Amazing animals — A look at the weird and wonderful species that live on our planet
Latest about amazing animals
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Tasselled wobbegong: The master of disguise that can eat a shark almost as big as itself
By Lydia Smith published
Tasselled wobbegong sharks are so well camouflaged they can vanish on the seafloor, waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass before lunging forward to suck their victims into their giant mouths.
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Jaguarundi: The little wildcat that looks like an otter and has 13 ways of 'talking'
By Lydia Smith published
Jaguarundis are weird little felines that are about the size of domestic cats, have long bodies with short legs and round, flattened heads.
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Qinling panda: The shrunken pandas that diverged 300,000 years ago and sometimes come out brown
By Lydia Smith published
Qinling pandas were officially recognized as a subspecies in 2005, but the mystery of their brown fur was only resolved almost two decades later.
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Pacific Hagfish: The ancient deep-sea creature that can can choke a shark by spewing slime
By Melissa Hobson published
This eel-like fish lives on the seabed over 300 feet below the surface where it feasts on dead animals and protects itself from attack using a suffocating slime.
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Aardwolf: The weirdo hyena cousin that eats 300,000 termites each night
By Hannah Osborne published
Aardwolves — the "weird cousin" of the hyena world that has peg teeth and only eats insects — are an evolutionary mystery, stemming from a ghost lineage that scientists haven't been able to figure out.
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Hammer-headed bat: The African megabat that looks like a gargoyle and holds honking pageants
By Sascha Pare published
Hammer-headed bats are named after the males' oversized boxy heads, which evolved to amplify and project the honking sounds they produce to impress females during courtship displays.
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Pigbutt worm: The deep-sea 'mystery blob' with the rump of a pig and a ballooned belly
By Melissa Hobson published
Bizarre worm that looks "like the rump of a pig from one side and Mick Jagger's lips from the other" may be in the middle of an evolutionary leap, scientists say.
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Southern grasshopper mouse: The tiny super-predator that howls at the moon before it kills
By Megan Shersby published
The southern grasshopper mouse is largely immune to the venom of the Arizona bark scorpion and will resort to cannibalism when times are tough.
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Blue dragon: The deadly sea slug that steals venom from its prey
By Melissa Hobson published
The blue dragon may be too weak to resist the ocean's current, but it can take on a Portuguese man o'war and even steal its venom.
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Skeleton panda sea squirt: The weird little creature that looks like baby panda dressed up for Halloween
By Melissa Hobson published
Scientists discovered this little panda skeleton that lives off the coast of a Japanese island was a new species after scuba divers posted photos of it online.
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