Big-eyed animal in the tropics. The long-eared fox is a nocturnal animal with large ears.

We all know how important our eyes are. We receive most of our information, experiences and memories through our eyes. And, of course, we can enjoy the exceptional creations of nature that surround us. Some animals also have incredible or even more amazing eyes than humans. Here are the Top 10 Most Amazing Eyes in the Animal Kingdom.

The frog's large eyes are remarkable from several angles. First of all, this amphibian spends a decent amount of time in the water. To swim in water filled with debris, frogs have three eyelids - two transparent and one translucent eyelid. This translucent membrane can close completely to allow the frog to protect its eyes underwater.

The position of the frog's eyes also gives it a better field of vision. The eyes are located on the sides of the head to obtain full review 360 degrees. Frogs can even see what is happening outside when they are submerged in water.

− small primate, found in the forests of Southeast Asia. Its most striking feature is its large eyes, which have a diameter of up to 1.6 cm. Compared to body size, these are the largest eyes of any mammal in the world. Just like an owl, the tarsier's eyes cannot move. Because they are fixed in the skull.

Instead, tarsiers can move their heads 180 degrees left and right. This helps them to know what is going on around them. They are nocturnal animals that only become active at night. But their large eyes give them excellent night vision. In addition, they have a keen sense of hearing. Both of these qualities help tarsiers detect prey in low light conditions.

The hammerhead shark has one of the strangest but most interesting heads - in the form of a flattened hammer with wide-set eyes. But research has shown that this strange head has good goal. It provides the hammerhead shark with much better vision than other shark species. More precisely, such widely spaced eyes give them excellent vision and exceptional depth perception.

Cuttlefish - incredible sea ​​creature, which can instantly change its color. This allows cuttlefish to quickly hide from predators by mixing with environment. This remarkable power of cuttlefish comes from the help of specialized skin cells and their incredible vision. They have strange "w" shaped pupils that give them a wider range of vision. Interestingly, they can even see what is behind them.

In addition, they can detect polarized light with incredible accuracy. Even the slightest change in the angle of polarized light. This gives cuttlefish a clear idea of ​​what exactly is going on around them.

Do the rectangular pupils of a goat seem strange to you? But at the same time, they provide impressive vision. For a grazing animal like a goat, this is the most sought after power.

Because having good vision, the goat has a greater chance of escaping from the predator. Her rectangular pupils provide detailed panoramic vision. This helps the goat detect danger from a distance. In addition, effective eye rotation also helps detect strange movements in the field, even while grazing. Thus, they have enough time to escape from the predatory animal.

The world's warm climates are home to 1,500 various types geckos. Most of them are nocturnal animals. To adapt to this lifestyle, they have impressive eyesight. To be precise, their eyes are 350 times more sensitive than human vision and color vision threshold. Geckos can even see colors in low light with amazing quality. This is a rare force in the animal kingdom.

One of the amazing things about dragonflies is their large globular eyes. Each dragonfly eye is made of 30,000 facets and is located in different directions. The result is incredible 360-degree vision. This allows them to detect even the slightest movement in their surroundings.

Dragonflies can also detect ultraviolet and polarized light, which are outside our visual spectrum. All these qualities play a huge role in dragonfly navigation.

Owls have very interesting, large front eyes. This eye positioning provides a great advantage for owls - incredible binocular vision, or the ability to see an object with both eyes with greater depth perception. Even animals and birds whose eyes are on the sides of their heads do not have such excellent vision.

Surprisingly, instead of eyeballs, the owl's eyes are shaped like tubes. Also, their eyes cannot rotate like ours. But they can move their head 270 degrees in left and right directions. This gives owls a much broader vision. To adapt to a nocturnal lifestyle, owls also have excellent night vision, which brings in millions of light-sensitive retinal rods.

Chameleons are so famous for their ability to change colors. But their visual system is just as amazing as their ability to change color. These reptiles can move their eyes independently of each other. That is, they can focus on two different objects in two different directions at the same time. This incredible power of the chameleon's eyes provides excellent 360-degree vision. Chameleons can also focus on objects with incredible speed.

The mantis crab has the most fantastic visual system in the animal kingdom. We humans have three color receptors. But this unusual crustacean has 12 different color receptors. These mantis crabs see so many colors that we can't even comprehend.

Beautiful eyes can also turn independently of each other in different directions at the same time. The eye rotation capacity is measured up to 70 degrees. This provides a broader view of this little creature. Additionally, the mantis crab, like other animals with exceptional vision, can detect infrared, ultraviolet, and polarized light.

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Many people are touched by the sight of animals with big eyes. Indeed, such creatures seem amusing, unusual and beautiful. But which animals and how does it help them in a harsh life?

Tarsier

Many have heard that there is a small animal that lives in the Philippines and is famous for its unusually large eyes. In its homeland it was called “tarsier”. Among mammals, it ranks first in terms of the ratio of eye size to body size. Thanks to this, he was included in the Guinness Book of Records. This small animal with large eyes has a body weight of only 134 grams. Females weigh even less - only 117 grams. Accordingly, they have a small body size, which usually ranges from 10 to 15 centimeters. But their eyes are surprisingly large, and each of them weighs more than the animal's brain. If a person had the same height-to-eye ratio, it would look as if we had grapefruits inserted into our eye sockets.

Prosimian loris

There is another animal with big eyes (photo attached below), which evokes emotion in humans. These are loris, prosimians that lead nightlife and have good eyesight. During the daytime, these babies prefer to sleep with their paws covering their eyes, but as soon as dusk comes, they begin to run and play animatedly with each other. If this animal hears the movement of a foreign creature, it begins to move slowly or stops completely so as not to be noticed. If it is nevertheless discovered, then it is very difficult to tear it off the branch. Closer to midnight, lorises begin hunting insects and birds. But they also love to eat fruits that they can find on trees.

It is worth noting that these lemurs are Lately kept as pets. It should also be mentioned that this animal with large eyes can belong to one of three species: slow thick, thin and small. They usually buy the first type as a pet, since it is very difficult for the rest to take root in domestic conditions (they do not make contact and bite painfully ).

Pets

Cats are the most common human pets. But they attract not only their graceful, beautiful body, but also with big eyes. But even among cats there are record holders - the British. Their eyes are very large compared to their body and they are not equipped with eyelashes. But this fact does not prevent purrs from finding their way in the dark. You can often notice how their eyes begin to glow in the darkness. This phenomenon is observed when light hits the cat's face, in which case it is reflected from exactly the same path along which it hit the retina.

This large-eyed pet has a unique vision. A cat is able to see 180° and observe what is happening behind its back, but at the same time it cannot see the picture in front of its nose, so it is forced to use its sense of touch. This is why cats are always on the alert. Interestingly, if necessary, the animal is able to focus its gaze on one point. At this moment, his muzzle seems very concentrated, and his pupils are fully dilated. In addition, it is important to note that a cat can see objects that are 60 meters away.

It was also believed for many years that purrs see the world in black and white. But modern technologies proved that this is not so. Cats are able to distinguish colors, but this spectrum is not as wide as that of humans. Main specifics cat eye is the definition of shades of grey. In any case, this animal has vision six times sharper than humans. But this big-eyed pet can compete in its abilities with ostriches, which also occupy an honorable place in the list of “big eyes.”

