Weird Nature

Even More Creepy Photos

Pop Culture

Think freshwater lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks are safer places to swim than the mysterious wine-dark sea?&nbsp;Scary animals that live in fresh water put that theory to rest!What exactly are these terrifying creatures? They range from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/scary-amazon-animals/nathan-gibson">Amazonian animals</a> to brain-eating parasites, larger-than-a-human alligators, and even a shark -&nbsp;yes, a&nbsp;relative of Jaws - capable of living in fresh water.&nbsp;It's important to note that most of these animals are harmful to humans only when they feel threatened. But, if someone is having a good time at the local swimming hole, they may not notice an aquatic or semi-aquatic neighbor -&nbsp;and unwittingly provoke it into defensive attack mode.Like the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/scary-facts-about-the-great-lakes/erin-maxwell">eerie info about the Great Lakes</a> we recently learned, these facts about creepy critters prove that freshwater environments can be just as wild, mysterious, and unsettling as the briny ocean.&nbsp;Read on and vote up the lake creatures you wouldn’t want to run into.

Terrifying Creatures Lurking In Your Local Swimming Holes

Animal/Plant

Creepy Creatures We Didn't Realize We Could Be Swimming Next To

Setareh Janda

Lists about some of the most beautiful, dangerous, and otherwordly creatures that thrive in our very own oceans.

Our Neighbors in the Sea

Although their name would suggest otherwise, killer whales -&nbsp;also known as orcas -&nbsp;are generally thought to be&nbsp;gentle giants of the sea. Free Willy&nbsp;and other whale-centric films have managed to brand orcas as some of the friendliest&nbsp;marine mammals - and films like the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-happened-to-seaworld-after-blackfish-backlash/jessica-bedewi" target="_blank">controversial&nbsp;Blackfish</a>&nbsp;shed light on how they are mistreated in captivity -&nbsp;but in reality, orcas can be brutal and ferocious, hunting everything from small fish to seals and dolphins. Since orcas are extremely intelligent, they often use their developed communication skills and carnivorous instincts to dominate the ocean as apex predators.&nbsp;A group of aggressive orcas have the collective power to&nbsp;take down almost any threat, including humans.&nbsp;

Many may simply attribute orcas&#39; bloodthirsty tendencies to their natural instincts rather than any inherent sadistic preferences. The&nbsp;orca facts listed below, however,&nbsp;may give you a fresh understanding of where orcas get their unsavory nickname. While plenty of people fear sharks, perhaps these seemingly friendly marine mammals are the true, unrecognized&nbsp;threat of the sea.

15 Creepy Facts That Made Us Think Orcas Are The Scariest Creatures In The Ocean

General

15 Disturbing Facts About Killer Whales That Prove Their Name is Apt

Eric Luis

Lists about insects, spiders, and other things you don't want living in your house.

Bugs & Creepy Crawlies

Run, don't walk!, from these dangerous and terrifying creatures, hunting humans around the world and lurking in your own backyard.

Formidable Beasts

Animals

One of humanity's most primal fears is that there is something crawling up your back right now. Seriously, you might want to check that out because a fear of insects resides in just about every one of us. There's good reason for that: there are some insect species who have absolutely no problem causing us real harm and even killing us!Humans may think themselves the dominant lifeforms on the planet, but there are millions of species of insect species in every nook and cranny of the globe. Some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/terrifying-insects/jacobybancroft" target="_blank">scariest types of insects</a>, which attack humans, serve up a healthy dose of fear.The main problem with most insects is that you don't have to worry about one insect that attacks humans, you have to worry about a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/bug-infestations-in-history/mike-rothschild" target="_blank">swarm of nasty bugs</a>. You might be able to swat one pesky bug, but 10,000 of them? That's a different story. Some of the scariest bug species around are rather ugly, which is one of the reasons people fear and despise them, while others are surprisingly beautiful. Despite their appearance, there are several species of insects that are dangerous to humans and should be avoided at all costs—and many&nbsp;are found on this list.

