Dump of cool animals you've probably never seen before (150 Pics)

Atheris hispida

Therea olegrandjeani

Harpegnathos venator

Plistospilota guineensis

Caribena versicolor

Saiga tatarica

Bipes biporus

Hydropotes inermis

Desmoxytes purpurosea

#10 Eumicrotremus orbis

#11 Raorchestes chalazodes

#12 Bitis gabonica (Pregnant female)

#13 Pyxicephalus adspersus

#14 Opisthocomus hoazin (young chick)

#15 Macrochelys temminckii

#16 Daphnis nerii

#17 Chrysina batesi

#18 Panacanthus cuspidatus

#19 Pseudohemiodon apithanos

#20 Ichthyosaura alpestris

#21 Walckenaeria acuminata

#22 Achatina achatina

#23 Calappa calappa

#24 Gyrinus minutus

#25 Chalcides striatus

#26 Geosesarma hagen

#27 Tacusa speciosa

#28 Tragopan temminckii

#29 Nilssonia gangetica

#30 Triops numidicus

#31 Takedactylus compressus

#32 Tribolonotus novaeguineae

#33 Holacanthella spinosa

#34 Myrmoteras iriodum

#35 Phrynocephalus guttatus

#36 Panaque suttonorum

#37 Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis

#38 Idolomantis diabolica

#39 Cnemophilus macgregorii

#40 Pseudorca crassidens

#41 Megarhyssa macrurus

#42 Caddo agilis

#43 Calumma parsonii

#44 Rhinoplax vigil

#45 Strophurus taenicauda

#46 Heterophrynus batesii

#47 Argonauta argo

#48 Eresus kollari

#49 Aphantochilus rogersi (left) has captured an ant

#50 Platerodrilus spp., 4 different species.

This one is quite bug heavy, you've been warned. Automeris larra (no common name) Ok to be fair you may have seen this image before, I just wanted to put someting really attention grabbing as the first thing. This picture made the rounds a few years ago as "the Saturniidae caterpillar", which is really not very helpful. Saturniids are a family of moths with over 2300 species, there is no THE Saturniidae caterpillar. This is the caterpillar of Automeris larra, a medium sized moth from South America. It also shows the caterpillar right after a molt, after which colors are often very vivid.

Here it is with its normal (still very nice) colors. The spikes are soft and tipped with urticating hairs to deter predators.

And that is the (also pretty) moth it turns into.

Imantodes inornatus (Western Blunt Head Tree Snake) Imantodes is a genus of small arboreal (tree living) snakes from Southern Mexico, Central and northern South America. There are 8 described species and they all look similar to the one pictured here.

They are about 1 meter long, very thin and have huge bulging eyes and a blunt snout. They hunt mainly small lizards in trees at night, which is why they need their excellent vision. They are rear fanged, venomous Colubrids though their toxicity is unknown. Their venom is probably mild and not dangerous to humans.

Side view of head.

Trombidium grandissimum (giant red velvet mite) This absolute giant among mites (about 15mm!) occurs in north and central India and eastern Africa and is not dangerous to humans. Velvet mites are free living and predatory as adults, and parasitic on various insects as larva, but normally a lot smaller than this. You may have seen the regular sized ones yourself, they are about 2 to 3 mm long.

Here's an interesting tidbit I found about giant red velvet mites: “Although often difficult to find, they are sometimes extremely abundant locally, if only for a few hours at time. For example, after a brief yet intense thunderstorm, a massive emergence of giant red velvet mites was sighted from the air at an altitude of 1500 feet just north of Tucson (Nigeria). An estimated 3-5 million mites had emerged in an area roughly two acres in size! The annual emergence of the giant mites is apparently timed to coincide with that of their primary prey, termites. However, their opportunity to gorge themselves on abundant termite reproductives is quite limited. After mating, the termites quickly shed their wings and bury themselves so that they are out of reach of the mite’s predatory embrace. Adult giant red velvet mites spend most of their lives in subterranean burrows in a diapause-like state waiting for a specific set of ecological conditions triggered by summer monsoons.”