Ostriches

This bird is well known to many inhabitants of the earth. Ostriches are considered the largest of birds. The weight of an adult individual can reach 75 kilograms, and the height can be up to 2.7 meters. Of course, ostriches are usually found a little smaller. But they are distinguished not only by their huge size, but also by their large eyes. For example, if we compare them with her, her visual organs are still much larger. Therefore, even if the ostrich is not particularly intelligent, it is famous for its keen eyesight. These birds are able to see an object at a distance of a kilometer. As soon as the ostrich sees danger, it runs away. Since other animals do not have such sharp eyesight, they watch the ostriches and also rush to flee from danger, which they do not even imagine yet.

Sea creatures

It is also worth telling about the largest eyes of animals that live under water. These are octopuses, cuttlefish and squids. They need good eyesight in order to survive in complete darkness, under thick water. Each eye can be almost 30 centimeters wide. Such dimensions are truly unusual for living creatures, but they are necessary to see objects at a depth of 2000 meters. In 2007, a squid was caught with an eye almost 30 cm in diameter, and its lens was the size of an orange. It has been established that these creatures have the largest eyes on earth. It is worth noting that scientists have established an interesting fact: the caught animal was just a female teenager. It weighed 450 kilos, while adult squids can reach a mass of 750 kg.

Dragonfly

Another creature with large and unusual eyes is the dragonfly. Her organ of vision is more complexly organized than that of any other creatures. The eye of this insect consists of approximately 30,000 facets. Thanks to them, the dragonfly is able to see simultaneously from behind, from the sides and in front of itself. So, she can immediately notice any danger or approaching food. At the same time, the dragonfly distinguishes color and has the ability to see polarized light.

Leaf-tailed gecko

Another amazing animal with big eyes is the gecko. But besides the fact that his eyes are really large in relation to his body, they are also unusually arranged. This organ in an animal consists of dispersed pupils. They are divided into vertical and horizontal series. Thanks to this arrangement of the organ of vision, geckos see color picture at night time. Let's compare their vision to a cat's. Purrs, as already mentioned, see in the dark about 6 times better than people. But geckos exceed our capabilities in this regard by 350 times!

Who else has big eyes?

There are many animals on earth that can surprise you with their appearance and large eyes. We looked at those who, according to these characteristics, surpassed the rest of the planet's inhabitants. We also learned the name of the animal with big eyes, which evokes special affection in humans. But it should be noted that horses, dogs and many other animals that can move quickly can be added to this list. Such animals always have larger eyes in relation to their body than other creatures. This is because at speed, a larger eyeball helps to better recognize moving targets and calculate their speed.

Chameleons

The chameleon can be placed on a special level. Although his eyes may appear small, they are not. These animals have a fairly large eyeball, but it is covered by almost fused eyelids. But the vision capabilities of this creature are surprising. His eyes move independently of each other. This “built-in function” allows the chameleon to observe several objects at the same time. At the same time, he surveys absolutely the entire territory around him; there are no “dead zones” for him. In addition, these lizards are able to see ultraviolet light.

A selection of the 30 most unusual creatures of our planet...
Based on materials from: wikipedia.org & animalworld.com.ua & unnatural.ru

Madagascar suckerfoot
Found only in Madagascar. On the bases of the thumbs of the wings and on the soles of the hind limbs of the suckerfoot there are complex rosette suckers, which are located directly on skin(unlike suckers in suckers bats). The biology and ecology of the suckerfoot has been virtually unstudied. Most likely, it uses rolled up leathery palm leaves as shelters, to which it sticks with its suckers. All suckers were caught close to the water.

Angora rabbit (ladies)
These rabbits look quite impressive; there are specimens whose fur reaches up to 80 cm in length. Their wool is extremely valuable, and a wide variety of things are made from it: stockings, scarves, gloves, just fabrics and even linen. One kilogram of this rabbit's wool is valued at about 10 - 12 rubles. One rabbit produces about 0.5 kg of this wool per year, but usually much less. Most often, Angora rabbits are bred by women, which is why they are sometimes called “ladies’ rabbits.” Average weight such a rabbit weighs 5 kg, body length 61 cm, chest girth 35-40 cm, but other options are possible.

Monkey marmoset
This is the most amazing species of monkeys living on Earth. The weight of an adult does not exceed 120 g. When you look at this tiny creature the size of a mouse (10-15 cm) with a long tail (20-21 cm) and large Mongoloid eyes with a conscious gaze, you feel some embarrassment.

Coconut crab
This is one of the representatives of decapod crustaceans. The habitat of this animal is the western part Pacific Ocean and islands in Indian Ocean. This animal of the land crayfish family is quite large for representatives of its species. An adult can reach 32 cm in length and weigh up to 3-4 kg. For quite a long time, it was mistakenly believed that the palm thief could split coconuts with its claws in order to then eat them, but now scientists have definitely proven that this cancer, despite the enormous strength of its claws, is not able to split coconut, but it could easily break your arm...

Coconuts that split when they fall constitute their main source of nutrition, which is why this crayfish was named the palm thief. However, he is not averse to enjoying other food - the fruits of plants, organic elements from the earth, and even God's creatures similar to themselves. His character, meanwhile, is timid and friendly.

The coconut crab is unique in its kind, its sense of smell is as developed as that of insects, and it also has olfactory organs that ordinary crabs lack. This feature developed after this type came out of the water and settled on land.

Unlike other crabs, they move forward rather than sideways. They don't stay in the water for long.

Sea cucumber. Holothuria
Sea cucumbers, egg capsules (Holothuroidea), a class of invertebrates such as echinoderms. The modern fauna is represented by 1,150 species, divided into 6 orders, which differ from each other in the shape of the tentacles and calcareous ring, as well as the presence of some internal organs. There are about 100 species in Russia. The body of sea cucumbers is leathery to the touch, usually rough and wrinkled. The body wall is thick and elastic, with well-developed muscle bundles. Longitudinal muscles (5 ribbons) are attached to the calcareous ring around the esophagus. At one end of the body there is a mouth, at the other there is an anus. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of 10-30 tentacles, which serve to capture food, and leads into a spirally twisted intestine.

They usually lie “on their side”, raising the front, oral end. Holothurians feed on plankton and organic debris extracted from bottom silt and sand, which is passed through the digestive canal. Other species filter food from bottom waters with tentacles covered with sticky mucus.

Hell Vampire

This animal is a mollusk. Despite its external similarity to an octopus or squid, scientists have separated this mollusk into a separate series, Vampyromorphida (Latin), because only it has retractable, receptive, whip-shaped filaments.

Almost the entire surface of the mollusk’s body is covered with luminescent organs - photophores. They appear as small white discs enlarging at the ends of the tentacles and at the base of the fins. Photophores are absent only on the inner side of the membraned tentacles. The hellish vampire has very good control over these organs and is capable of producing disorienting flashes of light lasting from hundredths of a second to several minutes. In addition, it can control the brightness and size of the color spots.

