Weird nature

10 animals that shouldn’t exist (but do anyway)

Published on January 7, 2026

Credit: Rachael Mbaika

Nature doesn’t always play by the rules. Some animals seem like evolutionary jokes, while others look like science experiments gone rogue. Whether it's their appearance, behavior, or biology, these 10 creatures will have you questioning reality—but every single one is real. Let’s meet them together!

The Platypus

Credit: Michael Jerrard

The platypus looks like someone smashed together a duck, beaver, and otter—and then added venom, for good measure. Native to Australia, it's one of only five monotremes, mammals that lay eggs.

Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs, capable of delivering excruciating pain. And when it hunts underwater, it closes its eyes, ears, and nostrils, relying entirely on electroreception to sense the tiny electric fields of its prey.

Axolotl

Credit: Mattias Banguese

These weird-looking guys never grow up—literally. Unlike other types of salamanders, the axolotl retains its larval features throughout life, a trait known as neoteny.

They can regrow limbs, spinal cords, parts of their heart, and even sections of their brain. Found only in lakes near Mexico City, it's critically endangered in the wild but common in labs due to its regenerative abilities.

Mantis Shrimp

Credit: Claus Giering

These tiny crustaceans pack a punch so fast it boils the water around them, creating shockwaves and cavitation bubbles. Their strikes can hit speeds of about 50 mph, with accelerations rivaling a speeding bullet.

They also have some of the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, capable of seeing polarized light and 12 color channels (for comparison, humans only have 3).

Saiga Antelope

Credit: Dasha Urvachova

Native to the Eurasian steppes, the saiga’s oversized, drooping nose looks cartoonish but serves real functions: it filters dust and regulates temperature.

Once widespread, the species is now critically endangered due to poaching and disease outbreaks that can wipe out huge populations in weeks.

Naked Mole Rat

Credit: Lara Lone

These hairless rodents—close cousins of more familiar, fur-covered mole species (pictured)—live in underground colonies with a social structure similar to bees. They're nearly immune to cancer, insensitive to pain, and can survive 18 minutes without oxygen.

Their cells have unique mechanisms for DNA repair and protein stability, making them a valuable subject in medical research, especially for aging and disease resistance.

Aye-Aye

Credit: Clement Meers

This lemur species from Madagascar uses its grotesquely long middle finger to tap on wood and fish out insects—like a skeletal woodpecker.

Locals have traditionally feared them as omens of death. Sadly, this superstition contributes to its declining population, alongside habitat loss.

Immortal Jellyfish

Credit: Albert Canite

This jellyfish can revert its cells to an earlier stage of life, effectively resetting its aging process. It doesn’t die of old age—it just starts over.

It's not truly immortal—injuries and predation can still kill it—but its ability to cheat aging is unique in the animal kingdom.

Pink Fairy Armadillo

Credit: Joe Lemm

This six-inch-long, velvety creature looks like it was designed by a plush toy company. Found mainly in Argentina, it burrows underground and is rarely spotted in the wild.

Its pink armor acts as both protection and a way to regulate body temperature. Despite its cuteness, very little is known due to its elusive, nocturnal behavior.

Goblin Shark

Credit: Wai Siew

This deep-sea shark can shoot its jaw forward at about 10 feet per second, snatching prey with lightning speed. Its long, flat snout houses special sensors to detect electric fields.

With translucent skin and a prehistoric look, it’s sometimes called a "living fossil." It’s rarely seen alive due to its deep-sea habitat.

Proboscis Monkey

Credit: Tim Morgan

With its comically large nose, the male proboscis monkey looks absurd—but females apparently find it attractive. The nose also amplifies vocalizations to assert dominance.

Native to Borneo, it’s a strong swimmer with webbed feet but is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Intention is everything

Delight your family and friends with colorful insults from days gone by!

