Tapir
Tapirs are large browsing mammals, roughly pig-like in shape, with short, prehensile snouts — able to take hold of things, especially by wrapping around them. They inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia and considered endangered or vulnerable.
Size varies between species, but most tapirs are about 7 feet (2 meters) long, stand about 3 feet (1 meter) high at the shoulder, and weigh between 330 to 700 pounds (150 and 300 kilograms). They range in color from reddish-brown to grey to nearly black, with the exceptions of the Malayan Tapir — which has a white saddle-shaped marking on its back — and the Mountain Tapir — which has longer, wooly fur.
Sun Bear
The Sun Bear is primarily found in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. They stand approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) in length, and the smallest of the bear family. It’s often called the dog bear because of its small stature. The typical Sun Bear weighs less than 145 pounds (65 kilograms).
Primarily nocturnal creatures, the Sun Bear rests during the day on lower limbs not far above the ground, spending much of its time in trees. Hunting of nuisance bears is a major cause for recent decline in population, as well as poaching for its fur and use in Chinese medicine.
Hagfish
Hagfish are marine vertebrates, with some debate as to whether they’re strictly fish. Their unusual feeding habits and slime-producing capabilities have led to the hagfish being dubbed as the most ‘disgusting’ of all sea creatures.
Hagfish are long worm-shaped creatures that exude copious amounts of a sticky slime or mucus. When captured and held by the tail, they escape by secreting the fibrous slime, which turns into a thick and sticky gel when combined with water. They clean themselves off by tying in an overhand knot which works its way from the head to the tail of the animal, scraping off the slime as it wriggles.
Hagfish have elongated, ‘eel-like’ bodies, and paddle-like tails. Colors vary by species, ranging from pink to blue-grey, and may have black or white mottling. The eyes may be non-functional or absent. With no true fins or jaws, they have six barbels around their mouths and a single nostril. They have a pair of horizontally moving structures with tooth-like projections for pulling off food. They average 18 inches (45 centimeters) in length.
Hagfish enter both living and dead fish, feeding on the insides. They often enter through the openings of the mouth, gills or anus. They tend to be quite common in their range, sometimes becoming a nuisance to fishermen by devouring the catch before it can be pulled to the surface.
Star-nosed Mole
The Star-nosed Mole is a small North American mole found in eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States
It lives in wet lowland areas and eats small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms and mollusks. As avid swimmers, they forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. They dig shallow surface tunnels for foraging, and oftentimes the tunnels exit underwater. They remain active in winter, having been observed tunneling through the snow and swimming in ice-covered streams.
The Star-nosed Mole is covered in thick blackish brown water-repellent fur with large scaled feet. The long thick tail appears to function as a fat storage reserve for the spring breeding season. Adults are 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimeters) in length, weighing about 2 ounces (55 grams). Their most distinctive feature is a circle of 22 mobile, pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of its snout, used to identify food by touch.
Axolotl
The Axolotl is the most widely known of the Mexican mole salamanders. The species originates from the lake underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research for their ability to regenerate body parts. They’re commonly kept as pets in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Japan.
A sexually-mature adult axolotl, at age 18 to 24 months, ranges in length from 6 to18 inches (15 to 45 centimeters) although 9 inches is most common.
Aye-aye
The Aye-aye is native to Madagascar, that combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger. Being the world’s largest nocturnal primate, It’s characterized by its unique method of finding food, tapping on trees to find grubs, then gnawing holes in the wood and inserting its elongated middle finger to pull the grubs out.
The Aye-aye is currently an endangered species. They’re the world’s largest nocturnal primate, and dwell predominantly in forest canopies, weighing about 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms).
Dumbo Octopus
This octopus is sometimes nicknamed ‘Dumbo octopus’ due to the ear-like fins protruding from the top of its ‘head’ (actually body), resembling the ears of Walt Disney’s flying elephant Dumbo. They live at extreme depths, and are some of the rarest of the Octopoda species.
Red Panda
The Red Panda is mostly a herbivorous mammal, slightly larger than a domestic cat at 22 inches (55 centimeters) long. The Red Panda has semi-retractile claws and like the Giant Panda, it has a ‘false thumb’ which is actually an extension of the wrist bone. The Red Panda is native to the Himalayas in Nepal and southern China.
The Red Panda and Giant Panda are only very distantly related by remote common ancestry from the Early Tertiary Period. Fossils of the Red Panda have been unearthed from China in the east to Britain in the west. A handful of fossils considered to be a new genus and species of the Red Panda have recently been discovered in North America.
The Red Panda is classified as an endangered species, with an estimated population of less than 2,500 mature individuals. This number continues to decline due to severely fragmented populations.
Blobfish
The Blobfish inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of Australia and Tasmania. Due to the inaccessibility of its habitat, it’s rarely seen by humans.
Blobfish are found at depths where the pressure is several dozens of times higher than at sea level. To remain buoyant, the flesh of the Blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; which allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. The relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible matter that floats by in front it.
Yeti Crab
The Yeti Crab is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean. Approximately 6 inches (15 centimeters) long, is noted for the silky blond setae (resembling fur) covering its thoracic legs, including the claws.
It was discovered March 7 2006, 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) south of Easter Island in the South Pacific.
