ANIMALS THAT MOTHER NATURE WASN'T KIND TO

MANED WOLF

What would you get if you crossed a fox and an antelope? Probably

something similar to the maned wolf. The largest canid of South

America, the maned wolf has extremely long and thin legs that seem

to be an adaptation to the tall grasslands of its native habitat.

SQUID WITH HUMAN-LIKE TEETH

Scientifically known as Promachoteuthis Sulcus, this deep-sea

squid is an extremely rare squid species known from just a

single specimen found in southern Atlantic Ocean at a depth of about

2,000m (6,500ft). Equipped with eight legs, two tentacles and

perfectly lined up human-like teeth, it is not a creature you want to

encounter when snorkelling.  

PACU FISH

But the deep-sea squid is not the only animal that was given teeth

similar to ours. A South American relative to piranha, the Pacu fish also

boasts impressive squared teeth. Despite the similar body shape,

the Pacu is much larger than piranha, reaching up to 1m (3ft) and

25 kg (55 pounds).

GOBLIN SHARK

Talking about bizarre teeth, nothing compares to the goblin shark,

a rare species of deep-sea shark, sometimes referred to as the

living fossil.  Characterized by distinctive profile with an elongated snout

and exposed jaws containing nail-like teeth, this surreal creature has

been around for about 125 million years.

ANTEATER

If there was a cross between an elephant and a badger, it would have to

look like an anteater. More closely related to sloths than they are to any

other animals.  Anteaters are up to 1.8m (6ft) long mammals easily

recognizable by their long snout and even longer tongue.

PANGOLIN

But if we kept crossing the anteater, say with an armadillo, we would

get the pangolin – an armoured anteater. Literally translated as

“something that rolls up”, the pangolin is a nocturnal mammal

living in tropical areas of Africa and Asia.

DUMBO OCTOPUS

Officially known as Grimpoteuthis, the dumbo octopus is a genus of 

deep-sea pelagic umbrella octopus. Occupying extreme depths of up

to 7,000m (23,000ft), the octopus has large eyes and prominent,

ear-like fins resembling the ears of Walt Disney’s flying elephant 

Dumbo, hence the nickname.

SAIGA ANTELOPE

Once abundant but now critically endangered (with about 50,000

remaining specimens) the Saiga antelope is a small antelope

recognizable by its extremely unusual, over-sized, flexible nose

structure known as the proboscis.

PROBOSCIS MONKEY

Yes, even monkeys can have proboscis. Endemic to the island of

Borneo, the proboscis monkey is a reddish-brown arboreal monkey

species that co-exists with the Bornean orangutan.

The nose is particularly remarkable in the male.