Published on January 7, 2026

Credit: Camerauthor Photos

Dirty words have been around since forever, but what makes a word "dirty," anyway? It’s not as if certain sounds are inherently offensive—they acquire their meaning from culture, context, and taboo. Let’s look at some examples from both the present and the past. Do you use any of these?

Bobolyne

Credit: Claudio Schwarz

In Tudor times, the word bobolyne was used to mock someone as a fool or simpleton. The term likely comes from the Middle English verb bob, meaning "to cheat" or "to deceive." Interestingly, it resembles the Spanish word bobo, which also means "foolish."

Fustilarian

Credit: Jon Tyson

Shakespeare gave us the insult fustilarian in Henry IV, Part 2, where Falstaff hurls it during a tirade of colorful name-calling: "You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!" The word adds flair to his dramatic outburst.

Though its exact origin is unclear, fustilarian likely evolved from fustilugs, an old term for a fat, slovenly person.

Smelfungus

Credit: stephan hinni

In the 18th century, fellow writers Laurence Sterne and Tobias Smollett met in Italy for a short trip. Sterne was struck by Smollett’s constant criticism of the places they visited.

After the trip, Sterne wrote A Sentimental Journey and created the grumpy character Smelfungus, inspired by Smollett. The name soon became a label for anyone who always complains, especially while traveling.

Damn

Credit: Dennis Olsen

The word damn comes from the Latin damnāre, meaning "to condemn" or "to inflict loss," from damnum ("damage, harm"). It passed into Old French as damner and then into Middle English as damnen.

Originally, it carried the full religious weight of condemning someone’s soul to hell, but by the 17th century, it had also become a mild curse in everyday speech, often used for emphasis rather than literal damnation.

Sard

Credit: Andre Hunter

Long before the F-bomb, there was sard: a 10th-century Old English word used much like today’s more infamous term. It referred bluntly to sexual intercourse.

The word even appears in an Old English translation of Matthew 5:27, rendered as "ne særde oðres monnes wīf" ("don’t sard another man’s wife") instead of "don’t commit adultery."

Zounderkite

Credit: Alex 0101

In Victorian times, calling someone a zounderkite was a sly way to say they were an idiot. It was a clever insult that didn’t sound too harsh, and it could also describe someone clumsy or prone to bungling things—a perfect little word for a polite jab.

Rantallion

Credit: Steve Barker

One of the cruder insults from the 18th century, rantallion was slang for a man whose penis was shorter than his scrotum. It was used to mock and humiliate, usually targeting a man’s masculinity in a particularly vivid (and unflattering) way.

As Francis Grose defined it in his 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "Rantallion. A man whose parts are so small, that they are not worth the trouble of being named."

Bescumber

Credit: Dibakar Roy

To bescumber something meant to cover or spray it with feces—a vivid way to show disrespect. The term was often used metaphorically to suggest that something was worthless or beneath notice: after all, if you were willing to bescumber it, it couldn’t be worth much.

Fopdoodle

Credit: Slavcho Malezan

Fopdoodle was an old-fashioned way to call someone a foolish nobody—a "dumbass" in vintage form. The word blends fop (a dandy) with doodle (a simpleton), making it a perfect insult for someone all style and no sense.

Crap

Credit: Tycho Atsma

While crap doesn’t pack the same punch it once did, its roots are surprisingly earthy, starting in farming.

It comes from Old Dutch krappen ("to pluck off") and Latin crappa ("chaff"). Through Old and Middle French, it became crappe in English, meaning discarded grain or waste.

Numpty

Credit: Taha

Numpty is a slang term used to insult someone’s intelligence, similar to calling them an "idiot" or "stupid." It is still occasionally used in Britain and Scotland, often in a lighthearted or gently mocking way.

Jelly-Belly

Credit: Shubham Dhage

Jelly-belly was a Victorian insult aimed at the upper class, mocking their tendency to be overweight. At the time, obesity was relatively rare among the general population due to hard physical labor and limited access to food, which made heavier aristocrats stand out.