Survival of the weirdest

Survival at any cost: 10 absurd yet genius ways animals outsmart nature

Image: Caz Hayek

Nature is full of surprises, and some creatures have developed downright strange ways to survive. From self-amputating lizards to rejuvenating jellyfish, evolution has produced some of the weirdest adaptations in the animal kingdom. Here are 10 of the strangest skills that help animals navigate the harsh realities of their environments.

Image: Vladyslav Cherkasenko

Tardigrades, also known as water bears, can survive extreme radiation, boiling heat, and the vacuum of space. These microscopic animals achieve this by entering cryptobiosis —a state where they lose almost all water in their bodies, effectively pausing their metabolism until conditions improve.

Image: Amos

Electric eels generate up to 600 volts to stun prey and deter threats. Their bodies contain thousands of specialized cells called electrocytes, which act like tiny batteries that discharge simultaneously, producing a powerful shock. This adaptation makes them one of nature’s most shocking hunters, capable of incapacitating fish with a single jolt.

Image: Shannon Potter

Colobopsis explodens, a species of tree-dwelling ant in Southeast Asia, has a unique defense mechanism. When threatened, worker ants rupture their own bodies, releasing a toxic, sticky substance that immobilizes enemies. This suicidal defense strategy ensures the survival of the colony, and is particularly useful against predators like other insects that invade their nests.

Image: Jelle Taman

Autotomy, or self-amputation, is a survival tactic used by many lizards, including geckos and skinks. When grabbed by a predator, they can shed their tails, which continue twitching to distract the attacker while the lizard flees. Other lizard species can even push their spiky, venomous ribs through their skin to defend themselves.

Image: David Clode

Archerfish shoot jets of water at insects to knock them into the water for an easy meal. They even adjust their aim for light refraction, a skill requiring precise calculations that rival human marksmanship.

Image: Tim Zänkert

Turritopsis dohrnii, known as the "immortal jellyfish," has a remarkable ability to escape death. Instead of dying after reaching adulthood, it can transform back into its polyp stage and start its life cycle all over again. This process, called transdifferentiation, allows it to potentially live forever unless eaten or killed by external factors.

Image: Andre Mouton

The Bombardier beetle is known for its unique defense strategy. When threatened, it sprays boiling-hot chemicals from its abdomen to deter predators. The reaction inside its body reaches near-water-boiling temperatures, releasing a toxic burst in rapid-fire sequences.

Image: Naja Bertolt Jensen

Lungfish can survive for months, even years, without water by burrowing into mud and breathing air. This species secretes a thin layer of mucus that dries into a cocoon, allowing it to live out of water for up to a year. It then breathes through its lungs until the rains return and refill its waterway.

Image: Gene Taylor

Hippopotamuses produce their own sunscreen. Unlike most mammals, hippos secrete a thick, reddish fluid that acts both as a sunscreen and as an antibiotic. This secretion, often called "blood sweat," protects their skin from the harsh African sun and helps prevent infections.

Image: Zdeněk Macháček

Glass frogs, found in Central and South America, have translucent skin that makes their internal organs visible. This adaptation helps them blend into their surroundings by breaking up their outline, making them harder to detect in moonlight or shadowy forests.

Words we use every day, but we still can’t trace back

Have you ever stopped to wonder where our everyday words actually come from? You might be surprised to learn that dude started as a way to poke fun at men who were too fastidious about their outfits. Or that we owe the word hello to Thomas Edison, who thought it was a much better choice than Alexander Graham Bell’s suggestion, "ahoy" for telephone calls. Even the word OK is the lone survivor of an 1830s game of misspelled phrases. Let's explore the hidden stories behind the words we think we know so well.

Picture New York City in the early 1880s. Back then, dude was used to describe a "fastidious man," essentially a guy obsessed with his clothes and appearance. Some researchers believe it was actually a shortened version of "Yankee Doodle," referring to the character in the famous patriotic song. It was also used to make fun of people following the "aesthetic" fashion craze of the 1880s.

In the late 1800s, a dude was any Easterner who showed up looking a little too clean in the Western region of the US. From this, we get the term dude ranch, which was first recorded around 1921 to describe ranches that hosted these city-dwelling tourists for pay. It wasn't until the mid-1960s, in African-American jargon, that dude began to lose its negative edge and became a way to refer to any male.

While it feels like it’s been around forever, hello is actually a relatively young word. Its first known appearance dates back to 1826, in a Connecticut newspaper. Linguists believe it grew out of words like "hallo" or "hollo," which were used as loud calls to get a ferryman’s attention across a river or to urge hunting dogs forward.

