Updated September 24, 2021 7.9k votes 1.6k voters 168.2k views
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Vote up the animal that has the most unusual ability.
List of animals that have the most unusual, unique abilities. Animals have evolved in the smartest and strangest ways. This list ranks the craziest, most bizarre adaptations of all time. The animals on this list take evolutionary traits to a whole new level with intense defense mechanisms to avoid becoming prey. The result is this page's compilation of Mother Nature's freakiest inhabitants, courtesy of their unusual evolutionary qualities.
Many on the list of crazy animal adaptations have outrageous tools to hide from predators. Cuttlefish and leaf bugs, for instance, are absolutely unparalleled when it comes to camouflage and mimicry, while many young white-tailed deer essentially pretend to die in order to dissuade hungry killers. Others go a bit more extreme to piss off their enemies, such as Northern Fulmars, who vomit a disgusting liquid, and Pistol Shrimp, whose claw snaps and ignites a collapsing bubble of epic proportions. Other wacky adaptations found in animals range from the mere existence of an electric eel, as well as hooded seals who inflate a pink balloon from their noses to attract a mate.
This adaptation is perhaps the most intense defense mechanism: suicide. When the Malaysian Exploding Ant decides that its life is at risk, it will often click its own self-destruct button and say, "If I'm gonna get murdered, it better be by me."
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Horned Lizards Autohaemorrhage
Photo: Wild Horizons/Universal Images Group / Getty Images
When you're starting to attack one of these Texan lone stars, don't be surprised if it shoots out a stream of blood from its eyes. Even if its in the mouth of a fox, the autohaemorrhageadaptation is so disgusting, the fox will drop the lizard because of the bad taste and trauma.
If you go to the Mediterranean, check out the rare "immortal jellyfish," which has evolved in ways that make us question reality. These little jellyfish start as sexually immature animals, reach sexual maturity, and then have the distinct capability to indefinitely revert itself back into that sexually immature stage all over again.
With an adaptation of this proportion, do not order a pistol shrimp cocktail appetizer anytime soon. When this type of shellfish snaps its extremely unique claw, the sound scares the crap of every living thing in its path, and it also shoots off a collapsing bubble that stuns the victim.
Reflex bleeding is what happens when you scare a ladybug so much that it pees its pants. In an attempt to defend itself, a ladybug excretes a urine-esque stream of blood to keep enemies away.
It contains zero blood and zero sweat and yet, hippopotamuses secrete what we know as "blood sweat." This keeps their skin moist and protects it from sunburns, as well as many infections.
