Exciting exotic animals

[Blondbraid]

I just thought It'd be really cool and fun to have a thread dedicated to share pictures, facts and videos on odd and interesting animals,
not just as a nice inspiration source for AGS projects but also just because it's fun to share animal-related things on the internet! 

For example, I just found out that there's an African pig species called the red river hog, and it looks just like a fairy-tale creature:

[Blondbraid]

Did any of you know that the Axolotl can not only regenerate lost limbs, but also transform into a real salamander if given iodine?
https://www.thoughtco.com/axolotl-ambystoma-mexicanum-4162033

Before transformation:

After transformation:


Also, this is what baby Axolotls look like! 

Can any amphibians possibly be cuter?

[josiah1221]

This amazing creature was brought to my attention fairly recently, can't remember from where though.



The Harpy Eagle most common in the Brazilian rainforests is one big bird! Over 3 feet in length and weighing up to 20 lbs. With a wing span of up to 7 feet and talons 3-4 inches in length, the same size as a Grizzly Bear's claws! It most definitely looks like something straight out of Greek Mythology!

[Mandle]

No time to find a picture right now but Musk Ducks are truly weird-looking. My wife and I spotted some from a distance in Perth and our brains honestly could not understand what kind of animal our eyes were seeing.

[Blondbraid]

josiah1221: I first thought it was an owl with those cat-ear looking feathers on it's head!

Mandle: You mean one of these?

Australia sure do get the weirdest animals!

[Mandle]

Yes! So, they inflate that balloon thing on their neck really big and, from a distance, it looks like their whole head is enormous and deformed. Plus they swim with their feet sticking out to the sides (as you can kinda see in the picture) so they splash around like a toddler in swimming school.

[dayowlron]

I always thought the proboscis monkey looked kinda strange. reminds me of a caricature of Jimmy Durante.

https://www.britannica.com/animal/proboscis-monkey

[Blondbraid]

I always thought the proboscis monkey looked kinda strange. reminds me of a caricature of Jimmy Durante.

https://www.britannica.com/animal/proboscis-monkey

I remember them mainly from this Tintin comic:

In Sweden, the name of that species, Näsapa, literally translates into "Nose-monkey"! 

[Laura Hunt]

I just found out today about this mouse that is immune to scorpion venom and eats not only scorpions, but centipedes, other mice, whatever it can murder, and when it's done sowing death and destruction, it tilts its tiny head back and lets out the CUTEST screech/howl to let the world know it's not fucking around. Big fan.

[Mandle]

The translation of the mouse's howl is roughly: "I AM DEATH!!! HEAR ME ROAR AND DESPAIR YE MORTALS!!!"

[fernewelten]

For Southern Germany, I can add Wolpertingers. These creatures are sure to exist although nobody has managed to film one live yet. On the other hand, lots of stuffed exhibits prove the case, as well as picture postcards sold in souvenir shops.

Here's an example:

[morganw]

Here's an example:

...and then the mouse revealed its true form.

[Blondbraid]

There used to be elephant-sized swans living on Malta, so I just had to share it! 

(though to be fair, the extinct elephants on Malta were only Shetland-pony sized, but still...)

[Cassiebsg]

You need to remove the address and just leave the video code... as in delete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=  and leave zI-uF3y37A4. 

[Blondbraid]

You need to remove the address and just leave the video code... as in delete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=  and leave zI-uF3y37A4. 

Really? I saw the video player just fine on my end, but I've edited it just to be on the safe side. Better?

[Cassiebsg]

That's weird, still not showing on my end. 

EDIT: just noticed that all youtube videos that are embed on the forum aren't working for me.  Weird, they were working  just yesterday, and restarting FF didn't help.

So it was probably working with the full address, sorry... 

[Laura Hunt]

That's weird, still not showing on my end. 

EDIT: just noticed that all youtube videos that are embed on the forum aren't working for me.  Weird, they were working  just yesterday, and restarting FF didn't help.

So it was probably working with the full address, sorry... 

Yeah, I always use the full address and it's always worked perfectly, so I guess it's some glitch on your end. Probably just a temporary issue

[Blondbraid]

Did anyone else know there were turtles with soft shells?

It's just such a bizarre idea for an animal, because without a shell, what's even the point of being a turtle?
They're just some kind of weird reptile pancake. 

[Reiter]

This thread is delightful. Although that turtle looks particularly hopeless, I cannot help but feel sorry for it. It is as if it has been evicted (no doubt by a disreputable hermit crab) and then trodden on.

Now, to complement the Wolpertinger above, behold the elusive wild haggis!

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[imgzoom]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Haggis_scoticus.jpg[/imgzoom]

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This rare beast of the highlands of Scotland is at both times adorable and, more to the point, delicious.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

nestled among my bookmarks I extracted these fantastic youtube chans featuring particularly odd looking earthly fauna

Deep Sea Oddities
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzXpJub6qs5O8OT-xYgiIOA/videos

My Microscopic World
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGn297bjkVb8i0arO32jcg/videos

Jam's Germs
https://www.youtube.com/user/Savantcm/videos

Andreas Kay
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrAndreasKay/videos

Sadly Andreas Kay passed away only last year

[Blondbraid]

This thread is delightful.

