Posting photos of amazing species you've never heard of. Highlighting the wonders of evolution & the extraordinary diversity of life. Also follow @weird_animaIs

Earth
Joined June 2013
An adorable yawning elephant shrew! (Photos Steve Rawlins)
83
5,642
526
36,262
1,307,637
The badass caterpillar of the Citheronia moth! (Photo vireolanius)
9
104
14
757
38,585
The tiny Rufous hummingbird is known for its remarkable flight skills, sometimes flying up to 2,000 miles (3,200 km) during migrations.
32
32
2
332
14,028
The blue cloud forest millipede from Mexico. (Photo Luis Stevens)
2
16
3
208
7,096
The Mexican mole lizard only has two limbs!
16
298
47
3,029
71,375
The Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine.
5
27
2
278
12,158
A Scolopendra mortisans centipede protecting her eggs. (Photo J Buys)
16
319
31
2,597
44,883
The bearded tit. (Photo David Drangsland)
5
16
172
7,391
Strange Animals retweeted
A Mary River turtle with algae growing on its shell. The turtle uses this algal growth as camouflage to hide from predators. (Photo Chris Van Wyk)
13
88
27
891
145,805
These specialised parasites have co-evolved with their bat hosts for millions of years. They have developed a flat, hard body to prevent being crushed & velcro-like hairs & claws to grip their host. It looks like a spider, but is actually a wingless fly! (Photos Piotr Nasrecki)
28
195
37
3,368
293,867
Bat flies have no eyes & feed on the blood of their mammalian hosts. Unusually, these flies give birth to a single, fully developed larva (rather than lots of eggs). After giving birth, the bat fly leaves its host & attaches its larva to a cave wall, ready to find its next host.
2
2
300
20,749
Even bat flies have parasites! They are often found with specialised mites that feed off their hemolymph (insect equivalent of blood) and parasitic wasps lay eggs inside their pupa.
2
3
291
17,604
The beautiful Spanish moon moth. (Photo Daniel Morel)
1
53
3
391
10,926
Bats are important pollinators for some cactus species and many other plants. (Photo National Park Service)
19
570
99
4,386
137,166
The potoo disguises itself as a broken tree branch to avoid predators. Its posture & colouring is a perfect camouflage! (Photos Nick Garbutt)
2
22
1
201
10,328
The adorable Costasiella kuroshimae nudibranch. The small black dots are its eyes! (Photo Lynn Wu)
4
38
5
287
9,480
Rosy maple moths.
3
45
7
472
11,472
Cuban land snails are amazing! (Photo ashbreurev)
4
132
5
1,325
21,371
The Malabar giant squirrel. Found in the forests of India, it can grow up to 1 metre long (including its tail) and spends almost its entire life high in the treetops, rarely coming down to the ground. (Photo Massimo)
1
37
5
277
12,964
Scientists once published an entire paper titled "Control of scrotal color in the vervet monkey." They found that the monkeys' famous blue testicles aren't caused by blue pigment, but rather by light scattering (the Tyndall effect) over a layer of melanin. (Photo Diego Delso)
5
16
12
152
15,383
Texas horned lizard hatchlings! They are so small! (Photos Dallas Zoo)
10
174
11
1,742
33,872