The Scariest Types of Insects in the World

The Scariest Types of Insects | List of Scary Bug Species

Ranker Science

Before tickets even went on sale, every major motion picture employed dozens of people and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Here is how some of them screwed it all up.

Famous Film Fails

Death

Watching animals get hurt in movies is more gut-wrenching than watching back-to-back Nicholas Sparks movies. When an animal seems to be harmed in a movie, there&#39;s an unspoken rule that you have to watch the credits to make sure you see that American Humane Association stamp of &quot;no animals were harmed.&quot; However, that hasn&#39;t always been the case. From cult classics to some of the most high-profile blockbusters of recent memory, some <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-animal-performances-in-film-history/kel-varnsen" target="_blank">films actually had animals</a> felled during production. (Animals who survived production <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/fates-of-animal-actors/erin-mccann" target="_blank">aren&#39;t necessarily out of the woods</a>, either.)

Sometimes the passings were unintentional or an <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/7-classic-film-sets-that-actually-killed-people/matt-blackwood" target="_blank">accidental by-product of filming</a>. Sometimes, however, the demises of animals were very, very intentional. It&#39;s obvious when an actor eats a live animal in front of the camera (and, yes, an actor actually did that).&nbsp;

It often seems needless and primarily used for shock value because ending an animal almost always gets a strong reaction. We&#39;d be worried if it didn&#39;t.&nbsp;With other stories, the result was simply tragic, where filmmakers did their best to secure the safety of animals but it just wasn&#39;t enough.&nbsp;This list catalogs a bunch of films where animals <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/movie-set-injuries/lisa-waugh" target="_blank">were harmed</a> or expired on the filmmaker&#39;s watch.

23 Movie Sets That Have Killed Animals During Production

Film

Animals Harmed or Killed on Movie Sets

Logan Rapp

All birds, great and small, from the freaking enormous ostrich to the itty bitty hummingbird and every feathered flapper in between.

Avian Aficionados

If you've ever seen Hitchcock's classic&nbsp;film The Birds, you know that birds can be absolutely terrifying. There are some&nbsp;horrific birds that are just frightening by nature, and there are some&nbsp;scary bird characteristics that apply to multiple species. There are birds that kill people, birds that drink blood, and even birds that projectile vomit stomach acid when threatened. Some of them are quite dangerous.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-shoebill-scary-bird/justin-andress" target="_blank">The shoebill</a>, for example, decapitates its prey, and the cassowary&nbsp;is&nbsp;an actual threat to humans. If you're one of those folks who hates birds, your&nbsp;fear may&nbsp;actually be somewhat justified.But that's not to say that these facts are&nbsp;things that will make you hate birds; some of their characteristics are actually quite cool.&nbsp;There are adaptations that keep birds alive in inhospitable environments as well as&nbsp;behavioral quirks that make birds quite humorous.&nbsp;So, whether you're looking for&nbsp;facts about birds that are scary, or just downright terrifying species of birds, you've come to the right place. Vote up the facts about birds that are disturbing or&nbsp;just plain terrifying: it's no wonder Hitchcock picked birds as the creep-inducing creature&nbsp;for his horror film.

Bird Facts That Are Straight Up Terrifying

Laura Allan

Lists of pics, vids, and facts about spiders and other arachnids for the masochist in you.

Eight-Legged Freaks

Bugs

Enjoy this list of the best songs about spiders, arachnids and eight-legged freaks. Spider songs are few and far between, but we've collected the best in one place. Some of these songs are literally about creepy, crawly spiders, but others use spiders as a metaphor, usually for a woman. Rock, pop, rap and metal all have great songs about spiders in their genres.David Bowie sings about the band, “The Spiders From Mars” on his 1972 hit, “Ziggy Stardust.” This track appeared on the iconic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Gwen Stefani said that she was “walking into spiderwebs” on the No Doubt single, “Spiderwebs,” and Cage the Elephant released the song, “Spiderhead,” in 2013.On the Fleetwood Mac tune, “Gold Dust Woman,” Stevie Nicks likens a witchy woman to a black widow spider. “The Spiderbite Song” by the Flaming Lips and “Boris the Spider” by The Who also appear on this list of the top spider songs.Do you have a favorite song about spiders? Vote it up to No. 1 and let us know why its best in the comments section.

