ten to thirteen years.


Narwhal
Narwhals (lat. Monodon monoceros) is a protected rare species belonging to the unicorn family and listed due to its small number in the Red Book of Russia. The habitat of this marine animal is the waters of the Arctic Ocean, as well as the North Atlantic. The size of an adult male often reaches 4.5 meters, with a mass of about one and a half tons. Females weigh slightly less. The head of an adult narwhal is round, with a large bumpy forehead, and there is no dorsal fin. Narwhals are somewhat reminiscent of beluga whales, although compared to the latter, the animals have a somewhat spotted skin and 2 upper teeth, one of which, growing, turns into a three-meter tusk weighing up to 10 kg.

Narwhal tusk, twisted to the left in the form of a spiral, is quite rigid, but at the same time it has a certain limit of flexibility and can bend up to thirty centimeters. Previously, it was often passed off as a unicorn horn, which has healing powers. It was believed that if you throw a piece of narwhal horn into a glass of poisoned wine, it will change its color.

IN given time There is a hypothesis that is very popular in scientific circles, proving that the narwhal horn, covered with sensitive endings, is needed by the animal in order to measure water temperature, pressure and other equally important parameters of the aquatic environment for life.

Narwhals live most often in small groups of up to ten animals. The basis of the diet of narwhals, which, by the way, can hunt at a depth of more than a kilometer, is cephalopods and bottom fish. The enemies of narwhals in nature can be called other inhabitants of these territories - polar bears and killer whales.

However, the greatest damage to the population of narwhals was still caused by a person who hunted them because of their tasty meat and horn, which is successfully used to make various handicrafts. At present, animals are under the protection of the state.

Octopus Jumbo
Dumbo is a very small and unusual deep-sea octopus, representative of cephalopods. Lives only in the Tasman Sea.

Jumbo got its name, apparently, in honor of the famous cartoon character, Dumbo the elephant, who was ridiculed for his large ears (in the middle of the body, the octopus has a pair of rather long, paddle-like fins resembling ears). Its individual tentacles are literally connected to the ends by a thin elastic membrane called an umbrella. She, along with the fins, serves as the main mover of this animal, that is, the octopus moves like jellyfish, pushing water out from under the umbrella bell.

The largest Jumbo was found in the Tasman Sea - half the size of a human palm.

Medusa Cyanea
Jellyfish Cyanea - is considered the largest jellyfish in the world, living in the Northwest Atlantic. The diameter of the cyanide jellyfish bell reaches 2 meters, and the length of the thread-like tentacles is 20-30 meters. One such jellyfish, washed ashore in Massachusetts Bay, had a bell diameter of 2.28 m, and its tentacles extended 36.5 m.

Each such jellyfish eats about 15 thousand fish during its life.

pig squid

This is a deep-sea marine inhabitant, due to its rounded body, it has received the nickname "squid-pig". The scientific name of the piglet squid is Helicocranchia pfefferi. Not much is known about him. It is found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at a depth of about 100 meters. Swims slowly. And under the eyes (like many deep-sea animals) it has luminous organs - photophores.

The “piglet”, unlike other squids, swims upside down, so its tentacles look like a crest.

Carla snake
There are currently 3,100 species of snakes known on our planet. But Carla's snake from the island of Barbados is the smallest of them. The maximum length that it reaches in adulthood is 10 centimeters.

Leptotyphlops carlae was first officially described and identified as a new species in 2008. Blair Hedge, a Pennsylvania biologist, named the snake after his wife, Carla Ann Hass, a herpentologist who was also on the team that made the discovery.

It is believed that the Barbados thread, as this snake is also called, is close to the theoretically possible minimum size for snakes that evolution allows. If suddenly the snake happens to be even smaller, it simply will not be able to find food for itself and will die.

The Carl snake feeds on termites and ant larvae.

Due to its diminutiveness, the thread snake bears only one egg, but it is large. The size of the snake that was born at the time of birth is half the body of the mother. However, this is normal for snakes. How less snake, the larger in proportion to her offspring - and vice versa.

Leptotyphlops carlae has been found so far only on the island of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea, and even then only in its east-central part. Much of Barbados' forests have been cut down. And since the thread snake lives only in the forest, it is assumed that the territory suitable for the habitation of an outlandish creature is limited to only a few square kilometers. So the survival of the species is a concern.

Lamprey
Lampreys look like eels or huge worms, although they have nothing to do with either. They have a naked, slimy body, which is why they are mistaken for worms. In fact, these are primitive vertebrates. Zoologists combine them into a special class of cyclostomes. You can’t say about cyclostomes that they have a tongue without bones. Their mouth is just the same equipped with a complex system of cartilage that supports the mouth and tongue. There are no jaws, so food is sucked into the mouth, as if into a funnel. Along the edges of this funnel and on the tongue are teeth. Lampreys have three eyes. Two on the sides and one on the forehead.

Lampreys are predators and attack mainly fish. Lamprey sticks to the victim, gnaws through scales, drinks blood and bites meat (from the area into which it stuck). In our country, lamprey fishing is carried out in the Neva and other rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, as well as in the Volga. In Russia, lamprey is considered an exquisite delicacy. But in many countries, for example in the USA, lampreys are not eaten.

Clam killer
This curiosity lives on coral reefs at a depth of almost 25 meters. The mollusk weighs up to 210 kilograms with a body length of up to 1.7 meters. Life expectancy - up to 150 years. Because of its impressive size, it gave rise to many rumors and dark legends.

It is called Giant clam (from the English giant clam), Tridacninae, Tridacna. The giant clam is a delicacy in Japan, France, Southeast Asia and many Pacific Islands. Lives due to symbiosis with algae that live on it. And also knows how to filter the water passing through it and extract plankton from there.

In fact, he does not eat people, but if an imprudent diver tries to touch the mantle of a mollusk with his hand, the shell flaps reflexively close. And since the contraction force of the muscles of the tridacna is huge, a person risks dying from a lack of oxygen. Hence the name - "shellfish killer".