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Whenever I pick up a fantasy novel or start a new video game, the first things that grab my attention are the characters and monsters. The stranger and more imaginative these beasts are, the more memorable the world can feel.
But every now and then, reality proves it's as creative as fiction. You don't have to visit imaginary lands to meet something so unique it seems almost impossible.
The Twitter/X account 'Weird Animals' shares images of fascinating species that many people have never even heard of. So, to show just how diverse life on Earth really is, we've gathered some of its latest posts featuring extraordinary creatures from land, sea, and air.
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In the last few centuries, humans have summited Earth's highest peaks and dived into its deepest trenches, but the more scientists study the animals we've met along the way, the more they realize how little we know about the planet's biodiversity.
They estimate that for every species we've discovered, there are about nine that remain under the radar.
This does not include the black bears, belugas, and bald eagles, all of which have already been written about in academic journals. The unknown is primarily made up of small organisms, such as insects, mites, and crustaceans.
But don't underestimate these guys or think they're inconsequential. These species are the nuts and bolts of entire ecosystems: they produce soil, pollinate crops, and feed almost everything. And most of them have yet to be identified!
"Most people think that life on Earth is described, and we have a good idea of how ecosystems are functioning," said Emily Hartop, a fly researcher and taxonomist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
"The reality is that for most species on Earth, we don't know what they are, we don't know where they are, we don't know what they're doing. They are unknown.”
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
"Atelopus barbotini, popularly known as the purple fluorescent frog or more accurately the purple harlequin toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae." and "Deforestation and disease are the main causes for population decline in recent years. Because French Guiana has few laws and restrictions for logging, there are often issues with sustaining enough range for the toads to maintain a steady population.." <- Wiki Diki
A little over a decade ago, when Hartop was living in Los Angeles, she and her colleagues set up bug traps in backyards across the city. They were mesh tents with openings, known as Malaise traps.
Over the course of just one year, the traps collected 99 species of scuttle flies, small insects in the family Phoridae that, to an untrained eye, look a lot like fruit flies. Forty-three of those species were new to science and had never been described before.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago (edited)
I love saiga antelope. They had a pretty rough go of it recently when something swept through the herds and killed a lot of them off, but I believe that whatever it was has receded, luckily.
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Advances in DNA sequencing have transformed the way scientists discover and classify life on Earth. Instead of analyzing one specimen at a time, researchers can now sequence thousands of animals simultaneously and compare their genetic "barcodes" with massive databases. If a barcode doesn't match any known species, it could represent a new species.
The process is still far from simple. Many species already described by scientists have never been genetically sequenced, meaning museums often hold physical specimens without corresponding DNA records. As a result, finding an unfamiliar barcode isn't enough to confirm a new species. Officially describing and naming one still requires extensive evidence and publication in a scientific journal.
Even so, DNA barcoding has dramatically accelerated species discovery, leading many researchers to call this the "Golden Age" of biodiversity research. That means there are likely plenty more incredible creatures waiting to be discovered—and plenty more lists like this one to come.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Also called Leadbeater's possum. "By the time of the 1939 Black Friday fires, the species was thought to have been extinct. Then, on 3 April 1961, a member of the species was rediscovered by naturalist Eric Wilkinson in the forests near Cambarville, and the first specimen in more than 50 years was captured later in the month." <- Wiki Diki
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Nudibranchs are one of my favourites. They have so many colours and designs.
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Kya Ajiira 1 day ago (edited)
Once again I miss my derpy Bluetooth. Funny is that blue tongue is a defence mechanism but it kinda does the opposite on humans and makes us even more interested in them haha!
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Is this another frog that you can see part-way through?
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Laughing Orc 2 days ago
Wait what? The Man o' war is pretty d**n big, do these things grow a lot larger? Or do they metaphorically trench run the d***h star?
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
"Many limacodid larvae are green and fairly smooth (e.g. yellow-shouldered slug), but others have tubercles with urticating hairs and may have bright warning colours. The sting can be quite potent, causing severe pain." <- Wiki Diki
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Norm Gilmore 1 day ago
Kiwi live 25 to 50 years in the wild and in captivity (60 in some studies). I'll come back to you in 40 years with an update if they have a celebration for one that becomes a centenarian...
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
I have tried that in the past when I was being bothered. I must say it works quite well.
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meeeeeeeeeeee 2 days ago
I'm sat here like hmm I'll see if I can find the frog in those leaves. Then, I saw them all lol
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Forgot the top of the bird's head. Also "The male has one of the loudest calls of any bird—a sharp sound like that of a hammer striking an anvil or a bell. Before making such a call, an individual must take a sharp inhale to increase air pressure in the interclavicular air-sacs surrounding its syrinx. It takes a long time for young males to learn the call, as one such male living in captivity next to an adult P. nudicollis that frequently called could not perfect it within 10 months of practice." <- Wiki Diki
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Laughing Orc 1 day ago
I've tried this tactic. Can't tell if it's effective or if I have no known predators.
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BarkingSquirell 1 day ago
I love the way a bunch of critters are just hitch-hiking on its head.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Interesting - another one I wasn't aware of. This is great!
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
OK - where does it go? Yes, it goes right back in the water.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 1 day ago
Wow! Third one on this list I've never seen before and I spend LOTS of time on-line checking out animals. I am loving this!
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 1 day ago
That's about the last time you'll be able to pick one of those up before it starts to grow, as I learned to my bitter regret.
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BarkingSquirell 1 day ago
I've met two eels in my life. Both of us nodded and vacated the area.
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Laughing Orc 2 days ago
Pretty sure that's very bad for the rabbit to leave it's fur that long, even apart from the fact that it can't see or probably move very well.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
I think we saw one of these on several posts earlier this week and we were commenting on its attractive leggings.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago (edited)
I hate it when they bring deep water fish like this to the surface. I know they have to study them and blah blah blah - it just seems lie an awful way to die.
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 1 day ago (edited)
A blue WHAT? And you didn't even put a stripe on it like you do for ladies' mammary glands? Hmmmmm . . . .
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Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Thank you Rokas and Indrė for this article! I love animals so much and seeing new ones I hadn't heard of before was the icing on the cake!
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 2 days ago
Thank you Rokas and Indrė for this article! I love animals so much and seeing new ones I hadn't heard of before was the icing on the cake!
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