Black Widow Spider

The Best Songs About Spiders

Song

The Best Songs About Spiders & Arachnophobia

Ranker Music

Darling, it's better down where it's wetter.

Under the Sea

An estimated 71% of planet Earth is ocean, home to more than 230,000 species of fauna and flora. This photo gallery includes impressive pics of over 75 marine invertebrates, including cephalopods, crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms, and more cool animals. Octopuses, crabs, jellyfish, and starfish may be the main attractions at public aquariums, but there is much, much more to the deep blue sea. For example, there are more than 3,000 unique species of nudibranch (NOO-dee-brank) sea slugs, many in impossibly bright colors that warn predators that they are poisonous. On the other end of the spectrum, the predatory flamboyant cuttlefish and peacock mantis shrimp boast bold colors to distract prey while they use unique tactics to stun and kill them. It's all very ghastly. Enjoy these fascinating photos of sea creatures you never knew existed, and never forget that the ocean is a dangerous place!

75 Stunning Oceanic Invertebrates That Deserve A Closer Look

Part of the fun of traveling is stuffing your face with the cuisines and treats of the locals. These lists rank the most delicious, must-try foods wherever you'll be.

Food Around the World

Fun facts and fascinating trivia about historical, bygone, and modern foods for people who love eating food.

Chew on This

Old Stuff

Here&#39;s some good news for picky eaters: genetic dispositions cause&nbsp;you to enjoy the taste of certain foods but not others. If some cultural food choices seem baffling to you, that&#39;s normal.&nbsp;Why do people eat what they eat? Why&nbsp;does something you eat taste completely different to someone else of a different race or ethnicity? Of course,&nbsp;taste can&nbsp;also be influenced by&nbsp;things that happen&nbsp;during your upbringing&nbsp;or&nbsp;by disease risk factors coded into&nbsp;DNA. Mainly, though, it&#39;s a mixture of many of these.

When looking at&nbsp;how genetics influences what one&nbsp;eats, you have to keep in mind both your geography, your ancestors, and your culture. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/gross-foods-youre-curious-about/mel-judson" target="_blank">What seems gross</a> to one person may be a delicacy to another. While no specific flavor pallet is inherently right or wrong, there&#39;s no denying that some of the dietary differences are downright shocking.

At least now you have a scientific reason to explain why you hate cilantro.

There's A Fascinating Genetic Reason Why You Love Certain Foods (And Can't Tolerate Others)

White People Love Cheese And Here's Why

Whoa Facts

The fear of spiders is one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/most-common-phobias/desertrat89" target="_blank">most common phobias </a>in the world, so chances are you know someone who has it. Or maybe you yourself <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/what-dying-from-a-spider-bite-is-like/laura-allan" target="_blank">are terrified of long-legged arachnids</a>, which would be unfortunate, because you're about to learn about&nbsp;a creature that will likely send you running for the hills.&nbsp;It'd called the&nbsp;Japanese spider crab. And while it's not actually a spider, this crab has long spider-like legs, scuttles across the ocean floor, and can get monstrously huge in size. If this knowledge isn't enough to give you the chills, then these Japanese spider crab facts and photos will definitely do the trick.You might think that <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/scary-coconut-crab-facts/jen-jeffers" target="_blank">crabs aren't really that scary</a> - after all, they taste pretty amazing, right? Well, Japanese spider crabs are in a class of their own. They are not only the largest crab known to&nbsp;exist, but they can live longer than humans -&nbsp;and are carnivorous. They've even been known to chop off human fingers with their claws!Even if you don't find these big guys terrifying, that doesn't make them any less fascinating. Read on to learn more about this&nbsp;creepy but very interesting undersea giant.

