1. Asian Giant Hornet
Ever seen the movie 300? Well the Asian Giant Hornet must have impaled the soldiers of Sparta and morphed with their DNA, or perhaps these hornets are reincarnated Spartans.
Whatever the case they love to wreak havoc on poor honey bees. And their preferred method of demise? Decapitation.
Just one hornet can take down an average of 20 victims a minute. Which means in a typical eight hour shift nearly 10,000 heads will roll!
2. Pistol Shrimp
Image by Steve Childs via Flickr
This critter takes the phrase “He never saw it coming” to a whole new level. Much like a super hero the Pistol Shrimp’s attack is both lethal and invisible.
Also known as the “Snapping Shrimp” they are the gunslingers of shrimp using invisible “Bubble Bullets” to slay their prey. Yep, you read that right….invisible…..bubble…..bullets.
They snap their massive claw together with such force that they fire those bubble bullets knocking out their prey or even killing them.
The sound that is created is even louder than most gunshots. Gunshots average around 150 decibels and bubble bullets average 210 decibels.
3. Stargazer
Image by: Canvasman21 via Wikipedia
Ahhh a face only a mother could love. Well a very understanding mother that is! When the Stargazer fish isn’t breaking hearts they are plotting on unsupecting victims.
This is one fish that you don’t want to cross because if you do they will impale you with their poisonous spines and then promptly deliver you several electric shocks rendering you stunned and then devour you whole.
The moral of this story is to steer clear of this beauty!
4. Parrotfish
Image by: Nhobgood via Wikipedia
Meet the Parrotfish! These colorful fish have a very unique way of contributing to nature. In fact, if you visit Hawaii and head out to the beach you will get to experience the fruits of their labor.
Parrotfish love to eat algae that grows on the coral that surrounds Hawaii and by doing so they ingest the coral’s calcium carbonate. What does that have to do with the beach you might ask? Well the sand in Hawaii is made of calcium carbonate. So when you are walking on the sand in Hawaii you are walking on Parrotfish poop!
It’s true, the Parrotfish poops out sand, and apparently up to 800 pounds a year of it. So remember that the next time you are rolling around in the sand.
5. White-throated Snapping Turtle
Image by: Faendalimas via Wikipedia
Keeping with the theme of the Parrotfish above this White-throated Snapping Turtle also has a unique backside feature.
Through a process called cloacal respiration they are able to breathe through their butts. This process allows them to extract oxygen directly from the water, which alows them to dive for up to three hours in search of food.
Remember when you were a kid trying to learn how to swim and your butt would keep floating to the surface? Well, having this turtles anal ability would have come in handy!
6. Rock Hyrax
Image by: Shutterstock
This is the Rock Hyrax which is round and furry and weighs in at about nine pounds and grows up to two feet long.
They have tusks which comes from their closest living relative…..the Elephant. This is because both were part of the ancient Tethytheria Clade of mammals.
The average Elephant weights about 12,000 pounds making a 11,991 pound average difference in weight from the Rock Hyrax.
And you thought that picture of Shaquille O’neal and Kevin Hart standing next to each other a few years ago was a big difference!
7. Octopus
Image provided by: Pixabay
Brainiac might be a good way to describe the Octopus. Not just because of their high intelligence shown by the ability to complete puzzles. But because they have nine brains!
In addition to having one central brain they also have a brain in each of their eight tentacles. In fact, if a Octopus loses a tentacle then that tentacle can still function as if it were still attached.
Too bad humans don’t have brains in each limb. If we did then the phrase “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing” wouldn’t have much meaning.
8. Kiwi
Image provided by: Shutterstock
Childbirth for the little flightless bird native to New Zealand called the Kiwi is painful to think about. Kiwi eggs can take up to a quarter of their mothers body.
Comparing that to humans it would be like carrying five babies! The size of their eggs enables the Kiwi babies to fully develop prior to hatching. So much so that they hatch fully feathered.
Can you imagine giving birth to a child that was the size of a four year old and ready for their first haircut? Ouch!
9. Wombat
Image provided by: Shutterstock
Wombats are short and plump marsupials found in Australia and are known to leave behind stacks of “poop-cubes” outside of their tunnels.
The reason why is believed to be that stacking this cube shaped poo is a form of communication with other Wombats.
There is some debate over the evolution of the Wombat. One theory is that they could date as far back as 40 million years!
Considering the mysteriousness of the Wombat maybe Stonehenge was actually constructed by larger ancient Wombats stacking their poop-cubes!
10. Goblin Shark
Goblin Shark Portion Image provided by: Dianne Bray / Museum Victoria via Wikipedia
And so we end this list with something that nightmares are made of……the Goblin Shark. The story goes that Japanese fisherman noticed the shark resembled a Japanese demon named tengu so they began calling them tenguzame. Which was later translated to Goblin Shark.
More terrifying is that they have the ability to slingshot their jaws forward to catch prey. This is called “Slingshot Feeding” by scientists. So good luck if you ever find yourself in the presence of this future horror film star!
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