Amazonian dolphin
This is the largest in the world river dolphin. Inia geoffrensis, as scientists have named it, can reach 2.5 meters in length and weigh up to 200 kg. Juveniles are light gray in color, but become lighter with age. Body Amazonian dolphin full, with narrow muzzle and a thin tail. Round forehead, slightly curved nose and small eyes. You can meet the Amazonian dolphin in the rivers and lakes of Latin America.

Star-nosed
The star-nosed insect is an insectivorous mammal from the mole family. You can meet such an animal only in South-Eastern Canada and the north-eastern USA. Externally, the star-nosed snake differs from other animals of this family and from other small animals, only it is characterized by the structure of its snout in the form of a rosette or an asterisk made of 22 soft mobile fleshy naked rays. The size of the star-nosed ray similar to its European relative the mole. Its tail is relatively long (about 8 cm), covered with scales and sparse hair. When the starfish is looking for food, the rays on the stigma are constantly moving, with the exception of the two middle ones, they are directed forward and do not bend. When he eats, the rays are pulled together into a compact lump; While eating, the animal holds the food with its front paws. When the starfish drinks, it immerses both the stigma and all the whiskers in the water for 5-6 seconds.

Fossa
These amazing animals live only on the island of Madagascar; there are nowhere else in the world, not even in Africa. Fossa is a rare animal and the only representative of the genus Cryptoprocta, while Fossa is the most large predator, living on the island of Madagascar. The appearance of the Fossa is a little unusual: it is something between a civet and a small puma. At times, the Fossa is also called the Madagascar lion; the ancestors of this animal were much larger and reached the size of a lion. The fossa has a strong build, a massive and slightly elongated body, its length can reach up to 80 cm (on average the fossa body reaches 65-70 cm). The fossa's paws are high, but rather thick, and the hind paws are longer than the front paws. The tail of this animal is very long, often reaching the length of the body and reaching up to 65 cm.

Japanese giant salamander
The largest amphibian found in the world, this salamander can reach 160 cm in length and weigh up to 180 kg. In addition, such a salamander can live up to 150 years, although the officially recorded longest age of a huge salamander is 59 years.

Madagascar crayfish (or Aye-Aye)
The Madagascar monkey (lat. Daubentonia madagascariensis) or aye-aye, is a mammal of the suborder of prosimians; the only representative of the family of arms. One of the rarest animals on the planet - there are only five dozen individuals, which is why it was discovered relatively recently. The largest animal of the nocturnal primates.

The body length of the arm is 30-37 cm without a tail, 44-53 cm with a tail. Weight - about 2.5 kg. The head is large, the muzzle is short; The ears are large and leathery. The tail is large and fluffy. The coat color ranges from dark brown to black. They live in the East and North of the island of Madagascar. Lead night image life. They feed on the fruits of mango trees and coconut palms, the core of bamboo and sugar cane, tree beetles and larvae. They sleep in hollows or nests.

This animal is one of the most unique mammals on the planet; it has no similar features to any other animal. The arm has a thick, wide head with big ears, because of this, the head appears even wider. Small, protruding, motionless, and glowing eyes with smaller pupils than those of a nocturnal monkey. Its muzzle bears a close resemblance to the beak of a parrot, an elongated body and a long tail, which, like the whole body, is sparsely covered with long, stiff, bristle-like hair. And finally, unusual hands, and these are hands, their middle finger has a dried-out appearance - all these features connected together give the ah-ah so peculiar look“that you involuntarily rack your brains in a vain zeal to find a related creature similar to this animal,” wrote A. E. Bram in his book “The Life of Animals.”

Listed in the “Red Book”, ay-ay is the most remarkable animal, over which a serious danger of extinction hangs. Daubentonia madagascariensis is the only representative of not only the genus, but also the family that has survived to this day.

Guidak
The photo shows the longest-living and at the same time the largest (up to 1 meter in length) burrowing mollusk in the world (the age of the oldest individual found is 160 years). The concept of Guidak was taken from the Indians and is translated as “deep-digging” - these gastropods can actually bury themselves quite deep in the sand. A “leg” protrudes from under the thin, fragile shell of the hyodac, which is three times larger than the shell (there have been cases where specimens with a leg length of more than 1 meter were found). The clam meat is very tough and tastes like abalone (this is also a clam, terribly tasteless, but with a very beautiful shell), so Americans usually cut it into pieces, beat it and fry it in butter with onion.

Liger
The liger (English liger from the English lion - “lion” and English tiger - “tiger”) is a hybrid between a male lion and a female tigress, looking like a giant lion with blurry stripes. The appearance and size are similar to the cave lion and its relative the American lion, which became extinct in the Pleistocene. Ligers are the largest big cats in the world today. The largest liger is Hercules from the interactive theme park Jungle Island.

Male ligers, with rare exceptions, have almost no mane, but unlike lions, ligers know how and love to swim. Another feature of ligers is that female ligers can give birth to offspring, which is unusual for feline hybrids. The extraordinary gigantism of ligers is due to the fact that ligers receive genes from their lion father that promote the growth of their offspring, while the tiger mother does not have genes that inhibit the growth of their offspring. While the tiger father does not have genes that promote growth, the lioness mother has genes that inhibit growth, which are passed on to her offspring. This explains the fact that the liger is larger than the lion, and the tiger lion is smaller than the tiger.

Imperial tamarin
The name of the species (“imperial”) is associated with the presence of fluffy white “whiskers” on these monkeys and is given in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Body length - about 25 cm, tail - about 35 cm. Weight of adult individuals - 250-500 grams. Tamarins feed on fruits and lead a diurnal lifestyle. They live in small groups of 8-15 individuals.

Emperor tamarins are native to the Amazon rainforest and are found in northwestern Brazil, eastern Peru and northern Bolivia. In the east, the range is limited by the Gurupi River, in the upper reaches of the Amazon - by the Putumayo rivers in the north and Madeira in the south. Although the species lives in hard-to-reach places, it protective status assessed as vulnerable.

Cuban slittooth
Cuban slittooth, a strange creature similar to big hedgehog with a funny long-nosed muzzle, when it bites, it kills insects and small animals with poisonous saliva. The slit tooth is not dangerous for humans, quite the contrary. Until 2003, the animal was considered extinct until several specimens were caught in the forest. The slittooth has no immunity to its poison, so fights between males are usually fatal for all participants.

Kakapo parrot
The New Zealand kakapo parrot, also known as the owl parrot, is probably the most unusual parrot in the world. He never flies, weighs 4 kilograms, croaks in a nasty voice and is nocturnal. It is considered an extinct species in nature due to ecological imbalance caused by rats and cats. Experts hope to restore the kakapo population, but it is very reluctant to breed in zoos.

Cyclocosmia
This species of spider stands out from the representatives of its genus only by the very original shape of its abdomen. Cyclocosmia digs burrows 7-15 cm deep in the ground. Its abdomen, at the end, is as if chopped off and ends with a chitinized flat disc-shaped surface; it serves to close the entrance to the burrow when the spider is in danger. This method of defense is called Pragmosis (eng. Phragmosis) - a method of defense in which an animal, if threatened, hides in a hole and uses part of its body as a barrier, blocking the path of a predator.

