ANIMAL DEFENCE MECHANISMS

SARCASTIC FRINGE HEAD

The sarcastic fringe head, a Pacific fish, can open their

fanged-mouths to an enormous size to scare off predators.

When establishing dominance, two of these fish will open their

mouths as far as possible and butt them together in a wrestling

match that looks more like a make-out session.

MANTIS SHRIMP

The champ of underwater creatures, mantis shrimp can punch at up to

75 feet per second (23 m/s) from a stopped position – that’s enough

to break aquarium glass. Even if the shrimp misses, the resulting

shockwave from the punch can paralyze the other animal. The bubbles

in the shockwave can be up to several thousand degrees Kelvin – that’s

easily thousands of degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius.

Malaysian Exploding Ant

In a display of animal suicide, the Malaysian exploding ant can pop two

poison sacs on its abdomen which causes the ant to, you guessed

it, explode and cover invaders in the poisonous goo.

BOMBARDIER BEETLE

When threatened, the bombardier beetle mixes chemicals in its

abdomen almost to the point of boiling, shooting the hot liquid out

with a loud pop which scares most predators off.

KOMODO DRAGON

A slow killer, the komodo dragon keeps its mouth a bacterial mess.

With constantly ripped gums, the dragon’s mouth is full of open

wounds and blood. If it bites an attacker or prey, it just waits for the

infection to kill them off. The young ones protect themselves while

they develop the stank breath by rolling around the faeces of the

other dragons’ kills.

SEA CUCUMBER

Though it has a pretty harmless name, the sea cucumber has some

pretty tough defence mechanisms. If stressed, it fires fine tubes from

its respiratory system out its anus at predators. When mixed with water,

the tubes can grow up to 20 times their original length; they also become

sticky, wrapping predators up. Some sea cucumbers also expel a

toxic with the tubes.

HAIRY FROG

Not actually hairy, just with hair-like structures (for the males), the hairy

frog can break its own feet bones which then rip through the skin and

act like claws. Too bad they can’t just grow their nails.

POTTO

A furry, little primate native to African forests, the potto has a dark side.

When under attack, the potto sticks its head to its chest and puffs out

its top vertebrae then rushes its opponents like a battering ram.

CRESTED PORCUPINE

The pointy crested porcupine has quills up to half the size of its body

nearly 14 inches (35cm) per quill! When chased, it’ll stop in its tracks,

leaving the chaser to run into its quills like a spike pit from Indiana Jones.

It can also rattle short quills on its tail like a rattlesnake.