Yeah, I thought this forum could use more threads to cheer people up what with all that's going on in the world,
plus there's just so many animals that's just too weird not to share pics and videos on.

Like the Tarsier, the Furby's evil cousin:

[Gilbert]

Did anyone else know there were turtles with soft shells?

These "turtles" are considered a delicacy with high nutrition value and are relatively expensive.
About 20 years ago, I went with my superior to the mainland to meet some writers of supporting materials (I am a mathematics textbook editor if you don't know already). At lunch they ordered a soup with such creature. It's the whole thing chopped into pieces with recognisable limbs (together with claws), head, and the shell still attached, etc...

...and they never ate it, but told me to eat more: "this is great and good to you!" I had no choice but to had some...

Now I have told you this.

[milkanannan]

I always thought anglerfish were pretty metal:



OK in searching for that image I can across this gem:

"...if the deep-sea anglerfish happened to have the cognitive and physical capabilities required to produce its own such films, there’d be decidedly fewer plot twists. Every single movie would go a little something like this: Boy meets girl, boy bites girl, boy’s mouth fuses to girl’s body, boy lives the rest of his life attached to girl sharing her blood and supplying her with sperm. Ah, a tale as old as time." 

Source: https://www.wired.com/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-anglerfish/

[Reiter]

Those fish always struck me as faintly terrifying. Fascinating specimen, that. I wonder if it is edible; might have gone well with that pancake turtle stew mentioned above.

Now, today's addition: a taxidermical novelty.

Blue whales are extraordinary creatures. They are the largest known creature to have swimmed the Earth. They eat krill, of course. On the brink of extinction, I fear, although their situation is improving. Lovely beings.

Here is a prepared and preserved specimen that they keep in the natural history museum in my city (partially built to accommodate it). It is called the Malmian Whale, after its taxidermist. It is quite big.

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[imgzoom]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Balaenoptera_musculus.jpg[/imgzoom]

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Bear in mind that this specimen is practically in his boyhood: a full-grown blue whale would be about twice as large!

He stranded on the coast on a late autumn day in 1865. The poor creature was quite ineptly killed by local fishermen, after which August Malm arrived from the city museum to examine it. It proved to be a remarkable specimen, and it was later butchered and preserved for the museum, and a little tea-room was built inside. Imagine if it had been fully grown; they could have fitted a whole restaurant, no doubt.

Since the mouth is hinged and can be opened, Mr Malm have a long and varied career, for a cetacean. He has been a travelling exhibit to Hamburg and Berlin, a museum café, a polling station and, undoubtedly, host for many kissing couples. He also did his part in the Winter War, during a donation drive, which I find rather sweet; 'A People is in Peril. YOU can help. See the whale for details.' He still opens shop for Christmas, and on the national election day.
He is still a popular visit for school children, and I still find it rather thrilling to see the whale. It is magnificent to think of these titanic creatures.

Here is a picture of a skull from an adult specimen:

Spoiler

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Compare it to the size of the skull in the previous picture. 'You're gonna need a bigger museum.'

As a parting reflexion on the subject of whales: their blow-holes are, apparently, their nostrils. It is very peculiar.

[Gilbert]

I wonder if it is edible; might have gone well with that pancake turtle stew mentioned above.

Yes. Or at least some subclasses(? subtypes?, subspecies? I'm not good at this), especially in Japan. They brew soup with these fish for noodles/udon.
There used to be a Japanese restaurant nearby which specialised in udon in angler fish soup (though we usually order udon in tomato soup more often).

...

Why am I only posting comments on whether some monsters weird animals are edible here?!!

[Blondbraid]

I'm not sure what it says bout me that I can see a video about a Mexican lizard
that looks like a worm with tiny front legs and the only thing that surprise me
is the fact that a creature that weird isn't extinct, it's not even endangered.

[LameNick]

Mata mata is a small forest creature that is too fat to hunt or forage and arms sticking from under it’s chin are too short to pick anything. It’s only evolutionary advantage is the adorable smile, irresistible to the many occupants of the forest who feed it and predators that take pity on it.
How does mata mata reproduce? Well, it doesn’t, its too lazy to mate. But it is also too lazy to die, so it just grows old forever.


[imgzoom]https://otlibrary.com/wp-content/gallery/mata-mata/mata-mata-turtle-31.jpg[/imgzoom]

This is a factual report from the Amazon.

[Blondbraid]

I just found out about the Arabian Sand Boa, and it's gotta be the derpiest-looking snake I've ever seen!

[KyriakosCH]

There's the goblin shark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYpn2u2Wag4

I like the ant-lion, though. Part insect, part living metaphor for a demon.
It is also quite interesting that it later on morphs into another being, which is tame - some type of fruitfly. Imagine having to get through hunting in the sand-dunes and luring other insects to the bottom of the pit of quick-sand you built to introduce them to your mandibles, only so that in the next stage you are a nerdy fruitfly.

