20 Strange And Creepy Creatures You Probably Haven't Heard About

- 9 years ago by

Borneo Bay Cat

This cat is extremely rare and lives on the Borneo island, Indonesia. The first one was captured in 1992, before that people were not even aware it existed. The cat is nocturnal, has a short, rounded head and its fur is dark brown. What makes the animal creepy is its long body and even longer tail. The Borneo Bay Cat looks like a very large domesticated cat, but you know, only a lot wilder. So far we are not sure what exactly they eat, they are so rare only a couple of thousand species exist in the deep forests of Borneo.

 

Gold And Silver Beetles

Imagine you walk through the forest and suddenly something shines in your eyes. A coin? Nah, it was a beetle of course. These very special insects live in Costa Rica and their chitins are the color of gold, and silver. Plus they are sparkly too. The secret lies within the special layers on their backs, which can control how the light goes through them. Each individual part reflects it differently, when all of them combine they form this magnificent shine. Expect jewelers to start selling these beetles anytime soon!

 

Bare-Faced Bulbul

This is another creature, which got discovered recently. It was first spotted and documented in Laos(in 2009). What is so peculiar about this particular songbird is its bald head, which kind of takes away from its prettiness. The bird is not exactly endangered, the reason it remained hidden for so long is because its habitat was not thoroughly explored. Despite that it is possible it also spread in the neighboring countries. The Bare-Faced Bulbul is small, 19 centimeters long, 40 grams,  but his whistles can be heard from a long distance.

 

Goliath Tigerfish

A fierce beast swims through the Congo river(and other rivers in South Africa). It is the biggest member of the Tigerfish family and can reach up to 5 feet in length. See, this is special because people don't expect a river fish to be this big and ferocious. It is such a fine hunter not only because of its scary teeth but also thanks to an air-filled sack, which helps it detect vibrations inside the water. Various stories surround the goliath. It is known that it sometimes attacks humans and feeds on small crocodiles. Whatever the case, this is just one more reason to avoid stepping into tropical rivers.

 

Honeypot Ant

The Honeypot Ants have a special place in an anthill when food is scarce. They are being fed rigorously by the other workers until their bellies swell to an unbelievable size, like a balloon. They transform all this food into a sweet juice they later give to the other ants when bad times hit. Want something to eat? No problem, just let me throw it up for you! They don't move easily around, especially not through the tight tunnels the other ants make, thus they are not that easy to find. If you do find one though, you can always try eating it, it is considered a delicacy!

 

Immortal Jellyfish

Like Jellyfish aren't creepy enough already, this one can actually transcend life and death. That's right, it is the only know living organism, which can revert from an adult state to a juvenile state, technically making it immortal because they can do it indefinitely. It happens when the jellyfish is under stress, or simply when it gets too old, it changes its cells completely and becomes a kid again. They are living in the Caribbean Sea and the only reason they haven't taken over the world is that despite their magical ability they can still get eaten by predators. What a shame.

 

The Olm

The Olm is an amphibian, which lives in Central and South-Eastern Europe. It is endemic and inhabits caves in the Alps mostly. This salamander is special because of its lifestyle, he lives in the water and doesn't feel the need to ever go to the land, even for things like sleeping and breeding. This makes him highly adaptable to the harsh conditions of a life without light and purely in water, his face lacks eyes and his skin lacks pigmentation. Needless to say it is a creepy thing once you can actually see it.

 

Asian Sheepshead Wrasse

This has to be one of the ugliest fish you'll ever see. And it is not like it always looks like that, the young wrasses of this kind actually don't possess the bubbly head with large protrusions of the older ones. This particular fish lives in the seas near Japan, China and Korea. It is mostly slow, both in movement and aging, it counteracts it by spreading millions of eggs around. To top it all, it can also change its gender from female to male several years after it matures. Random.

 

Celebes Crested Macaque

It is a monkey and it lives in Indonesia. Nothing strange so far. It can reach 60 centimeters and 10 kilograms, its fur is pitch black and its eyes are reddish. Ok, maybe a bit creepy but so far everything is ok. This changes when mating season starts. We've all seen those monkeys with red bottoms, well this one beats them all. The females signal that they are ready by waving said butt around, it is very uncomfortable to watch. And of course males and females do the act multiple times with multiple partners, just to make everything even tastier.

 

Tube-Nosed Bat

The Tube-Nosed Bat is a fruit bat, which was discovered in 2009 when an expedition in Papua New Guinea found roughly 200 of them. It eats fruits, obviously, and disperses their seeds around, which makes it an important part of the local ecosystem. Oh, and it also looks like Yoda, this is why it is called "Yoda Bat" by the general population. The eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, it all fits, making this bat an idol for Star Wars nerds across the world. Unlike Yoda though, the Tube-Nosed is mostly lightly colored, yellow and beige.