11 Facts About Japanese Spider Crabs That Will Keep You Up At Night

11 Creepy Facts About Japanese Spider Crabs

Sea Creatures

Science and lore collide when it comes to imagining what kind of creatures lurk in the deepest, darkest reaches of the sea. Some of the world's underwater trenches&nbsp;may as well be outer space -&nbsp;we've made&nbsp;more expeditions to the moon than the ocean floor.In so-called deep-sea gigantism, or abyssal gigantism, scientists have discovered abnormally large organisms living peacefully at depths of anywhere from 1,000 to 36,000 feet. To gather information about abyssal gigantism, researchers&nbsp;gleaned&nbsp;studies of the&nbsp;washed-up carcasses of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/horrifying-creatures-found-in-the-deep-sea/laura-allan" target="_blank">these</a><a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/horrifying-creatures-found-in-the-deep-sea/laura-allan" target="_blank"> ghastly creatures</a>, which include colossal squids reaching 50 feet in length, as well as&nbsp;huge deep-sea-dwelling invertebrates, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/giant-woodlouse-isopod/eric-vega" target="_blank">such as the giant isopod</a>.&nbsp;Typically,&nbsp;organisms adapt to such depths by becoming smaller, but scientists have a few theories behind the cause of deep-sea gigantism. These organisms mostly comprise water, so there's little risk of being crushed by deep-sea&nbsp;pressure.&nbsp;One theory&nbsp;known as Kleiber's Rule&nbsp;says the larger&nbsp;the animal, the slower its metabolism, which makes sense for deep-sea creatures with a scarce&nbsp;food supply.Another theory is Bergman's Rule, which states larger creatures are typically found in colder environments. It's&nbsp;another method of efficiency - bigger animals radiate less heat per unit of mass, so they're&nbsp;able to stay warmer in cool climates.Scientists have yet to form conclusive statements about the cause of this phenomenon. So most deep-sea creatures live on as <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/scariest-ocean-creatures/rebecca-high" target="_blank">some&nbsp;of&nbsp;the ocean's&nbsp;creepiest mysteries</a>.

Horrifying Examples Of Abyssal Gigantism

14 Horrifying Examples Of Abyssal Gigantism (Photos)

Colleen Conroy

Swans are typically considered symbols of grace and beauty, but they have an ugly side; swans are mean, and sustaining injuries from the sometimes vicious birds is <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/workers-attacked-by-swan/mick-jacobs" target="_blank">more common than you'd expect</a>. Most of us have seen the image of two swans with their heads bowing together in the shape of a heart, and while they do mate for life, these aggressive birds aren't exactly romantic. Why are swans so hostile? And can the massive, territorial birds cause bodily injury?Turns out, there's plenty you probably don't know about swans. They're <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/smart-bird-corvids-facts/chase-christy" target="_blank">extremely intelligent</a>, and they're not afraid to defend their nests. In fact, a series of swans in England have been terrorizing rowers for nearly a decade. Next time you're at a lake or river, keep an eye out for these clever but inimical creatures.

12 Bad (And Good) Facts About Swans You Might Not Know

The Ugly Side of Swans That Show How Rude They Really Are

Beth Elias

Lists of fascinating facts about the most dangerous creatures on Planet Earth.