Erpeton tentaculatum (tentacled snake) From Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand this only abut 70cm long aquatic snake has evolved little tentacle-like growths on its snout, which are probably sesory organs to detect water movements, similar to the lateral line organ in fish. Yes that's moss growing on it.

This time with common names and a few details on each of them. Acrochordus javanicus (Elephant trunk snake). This a non-venomous water snake (not a sea snake!) that lives in South-East Asia and is so adapted to its freshwater habitat that its body can not support its weight outside of water.

Another picture of one.

Prionailurus planiceps (Flat-headed cat). This extremely rare and unusual cat was thought to be extinct by 1985 but was rediscovered in 1990. Today probably only a few thousand individuals remain in tiny unconnected patches of forest on the Malay peninsula. Not much is known about it except that it looks quite different from its nearest relatives and might be semi aquatic.

Profile view showing the weird body shape.

Pseudolaureola atlantica (Spiky Yellow Woodlouse). Maybe one of the rarest animals on earth, this tiny isopod only occurs in a tiny patch of forest on St. Helena, one of the remotest islands on the planets. Unusual for isopods, it inhabits the canopy of tree-ferns instead of the forest floor where it feeds on spores. Only about 100 individuals exist. Conservation efforts are underway.

Procnias albus (White bellbird) Found mostly in Guyana and Venezuela. Rarely seen, mostly heard. But heard very well. This is the loudest of all birds with a metallic sounding call (hence the name) that can reach 125 decibels. The function of the black wattle dangling from its face is unknown but probably has to do with mating display.

Forsteropsalis bona (no common name). This harvestman from New Zealand has enormously enlarged pedipalps. These little forest floor inhabitants almost exclusively feed on snails that they crack open bit by bit with their huge claws. This arrangement is actually not that unusual for Harvestmen, there are other snail cracking one with similarly huge pedipalps on almost every continent, like Ischyropsalis hellwigi in Europe.

Xenodermus javanicus (Dragon snake) This tiny snake (~40cm) feeds on small frogs but almost nothing else is known about it. It usually quickly dies in captivity but a few people are now managing to keep them long term so maybe captive breeding will soon be possible.

Toxodera (dragon mantises) I can't choose a species to show because everything in this genus is amazing, so I'll show two. The one in this picture is Toxodera fimbriata. Native to South-East Asia these rare praying mantids are some of the longest in the world, reaching 17cm (some reportedly up to 20cm). They inhabit tropical rainforest at higher elevations with somewhat cooler than expected temperatures.

Toxodera beieri Like I said, I wanted to show more than one Toxodera, they are so varied and each is awesome. They are the dream animal of every mantis breeder (including me) but so far they have eluded us, we can't get them to breed in captivity (yet).

Myzopoda aurita (Madagascar sucker-footed bat) This bat from Madagascar has evolved suction cups on it wrists and ankles to cling to the underside of smooth leaves, where they are hard to reach for parasites.

Patagona gigas (Giant hummingbird) The largest of all hummingbirds, with a wingspan approaching a whopping 22cm and a weight of over 20 grams. That's actually twice as heavy as the next biggest hummingbird and 10 times more than the smallest one. To sustain themselves they feed on a variety of nectar sources, mainly huge clusters of Puya flowers.

Armillifer spec. (Tongue worm) Male left, female right. These parasites inhabit the upper respiartory tract of many vertebrates. What is extremely unusual about these worm like creatures is that they are arthropods! With extremely reduced bodies and no legs or any other identifying features this only became clear when DNA sequencing them. They might be crustaceans or they might be something else entirely. Also they appear to be an extremely ancient group, which brings up even more questions: How did they live in a time before there were lungs to parasitize? They can sometimes infect humans and wander into the eyes.

Brentus anchorago (long-snouted weevil). It's a weevil from South and Central America. I have nothing much to say about it, I just thought it looked funny.

Strophurus wellingtonae (Western Shield Spiny-tailed Gecko ). Enedmic to Australia, Strophurus geckos inhabit shrubland and savannah and are known to be able to secrete a foul smelling substance from their tails when disturbed that it used to deter birds.