 

Pinocchio Frog

Another creepy animal caught in Indonesia, the Pinocchio Frog, lives in the Foja mountains of Papua. It was discovered in 2008. As a tree frog it is not the strangest thing in the world, its nose however is completely off. Its nose, or more accurately the protuberance in front of its head, points upwards when the frog makes noises, otherwise it stays downwards. Nobody knows why. This phenomenon is only seen in male frogs. It is funny how this particular strange amphibian was found. The scientists caught it sitting on a bag of rice in their camp.

 

Binturong

A weird name for a weird creature, the Binturong is known to live in South/South-East Asia, although his numbers are not that great. Its other name is a "Bearcat" although it is not a bear, nor a cat, but a completely different species. The creature eats fruits mostly and spends its time in the trees. Apart from its strange look, the Binturong has a strange smell too. He smells like buttered popcorn. The scent is emitted from its tail. This smell is used to mark its territory. Its tail is also as long as its body and helps with tree climbing.

 

Blanket Octopus

These amazing creatures are known for three things. First, the cape-like stuff  they make with their tentacles when they are threatened. It looks like the membrane of a bat, it gives them a very creepy look and more often than not shoos away would be predators. The second weird thing is how completely different males and females are. Males are about 2 centimeters long while females go up to 2 meters, it is insane. Imagine having to deal with a partner 100 times bigger than you! Finally they are immune to the venom of one of the most dangerous water inhabitants, the Portuguese Man o' War. In fact they hunt the thing for food.

 

Tibetan Sand Fox

This fox roams the remote Tibetan highlands and is adept at hunting down small mammals. It reaches 70 centimeters in length(with the tail being 40) and weighs between 3 and 6 kilograms. They were first caught on film in 2006 and we can now see how creepy looking they truly are. Their fur is mostly grey with a pale underside, fitting with the sand theme. What is unnatural is the fox's head. It is square and has small ears attached to it. This gives the Tibetan Fox an expression straight out of some internet meme.

 

Japanese Spider Crab

If you are afraid of crabs(or spiders) this thing will give you the chills. Imagine a crab so big its leg span is 3.8 meters and its weight is 19 kilograms, this is what the Japanese Spider Crab is. Thankfully they are roaming the seafloor around Japan, deep below the surface, where they feast on shellfish and animal carcasses. It can do real damage with its claws but is also quite a tasty dish(we are talking about Japan after all). Oh, and they also can live up to 100 years. Nowadays the crab is put under protection.

 

Ravine Trapdoor Spider

You shall not pass, says the spider. And indeed, these North American species have a way to keep intruders out of their den. They are not overly big, males reach 1.9 centimeters and females up to 3, and their burrows are 15 centimeters long vertical holes in the ground. To protect them the spiders have a unique defense mechanism - its belly. It ends abruptly into a thing that looks like a stamp. It is very hard and the trapdoor spider uses it to block the entrance, securing his territory.

 

Bush Dog

This is one of the animals you'll most likely never see, and even if you do you won't be entirely sure what the hell that was. The Bush Dog is a dog by name but it can look like anything really, from a badger to a small bear. It lives in the forests of South America and leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle. It is certainly a small animal, 75 centimeters long, only 20-30 centimeters high and weighing 5-8 kilograms. Despite that it is a carnivore and can even eat prey bigger than him. Currently their number is about 15 000.

 

Tarsier

This creepy monkey used to inhibit Europe, North America and Africa, today though it can only be seen on islands in South-East Asia. They spend their lives up on the trees, they are also nocturnal, which means they hunt small insects, and sometimes small snakes and lizards, during the night. Their main method of catching food is to stun it with their super long middle fingers, but this is not even their creepiest feature. Seriously, look at their eyes. They are big and fixed, the animal can only look straight ahead. Which is not a problem considering its neck can turn around at 180 degrees.

 

Jerboa

You can call them rats, but fact is the Jerboas are very unique and endearing animals. Let us start with their ears. They are big and help them navigate during the night(and spot potential predators). The animal is nocturnal and doesn't need to drink water at all, they get everything from the insects and seeds they eat. Then come their hind legs, which are at least four times the size of their forelimbs. Naturally, they use them to jump around, their tail also helps with that. Their hopping ability is legendary, covering several feet vertically and horizontally with one hop, when they themselves are so small. Although the Jerboas are certainly odd, they are widely spread with 33 different species jumping around in Asia and Africa.

 

Chinese Water Deer

This deer doesn't have antlers, oh no, instead it uses tusks to fend off its attackers. Thats right, even though they eat plants, they still have big, vampire like teeth to protect themselves. Other than that it is a very ordinary looking deer, 18 kilograms and 55 centimeters tall at the shoulder. Although its look lends credibility to the theory that it came from ancient prehistoric species(something like the Smilodon), the Chinese Water Deer evolved from other deer with antlers instead.