Predators and Eating Machines

For a long time, primatologists thought chimpanzees were the nicer, gentler version of humankind. In reality, chimpanzees are violent, brutal and dangerous - much like humans.&nbsp;With more than 98 percent&nbsp;of our DNA matching, humans see many of our own societal traits and features reflected back&nbsp;through this sister species. Like humans, these <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/the-15-smartest-animals-on-earth/analise.dubner">extremely intelligent animals</a> exhibit brutal character traits and behavior that are&nbsp;similar to&nbsp;humans.&nbsp;There are many similarities between humans and chimpanzees, and some of the human things chimpanzees do are brutal. Scientists look to these creatures to try to decipher some of the roots of human behavior, like warfare and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mysterious-chimpanzee-behaviour-could-be-sacred-rituals-and-show-that-chimps-believe-in-god-a6911301.html">religion</a>. Chimps&nbsp;engage in long, protracted, bloody wars,&nbsp;they kill and consume infants,&nbsp;and they send out raiding parties in order to protect and maintain their territories. This list examines in detail some of the worst things&nbsp;chimpanzee do, from their propensity for baby slaughter to their likelihood of attacking humans when in captivity.

Ways Chimpanzees Are Just as Brutal (and Sometimes Even Moreso) as Humans

12 Ways Chimpanzees Are Just as Brutal as Humans

Ryleigh Nucilli

Not&nbsp;too often does&nbsp;one&nbsp;see fruits and veggies in the wild, and if you did you might not recognize the undomesticated fruits or vegetables that form the basis of the polished produce in&nbsp;grocery stores (yes, apples are even waxed). Undomesticated fruits and vegetables look a whole lot different -&nbsp;and, in some cases, are nowhere near as sweet as <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/most-delicious-fruits/analise.dubner" target="_blank">delicious domesticated&nbsp;fruits</a>. Nowadays,&nbsp;grapes&nbsp;taste like cotton candy and apples&nbsp;take forever to brown. <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-shower-rat-is-a-hoax/beth-elias?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Sorry to break it to you</a>, but that comes from&nbsp;genetic modification and selective breeding. Most wild fruits do not look or taste like that. Period. So, what did fruits look like before domestication?

Well, nearly every fruit and vegetable you see in the grocery store weighs in at&nbsp;about three times larger than their wild counterparts. They barely bruise, take way longer to rot, and are brightly colored to appeal to human tendencies toward shiny objects. Basically, domesticated fruits and veggies are often the opposite of a genuine, wild fruit or veggie. Some people argue&nbsp;the genetic modification of human&nbsp;food supply is really dangerous, but others think it&#39;s no big deal. Seriously, who wouldn&#39;t want to eat a strawberry the size of an apple? The comparisons may be a bit alarming, but remember that when left in the wild, all sorts of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/weird-looking-fruit/chwang" target="_blank">weird fruit</a>&nbsp;and veggies can grow.

17 Pics Of Common Fruits And Vegetables As You Know Them Compared To Their Undomesticated Forms

Food

20 Common Fruits Vs Their Undomesticated Forms (Photos)

Mariel Loveland

One of the most common fears any person has is Arachnaphobia: the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/scary-facts-about-spiders/justin-andress" target="_blank">fear of spiders</a>. Even people who aren&#39;t afraid of them don&#39;t really like having them around. They are creepy, they are crawly, and many of the scariest species of spiders are&nbsp;downright deadly. There are millions of types of spiders all over the globe, but the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/largest-spiders-in-the-world/orrin-grey" target="_blank">scariest spider</a> species are those that are dangerous to humans. Plus, you always seem to find <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/spiders-in-surprising-places/nathandavidson" target="_blank">spiders in the worst places</a>.

That being said, many people fear the Tarantula due to its size and ugly look, but those giant critters are usually not a threat in any way. Some of the deadliest spiders in the world are much smaller, but pack a deadly venomous bite. Spiders dangerous to humans tend to be about the size of a quarter and while we are in no way their prey, they will bite if threatened.

A spider&#39;s venom is designed to incapacitate or kill its prey, which can be anything from small insects to larger animals including mice, lizards, and small birds. They aren&#39;t wrapping us up in their spider-silk and sucking out our blood, but that doesn&#39;t mean their venom won&#39;t take down a human, which is saying something given our sheer size in comparison to them. Most spider species aren&#39;t harmful to us, but the ones on this list should be avoided at all costs. They are dangerous, scary, and many are downright ugly, but above all else, they can be deadly.

