SHANGRALA'S

BIZARRE NATURE 4!

Mother Nature has many faces, some beautiful, some ugly, and some simply strange. Above is a Spider-Man Lizard.       This is a collection of some of nature's truly bizarre aspects. From plants and mammals to insects, here are more of God's oddest things. Enjoy! :) Image Source Binturong       Also known as a bearcat, this Southeast Asian mammal is only distantly related to cats and is actually a member of the civet family. Despite their powerful build and teeth, binturongs typically eat small animals and fruit and are rather reclusive, using their prehensile tail to hide in treetops, but binturongs are no pushovers and can be very aggressive if provoked. Image Source Megamouth Shark       These 18-foot monstrosities can be quite alarming with their large, gaping mouths, but they're actually filter-feeders - creatures that get nutrition from miniscule food particles present in the water. Megamouths are an extremely rare sight, as they mainly inhabit the deep ocean. Echidna       Everyone knows the adorably strange duck-billed platypus, but its closest living relative is far less famous. The echidna, native to Australia and New Guinea, is an egg-laying mammal equipped with a long, bony, toothless snout that, for all intents and purposes, can be called a beak. But while platypuses resemble a cross between a beaver and a duck, echidnas resemble hedgehogs and anteaters, which is fitting, as they mostly feed on ants. Image Source Glass Lizard       Glass lizards are smooth, limbless reptiles that hiss and bite when cornered, but they really aren't snakes. You can tell a glass lizard from a true snake by certain characteristics, such as having visible ear holes and eyelids. Pygmy Hippo       The pygmy hippo is a West African cousin of the common hippo and is about half the size and a fraction of the weight of its larger cousin. Well, even a fraction of a hippo is still massive, and pygmy hippos can grow to be as heavy as 600 lbs (272 kg). While they differ from common hippos in many ways, they also have a mean temper and can be dangerous if annoyed. Image Source Numbat       Despite having a name that sounds like a slow-witted one, this striped mammal is truly fascinating. While it may appear superficially like a ground squirrel, numbats are actually marsupials, but what's more interesting is that they aren't closely related to any of the other marsupials they share the Australian continent with, having branched off around 32 million years ago or more. Its closest relative may have been the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, but unlike that carnivorous beast, numbats feed exclusively on termites. Image Source Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine       These rodents are New World porcupines and are only distantly related to their Old World counterparts, with which they mainly share a name and their defensive mechanism. What makes the Latin American porcupine unique is an adaptation that makes it's tail prehensile, allowing it to climb deftly in the dense forests that it calls home. Tawny Frogmouth       What's so bizarre about these owls, anyway? Well, they're not owls, for one. Despite their tawny coats, large, yellow eyes and nocturnal lifestyle, the Australian frogmouths are more closely related to nightjars and aren't nearly as powerfully-built as the night raptors they resemble. Instead, they rely on their wide beaks to beat prey and swallow them in large chunks. Image Source Caecilians       This creature looks like a giant earthworm; thankfully, those do not exist outside of science fiction (and Australia). Upon a closer inspection one can see a mouth and a pair of eyes, that's because these disgusting wormy critters are actually amphibians - cousins to frogs and newts who have lost their legs to evolution, much like glass lizards and snakes.

Source Budapest Highflyer Baby       This is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding. Budapest Highflyers, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the rock pigeon. The breed is the most popular in its native Hungary. Source Tortoise Frog       The turtle frog is a fascinating specimen, with a body shaped like a turtle missing its shell. These animals have small beady eyes and fleshy pink skin and are often described as a 'blob' shape. The frogs bear powerful front limbs, making them well-equipped to burrow underground and forage for termites, their favorite food. They emerge from underground only to mate following Southwest Australia's mating season. Source Visored Bat       This is a bat species from tropical South America. It is the only species in the genus Sphaeronycteris. Although visored bats have a number of unique characteristics, they are thought to be most closely related to little white-shouldered bats and wrinkle-faced bats. Source Harpy Eagle       The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is considered one of the most powerful and largest raptors globally. The length of the rear talons is about 4 to 5 inches, just the same as a grizzly bear's claws. Those talons give the Harpy enough power and grip to lift prey up to their own weight. Native to Central and South America, it was named for the Harpies of Greek mythology, gruesome women with the bodies of birds. Source Babirusa Pig       Babirusas are sometimes called 'prehistoric pigs,' and for good reason. They have been depicted in cave drawings more than 35,000 years old. Their stocky bodies and curved teeth give them the appearance of an ancient animal. They are sometimes referred to as 'deer-pigs' and live in a very limited area that includes swamps and forests in an Indonesia island of Sulawesi. Source Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine       The Mexican tree porcupine, sometimes called the hairy dwarf porcupine is endemic to Mesoamerica, found from Panama to central Mexico. It inhabits mixed-mountain forest and coniferous forests up to 3200m high. It has a prehensile and naked tail, which is an adaptation to have a better grip of branches and ultimately better mobility in trees. These porcupines move slowly and forage in the forest canopy. They mainly eat seeds, fruits, leaves, flowers, and buds. Their main weapon of defense against predation is their yellow sharp quills which get stuck in another animal's skin and are difficult to remove because they have barbs that serve as hooks. Porcupines will grow new quills to replace the ones they lose. Source Dugong Marsa Alam       The dugong (sometimes spelled dugon) is a large marine mammal, sometimes called a 'sea cow' because of its diet of sea grass. It lives in parts of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is similar to the Manatee, the main difference being that the latter can also be found in the estuaries of fresh water rivers. The oldest known Dugong lived 73 years. Source Calliostoma annulatum Snail       This snail is also known as the purple-ring topsnail, blue-ring topsnail or jeweled topsnail. It's a medium-sized sea snail with gills and an operculum. This snail lives off of the Pacific coast of North America feeding seasonally on kelp, sessile fauna like bryozoans, and detritus. The head and foot of it has a yellow-orange color with brown spots. The shell is thin and gold with purple stripes. Source Mata Mata       The mata mata, mata-mata, or matamata (Chelus fimbriata) is a South American species of freshwater turtle found in the Amazon basin and river system of the eastern Guianas. It first became known to western scientists when it was described by French naturalist Pierre Barrere in 1741 as a "large land turtle with spiky and ridged scales". Source Long-eared Jerboa       The tiny, furtive rodent-native to the deserts of northwest China and southern Mongolia - has a mouse-like body, rabbity ears, a snout like a pig's, and back legs that look like a miniature model of a kangaroo. But despite resembling a hodgepodge of other species, the long-eared jerboa stands - and hops - in a class of its own. It is distinct enough that authorities consider it to be the only member of both its genus, Euchoreutes, and subfamily, Euchoreutinae. Source, All Images Source Spider-Man Lizard       This lizard's amazing red and blue markings are strikingly similar to the suit worn by the crime-fighting, web-weaving daredevil. And - as the reptile was captured crawling around on his rock - he appeared to strike an identical pose to Spidey's favored crouching pose. The lizard is a Mwanza Flat Headed Agama, which are native to Africa and usually live in groups with one dominant male - usually the most colorful.

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