Tapir
Tapirs (lat. Tapirus) are large herbivores from the order of equids, somewhat reminiscent of a pig in shape, but with a short trunk adapted for grasping.

The sizes of tapirs differ from species to species, but as a rule, the length of a tapir is about two meters, the height at the withers is about a meter, and the weight is from 150 to 300 kg. Life expectancy in the wild is about 30 years, the cub is always born alone, pregnancy lasts about 13 months. Newborn tapirs have protective coloring consisting of spots and stripes, and although this coloring appears to be the same, different types there are some differences. The front paws of tapirs are four-toed, and the hind paws are three-toed; the toes have small hooves that help them move on muddy and soft ground.

Mixin
The hagfish (lat. Myxini) lives at depths of 100-500 meters, its predominant habitat is near the shores North America, Europe, Iceland, East Greenland. Sometimes it can be found in the Adriatic Sea. IN winter time The hagfish sometimes descends to great depths - up to 1 km.

The size of this animal is small - 35-40 centimeters, although sometimes giant specimens are found - 79-80 centimeters. Naturalist Carl Linnaeus, who discovered this miracle in 1761, initially even included it in the class of worms because of its specific appearance. Although in fact hagfish belong to the class of cyclostomes, which are the historical predecessors of fish. The color of hagfish can vary, but the predominant colors are pinkish and gray-red.

A distinctive feature of hagfish is the presence of a number of holes that secrete mucus, which are located along the lower edge of the animal’s body. It should be noted that mucus is a very important secretion of hagfish, which is used by the animal to penetrate into the cavity of the fish chosen as a victim. Mucus also plays an important role in animal respiration. The hagfish is a real mucus-creating plant, in particular, if you put it in a bucket full of water, then after a while all the water will be converted into mucus.

The fins of hagfishes are actually not developed; they are difficult to distinguish on the long body of the animal. Organ of vision - the eyes see poorly; they are masked by light areas of skin in this area. The round mouth has as many as 2 rows of teeth, and there is also one unpaired tooth in the palate area. Hagfish “breathe through their nose”, and water enters the hole at the end of the snout - the nostril. The respiratory organs of hagfish, like all fish, are gills. The area where they are located are special cavities-channels running along the animal’s body. The hagfish hunts only those fish that are sick, weakened (for example, after spawning) or caught in gear or nets installed by humans. The attack process itself occurs as follows: the hagfish eats through the wall of the fish’s body with its sharp teeth, after which it enters the body, first consuming internal organs, and then muscle mass. If the unfortunate victim is still able to resist, then the hagfish passes into the gills and fills them with mucus, abundantly secreted by its glands. As a result, the fish dies from suffocation, leaving the hunter the opportunity to eat its body

Proboscis
The proboscis monkey, or Kahau (lat. Nasalis larvatus) is a monkey widespread only in one small area of ​​the globe - the valleys and coast of the island of Borneo. The proboscis monkey belongs to the family of thin-bodied monkeys and got its name thanks to its huge nose, which is hallmark males.

It has not yet been possible to establish the exact purpose of such a large nose, but, obviously, its size plays a role in choosing a mating partner. The fur of these monkeys is yellowish-brown on the back and white on the belly, the limbs and tail are gray, and the face is not covered with hair at all and has a rather bright reddish tint, and in the cubs a bluish tint.

The size of an adult proboscis monkey can reach 75 cm, excluding the tail, and twice that size from the nose to the tip of the tail. Average weight males weigh 18-20 kg, females weigh almost half as much. Almost never moving away from the water, proboscis whales were known as excellent swimmers who could travel more than 20 meters underwater. In open shallow water tropical forests proboscis monkeys move, like most primates, on four limbs, but in the wild thickets of mangroves (the so-called tropical forests of Borneo) they walk on two legs, almost vertically.

Axolotl
Representing the larval form of Ambystoma, the axolotl is considered one of the most interesting objects for study. Firstly, axolotls do not need to reach adult form and undergo metamorphosis to reproduce. Surprised? The secret lies in neoteny - a phenomenon in which sexual maturity occurs in the axolotl even in “childhood” age. Note that the tissues of this larva react rather poorly to the hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.

Experiments have proven that lowering the water level during home breeding of these larvae promotes their transformation into adults. The same thing happens in cooler, drier climates. If an axolotl lives in your aquarium, and you want to turn it into an ambistoma, then be sure to add the hormone thyroidin to the larva’s food. A similar result can be achieved with an injection. As a rule, the transformation of an axolotl will take several weeks, after which the larva will change its body shape and color. In addition, the axolotl will permanently lose its external gills.

Literally translated from the Aztec language, axolotl is a “water toy,” which is quite consistent with its appearance. Once you see an axolotl, you are unlikely to forget its unusual, bizarre appearance. At first glance, the axolotl resembles a newt, but has a rather large and wide head. The smiling “face” of the axolotl deserves special attention - tiny beady eyes and an excessively wide mouth.

As for the amphibian’s body length, it is about thirty centimeters, and axolotls are characterized by the regeneration of lost body parts. Natural environment The axolotl's habitat is concentrated in Xochimailco and Cholco - mountain lakes Mexico.

If you look closely at the amphibian's head, you will notice six long gills, symmetrically located on the sides of the head. The axolotl's gills externally resemble thin shaggy twigs, which the larva cleans from time to time of organic debris.

Thanks to their wide, long tail, axolotls are excellent swimmers, although they prefer to spend most of their lives at the bottom. Why bother with unnecessary movements if the food floats into your mouth by itself?

At first, biologists were quite surprised by the respiratory system of axolotls, which included both lungs and gills. For example, if the aquatic habitat of an axolotl is not sufficiently saturated with oxygen, the larva quickly adapts to such a change and begins to breathe with its lungs.

Naturally, the transition to pulmonary breathing negatively affects the gills, which gradually atrophy. And, of course, it is worth paying attention to the original coloring of the axolotl. Small black spots evenly cover the green body, although the axolotl's abdomen remains almost white.

Zoologists have made different assumptions as to what exactly attracts the candira to the human genitals. The most plausible assumption seems to be that the candiru are extremely sensitive to the smell of urine: it happened that the candiru attacked a person a few moments after he urinated in the water. It is believed that candiru are able to find the source of smell in water.

But the candiru does not always penetrate the victim. It happens that, having overtaken prey, the candiru bites through the skin of a person or the gill tissue of a fish with long teeth that grow in their upper jaw and begins to suck blood from the victim, causing the body of the candiru itself to swell and swell. Candiru hunt not only fish and mammals, but also reptiles.

Tarsier
Tarsier (Tarsier, lat. Tarsius) is a small mammal from the order of primates, the very specific appearance of which has created a somewhat ominous halo around this small animal weighing up to one hundred and sixty grams.

Particularly impressionable tourists say that the first time they see huge shining eyes looking at them without blinking, and the next moment the animal turns its head almost 360 degrees and you look straight at the back of its head, you feel, to put it mildly, uneasy. By the way, local aborigines still believe that the tarsier’s head exists separately from the body. Well, this is all speculation, of course, but the facts are obvious!