Virgularia spec. (Purple Sea Pen) Sea pens are colonial Anthozoa (animals including Corals and anemones) and are often grouped together with soft corals. They might be closely related to some of the earliest animals, the precambrian Rangeomorphs. They are sessile and inhabit oceans up to a depth of 6300m and filter the water for particulates.

Demodex folliculorum (human hair follicle mite). You might not know this animal but you are currently very close to it. Actually it's on you right now, munching happily on secretions of your hair follicles, in which it sits in almost every human that's not a newborn. They usually don't cause any harm and are unnoticable but in rare cases they can cause skin irritations and itching. They are large enough to be juuuust about visible to the naked eye if you really get close and squint. You may not want to look too closely at your eyelashes if the thought of them on you makes you uncomfortable.

Pseudopus apodus (Sheltopusik) Not a snake, this is one of the largest if not the largest legless lizard growing up to roughly 130 centimeters. It's native to dry grasslands of southern europe and central Asia and can get over 50 years old.

Trichobatrachus robustus (hairy frog) Males of this species have hair like papillae along their flanks and thighs which contain blood vessels. They act like external gills that allow the frog to absorb oxygen from the water enabling it to stay submerged for longer, probably to guard the females eggs.

Theopmpa servillei (no common name) A mantis from South-East Asia that very convincingly mimics lichen. It's a type of mantis known as a bark mantis, unlike other mantids that imitate sticks or dead leaves these mantids have a flattened body shape and live on tree trunks and bark.

Liphistius jarujini (Primitive trapdoor spider) This spider belongs to a small and obscure group of spiders known as Mesothelae. They are ancestral to all other living spiders and have existed almost unchanged for over 300 million years. They are completely harmless to humans. Their opisthosoma (butt) is segmented and they have four lungs. They build a trapdoor with radially emerging sensory threads.

Typical burrow, you can see the sensory treads radiating from the entrance.

Mongeperipatus solorzanoi (Solórzano's velvet worm) You may know velvet worms, there's some great footage of them from the BBC and some nature channels, but do you know this giant among them? This rare Costa Rican species was only found in 1996 and described in 2010. By far the largest velvet worm growing up to 22cm, the next largest barely reaches 10cm.

Also they give live birth (this is a different species in the image though)

Probosciger aterrimus (Palm cockatoo) The (probably) largest cockatoo species, though some others get close. Native to New Guinea and surrounding islands it uses its massive beak to crack open Pandanus nuts and other hard seeds.

Euchoreutes naso (Long-eared jerboa) Yes it's real. From deserts of southern Mongolia and northern China the large ears are used for thermoregulation. They have long hindlegs for jumping and a very long tail to keep their balance while they do that.

Bathothauma lyromma (glass squid), juvenile With two long stalked eyes and two long plus 8 short tentacles surrounding the beak this tiny squid looks like something I made duing my first time playing Spore but it's real. Occurs basically world wide in water depths of 100 to 300 meters as the larval form which is pictured here and around 1500 meters as adults.

Close up of eyes and mouth.

Telmatobius culeus (Titicaca water frog) Up to 60cm long and over 1 kilo in weight this is one of the largest aquatic frogs and also one of the most endangered. Commonly found in Lake Titicaca in the 60s it's now rapidly declining due to pollution, overcollection for food and the introduction of trout into the lake. It has been recorded to dive to at least a depth of 120 meters, the record for any frog.

Here's one eating a worm.

Anableps (Four-eyed fish) These fish from southern mexico and central america inhabit the water surface and have eyes that are divided into 2 parts for seeing above and below the water simultaneously. The lens of the eye also changes in thickness top to bottom to account for the difference in the refractive indices of air versus water.

Aren' they lovely.