The Scariest Types of Spiders in the World

Scariest Spiders List | Types of Dangerous Spider Species

Hacks, facts, insider secrets, and horror stories from your favorite retail stores, product lines, and places to shop.

SSHHH! Company Secrets

PETA&nbsp;stands for &quot;People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals&quot;... or so they say. Historically, however, many of their&nbsp;ads and campaigns show more controversially bad things about PETA&nbsp;than good. While they may try to fight for animal rights, and they sometimes succeed, the way they do it, and how they spend their time and money often just emboldens&nbsp;why PETA sucks at their mission. They're well known, sure, but not for the good they do. More often, it's for PR nightmares, skewed ethical decisions, and more wasted finances than you would believe.If you're wondering if there are any legitimate reasons why you shouldn't support PETA, this list only brushes the surface. From encouraging Ben and Jerry's to use&nbsp;<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/26/business/fi-icecream26" target="_blank">human breast milk</a>&nbsp;to <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/20/peta-brings-human-bbq-to-ribfest" target="_blank">pretending to grill a naked woman</a> at a BBQ festival, this organization is baffling. Not to mention, these guys kill a whole lot more animals than most shelters do!&nbsp;This may seem like it's being pretty hard on a group that really does aggressively fight for animal rights, but there are just too many reasons PETA&nbsp;is actually bad&nbsp;to overlook. Perhaps support your local no-kill shelter or wildlife rescue hospital instead?

17 Times PETA Has Been Criticized For Unethical Behavior

The Worst Things PETA Has Ever Done

Every culture on the planet has their own unique culinary tastes. What some people consider to be a delicacy will actually be disgusting to others. Perhaps the most striking example of this is when it comes to insects, bugs, and other creepy crawlies - some of which are <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/live-animal-dishes/kellen-perry" target="_blank">eaten alive</a>. There are places in the world where the local population will happily munch on edible spiders and have their own unique spider recipes that involve cooking tarantulas in all kinds of unique ways.

Obviously, the appeal of eating spiders depends largely on where a person grows up and how they view the creatures. Many in the Western world have deep fear of spiders that would likely put them off to&nbsp;eating these arachnids, but that is not always the case. Whether it is indigenous tribes in South America or Asian countries that turned to these yummy spiders out of necessity during times when other food was scarce, they have no problem making an arachnid meal. Here&#39;s all the ways you can eat spiders - if you dare.

Spider Recipes People Really Use To Prepare Tasty Arachnid Meals

10 Spider Recipes People Really Use To Prepare Tasty Arachnid Meals

Nathan Gibson

Weird Nature lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for lists and rankings in all categories

Weird Nature lists on Ranker

Weird Nature lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for hundreds of Weird Nature lists and rankings.

A look at some of the oldest known, recorded, and/or existing things on earth.

Old School Cool

Ancient Flora / Fauna

This list of the oldest living things on Earth, including the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/longest-living-animals/robert-desalvo" target="_blank">oldest animals</a>, species, and organisms, will definitely make you feel young. You could probably nitpick some of these life forms within a million years here, a million years there... but the fact remains that these animals have been around a loooong time. What are the oldest living organisms on earth? And more importantly how have they stuck around this long?

These ancient organisms have been around for millions, or ever billions of years and have achieved apparent perfection in their environment. Millennia have passed, and they keep on keeping on. Sure, a tail might shorten, an extra tentacle might grow, or they might develop a more streamlined coat of armor... but, like that guy you know with the haircut he&#39;s had since high school, these animals have asked themselves the question: Why change it if it&#39;s working?

These are the oldest living things on the planet, and they just might still be here long after we are nothing more than fossils found buried in a pile of styrofoam take-out boxes.

The 10 Oldest Living Things On Earth

The Oldest Animal on Earth (and the Oldest Living Things)

analise.dubner

Stories, pics, trivia, and interesting tidbits about all creatures, great and small.