There are about 8 species of tarsier. The most common are the Bankan and Philippine tarsier, as well as a separate species - the ghost tarsier. These mammals live in Southeast Asia, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines, as well as in adjacent territories.

Externally, tarsiers are small animals, the size of which does not exceed sixteen centimeters, with large ears, long thin fingers and a long tail of about thirty cm and at the same time with very little weight.

The animal's fur is brown or grayish, and its eyes are much larger compared to human proportions - about the size of an average apple.

In nature, tarsiers live in pairs or small groups of eight to ten individuals. They are nocturnal and feed exclusively on animal origin - insects and small vertebrates.

Their pregnancy lasts about six months and a small animal is born, which, within a couple of hours after birth, grasping the mother’s fur, will make its first journey. Average duration The lifespan of a tarsier is about ten to thirteen years.

Narwhal
Narwhals (lat. Monodon monoceros) are a protected rare species belonging to the unicorn family and are listed in the Red Book of Russia due to their small numbers. The habitat of this marine animal is the waters of the Northern Arctic Ocean, as well as the North Atlantic. The size of an adult male often reaches 4.5 meters, weighing about one and a half tons. Females weigh slightly less. The head of an adult narwhal is round, with a large, tuberous forehead, and there is no dorsal fin. Narwhals are somewhat reminiscent of beluga whales, although compared to the latter, the animals have somewhat spotted skin and 2 upper teeth, one of which, growing, turns into a three-meter tusk weighing up to 10 kg.

The narwhal tusk, twisted to the left in the form of a spiral, is quite rigid, but at the same time it has a certain limit of flexibility and can bend up to thirty centimeters. Previously, it was often passed off as a unicorn horn, which had healing powers. It was believed that if you throw a piece of narwhal horn into a glass of poisoned wine, it will change its color.

IN given time There is a hypothesis, which is very popular in scientific circles, proving that the narwhal’s horn, covered with sensitive endings, is needed by the animal to measure water temperature, pressure and other parameters of the aquatic environment that are no less important for life.

Narwhals most often live in small groups of up to ten animals. The basis of the diet of narwhals, which, by the way, can hunt at a depth of more than a kilometer, are cephalopods and bottom fish. The enemies of narwhals in nature can be called other inhabitants of these territories - polar bears and killer whales.

However, the greatest damage to the narwhal population was caused by people who hunted them for their delicious meat and horns, which are successfully used to make a variety of crafts. At this time, animals are under state protection.

Octopus Jumbo
Dumbo is a very small and unusual deep sea octopus, representative cephalopods. Lives only in the Tasman Sea.

Jumbo apparently got his name in honor of the famous cartoon character, the baby elephant Dumbo, who was ridiculed for his large ears (in the middle of the body, the octopus has a pair of rather long, paddle-shaped fins resembling ears). Its individual tentacles are literally connected to the ends by a thin elastic membrane called the umbrella. It, together with the fins, serves as the main mover of this animal, that is, the octopus moves like jellyfish, pushing water out from under the umbrella bell.

The largest Jumbo was discovered in the Tasman Sea - half the size of a human palm.

Medusa Cyanea
Medusa Cyanea - considered largest jellyfish in the world, living in the North-West Atlantic. The diameter of the bell of the cyanea jellyfish reaches 2 meters, and the length of the thread-like tentacles is 20-30 meters. One of these jellyfish, washed ashore in Massachusetts Bay, had a bell diameter of 2.28 m, and its tentacles extended 36.5 m.

Each such jellyfish eats about 15 thousand fish during its life.

Piglet squid

This is a deep-sea marine inhabitant, which received the nickname “pig squid” because of its round body. The scientific name of piglet squid is Helicocranchia pfefferi. Not much is known about him. It is found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at a depth of about 100 meters. Swims slowly. And under the eyes (like many deep-sea animals) it has luminous organs - photophores.

“Little Pig”, unlike other squids, swims upside down, so its tentacles look like a tuft.

Snake Carla
There are currently 3,100 known species of snakes on our planet. But the snake Carla from the island of Barbados is the smallest of them. The maximum length it reaches in adulthood is 10 centimeters.

Leptotyphlops carlae was first officially described and identified as a new species in 2008. Blair Hedge, a biologist at Penn State, named the snake after his wife, herpentologist Carla Ann Hass, who was also part of the team that made the discovery.

It is believed that the Barbados thread, as this snake is also called, is close to the theoretically possible minimum size for snakes that evolution allows. If suddenly the snake happens to be even smaller, it simply will not be able to find food for itself and will die.

The snake Carla feeds on termites and ant larvae.

Due to its miniature size, the thread snake bears only one egg, but it is a large one. The size of the born snake at the moment of birth is half the mother’s body. However, this is normal for snakes. How smaller snake, the larger in proportion her offspring are - and vice versa.

Leptotyphlops carlae has so far been found only on the island of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea, and even then only in the east-central part of it. Most of Barbados' forests have been cleared. And since the thread snake lives only in the forest, it is assumed that the territory suitable for habitation of the strange creature is limited to just a few square kilometers. So the survival of the species is a concern.

Lamprey
Lampreys look like eels or huge worms, although they have nothing to do with either one. They have a naked body covered with mucus, which is why they are mistaken for worms. In fact, these are primitive vertebrates. Zoologists group them into a special class of cyclostomes. You can’t say about cyclostomes that they have a tongue without bones. Their mouth is just equipped complex system cartilage that supports the mouth and tongue. There are no jaws, so food is sucked into the mouth like into a funnel. Along the edges of this funnel and on the tongue there are teeth. Lampreys have three eyes. Two on the sides and one on the forehead.

Lampreys are predators and attack mainly fish. The lamprey attaches itself to the victim, gnaws through the scales, drinks the blood and snacks on the meat (from the area it bit into). In our country, lamprey fishing is carried out in the Neva and other rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, as well as in the Volga. In Russia, lamprey is considered an exquisite delicacy. But in many countries, such as the USA, lampreys are not eaten.

Killer Clam
This curiosity lives on coral reefs at a depth of almost 25 meters. The mollusk weighs up to 210 kilograms with a body length of up to 1.7 meters. Life expectancy is up to 150 years. Due to its impressive size, it gave rise to many rumors and dark legends.

It is called Giant clam (from the English giant clam), Tridacninae, Tridacna. The giant clam is a delicacy in Japan, France, Southeast Asia and many Pacific Islands. Lives due to symbiosis with the algae that live on it. It also knows how to filter water passing through it and extract plankton from there.

It doesn’t actually eat people, but if a careless diver tries to touch the mollusk’s mantle with his hand, the shell flaps will reflexively close. And since the compression force of the tridacna muscles is enormous, a person risks dying from lack of oxygen. This is where the name “killer clam” comes from.

1. Foliar sea ​​Dragon

What kind of animal: Sea fish, relative seahorse.
Habitat: In the waters washing the southern and western Australia, more often in shallow waters, in moderate warm water.
Special features: Branches of the head and body, similar to leaves, serve only for camouflage. It moves using the pectoral fin located on the crest of the neck, as well as the dorsal fin near the tip of the tail. These fins are completely transparent.
Dimensions: grows up to 45 cm.
By the way: the leafy sea dragon is the official emblem of the state of South Australia.

