There are arguably as many beautiful creatures in the world as there are creepy ones. But since they’re not as pleasant to look at, the latter might not appear on your news feed as often as puppies or kittens do.Well, today we want to shed light on the underdogs, the eyesores, the fascinating yet at the same time disgusting creations ofMother Nature. If you think you’re brave enough to see them, scroll down to find an entire list of some of the most bizarre-looking creatures out there. But if you are squeamish about spiders, weird aquatic beings, and reptiles, among other similar things, you might want to check out somedog memesinstead.Here atBored Pandawe were curious to learn more about all sorts of weird-looking beings, so we got in touch with the evolutionary biologist and Professor at the Department of Biology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada,Dr. Robert Montgomerie, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. If you’re curious, too, scroll down to see what the professor had to say about them.This post may includeaffiliate links.
There are arguably as many beautiful creatures in the world as there are creepy ones. But since they’re not as pleasant to look at, the latter might not appear on your news feed as often as puppies or kittens do.
Well, today we want to shed light on the underdogs, the eyesores, the fascinating yet at the same time disgusting creations ofMother Nature. If you think you’re brave enough to see them, scroll down to find an entire list of some of the most bizarre-looking creatures out there. But if you are squeamish about spiders, weird aquatic beings, and reptiles, among other similar things, you might want to check out somedog memesinstead.
Here atBored Pandawe were curious to learn more about all sorts of weird-looking beings, so we got in touch with the evolutionary biologist and Professor at the Department of Biology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada,Dr. Robert Montgomerie, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. If you’re curious, too, scroll down to see what the professor had to say about them.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
If you’re reading this, it means that you already saw at least a few bizarre-looking beings. (Feeling alright so far?) And if you’re wondering why in the world they look the way that they do, you’re not alone; we were curious, too, so we got in touch with Prof. Robert Montgomerie, hoping to get an answer.
We were also wondering if the arguably weirder-looking beings usually live in more isolated areas—deeper in the ocean, for instance, or somewhere in a remote location in the jungle—as it doesn’t seem that people stumble upon something this awe-inspiring too often.“To me there are lots of weird-looking plants and animals in my own backyard. I expect that we think that things look weird if we do not see them often, or ever. I thought that a lot of birds and mammals in Australia looked weird before I actually went there for several months; I expect that Australians did not find them to be weird-looking at all,” Dr. Montgomerie shared.
We were also wondering if the arguably weirder-looking beings usually live in more isolated areas—deeper in the ocean, for instance, or somewhere in a remote location in the jungle—as it doesn’t seem that people stumble upon something this awe-inspiring too often.
“To me there are lots of weird-looking plants and animals in my own backyard. I expect that we think that things look weird if we do not see them often, or ever. I thought that a lot of birds and mammals in Australia looked weird before I actually went there for several months; I expect that Australians did not find them to be weird-looking at all,” Dr. Montgomerie shared.
The professor is probably right saying that certain species don’t look odd at all, when you familiarize yourself with them. But the thing is, there seems to be quite a few creatures we might not know that well, or at all, for that matter.
The New York Postreports that with the help of photographs, measurements, and tissue samples, it was researcher Marianne Nyegaard who identified the marine animal. She also suggested that it may be the largest specimen of the kind ever sampled.
Just a few days after the hoodwinker sunfish was found in Oregon, the news about another discovery regarding a different kind of unusual creature broke – remains of a fossil of the smallest known great ape were found in Germany, dating to roughly 11m years ago.Known asBuronius manfredschmidi, the ape was estimated to have weighed just 10kg and was likely the size of a human toddler, which makes it far smaller than other hominids. According to Prof. Madelaine Böhme, a palaeontologist at the University of Tübingen leading the research, it’s unclear why the species was as small as it was,The Guardian reports. But one version is that its size allowed it to occupy a different ecological niche from its larger counterparts, while another suggests that theBuronius manfredschmidisimply represents a more ancestral version of great apes.
Just a few days after the hoodwinker sunfish was found in Oregon, the news about another discovery regarding a different kind of unusual creature broke – remains of a fossil of the smallest known great ape were found in Germany, dating to roughly 11m years ago.
Known asBuronius manfredschmidi, the ape was estimated to have weighed just 10kg and was likely the size of a human toddler, which makes it far smaller than other hominids. According to Prof. Madelaine Böhme, a palaeontologist at the University of Tübingen leading the research, it’s unclear why the species was as small as it was,The Guardian reports. But one version is that its size allowed it to occupy a different ecological niche from its larger counterparts, while another suggests that theBuronius manfredschmidisimply represents a more ancestral version of great apes.
My wife screamed as if she saw a ghost at 5 AM in the morning, turns out she went to get some water and saw this huge crab crawling in the kitchen. It’s just insane.
Discussing other odd-looking creatures, Prof. Montgomerie shared that the ones he thought looked rather weird when he saw them for the first time were the anglerfish (Linophryne arborifera), shoebills (Balaeniceps rex—a bird), glass frogs, goblin sharks, and naked mole rats. “I expect that they would no longer seem weird if I studied them for a while,” he added.
While some ofMother Nature’s creationsare clearly more visually appealing than others, they are the way that they are for a reason, and they’re arguably all necessary in the animal kingdom.We discussed the importance of every being—no matter how adorable or creepy-looking—with Dr. Montgomerie, who pointed out that it is a rather philosophical question that might depend on who’s answering it and how one defines what is important.“From a biodiversity perspective, every species is important both for maintaining the ‘natural’ order and for the possible, as yet unknown, benefits to mankind,” he pointed out. “If your only interests are in human welfare, there are probably lots of species that contribute nothing to most people. Again, that’s a philosophical point of view as I feel that my own well-being is aligned with the preservation of all species and is diminished every time one of them goes extinct. I expect that that is far from the majority view. I agree with Thoreau who said 160 years ago ‘in wildness is the preservation of the world’.”
While some ofMother Nature’s creationsare clearly more visually appealing than others, they are the way that they are for a reason, and they’re arguably all necessary in the animal kingdom.
We discussed the importance of every being—no matter how adorable or creepy-looking—with Dr. Montgomerie, who pointed out that it is a rather philosophical question that might depend on who’s answering it and how one defines what is important.
“From a biodiversity perspective, every species is important both for maintaining the ‘natural’ order and for the possible, as yet unknown, benefits to mankind,” he pointed out. “If your only interests are in human welfare, there are probably lots of species that contribute nothing to most people. Again, that’s a philosophical point of view as I feel that my own well-being is aligned with the preservation of all species and is diminished every time one of them goes extinct. I expect that that is far from the majority view. I agree with Thoreau who said 160 years ago ‘in wildness is the preservation of the world’.”
If you found this list adorable, for some reason (or curiosity-inducing, at least), rather than off-putting, you might want to check out some similar lists onBored Pandanext, such asthese horrific thingsMother Nature has produced orthese thingssome people would call scary as hell. Happy scrolling!
The smaller spider looks like a widow to me. At first, I thought it was a black widow, but it has more of a brown color, and I don’t recognize the red stripe. Plus, its web is in an exposed location above a window on the outside of our house. What is it?The bigger one (the victim, I think) is curled up, not moving, and partially wrapped in webbing. I thought it might be a tarantula, but I’m not sure. It has really fuzzy legs and body.
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If pushed over, it pops right back up. There were lots of them, but this was the biggest I saw.
I don’t think its mouth could actually reach to bite anything. Still, not ideal.
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