20 Times Evolution Made Some Wild Choices in the Animal Kingdom

Some of nature’s creations are so bizarre that we often find ourselves wondering whether we saw an insect or a weirdly-shaped flower — or if we saw a wolf, a fox, or a deer. The bottom line is: evolution doesn’t play by the rules, and it surely enjoys breaking our expectations.

Bright Side is delighted to find more and more strange creatures we share the earth with and invites you to join us.

1. The Hickory Horned Devil, one of the world’s biggest caterpillar, is the size of a hot dog.

2. Fire snails start out dull and brown but get more color as they age, getting more and more hardcore as the years pass.

3. A giant leopard moth? A snow leopard moth sounds more fitting.

4. A satanic leaf-tailed gecko — more like devilishly cute and not evil at all...

5. “A peacock spider with a picture of herself on her abdomen”

6. The tufted deer has almost no antlers but fancies vampire fangs instead!

7. A pig-nosed turtle — just look at its happy snout!

8. A giant oarfish, the longest bony fish at a record length of 56 feet

9. The scorpionfly is actually harmless and uses its stinger only to mate.

10. The Arabian sand boa looks like a small child’s best effort to draw a snake.

11. This Chinese pond turtle has a pair of horns growing out of its eyes.

12. The maned wolf is, in fact, neither wolf nor fox, but more of a wild dog.

13. This is an Eastern long-necked turtle. It’s carnivorous and uses its flexible neck to hunt.

14. The blue-tongued skink shows its tongue as a bluff-warning to enemies.

15. This is the bat-eared fox. Go on, tell her everything, she’s all ears.

16. The devil’s flower mantis mimics plants as a defense mechanism and hunting strategy.

17. The Crested Polish rooster is extremely punk rock.

18. The long-horned orb-weaver spider always carries a pair of knitting needles with it.

19. A flapjack octopus, the cutest little squish!

20. Luna moths don’t eat, live about a week, mate, and then perish.

Bonus: Jar Jar Boa

What other strange animals would you add to the list? Tell us in the comments!