2. Malayan bear or biruang

What kind of animal: Mammal of the bear family.
Habitat: From northeast India and southern China through Myanmar, Thailand, the Indochina and Malacca peninsulas to Indonesia.
Special features: Stocky, strong animal with a short and wide muzzle. The ears are short and rounded. The limbs are high with disproportionately large paws; the claws are very large, curved. Feet are bare. The fangs are small. The biruang's fur is short, stiff and smooth. The color is black, on the muzzle it turns into roan-yellow. On the chest there is usually a large whitish or reddish horseshoe-shaped spot, resembling in shape and color rising Sun. A nocturnal animal, it often sleeps all day or sunbathes in the branches of trees, where it builds a kind of nest for itself.
Dimensions: The smallest representative of the bear family: it does not exceed 1.5 m in length (plus a 3-7 cm tail), height at the withers is only 50-70 cm; weight 27-65 kg.
By the way: Biruangs are one of the most rare species bears.

3. Komondor

What kind of animal: The Hungarian Shepherd is a breed of dog.
Special features: When keeping a Komondor, special care is required for its coat, the length of which can reach almost a meter. It cannot be combed, but as it grows, the formed strands must be separated so that the hair does not fall off.
Dimensions: This “king of the Hungarian Shepherds” is one of the largest dogs in the world, the height at the withers in males is more than 80 cm, and the long white hair, curled into original laces, makes the dog even more massive and impressive.
By the way: Feed this huge dog doesn't cause much difficulty. Like any herding dog, they are very unpretentious and eat very little, a little more than 1 kg of food per day.

4. Angora rabbit

What kind of animal: A rodent-type mammal.
Habitat: Where its home is, since it is a pet. More precisely - everywhere.
Special features: This animal is indeed extremely impressive; there are specimens whose fur reaches a length of up to 80 cm. This wool is very valued, and a wide variety of useful things are prepared from it, even underwear, stockings, gloves, scarves and, finally, just fabrics. A kilogram of Angora rabbit wool is usually valued at 10 - 12 rubles. One rabbit can produce up to 0.5 kg of such wool per year, but usually produces less. The Angora rabbit is most often bred by ladies, which is why it is sometimes called “ladies’ rabbit”.
Dimensions: Average weight 5 kg, body length 61 cm, chest circumference 38 cm, but variations are possible.
By the way: These rabbits should be combed every week, because if you don’t take care of their fur, they get a disgusting appearance.

5. Little panda

What kind of animal: an animal of the raccoon family.
Habitat: China, northern Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and northeastern India. Not found west of Nepal. Lives in the mountains bamboo forests at an altitude of 2000–4000 m above sea level in conditions temperate climate.
Special features: The fur of the red panda is red or nutty on top, dark, reddish-brown or black below. The hair on the back has yellow tips. The paws are glossy black, the tail is red, with inconspicuous lighter narrow rings, the head is light, and the edges of the ears and muzzle are almost white, and there is a mask-like pattern near the eyes. The red panda leads a predominantly nocturnal (or rather, twilight) lifestyle; during the day it sleeps in a hollow, curled up and covering its head with its tail. In case of danger, it also climbs trees. On the ground, pandas move slowly and awkwardly, but they climb trees very well, but, nevertheless, they feed mainly on the ground - mainly on young leaves and bamboo shoots.
Dimensions: Body length 51-64 cm, tail 28-48 cm, weighs 3-4.5 kg
By the way: Little pandas live alone. The female’s “personal” territory occupies an area of ​​about 2.5 square meters. km, the male is twice as large.

6. Sloth

What kind of animal: A partially toothed mammal belonging to the Bradypodidae family.
Habitat: found in Central and South America.
Special features: Sloths spend almost all their time hanging on a tree branch with their backs down; sloths sleep 15 hours a day. The physiology and behavior of sloths is focused on strict energy savings, because... They feed on low-calorie leaves. Digestion takes about a month. In a well-fed sloth, ⅔ of its body weight may be food in its stomach. Sloths have long necks to reach leaves over a large area without moving. The body temperature of an active sloth is 30-34 °C, and at rest it is even lower. Sloths really don’t like to get out of trees, because on the ground they are completely helpless. In addition, it requires energy. They climb down to relieve their natural needs, which they do only once a week (that’s why they have a huge bladder) and sometimes to move to another tree, where, in order to further save energy, they often gather in groups in the forks of branches. There is an assumption that at the same time they mate lazily.
Dimensions: The body weight of different species of sloths varies from 4 to 9 kg, and the body length is about 60 centimeters.
By the way: Sloths are so slow that the moth often lives in their fur.

7. Imperial Tamarina

What kind of animal: Primate, prehensile-tailed monkey.
Habitat: In the rain forests of the Amazon basin in areas of southeastern Peru, northwestern Bolivia and northwestern Brazil.
Special signs : Distinctive feature species - a particularly long white mustache, hanging down to the chest and shoulders in two strands. The toes have claws, not nails, only the big toes of the hind legs have nails. They spend most of their lives in trees, where larger species of monkeys cannot climb due to their weight.
Dimensions: Body length is 9.2-10.4 inches, tail length is 14-16.6 inches. The weight of adults is 180-250 g.
By the way: Tamarins live in groups of 2-8 individuals. All members of the group have their own rank, and at the highest level is the old female. Therefore, the males carry the cubs.

8. White-faced saki

What kind of animal: Primate, broad-nosed monkey.
Habitat: Found in rain forests, drier forests and even the savannas of the Amazon, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.
Special features: The coat color is black, the front of the head, forehead and throat of males are light, almost white. Sometimes the head is reddish in color. The fur is thick and soft, the tail is long and fluffy. The tail is not prehensile. Females have a general coloration of brown and uniform. There are lighter stripes around the nose and mouth.
Dimensions: Males weigh 1.5-2 kg and are slightly heavier than females. Body length 15 inches, tail 20 inches.
By the way: White-faced sakis spend their entire lives in trees. Sometimes they go down to the lower tier tropical forest(on the lower branches of trees and bushes) in search of food. In case of danger, they make long jumps, while the tail serves as a balancer. Active during the day and night.

9. Tapir

What kind of animal: A large herbivore from the order of equids.
Habitat: In Central America, in warm places of South America and southeast Asia.
Special features: Tapirs are relatively ancient mammals: even among the remains of animals 55 million years old, you can find many tapir-like animals. The closest animals to tapirs are other odd-toed ungulates: equines and rhinoceroses. Their front legs are four-toed, and their hind legs are three-toed; their toes have small hooves that help them move on muddy and soft ground.
Dimensions: The sizes of tapirs differ from species to species, but, as a rule, the length of a tapir is about two meters, the height at the withers is about a meter, and the weight is from 150 to 300 kg.
By the way: Tapirs are forest animals, water lovers. In forests, tapirs feed on fruits, leaves and berries. Their main enemy is man, who hunts tapirs for their meat and skin.