Enter the Animal Kingdom

Interesting

List of the world's smartest animals, in order of their animal intelligence ranking. When putting this list of the smartest animals in the world together, I had to give myself criteria to follow. A complex brain is not a factor so much as the ability to use creative thinking. Sure, these are my own standards, and some might complain that this list is decidedly anthropomorphic– seeing as how I'm judging these smart animals by obvious human criteria. For example, why should creative thinking mean one animal is smarter than another animal that can remember the location of 2,200 individual nuts it buried over 2 years? That's just how I decided to do it. To me, creative thinking makes an animal smart, not memorization. I couldn't limit myself to a list of just the top 10 smartest animals because that would have eliminated some incredibly smart and creative creatures. What is the smartest animal in the world? Check out this list of nerdy mammals to find out which of our pets will ultimately rule the planet when humans go extinct!

Out Of All The Animals On Earth, These 15 Are The Smartest

Smartest Animals: List of Most Intelligent Animal Ranking

Lists about phobias: the things we're scared of and why we are afraid of them.

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Graveyard Shift

We're all more scared of one thing than another. Maybe it's the idea of being mauled by a Grizzly or having spiders crawl in your ear while you're sleeping. Maybe it's just the IDEA that a snake might be nearby. Whatever it is, vote on the animal that scares you the most, and of course, feel free to add any of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/frightening-facts-about-the-world-s-scariest-animals/aaron-edwards?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">scariest animals in the world</a> that might be missing from this list.Any list of the scariest animals in the world will likely include sharks, spiders, and snakes. But what terrifies one person might not scare another at all. It's interesting to look at why certain animals strike fear, and others don't. Is it because many of the animals listed here are potentially deadly? Some spiders' bites can be horrible, but <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/10-amazing-things-about-spiders/analise.dubner" target="_blank">spiders can also be pretty amazing.</a> Sure, but that doesn't explain why cockroaches freak people out (if you don't believe me, just check the list, and see the votes for yourself). It's highly unlikely that you'll be done in by a killer cockroach – so what gives? Well, they're creepy, they're crawly and (depending on where you live) they *can* fly. That qualifies as scary.And yes, some of the scariest animals listed here, we'll never ever encounter in real life. Oh, we might see a great white shark in an aquarium or on TV during <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/full-list-of-shark-week-episodes/reference" target="_blank">Shark Week</a>, but really? The odds of us actually coming face to face with a great white are pretty slim. Still, we've all seen Jaws, so that sucker shoots to the top of the list. And bats: Yes, some believe they are scary, but there are a lot of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-untrue-myths-about-animals/analise.dubner" target="_blank">myths surrounding these and other animals</a> that, if you knew more, might make them a bit less terrifying.Which animals scare you the most? Are they insects? Reptiles? Mammals (and yes, this includes man)? Time to vote!

Animals You Should Hope to Never See in the Wild

The Scariest Animals in the World

Ranker Community

Lists of bizarre real headlines and 100% true actual news stories from the physical world in which we all really live that are stranger, scarier, and more depressing than any fiction writer could ever dream.

Unbelievable News

Take the kids out for a fun day at the zoo! See wild animals in tiny recreations of their natural habitats! Watch as they suffer stress, indignity, unnatural climates, and public mating! ...Ooh, a monkey!!!

Locked Up: Animals Behind Bars

Nothing good is going to come of a situation that involves being in a cage with a wild&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/cute-dangerous-animals/ranker-science" target="_blank">animal</a> at the zoo. And yet, people keep putting themselves in situations where &mdash;&nbsp;despite warnings from the zoo and others around them &mdash;&nbsp;they come face-to-face with lions, tigers, and bears. Some of these people were taken out by&nbsp;a caged animal; others were merely assaulted by a captive wild beast.&nbsp;

These are the tales of the outlandish&nbsp;and sometimes most inebriated people to ever jump the fence at a zoo.&nbsp;