Our planet Earth is home to an incredibly wide array of species. These fantastically amazing, creepy, and weird animals are only a small sample of our planet's ecological diversity. They each have unique adaptations which help them survive in their environment, and they are a testament to the awe and creativity that, given enough time, evolution can produce. To celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity, let's take a look at these creatures...
Name:
Commonly known as Glass Frogs
Where It Lives:
Central and South America
Fact:
They are mostly arboreal, live along rivers and streams during the breeding season, and are particularly diverse in mountain cloud forests of Central and South America.
Name:
Commonly known as Dragonfish
Where It Lives:
Tropical ocean regions, up to 5000ft below sea level
Fact:
The Dragonfish lures its prey closer using bio luminescence, and has a row of teeth on its tongue.
Name:
Commonly known as the Gold Frog
Where It Lives:
Brazil
Fact:
It holds the record for the world's smallest frog.
Name:
Blobfish
Where It Lives:
Deep waters off the coast of Australia and Tasmania
Fact:
The flesh of the blobfish is mainly a gelatinous mass with a
density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming.
Name:
Giant Isopod
Where It Lives:
Cold, deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean
Fact:
They are carnivorous scavengers, feeding on the carcasses of dead whales, fish, and squid.
Name:
Axolotl
Where It Lives:
Mexico
Fact:
Part of the Salamander complex, they have the ability to regenerate body parts.
Name:
Viperfish
Where It Lives:
Deep, tropical, temperate waters
Fact:
It's believed to attack its prey by luring the victim close to itself with a light producing organ, called a photophore which is located on the end of its dorsal spine.
Name:
Olm (or Proteus)
Where It Lives:
Karst caves of southern Europe
Fact:
The olm's eyes are undeveloped, leaving it blind, while its other senses, particularly those of smell and hearing, are acutely developed. It also lacks any pigmentation in its skin.
Name:
Aye-Aye
Where It Lives:
Madagascar
Fact:
It is the world's largest nocturnal primate. It taps on trees to find grubs, chews a hole to access them, then uses it's thin middle finger to pull them out.
Name:
Camel Spider
Where It Lives:
Middle East, Mexico, South West USA
Fact:
They can be up to eight inches long. It looks like they have 10 legs, but they actually only have 8: the other two "legs" are sense organs, called pedipalps.
Name:
Great White Shark
Where It Lives:
Off the coast of most continents, except Antarctica and East/West Africa
Fact:
The great white shark is arguably the world's largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals.
Name:
Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko
Where It Lives:
Madagascar
Fact:
They rely on their camouflage to survive. They are only found in Madagascar, and as a result, their status is threatened.
Name:
Anglerfish
Where It Lives:
Deep ocean waters, worldwide
Fact:
The jaws are triggered in automatic reflex by contact with the tentacle (or lure), and they devour their prey whole.
Name:
Longhorn Cowfish
Where It Lives:
Indo-Pacific region
Fact:
They are reef fish, and are very slow swimmers.
Name:
Naked Mole Rat
Where It Lives:
East Africa
Fact:
It can live its entirely life inside burrows without seeing daylight. As a result, they are well protected from predators. In addition, it has a very low metabolism, and lacks pain sensation in its skin.
Name:
Wolf Fish
Where It Lives:
East and West coasts of the Atlantic Ocean
Fact:
The Wolf Fish's throat is scattered with teeth, its upper and lower jaw have six fang-like teeth, and behind these lie three rows of crushing teeth.
References:
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international not-for-profit organisation providing up-to-date information about the effects of health care.
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