10. Hagfish

What kind of animal: an animal from the jawless class.
Habitat: They inhabit the seas of temperate latitudes, staying near the bottom at a depth of up to 400 m. At salinity below 29% they stop feeding, and at 25% and below they die.
Special features: The hagfish's mouth opening lacks a suction disc and is surrounded by only two pairs of antennae. By gnawing into the skin of the victim with strong horny teeth, they inject enzymes that dissolve proteins. Hagfishes most often prey on weakened vertebrate and invertebrate animals, as well as carrion. Often they find skeletons of fish covered with skin, and inside there are hagfish that have eaten all their entrails and muscles.
Dimensions: Body length up to 80 cm.
By the way: In Japan and some other countries, hagfish are eaten.

11. Star-nosed

What kind of animal: Insectivorous mammal mole family.
Habitat: Found only in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
Special features: Externally, the star-nosed snake differs from other members of the family and from other small animals only in its characteristic stigma structure in the form of a rosette or star of 22 soft, fleshy, mobile bare rays.
Dimensions: The star-nosed mole is similar in size to the European mole. The tail is relatively long (about 8 cm), covered with scales and sparse hair
By the way: When the starfish is looking for food, the fleshy rays on the stigma are in constant movement, with the exception of the two middle ones, which are directed forward and do not bend. When he eats, the rays are pulled together into a compact pile; While eating, the animal holds the food with its front paws. When the starfish drinks, it immerses both the stigma and the entire mustache in water for 5-6 seconds.

12. Proboscis

What kind of animal: A species of primate from the subfamily of slender-bodied monkeys in the family Ape.
Habitat: Distributed exclusively on the island of Borneo, where it inhabits coastal regions and valleys.
Special features: The most striking feature of the proboscis is its large nose, similar to a cucumber, which, however, is only found in males. The fur of proboscis dogs is yellowish-brown on the upper side, and colored brown on the underside. White color. Arms, legs and tail gray, and the hairless face is red.
Dimensions: The size of proboscis monkeys reaches from 66 to 75 cm, the tail is approximately as long as the body. The weight of males ranges from 16 to 22 kg, twice the weight of females.
By the way: Nosachi excellent swimmers, jumping into the water directly from trees and able to overcome up to 20 meters while diving underwater. Of all primates, they are perhaps the best swimmers.

13. Lesser frill

What kind of animal: Family of mammals of the order edentates.
Habitat: Armadillos inhabit steppes, deserts, savannas and forest edges of Central and South America.
Special features: These are the only modern mammals whose body is covered on top with a shell formed by skin ossifications. The shell consists of the head, shoulder and pelvic shields and a number of hoop-like stripes encircling the body from above and from the sides. The parts of the shell are interconnected by elastic connective tissue, which gives mobility to the entire shell.
Dimensions: Body length from 12.5 (frilled armadillos) to 100 cm (giant armadillo); weight from 90 g to 60 kg. Tail length from 2.5 to 50 cm.
By the way: The respiratory tract of armadillos is voluminous and serves as a reservoir of air, so these animals can hold their breath for 6 minutes. This helps them cross bodies of water (often armadillos simply cross them along the bottom). The air taken into the lungs compensates for the weight of the heavy shell, allowing the armadillo to swim.

14. Axolotl

What kind of animal: The larval form of an amphibian from the Ambystomaceae family.
Habitat: In mountain ponds of Mexico.
Special features: Long, shaggy branches grow on the sides of the axolotl’s head, three on each side. These are gills. Periodically, the larva presses them to the body and shakes them to clean them of organic residues. The axolotl's tail is long and wide, which helps it when swimming. It is interesting that the axolotl breathes with both gills and lungs - if the water is poorly saturated with oxygen, then the axolotl switches to pulmonary breathing, and over time its gills partially atrophy.
Dimensions: Total length - up to 30 cm.
By the way: Axolotls lead a very calm, measured lifestyle, without bothering themselves with unnecessary expenditure of energy. They lie calmly on the bottom, sometimes, wagging their tail, they rise to the surface of the water “for a breath of air.” But this is a predator that attacks its prey from ambush.

15. Aye-aye

What kind of animal: the largest animal of their nocturnal primates.
Habitat: Eastern and northern Madagascar. Lives in the same ecological niche as woodpeckers.
Special features: It has a brown color with white speckles and a large fluffy tail; like woodpeckers, it feeds mainly on worms and larvae, although it was initially believed - because of their teeth - that they eat like rodents.
Dimensions: Weight - about 2.5 kg. Length - 30-37 cm without tail and 44-53 cm with tail.
By the way: One of the rarest animals on the planet - several dozen individuals, which is why it was discovered relatively recently.

16. Alpaca

What kind of animal: an animal of the camel family.
Habitat: Peru, Bolivia, Chile, at an altitude of over 3500-5000 meters.
Special features: Valued primarily for its wool (24 natural shades), which has all the properties of sheep, but is much lighter in weight. 5 kg of wool is sheared from one individual; they are sheared once a year. The absence of front teeth forces alpacas to pick up food with their lips and chew with their lateral teeth. A very good-natured, intelligent, inquisitive animal.
Dimensions: Alpaca height is 61-86 cm, and weight is 45-77 kg.
By the way: The Indians believed that in order for an alpaca's wool to be blessed, it was necessary to kill it by tearing its heart out of its chest. Nowadays this is considered barbaric, but cases when several men hold an alpaca while someone cuts out a heart from its chest still occur.

17. Tarsier

What kind of animal: a mammal from the genus of primates.
Habitat: Tarsiers live in Southeast Asia, primarily on the islands.
Special features: Tarsiers are particularly distinguished by their long hind limbs, large head that can rotate almost 360°, and good hearing. The fingers are extremely long, the ears are round and bare. The soft wool has a brown or grayish tint. However, the most noticeable feature is the large eyes, up to 16 mm in diameter. When projected onto human height, tarsiers correspond to the size of an apple.
Dimensions: Tarsiers are small animals, their height ranges from 9 to 16 cm. In addition, they have a bare tail with a length of 13 to 28 cm. Weight varies from 80 to 160 grams.
By the way: In the past, tarsiers played a big role in the mythology and superstition of the peoples of Indonesia. The Indonesians thought that the heads of tarsiers were not attached to the body (since they could rotate almost 360°), and were afraid to encounter them, because they believed that the same fate could happen to people in this case.

18. Dumbo Octopus

What kind of animal: A small and peculiar deep-sea octopus, a representative of cephalopods.
Habitat: Found in the Tasman Sea.
Special features: Apparently he got his nickname in honor of the famous cartoon character - the baby elephant Dumbo, who was ridiculed for his large ears (in the middle of the body the octopus has a pair of rather long, paddle-shaped fins resembling ears). Its individual tentacles are literally connected to the ends by a thin elastic membrane called the umbrella. It, together with the fins, serves as the main mover of this animal, that is, the octopus moves like jellyfish, pushing water out from under the umbrella bell.
Dimensions: the found octopus is half the size of a human palm.
By the way: Little is known today about the varieties, habits and behavior of these octopuses.

