Red-lipped Batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini)
Next on the list of weird animals is the red-lipped batfish. The red-lipped batfish has a lipstick-red pout and frog-like legs. You can only find it on the Galapagos islands. It prefers the sandy bottom of reefs or the ocean. You’ll find the fish species at depths of 3 to 76 meters in the Pacific oceans or around the edges of reefs 120 meters deep at Galapagos islands.
It is a terrible swimmer and often uses its fins as legs to walk around the sandy bottoms of the ocean. Apart from the bright red color of its lips, the blobfish’s body color is light brown, with a gray back and white stomach.
It also has an appendage known as illicium on its head. Researchers think it uses it to lure prey in. It feeds on small fish, shrimp, and mollusks. Luckily, their conservation status is not threatened.
Dementor Wasp (Ampulex dementor)
Scientists recently discovered the dementor wasp in southeast Asia. They are flying insects that turn cockroaches into zombies. They do this by injecting the belly of cockroaches with venom, which turns the roach into a passive zombie.
It turns them into zombies by blocking the receptors of the neurotransmitters of octopamine. Octopamine is involved in the initiation of spontaneous responses. Blocking it makes cockroaches incapable of controlling their movements.
Pangolin (Pholidota)
A pangolin is a solitary and nocturnal animal covered by an armor of scales. It hides under its scaly armor when confronted by a predator. It rolls into a ball and uses its sharp scales and tail to attack whenever it is touched. Pangolin's scales are made of keratin.
It has a small head and a long tail. Despite its lack of external ears, the pangolin has excellent hearing. It also has no teeth and grinds food with its gizzard-like intestines. To aid its digestion, it consumes small stones and sand. These unique features make it one of the most trafficked mammals in the world.
