Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated Jan 8, 2009
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
A Truly Wacky World!
Anyone with more than a passing interest in wildlife and the natural world is amazed at the sheer variety of species, colours, habits and habitats of our fellow creatures. Delving a little deeper reveals some very weird specimens that would make anyone question whether we are the result of creation or evolution. Whichever we think it is, we would have to admit that 'someone' has a great sense of humour!
The first one that really impressed me was the Aye-Aye , which came to my notice when naturalist the late Gerald Durrell was searching for it in Madagascar. It has something of ET about it, having huge eyes and ears and bony 'hands', with a very long middle finger which it uses to dig out insects in trees. Like bats they use echolocation for hunting. They build round nests with a small hole for access. It is nocturnal and very spooky indeed. So much so, that superstitious locals regard it as an omen of bad luck, and often kill it on sight. It is no surprise, therefore, to find that it is on the IUCN Red List and considered to be the most endangered mammal in Madagascar.
Another peculiar resident of this earth of ours is the dugong . With such a strange sounding name it always makes me laugh, and it looks even stranger. Most live in the waters of Australia around the famous Shark Bay and Moreton Bay. A bulbous marine mammal, and a relative of the Manatee found in Florida, USA, it is regarded as a relative of the elephant. It is a highly endangered animal, hunted for its meat, skin, bones and oil. It has a tail somewhat like a whale (split) on which it 'sits' in shallow water to keep its head above the water. It is believed to be the source of the sailors' tales about mermaids, but I have to say they must have imbibed an excessive rum ration at the time or have been in need of a certain spectacle manufacturer!
The Frill necked lizard is another weird and wonderful looking creature which is also known as the Frilled dragon. It is found in the Kimberly region of Western Australia, Northern Australia and Southern New Guinea. Between 70 and 90cms long, it can run very fast on its two hind legs. When frightened it opens its mouth wide and the frill round its head unfolds, stretching out to give it a much larger appearance. It lives in hot, desert type regions eating insects. It is quite pretty in a fearsome way and was such a favourite in Australia that at one time it featured on their two cent coin, now defunct.
Now, have you ever heard of a Dumbo octopus? I certainly hadn't, and a strange looking creature it is too. Not that we are likely to come across one any day soon, as they live mainly in very deep waters (500-5,000m down) in the Polar seas. They have two 'sticky out' fins which look like elephant ears, from which their name derives, and swim by flapping these 'ears' and their webbed appendages.
A Star-nosed mole is not likely to be seen much either as it can tunnel through snow and happily swims in ice covered waters. It lives in wet lowland areas in N.E. USA and eastern Canada and lives on molluscs and aquatic insects. It has huge claw like feet (in proportion to body size) and has the strangest nose you have ever seen. If it poked its nose above the surface of water or land, you could be forgiven for thinking it was either a piece of coral, a starfish, or a pink daisy type flower.
The Geoduck is another favourite. A huge saltwater clam, it looks a bit like a turtle with an elongated - er! -neck, and is also called the Elephant trunk clam. You need to see a photo as words cannot describe it sufficiently eloquently without causing offence! It grows up to two metres in length, and lives for about 160 years. It is growing in popularity as a 'delicacy' in Asia and beyond, and is 'farmed' in several places around the world. They stay in one spot for most of their lives being food for sea otters, dogfish and starfish as well as people. Frankly the thought of eating it rather turns my stomach.
A strange name to conjure with is the Kakapo , also known as the Owl parrot due to its round faced whiskers. A parrot from New Zealand, it has some very strange habits, but then New Zealand is full of weird and wonderful, unique species, and this is no exception. It weighs in at 8lbs, and is the heaviest of the parrot species, which might account for the fact that it doesn't fly. Instead it walks everywhere, at night, through hill forest, often travelling miles in a night. Obviously this makes it very vulnerable to predators and there are only about sixty left, bringing it close to extinction.
A truly nightmarish looking spiny fish is the Angler fish , with a dorsal spine (glowing 'fishing rod') protruding from its head. The glowing tip comes from millions of bioluminescent bacteria. Covered in spines and with a crescent shaped mouth full of vicious looking teeth it lives deep at the bottom of the sea. This is the female of the species, and most definitely deadlier than the male. She can swallow prey up to twice her own size! She can grow to a metre in length. He is a parasitic blob attached to the female, going almost unnoticed. If you are of a squeamish nature, look away now— the male hooks on to the female with his sharp teeth, and eventually physically fuses with the female, joined to her skin and blood supply, and eventually losing his eyes and all his internal organs except the testes. That figures! She has his sperm and has no further need for him. Oh, and she is greedy, carrying six or more males on her body.
There are millions of weird and wonderful creatures out there, but surely the funniest, most complex of them all is the Duck-billed platypus. It is venomous, with a duck's bill, an otter's feet and a mammal's body. You think I am joking? Just take a look! It is one of only five egg laying mammals and that is not its only peculiarity. It was hunted close to extinction in the 1800s for its fur. Though now a protected species, it is still hunted and at risk.
More strange facts: not only does it lay eggs, it gives milk like a cow, suckles its young, and releases snake type venom from …. its ankles! They are about twenty inches long, with thick beaver like fur, webbed feet and a duck type bill. They are adept swimmers, but are clumsy on land. When first discovered, a stuffed version was brought to the UK in 1798, and many believed it to be a hoax. They eat crabs and shrimps from the beds of rivers and lakes, have strong, sharp claws, with a 'spur' on their back ankles which emits poison as a defence mechanism and to deter other males. The females lay their grape sized eggs (2-3) in a long burrow lined with grass. The offspring are suckled for about five months before becoming independent.
So, shades of bird, cow, snake and beaver, hence the fur! It was discovered some 200 years ago in Australia and it is only recently that scientists have decoded its DNA. The research confirms that this funny 'ossity' is a unique mix of bird, reptile and mammal. It was discovered that whilst humans have just two sex chromosomes, the platypus has ten which rather explains its strange composition. The research also revealed that the milk and venom from the Duck-billed platypus have interesting possibilities for pharmaceutical purposes and studies in to both are ongoing, which may perhaps help to ensure its future survival.
This has been just a thumbnail sketch of the fascinating wildlife around us and I hope it will encourage you to explore for real, or via the web and TV, the wonderful world in which we live.
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