[Blondbraid]

I like the ant-lion, though. Part insect, part living metaphor for a demon.
It is also quite interesting that it later on morphs into another being, which is tame - some type of fruitfly. Imagine having to get through hunting in the sand-dunes and luring other insects to the bottom of the pit of quick-sand you built to introduce them to your mandibles, only so that in the next stage you are a nerdy fruitfly.

And the worst part is that said fruitfly often ends up prey to young antlions.

I'm glad being a human means that I'll never have to worry about falling into a crib and getting eaten by the baby!

[KyriakosCH]

^It's good that in our species the young never replace the old - or at least the old can also use lethal force 

[Blondbraid]

With all the crazy stuff happening in the world right now, I think we could use more fun animals around.

Does anyone else just love maned wolves?

[LimpingFish]

Love this little guy...

[Blondbraid]

A cousin of your avatar picture? 

[Blondbraid]

I just found a video of Australian magpies singing, and they sound completely alien:

[Mandle]

I just found a video of Australian magpies singing, and they sound completely alien:

Yup, most people expect them to sound like crows because they look like crows with some with some white patterns added... But that is like expecting zebras to sound like horses.

They are as smart as crows though, in my opinion.

I once fed a magpie in Australia, during a motel stay, and had trained it, over a week, to get up close and take the food from my hand. The bird wasn't looking well: its feathers were in disarray and it was very thin.

Then I moved to a different motel about a kilometer or two down the road.

I spoke with my wife about how we would miss "BosaBosa" (meaning "unkempt appearance" in Japanese, which was our pet name for the bird)

I went out onto the balcony of our new room with some bread to attract some new birds for the rest of our stay and, just then, a single black-and-white mangled-looking feather floated down from above, and then "BosaBosa" swept in and landed on the railing.

We recognized him/her immediately and he/she fed from my hand in the exact manner as before.

I can only imagine that BosaBosa kept track of our movements from one motel to the other.

We fed BosaBosa over the next week and I guess he/she isn't with us anymore but I do remember him or her fondly.

And, if this was a mainstream social media platform I would now brace myself for the usual hate of "Don't feed wild animals you IDIOT!" and "Do you think animals are just there for your enjoyment, tourist???" kind of responses but this is AGS so I'm suuuure I'm safe from that here....

[Galen]

Those birds are clearly in need of tuning. Sounds like a children's musical toy running out of battery.

[Blondbraid]

Cool story!

And, if this was a mainstream social media platform I would now brace myself for the usual hate of "Don't feed wild animals you IDIOT!" and "Do you think animals are just there for your enjoyment, tourist???" kind of responses but this is AGS so I'm suuuure I'm safe from that here....

That's idiotic, as long as you're not feeding them anything dangerous I don't see what's the problem.

Those birds are clearly in need of tuning. Sounds like a children's musical toy running out of battery.

Exactly! My thought was a stage microphone being tampered with.

[Blondbraid]

Anyone else who thinks that mouse deers are simply adorable?

[Blondbraid]

Here is another video on these adorable creatures:

[Crimson Wizard]

I've never heard about this bird before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK4M14SpY7U

[arj0n]

Meet the fish with humanoid teeth, the Pacu a.k.a. the Nutcracker fish:

[Gilbert]

It's a piranha evolved after eating people!

[Blondbraid]

The Marabou stork:

Basically, every single fact about this animal is disgusting; they look like an unholy cross between a stork and a vulture with a scrotum on their neck,
they are called "the undertaker bird" due to their gruesome appearance and habit of hanging out near dead things and eating carrion when they're not
digging through garbage at dumps, they poop on their legs to keep cool and even their name, Marabou, comes from the Arab word for hermit because
of the birds being stinky and repulsive creatures driving people away with their gross habits.

And for some inexplicable reason, this is the animal Sweden's most popular chocolate brand choose to take their name from:

And even decorating their pralines with it's image:

[Gilbert]

They are just being honest.

Spoiler

Their chocolates are just like cool poop on your legs.

[close]

[milkanannan]

Have potoo birds been shared yet?

[Blondbraid]

These birds have rather weird heads;

[Blondbraid]

This must be the cutest invasion ever!

[FanOfHumor]

My favorite fish.

[selmiak]

omg, this fish is hilarious!

[N0ra8]

[Blondbraid]

What kind of slug is that?!

[Mouth for war]

And for some inexplicable reason, this is the animal Sweden's most popular chocolate brand choose to take their name from:

I think that the origin of that word is from islam. Marabout. A marabout is something like a saint/holy person and the bird got the name from marabout and then that declicious chocolate was named after the bird. Just sayin'

[Blondbraid]

And for some inexplicable reason, this is the animal Sweden's most popular chocolate brand choose to take their name from:

I think that the origin of that word is from islam. Marabout. A marabout is something like a saint/holy person and the bird got the name from marabout and then that declicious chocolate was named after the bird. Just sayin'

I remember reading that from wikipedia,  it's named that way because the birds looked somber and lonely or something, though I'm still stumped as to what that has to do with cocolate!