CGI technology can create some pretty terrifying beasts. But what about those that actually exist? There are plenty of adorable animals in the world, but there are also some that you certainly wouldn’t want to hug. In fact, there are plenty of animals that have strange and unusual appearances, and some are so strange you probably wouldn’t even be able to imagine them in your wildest dreams. So, what are the weirdest animals in the world? Let’s find out!
Aye-Aye

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Aye-ayes are small lemurs that are 14 to 17 inches long, with a long tail of 20 to 24 inches. Their body is covered in long, wiry hairs that range in color from gray to black with whitish guard hairs. Their face is fox-like, but their teeth grow continually like a rodent’s. Their eyes are round, staring, and orange. Aye-ayes also have a specialized third finger that they use to poke into cavities of trees to pull out grubs. They also use a form of echolocation to find their prey by tapping on the tree with their finger to locate the cavities with the prey inside them.
Okapi

©Michal Sloviak/Shutterstock.com
Also known as the forest giraffe, the okapi has a similar appearance to a giraffe but is not any sort of hybrid. This strange and weirdly attractive animal is about 4.9 feet tall at the shoulder and about 8 feet in length, with females being slightly taller than males. Its neck is long, but not as long as a giraffe’s, and it has a sleek, dark brown or reddish-brown coat. It also has zebra stripes on the legs and hindquarters. Okapis are endangered and are only found naturally in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Megamouth Shark
The megamouth shark looks fearsome with its huge mouth, but it’s actually a gentle plankton feeder, much like basking and whale sharks. Discovered only in 1976, the megamouth shark is an elusive species that lives deep in the warmer waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. Megamouth sharks reach around 17 feet long and have a white belly with brown, dark blue, or gray above. The shark’s mouth can be over four feet wide and has as many as 50 rows of little teeth in the upper jaw and 75 rows in the lower.
Pangolin

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Also known as the scaly anteater, the pangolin’s skin is covered in scales made of keratin, which is the same stuff that our fingernails are made from. Pangolins are the only mammals known to have these unique scales, which have made the focus of attention, both good and bad. Poaching and habitat destruction have made several of the six pangolin species endangered, critically endangered, or vulnerable. When threatened, pangolins curl up into a ball so that their scales can act like armor to protect them.
Hairy Frog

©Emőke Dénes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Original / License
Hair and fur are usually attributes of mammals and maybe some insects, but they’re almost never seen on amphibians and reptiles. The hairy frog, also known as the wolverine or horror frog, is an exception. Male hairy frogs reach four to five inches long, and the males develop thick hair-like structures on their sides and thighs during the breeding season. However, they’re not really hairs but dermal papillae, which contain arteries that help the frog absorb more oxygen. They operate very much like the gills the frog has while it’s a tadpole. The male frog will need the extra oxygen because after the female lays eggs in the water, he’s the one who guards them. Hairy frogs are found in West Africa, notably in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.
Tsetse Fly

©Jaco Visser/Shutterstock.com
Found in tropical Africa, the tsetse fly is responsible for spreading sleeping sickness. But this isn’t what makes it weird, as many insects are disease vectors. Instead, what makes this fly unusual is that the larva develops in the mother’s uterus, and the mother feeds it with milk. This reproductive strategy is typically only found in mammals. The female tsetse fly only lets one of her eggs become fertilized at a time, and the baby undergoes its larval stages while it’s in her uterus. The female tsetse fly then gives birth to the larva when it achieves its third larval stage. The larva then crawls into the ground, becomes a pupa, and lives for about a month on the nourishment that it has received from its mother.
Platypus

©John Carnemolla/Shutterstock.com
Everyone knows about the platypus, but that doesn’t make it any less strange. Indeed, the more people learn about this animal, the weirder it becomes. Of course, the platypus has a bill like a duck, webbed feet like an otter, eyes like a hagfish, and a tail like a beaver. They are mammals that lay eggs, and males have poison spines on their hind feet. Their fur glows under black light, and they find their prey through electrical signals, which are picked up by receptors on their bill.
Blobfish

Another entry as one of the weirdest animals is the blobfish. This pinkish-white fish is also called the fathead and is found in the deep waters off New Zealand and Australia. One blobfish was even retrieved from a depth of 3,900 feet. When they are pulled up from the depths of the ocean too quickly, they suffer such trauma that they collapse into a blob. Most blobfish that have been captured are about a foot long and weigh about four pounds. They are probably an ambush predator and simply snap up any food that comes close enough.
Sponge

©Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock.com
The sponge is one of those marine animals that looks like a plant but isn’t. Indeed, the sponge can’t even be said to look like a plant as much as an organism that dropped in from outer space. Made up of unspecialized cells interspersed with channels and pores, this animal has no digestive system. It does not have a brain or a nervous system, nor does it have a circulatory system or internal organs. It is only alive because the ocean currents bring it food and oxygen and remove waste products. Sponges are among the earliest known animal lineages and were probably around 750 million years ago.
Tardigrade

©Schokraie E, Warnken U, Hotz-Wagenblatt A, Grohme MA, Hengherr S, et al. (2012) / CC BY 2.5 – Original / License
Also called the water bear, animalcule, and moss piglet, the tardigrade is a microscopic creature that is nearly indestructible. It is also everywhere. It is in the Antarctic and in bodies of water. It is also in rainforests, mud volcanoes, and deserts. This strange animal has even survived being exposed to outer space itself. It can live through temperatures that approach absolute zero and temperatures that are as high as 300 degrees Fahrenheit. It can tolerate radiation and levels of pressure that would kill a human being. The tardigrade can also go without food and water for 30 years or more and endure being dehydrated for a decade. A tiny being with eight legs and clawed feet, it eats one-celled plant material and invertebrates smaller than itself.
Goblin Shark

The goblin shark, which inhabits very deep parts of the ocean near Japan, is a true ocean monster. It sports a long yet flattened, overhanging snout that is bizarre to behold. They also have oddly long and sharp teeth that protrude in various directions, appearing like snaggle teeth. These sharks have skin that is not only pink but is translucent, allowing one to see oxygenated blood within their capillaries.
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