You may have seen the Axolotl before in a popular internet meme or two. If you’ve ever wondered what this creature is, it is a salamander, otherwise known as The Mexican Walking Fish. Despite its name, it is an amphibian rather than a fish. It was originally discovered in lakes surrounding Mexico City.
Unfortunately, over the past decade, these rare creatures reached a state of being at critical risk of extinction, as they were being sold as food. The Axolotl has a unique ability to regenerate limbs, which makes them primary targets for research by scientists who want to develop the same ability in humans.
Mexican Mole Lizard
Meet the Mexican mole lizard. This long, bizarre, and legless lizard has small T-Rex arms and is one of the only four amphisbaenians in the world that actually has legs. It can be found in Baja California, right on the border of the state of California, and tends to be out in the open during midsummer. They might be a creepy sight to behold, but they aren't dangerous in any way.
The Mexican mole lizard mostly eats ants, termites, underground insects, and worms. Highly suited for deserts, it likes to hunt during the day and sleep underground during the night. Like many lizards, one of its main escape tactics is to shed and later regrow its skin. Mexican mole lizards are fairly long and can reach up to 9.4 inches in length.
Sri Lanka Frogmouth
One of the more exotic and beautiful birds on our list is the Sri Lankan frogmouth, a bird with an extremely unique and beautiful head. It tends to resemble an owl more than a frog, but often appears to be smiling due to the curvature of its beak. You can find this species in South India, among many other unique birds and animals.
It's one of the more captivating birds to look at, and we highly recommend looking out for them if you ever find yourself in an Indian forest. One of the most distinctive features of the Sri Lanka frogmouth is its unique mating call, which can typically be heard from dusk until dawn.
Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise
Male birds go a long way in order to guarantee their chances of mating with females of their kind. Some of these birds will learn how to sing, while others grow very eccentric kind of feathers. The Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise also does his best to impress the ladies, by turning into a weird alien creature with mesmerizing blue eyes.
This bird is equipped with black and blue feathers which he extends in order to create an arch shape when he wants to attract a mate. When it wishes to do so, it will dance around a female and face her with his pitch-black side. We're not sure how this is attractive to the female bird, but eh, to each his own.
Hoatzin
The Hoatzin is one of the weirder birds on our list and managed to accumulate a respectable list of nicknames, including the reptile bird, the skunk bird, and even the stinkbird. This bird reaches up to 26 inches in length and has a unique feather structure on its head that makes it look like a teenager on a first date.
Its mohawk is actually a defensive mechanism and helps it scare away predators, probably by implying that its head is spiky and dangerous. Scientists don't know a lot about the origin or evolution of this bird, but we have sent a recommendation to classify it as the world's first heavy-metal bird species.