It’s often said that Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, wanted people to answer the telephone with "ahoy!", but American inventor Thomas Edison pushed for "hello" as a clearer option. His version caught on, and soon telephone operators were known as "hello girls," helping turn the word into the everyday greeting we still use today.

Have you ever stopped to wonder where the word OK comes from? It first appeared in 1839 as the unique survivor of US slang. During this time, it was a common joke to use abbreviations for phrases based on deliberate misspellings. For example, people would use "N.C." for "enough said" as if it were spelled "nuff ced," or "K.Y." for "no use" as if it were "know yuse." And "OK" was used for "oll korrect".

This term was later popularized during the 1840 presidential election by the "OK Club," supporters of Martin "Old Kinderhook" Van Buren, and stuck because it provided a practical way to authorize documents. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson used the spelling "okeh" under the mistaken belief that it came from a Choctaw word meaning "it is so," though there was no historical evidence to support this. That version was eventually replaced by the modern spelling "okay" appeared in 1929.

The word jazz first appeared in American English around 1912, and it actually started as baseball slang rather than a musical term. In those early days, sports writers in California used it to describe something "lively" or "energetic," which is a meaning we still carry today when we say we want to "jazz something up." It likely grew out of the 1860s slang word jasm, which meant energy, vitality, or spirit, or from even an older word, gism, which carried a similar meaning in the mid-1800s.

The term was first applied to a new style of music in Chicago in 1915, specifically referring to Tom Brown’s all-white band from New Orleans. By 1918, the word also began to mean "unnecessary talk" or "rubbish," and the famous phrase "all that jazz," meaning "et cetera," was eventually recorded around 1939.

The origin of this word is not clear, but what is certain is that in the late 1700s, a quiz wasn't a test; it was a person. It was slang for someone who acted or dressed differently from the rest. By the 1840s, this grew into a common schoolboy prank where students would play jokes at the expense of someone they considered a quiz. Eventually, the meaning shifted toward the idea of a "puzzling question" designed to make someone look a bit foolish.

Around 1852, the word was used to describe a brief examination of a student. These early quizzes were usually oral and were designed to be a "thorough review" of lectures. By 1853, medical schools even had "quiz classes," where a system of close questioning was used to help students become familiar with their subjects in a way they couldn't get anywhere else.

Where does the word dog come from? The answer is still a mystery. The word docga is traced in some English as a reference to a powerful breed of canine, but the roots of the term have not been found yet.

It has replaced the terms hound, related to the German word hund, and cur, related to the German word korren, for growling. However, by the 16th century, the word dog was adopted in many continental countries: French dogue, Danish dogge, and German Dogge. What is more, in Spanish, they use the word perro for dog, and it also has an unknown origin. Were these terms first used as slang or nicknames?

Back in the mid-1200s, the word boy didn’t mean a child at all; it was used for a "servant," "commoner," or even a "troublemaker." By around 1300, it could also mean a "rascal" or "young criminal," and only by the mid-1300s to 1400 did it start to be used for a male child.

Although there are a few theories, its exact origin is still unknown. Some link it to Old French and Latin words related to servants. Linguist Anatoly Liberman even suggests it may come from a mix of a sound for an evil spirit and a baby word for brother. In places like Ireland, Cornwall, and the American West, boy could simply mean man. From around 1600, it was also used for enslaved or servant men, no matter their age.

We are used to seeing the term bad as the direct antithesis of good. But has it always been like that? The answer is negative. The direct opposite of good was originally evil until the 1700s, and bad was used less frequently.

It also has no other language relations. It is believed to be from the Old English derogatory term baeddel and its diminutive baedling, meaning "effeminate man, hermaphrodite, predrast," which are probably related to baedan, meaning "to defile."

Another word in the ‘origin unknown’ category is big. The word was first registered in the 13th century in writings from northern England and the North Midlands, with a sense of "powerful; strong." It is believed to have roots in a Scandinavian source, where the term bugge means "great man" in Norwegian dialect_._

Big started to be part of the English daily vocabulary in the 1400s, meaning "of great size," "full-grown, grown up," or "important, influential, powerful". In the 1500s, the sense of "haughty, inflated with pride" was added, and by 1913, it was also used to mean "generous."

Around the 1300s, the word girl (spelled gyrle) meant "a child or young person," and it could refer to both boys and girls, although it was used more often for females. Its exact origin is unknown, but the Oxford English Dictionary suggests it may come from a lost Old English word (gyrele). This possible root is linked to similar words in Germany, Norway, and Sweden, all meaning "small child."

Over time, the meaning changed. By the late 1300s, girl began to mean specifically a female child. By the mid-1400s, it was also used for a young unmarried woman. In the 1640s, it could mean "sweetheart," and by 1826, old girl was used for women of any age.