Metallyticus splendidus (Iridescent bark mantis) I know I already showed a bark mantis but this one is too cool to withhold. They are also special in that these are (maybe, there's some debate) the most basal mantis. Basal means an organism that is the least derived (has the least "new" features) out of a related group, it's a better term to use than "primitive" which is misleading and gives the wrong impression, basal animals aren't really more primitive than their more derived relatives. Anyway, this basal mantis almost looks like a shiny cockroach, which makes sense since cockroaches are the closest relatives of praying mantises and this one shows it well.

Same mantis as above but this time a juvenile which doesn't have wings yet.

Onthophagus rangifer (no common name) A tiny dung beetle from Africa with outrageous horns. This is just an example species from the fantastic genus. There are at least 2000 known Onthophagus species around the world, and many look at least this fancy, if not more. I encourage you to google this genus and see for yourself.

Macrocheles rettenmeyeri (no common name) This mite bites into the tarsus (=foot) of an ant and latches onto the stump, then feeds off the ant's haemolymph (=blood), where it operates as a perfectly functional replacement tarsus.

Powelliphanta superba (no common name) A rare and endangered very big carnivorous land snail from New Zealand. There's at least 12 species in the genus but this is the largest. You may have actually seen it before, as a gif showing it capture a worm but without explanation (just look for "snail eating worm"). They eat mainly slugs and worms which they capture by sucking them into their large mouth where they slowly rasp them away with their spiked tongue.

Lysiosquillina maculata (Zebra mantis shrimp) Last time people were disappointed I included no mantis shrimp but they are just too well known in my opinion, at least the smashers. Everyone knows about them by now. What you may not know is that not all mantis shrimp smash their prey to death. Some stab instead. This is the largest mantis shrimp, a so called spearer that digs into soft sand and ambushes its prey with its long spined raptorial legs, much like an actual mantis. It was really hard to find a good image of one so I'll include an illustration.

They occur in the Indo-pacific in shallow waters with a sandy bottom.

And a dead one for scale. They get up to 45cm long and are sometimes eaten as a delicacy.

Pseudoglomeris magnifica (Emerald roach) This shiny metallic roach from Vietnam inhabits humid rainforests and mainly feeds off algae and lichen from overgrown branches. There is over 4600 species of roaches and only about 30 of those are potential pest species, with only 4 of those regularly being household pests. Roaches get a really bad rep because people never realize how many amazing ones there are that aren't pests.

Polyzosteria mitchelli (Mitchell's diurnal cockroach) This colorful diurnal roach inhabits sem-arid areas of temperate Australia

Archiblatta hoeveni (no common name) A big roach from the Malay peninsula it has several unusual features that make it an exception among cockroaches. Normal roaches are dorsoventrally compressed (= flat) while this one is mostly just round. Also their head is visible from above, in other roaches that's not the case because the head is protected by a plate coming from the segment behind it (the pronotum).

Sesia apiformis (Hornet moth) This moth from all over temperate Eurasia almost perfectly imitates an European Hornet (Vespa crabro), in color, size and even behavior (it flies like a hornet when disturbed). The caterpillars feed on aspen and willow.

Ascalaphidae (owlflies) larva This is the only one I can't tell you an exact species to, just what family it belongs to, the owlflies. Closely related to antlions these insects look like butterflies as adult and like nightmares as larva. Their enlarged mandibles are hollow and can inject venom.

Here's an adult.

Cyclopes didactylus (pygmy anteater) Like its bigger and more well known relatives this tiny anteater (only 36-45cm long with tail) feeds exclusively on ants. It's also fully arboreal (tree living) and never comes to the ground. They occur in central and northern South America.

Edentistoma octosulcatum You might at first glance think this is a harmless millipede, and it sure does look like one with its compact body, short legs and sculptured plates. But a closer look reveal it's in fact centipede, with venomous claws and predatory like all centipedes are. This amazing centipede is unusual in more than just appearance. It's slow moving like a millipede and can even roll intoa defensive curl like one! It also feeds on millipedes exclusively.

Feeding on a millipede

Oh and it's also semi aquatic. Ok that's it, the second installment of this dump with much more info and hopefully just as neat animals. I hope you liked it and I hope this reaches as many people as the first one, it definitely was a ton more effort to make than just dumping pictures alone.