19. frilled lizard

What kind of animal: A lizard from the agamidae family.
Habitat: Northwestern Australia and southern New Guinea. There it lives in dry forests and forest-steppes.
Special features: Coloration from yellow-brown to black-brown. Distinguished by its long tail, which is two-thirds the length of the body frilled lizard. However, the most noticeable feature is the large collar-shaped fold of skin located around the head and adjacent to the body. The fold contains numerous blood vessels. The frilled lizard has strong limbs and sharp claws.
Dimensions: The length of the frilled lizard ranges from 80 to 100 cm, females are significantly smaller than males.
By the way: When in danger, it opens its mouth, sticks out its brightly colored collar (it can stand up to 30 cm from the body), stands on its hind legs, makes hissing sounds and hits the ground with its tail - which makes it seem scarier and more dangerous than it is.

20. Narwhal

What kind of animal: a unicorn, a mammal of the unicorn family.
Habitat: The narwhal lives in high latitudes - in the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic.
Special features: In the size and shape of the body, pectoral fins and dark coloration of the suckers, narwhals are similar to beluga whales, however, adult individuals are distinguished by spotting - grayish-brown spots on a light background, which sometimes merge - and the presence of only 2 upper teeth. Of these, the left one develops in males into a tusk up to 2-3 m long and weighing up to 10 kg, twisted in a left-hand spiral, while the right one usually does not erupt. The right tusk in males and both tusks in females are hidden in the gums and develop rarely, in about one case out of 500.
Dimensions: The body length of an adult narwhal is 3.5-4.5 m, newborns are about 1.5 m. The weight of males reaches 1.5 tons, of which about a third of the weight is fat; females weigh about 900 kg.
By the way: It’s not exactly clear why a narwhal needs a tusk, but not to break through a crust of ice. This tusk is a sensitive organ and presumably allows the narwhal to sense changes in pressure, temperature and relative concentration of suspended particles in the water. By crossing their tusks, narwhals apparently clear them of growths.

21. Madagascar suckerfoot

What kind of animal: Chiropteran mammal.
Habitat: Found only in Madagascar.
Special features: On the bases of the thumbs of the wings and on the soles of the hind limbs, sucker bats have complex rosette suckers, which are located directly on the skin (unlike the suckers on sucker-footed bats).
Dimensions: Small animal: body length 5.7 cm, tail 4.8 cm; weight 8-10 g.
By the way: The biology and ecology of suckerfoot has been practically unstudied. Most likely, it uses rolled up leathery palm leaves as shelters, to which it sticks with its suckers. All suckers were caught close to the water. Listed in the Red Book with the status “vulnerable”.

22. Pygmy marmoset

What kind of animal: One of the smallest primates, belongs to broad-nosed monkeys.
Habitat : South America, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador.
Special features: The marmoset's nostrils are directed forward, and its nose is large and wide.
Dimensions: The weight of an adult does not exceed 120 g.
By the way: Lives well in captivity. When kept, it requires a constant temperature of 25-29 degrees, slightly higher humidity of 60%.

23. Blob fish

What kind of animal: fish, scientific name Psychrolutes marcidus.
Habitat: lives in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, found in deep waters (about 2800 m) of the coast of Australia and Tasmania.
Special features: Drop fish live at depths where the pressure is several tens of times higher than at sea level, and in order to maintain viability, the body of the drop fish consists of a gel-like mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows fish to swim above the seabed without expending energy to swim.
Dimensions: Maximum body length is about 65 cm.
By the way: Lack of muscles is not a disadvantage, since the blob fish feeds on prey that swims around it.

24. Platypus

What kind of animal: A waterfowl mammal of the order Monotreme.
Habitat: Australia.
Special Features: Its most curious quality is that it has a duck's beak instead of an ordinary mouth, allowing it to feed in the mud like birds."
Dimensions: The body length of the platypus is 30-40 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, it weighs up to 2 kg. Males are about a third larger than females.
By the way: The platypus is one of the few poisonous mammals; it is generally not fatal to humans, but it causes very severe pain, and swelling develops at the injection site, which gradually spreads to the entire limb; pain can last for many days or even months.

25. Shoebill or royal heron

What kind of animal: A bird of the wavy order.
Habitat: Africa.
Special features: The shoebill’s neck is not very long and thick. The head is large, with a small and, one might say, sloppy crest at the back of the head. The beak is massive and very wide, somewhat swollen. There is a hanging hook at the end of the beak. The shoebill's plumage is generally dark gray, with powdery down on the back, but no such down on the chest. The legs are long and black. The shoebill has a short tongue; There is no muscular stomach, but the glandular one is very large.
Dimensions: Shoebill is a large bird, in a standing position it has a height of 75-90 cm; wing length 65-69 cm.
By the way: This lethargic bird often stands completely still, holding its large beak on its chest. The shoebill feeds on various aquatic animals - fish, crocodiles, frogs and small turtles.

Tarsier

Viral videos of this animal are circulating on the Internet, so many people may know him. It is a nocturnal animal that is found in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. This is the only one complete predator among primates, known to scientists. Its eyes are disproportionately large, and although they are attached to the skull, they do not fit into the eye sockets. The tarsier has the largest eyes of any animal, based on the ratio of eye size to body size. Each eye of this animal weighs more than its brain. As a result, tarsiers see very well in the dark, and are able to see ultraviolet light. True, they practically do not distinguish colors, which applies to most nocturnal animals.

Chameleons

Chameleons also have very interesting eyes - their eyelids are fused with their eyes, and cover almost the entire eyeball except for a small hole in the center. Each eye can move independently of each other, so the chameleon can monitor several sources of danger at once, or several potential victims. It is worth noting that the chameleon’s field of vision is 360 degrees; it has no “dead” zones. Chameleons are able to see ultraviolet light.

Dragonflies

Dragonflies have the most complex eyes among insects, and probably among all animals. The fact is that the eyes of dragonflies are complex composite organs of vision, which consist of more than 30 thousand individual facets, elementary “eyes”. A dragonfly can see from the front, the back, and the sides. In other words, her field of vision is 360 degrees. As a result, the dragonfly can track the source of danger or keep an eye on prey. Dragonflies see everything in color, and they also see polarized light.

Some species of dragonflies see at dusk, in weak light, distinguishing the smallest details where the human eye no longer sees anything at all. Dragonflies also have three small eyes that react exclusively to movement by signaling the motor center. As a result, the dragonfly instantly reacts to the movement of, for example, prey; the reaction occurs in a split second.

Leaf-tailed gecko

This species of gecko has very unusual eyes, which consist of dispersive pupils divided into vertical and horizontal series. This feature allows leaf-tailed geckos to see color differences very well in the dark, unlike most nocturnal animals.

In order to understand how well such geckos see in the dark, it is worth pointing out that cats, for example, see about 6-10 times better than humans. But geckos of this species see in the dark 350 (!) times better than humans.

Giant squid

More recently, it was still believed that the giant squid was a fiction. But now scientists know this type of squid well, and are well aware of the structure of their body. It is known that squids of this species have the largest eyes in the animal world. The diameter of the eye reaches 30 centimeters, which is larger than, for example, a dinner plate. The pupil is larger than the size of an orange. The structure and dimensions allow giant squid to see even where eternal darkness reigns, squids catch the weakest rays of light.