The satanic leaf-tailed gecko camouflages as dead leaves and twigs to evade predators. Endemic to Madagascar, these gecko species' coloration varies according to the trees they live on. Spikes and ridges run along their heads, bodies, and legs. Their flattened tail looks exactly like a dead leaf.
In addition to its strange appearance, the animal likely gets its name from the blood-curdling scream it uses to deter attackers.
Rasberry crazy ants originate from South America and are becoming an invasive species in the United States. These types of ants chew through electrical wires, causing short circuits. They also displace other animals, including ants.
The ants get the first part of their name from Tom Rasberry, a pest exterminator. He was the first to identify the ants in Texas. The “crazy” part of their name comes from their rapid haphazard movement.
The goblin shark looks like something from a horror movie, but it is a very real animal. It has a long snout, a projectable jaw, and sunken eyes. Its skin is somewhat translucent, allowing its visible veins to complete its otherworldly appearance. The name definitely comes from the appearance.
Goblin sharks are not common. They live about 4,000 feet below sea level. Although scientists believe they are present in oceans worldwide, Japan has the most sightings.
The tasselled wobbegong is a type of carpet shark. Its name comes from the dermal lobes that run along its head. The lobes look like tassels, and that's where the first word of its name came from. The word “wobbegong” is thought to come from an Australian aboriginal term meaning shaggy beard, once again referring to the lobes.
Tasselled wobbegongs ambush prey by laying motionless and blending into the sea floor. The colorful blotches on their skin and the coral-like dermal lobes enhance the disguise.
The Pacific spiny lumpsuckers are tiny, one-inch bony fish. Their bumpy body is full of spiny tubercles, which provide camouflage. The fish have modified pelvic fins that function as adhesive discs, allowing them to remain attached to rocks, eelgrass, and kelp.
The name of this fish describes its appearance funnily. The “spiny” and “sucker” parts of the name are explained in the paragraph above. The lumpy part refers to how the fish resembles a puffy lump.
The Strange-tailed Tyrant is a flycatcher with an unusual tail. In addition to its regular proportional tail, it has a couple of long outer tail feathers. That's where the strange tail in its name comes from.
However, the reason this bird is called a tyrant has less to do with its behavior and more to do with its classification. The bird is a member of the genus Alectrurus, which belongs to the family Tyrannidae. The family name reflects the aggressive nature of some members, especially the Western Kingbird.
The next funniest animal name is derived from the creature's slippery body. The fish coats its body in a mucus-like substance so that predators have a hard time grabbing onto it.
The slippery dick has three phases of growth and its appearance changes with each phase. Juveniles are white with a black lateral stripe. In its mid-phase, it becomes white-grey with two red stripes. At the terminal stage, the slippery dick turns green with dark stripes.
Moustached puffbirds are plump, round birds that live in the Andes in Venezuela and Colombia. An adult can be 9 inches long and weigh up to 50 grams.
As with most animals with funny names, the moustached puffbird looks funny. It has small tufts of white feathers around its bill's base, making it look like the bird has a white mustache. The females have darker plumage than males, with a less prominent mustache.
The hellbender is the largest amphibian in North America. It can grow to about 29 inches and weigh up to 5 pounds. It spends its entire life in the swift-running rivers across the eastern United States.
Hellbenders may have gotten their name because of their monstrous size and wrinkly, slippery, splotchy skin. Those features, while unpleasant, serve essential purposes. Hellbenders absorb 95% of their oxygen intake through the folds and wrinkles of their skin. The mucus on the skin protects it from abrasion, parasites, and predators.
Also called a frill neck or frilled lizard, this animal is named for the large frill that encircles its head. When threatened, it stands on its hind legs, unfurls the frill, and opens its yellow mouth. If the intimidation tactic fails, the lizard simply runs away on its hind legs at top speeds.
Frilled lizards are members of the dragon family. They can grow to almost 3 feet, with their tail accounting for two-thirds of the length. They are brown or grey, but their frills usually have an orange or tan tinge.
The wunderpus octopus got its name just for being cute. Wunderpus is a mix of the German word “Wunder,” which means marvel or wonder, and the English word "octopus.” The "Photogenicus” in its scientific name likely refers to its photogenic nature.
This type of octopus has rusty brown skin with white blotches and stripes, which form beautiful patterns. It can impressively modulate its shape and color to mimic a lethal lionfish or sea snake to deter a predator. Wunderpuses live in the shallow waters of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago.
