Survival of the weirdest

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

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Credit: 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.

Night sky calendar

A moon for every mood: The many faces of our lunar friend

Credit: Anderson Rian

The moon isn’t just a pretty light in the night sky. Depending on when it appears, it has different names based on history, farming, and folklore. You probably know about the blue moon, but did you know there’s a "strawberry moon" and even a "wolf moon"? Let’s explore where these names come from and the stories behind them.

Credit: David Dibert

January’s full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, and if that sounds like something straight out of a spooky winter night, you’re not far off. The name comes from old European and Native American traditions, where people noticed that wolves tended to howl more during the cold, food-scarce months. While we now know that wolves don’t actually howl at the moon (stop it, Hollywood), the name stuck.

Credit: Kym MacKinnon

We know you’ve shoveled a driveway in February, so you understand why this full moon is called the Snow Moon. This chilly month often brings heavy snowfall across North America, earning the moon its frosty name.

Native American tribes and early settlers also called it the Storm Moon or the Hunger Moon, as food was often scarce in the dead of winter. The good news is that even though we don’t face the same hardships today, the Snow Moon signals that winter is coming to an end!

Credit: Alexandra Vo

You’ve probably heard the phrase "once in a blue moon," meaning something that happens rarely. Well, a Blue Moon isn’t actually blue (sorry to disappoint), but it is quite unusual.

The term dates back to the 16th century and has evolved over time, though its idiomatic meaning became widely popular in the 1940s. As for the event itself, it occurs when a single month has two full moons—something that happens only every two to three years.

Credit: uomo libero

This full moon occurs in June, and even though it’s called the Strawberry Moon, don’t expect it to turn pink or red.

This moon gets its name from the Algonquin tribes, who saw it as a signal to harvest ripening strawberries. In Europe, it’s sometimes called the Rose Moon or the Honey Moon—just like the one you take when you get married! Either way, this moon marks the start of summer, long days, and warm nights. If you ask us, that’s a true honeymoon!

Credit: Clay Banks

In the past, farmers didn’t have tractor headlights, as you can imagine, so they relied on the Harvest Moon to work late into the night.

This full moon is the one closest to the September equinox, rising shortly after sunset for several nights in a row. This provided extra light for those gathering their summer crops. The name has been around for centuries and is still used today to mark the start of autumn.

Credit: The frolicsome Fairy

Following the Harvest Moon comes the Hunter’s Moon, the first full moon after the fall equinox.

This was the time when hunters took advantage of the bright night skies to track game and stock up on meat for winter. Like the Harvest Moon, it rises early and stays bright, making nighttime hunting easier. With both harvesting and hunting, the moon proved to be quite useful, huh?

Credit: zhang kaiyv

The Beaver Moon in November marks a time when beavers get serious about winter preparations (you didn’t think people were the only ones getting ready, did you?). Around this time, they begin building lodges and stocking food before the ponds freeze over.

Some say early settlers and Native American tribes named it this because it was also the best time to set beaver traps for warm fur. Nowadays? Well, that full moon in November is your cue to stock up on blankets for the couch!

Credit: Luca

If winter ever feels like it lasts forever, you can blame it on the Long Night Moon. This full moon, the one closest to the winter solstice, appears when the nights are longest and the sun is at its weakest.

In Europe, it’s also called the Moon Before Yule, tying it to old winter solstice celebrations. Since this moon sits higher in the sky and lingers longer, it truly lives up to its name—even if we don’t like it one bit!

Credit: Alexis Antonio

A Blood Moon isn’t just a cool name (we say cool—you might say creepy); it’s a real celestial event! Luckily, it has no direct relation to blood—just the color.

This happens during a total lunar eclipse when the Earth blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon. Instead, the only light that reaches the moon is filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, giving it a reddish glow. The more dust or pollution in the air, the redder it looks. Pretty fascinating, don’t you think?

Credit: Jonathan Wheeler

Ever notice that some full moons seem bigger and brighter than others? That’s a Supermoon! Yes, that is indeed a thing, and it happens when the full moon coincides with its closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it look a bit larger and a lot brighter.

The term was first used by astrologers in the 1970s but has since become a popular way to describe these extra-dazzling moons.