Weird Animals

https://blog.snapshotserengeti.org/2014/01/17/the-curious-case-of-the-giraffe-and-the-oxpecker/

The images also show that the birds seem to prefer settling between the hind legs of the giraffe.

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

Giant fish with bony tongues, sturdy armor, and that breathe air and secrete a milky substance out of their heads to protect their young.

vacuum attack!

Probably mentioned before but some frogs let their offspring develop in their stomachs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce-pt3Da4QA

Thought he'd mention that frog or toad that births babies through it's skin, because that's still the weirdest to me

Is that different from the one where the tadpoles live on the mom and eat her skin?

It's Suriname toads, still one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgROaJY6Xnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lf3JZw3OMY

Weird Oz duck says 'you bloody fool'

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-58476891

Related: weird Oz duck likes to body surf: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-55836596

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zHmUvUre72ECbRSboWsGK3-970-80.jpg.webp

Hundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoon

These tadpole-size creatures, called Triops "look like little mini-horseshoe crabs with three eyes," Lauren Carter, lead interpretation ranger at Wupatki National Monument, told Live Science. Their eggs can lie dormant for decades in the desert until enough rainfall falls to create lakes that provide real estate and time for the hatchlings to mature and lay eggs for the next generation, according to Central Michigan University.

More axolotl facts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkIG9S2Mmg

Most interesting is the fact that they can actually undergo metamorphosis under the right conditions!

Uncovered this emu tidbit from the NYT crossword a couple days ago:

The male becomes broody after his mate starts laying, and may begin to incubate the eggs before the clutch is complete. From this time on, he does not eat, drink, or defecate, and stands only to turn the eggs, which he does about ten times a day.

https://www.mbari.org/products/creature-feature/giant-phantom-jelly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bzQYKm3xTA

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/23/23/54/21838645/3/2400x0.jpg

The barreleye fish, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, has a transparent head, and can primarily be found throughout the Pacific, from the Bering Sea to Japan and Baja California at depths of up to 2,600 feet.

In lieu of eyes are “two glowing green orbs behind its face that gaze up towards the top of its head,” and indentations where the eyes would normally appear are its “olfactory organs.” (The eyes of this “bizarre” fish, the institute notes, can rotate to the front of the head “to see its food when eating.”)

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Monterey-Bay-researchers-spot-deep-sea-barrelfish-16710913.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

one of leees faves!

<3

And footage of the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akv36y8WLYA

pixar missed a step imo

Not so much weird whales as weird whale members: https://www.dailygrail.com/2018/07/this-famous-sea-serpent-story-might-actually-have-been-a-sighting-of-a-whale-penis/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxLNavBWS1/
FAT ASS SHEEP
http://www.worldfoodist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/800px-Erector_fat_tail_sheep.jpg

Mesmerizing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryRcPeOM1sY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKh8g44UnAc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIzTWYfTVw8

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/05/03/science/03tb-dolphins-vs-anaconda/03tb-dolphins-vs-anaconda-superJumbo.jpg

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/science/dolphins-anaconda-bolivia.html

Something else from the photos was notable — the male dolphins’ erect penises.

“It could have been sexually stimulating for them,” said Diana Reiss, a marine mammal scientist and cognitive psychologist at Hunter College in New York who was not involved with the study. “It could have been something to rub on.”

The aroused males could have been having a sexual romp with each other before the snake became entangled.

Researchers who study dolphins are well aware of the animals’ sexual proclivities, such as rubbing their genitals on toys or inserting their penises into objects, animate and inanimate. They often use their penises for tactile interactions, Dr. Reiss says. She has even observed male bottlenose dolphins trying to penetrate the blowhole of a rescued pilot whale in an aquarium. It’s possible, she added, that the males tried to insert their penises into the snake.

“There are so many questions,” Mr. Entiauspe-Neto says.

typical males

Would you believe an omnivorous shark?

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

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/13-foot-long-fish-caught-in-mekong-river-shows-some-megafish-are-thriving

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

Binturongs have kind of given up:

Binturongs pee in a squatting position, soaking their feet and bushy tails in the process. They also drag their tails as they move about in the trees, leaving a scent trail on the branches and leaves behind them.

https://today.duke.edu/2016/04/popcornscentedbinturong#:~:text=Binturongs%20owe%20their%20popcorn%2Dlike,toasted%20bread%20and%20cooked%20rice

I met one in person at a weird zoo in Kōbe, until that point I had no idea they existed so it completely freaked me out. Pretty gentle big dude, like a wolfhound hanging from a branch.

Did it smell like popcorn?

I was racking my brain to try and remember, I think I do remember some kind of warm/woody smell.
https://i.imgur.com/8HiAgg4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hJZElkO.jpg

That one's huge! Love bearcats. Spotted one in the wild on Borneo a couple of years ago:
https://imgur.com/a/Ao7VDnl

hmmm :( clicketyclick: https://imgur.com/a/Ao7VDnl

https://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/hymenopt/RedHair1.jpg

ok, here's one I saw on saturday, three separate times - the pacific velvet ant, aka the 'cowkiller ant'

They were wandering around a dirt fire road... I'm a California native and I don't think I've ever seen one

My friend looked it up on her phone, and we were like 'that's an ANT? fucking weird.. it looks like a bee.'

Well, despite the name, it's not actually an ant but a wingless WASP, with an extremely painful sting.. I'm glad I didn't try to pet it

Oh, I would sometimes encounter these in meadows when I lived in California. Cool!

Funny, I've been seeing those in NW Nevada but they're covered in gold fur.

I was stung by one of those as a teen. It was agonizing.

In Australia we have these mfs, same deal, also agonising
https://i.redd.it/ezv9y6x4nv131.jpg

That's pretty!

In completely unrelated WTFness: https://www.popsci.com/female-salamander-kleptogenesis/

That's so strange...
Also "Kleptogenesis" sounds like it could be a Voivod album...

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/in-this-insect-females-have-penises-and-males-have-vaginas

Check out these adorable dumdums: https://defector.com/why-is-this-tiny-frog-so-awful-at-jumping/

Also "Kleptogenesis" sounds like it could be a Voivod album...

― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, June 15, 2022 3:02 AM (yesterday)

Thumbs up

Nice account

Brilliant colours of the pink-necked green pigeon from South-East Asia. pic.twitter.com/na2kQchv08

— Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) April 2, 2022

Maned wolves of South America have very long legs! Its not closely related to other canids, so it's not actually a wolf. pic.twitter.com/VlQAg57YdD

— Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) June 2, 2022

excellent

The maned wolf tweet is a little unclear -- I checked to see if they belong to an entirely different group like hyenas (which are more closely related to cats than dogs), but it is in fact a canid, just on its own branch of long-legged weirdos.

Not weird animal but drunk scientist (studying crocodiles):

While the female was floating

in the water next to the roadbed, I held a
juvenile 1 m above the ground and elicited
distress cries by squeezing it. The mother
moved quickly out of the water and climbed
up the bank, a distance of about 3 m. At

this point I immediately released the ju-
venile.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1563716 (paywalled)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRngS7EMpQ

was just thinking on platypodes this morning, their actual genuine weirdassedness. such excellent little outlaws. such disdain for the usual taxonomies! i think i would like to pet one. i would like to have lunch with a platypus and talk about its interests.

Be careful trying to pet one, they have little spurs on their ankles that are venomous. (Also, they have cloacas.)