Leafy seadragons are closely related to seahorses. They are endemic to the waters off south and east Australia.
The leafy seadragon is an excellent example of an animal camouflaging as a plant to escape predation. The fish has leaf-shaped protrusions all over its body, helping it blend in with the kelp and seaweed around it.
Their bodies are usually yellow or brown, while the leafy protrusions have an olive tint. To further sell the disguise, the fins of the leafy seadragon are so thin and almost transparent.
At 3.5 cm, the adult common cockchafer is the United Kingdom’s largest scarab beetle. The rusty brown beetle is also called the May bug because it tends to emerge from its underground home around May.
There are a few stories about how the common cockchafer got its name. One explanation says the word “cock” means familiar, and “chafer” means gnawing beetle. Another explanation says cockchafer is Old English for "big beetle."
Yet another account suggests that the word cock in Old English referred to large size, while chafer meant gnawing insect. Therefore, the cockchafer got its name from its size and tendency to chew leaves and flowers vigorously.
The fish's face matches its funny name. Its human-like lips look like they're slathered in bright red lipstick. The rest of its body is greyish brown with a white underbelly. It has a pretty odd shape for a fish and a prominent snout at the top of its head.
Another odd thing about the red-lipped batfish is that it prefers to use its fins as pseudo-legs to walk along the seabed rather than swim. This bottom-dweller is endemic to the Galapagos Islands.
The Tufted Titmouse gets its name from the Old English words "tit," meaning small, and "mase,” meaning bird. The word "mase" eventually became obsolete and was replaced with the word "mouse.”
The quick-moving tiny bird probably reminded people of the house mouse. The tufted part of its name likely comes from the small upward-swept tuft of feathers on its head.
There are five titmice species endemic to North America. The Tufted Titmouse is a sedentary south-based species that seems to be steadily expanding its range northward.
With the same word repeated thrice, its scientific name is effortlessly funny. Western lowland gorillas have lighter coats than other gorilla species. They have the widest range, covering over 700,000 square kilometers of lush rainforests across Central Africa.
Western lowland gorillas are umbrella species that protect other species around them. Unfortunately, logging and poaching threaten their existence.
The leatherback sea turtle is the largest and heaviest living turtle. It can grow to 5ft 11in and weighs up to 500kg. It is the only living species of the dermocheltdae family, characterized by a different shell structure from other turtle shells. Other turtle shells have a bony structure, but the leatherback turtle’s shell is oily and flexible, like leather, hence the name.
You will find leatherback turtles in the Atlantic, eastern Pacific, and western Pacific oceans. In addition, they inhabit all tropical and subtropical oceans. Adult leatherback turtles feed on jellyfish, fish, sea urchins, snails, cnidaria, and tunicates.
Also, the leatherback has a relatively long lifespan and can live up to 50 years or more. Sadly, leatherback turtles are endangered due to overharvesting and human encroachment on their natural habitats3.
Green sea turtles have many other names like a black sea turtle, pacific green turtle, and simply green turtle. They have the name green turtle because of the green fat underneath their carapace1 (shells). They inhabit the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
Adult green turtles grow up to 5ft long and weigh an average of 190kg. However, some green turtles can weigh up to 395kg. Green sea turtles’ physical attributes include their short snout and unhooked beak. Also, their carapaces have different colors that change from time to time.
Hawksbill sea turtles have shells that change color based on the water temperature. We can identify this turtle specie by its curved and pointed beak. A mature hawksbill turtle can grow up to 3ft long with a weight of 80kg.
Hawksbill turtles prefer to live in the tropical reefs of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans reefs. Fishers hunt them for their shells, eggs, and meat. Sadly, they are at risk of extinction because of human fishing activities.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtle species in the world. They have large and heavy heads, while their thick shells resemble the scales of an ancient plated dinosaur called Ankylosaurus. You can differentiate them from the common snapping turtle by the three ridges of spikes on their carapaces. Their habitat is in the fresh waters of the United States.
Their colors are brown, grey, black, and olive green. Unlike other turtles, the male alligator turtle is bigger than its female counterpart. Adult turtles can weigh as much as 80kg and grow up to 31.8 inches long. Also, they have a long life span, ranging from 20 to 70 years. They are scavengers and active hunters, so their diet consists of dead and live fish.
