I need the weirdest most fantastical animals on Earth

[Inkidu]

Hey everyone, I need to subsidize a little research for a novel idea. I've been doing it on my own but it takes forever and is basically me looking up animals I already know about. So here's where I need a little of your time to go out into the great wilds of google and find interesting animals that exist or have existed on this planet. Here's why:

I have an idea for a fantasy setting with no magic where humans still have to fight all the mythical beasts. I wanted to create everything fantasy but without the ever present threat of being able to say, "A wizard did it."

So I need to extrapolate a lot of real-world biology into redesigns of classic fantasy creatures. Like I figured out dragons because of recent discoveries about flying dinosaurs. I also have a redesigned race of kobolds based on armadillos because I think that'd be adorable.

So if you have knowledge of weird, amazing or fantastical things creatures of this planet can and have done. I have a whole fantasy environment that would thank you.

[Argyros]

Hi Inkidu,

I like the concept of this thread; it's like a "bestiary" for mythical inspiration.  I might continue to contribute to this thread in the future  :-)

I've included a list of various extant and extinct creatures with factoids for your perusal. Enjoy!

Regards,

Argyros

Mammals

Markhor
Capra falconeri

The markhor is a species of goat native to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Himalayas. This creature’s name is derived from the Persian words mar (snake) and khor (eater), which can refer to its ability to kill snakes or its spiralling horns, which can grow up to 160 cm (63 in) in length. In spring, males and females can be found grazing as a herd in the meadows and vales. During the summer, the males and females separate into forest and mountain areas, respectively.

Lowland Streak Tenrec
Hemicentetes semispinosus

Tenrecs are small mammals native to Africa and Madagascar. They closely resemble hedgehogs, shrews and mice due to convergent evolution, yet are not related. This creature is nocturnal and has poor eyesight, instead using its sensitive whiskers to hunt at night. The hard, keratinous quills on this creature’s back create a high frequency sound when rubbed together, which serves as a warning signal to predators.

Malayan Colugo
Galeopterus variegatus

The colugo is an arboreal gliding mammal native to Southeast Asia. These creatures are considered to be the most efficient gliders of all gliding mammals, using their patagium to travel within the forest canopy. They can glide over 100 metres in the air with minimal loss of elevation. Despite their arboreal lifestyle, colugos are poor climbers as they lack opposable thumbs required for gripping objects.

Water Opossum
Chironectes minimus

The water opossum (syn. yapok) is a marsupial native to Central and South America. This diurnal, semi-aquatic creature is adapted for hunting in rivers by using its webbed feet and water-repellant fur to prey on fish, amphibians and crustaceans. This creature is the only living marsupial species where both sexes have a pouch; it shares this trait with its extinct relative, the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus).

Giant Pangolin
Smutsia gigantea

Giant pangolins are the largest species in their genus, measuring approximately 140 cm (4.6 ft) in length and 33 kg (~73 lbs) in weight. Their body is covered in thick, hard scales made of keratin that constitute 20% of their body weight. Pangolins have large claws adapted for digging and small, conical heads that lack teeth. In lieu of mastication, its stomach muscles are extremely strong with endogenous keratinous spines and small stones that help mash and grind up food, much akin to a bird's gizzard. Despite their appearance, pangolins are not a member of the Xenarthra (True Anteaters, Sloths and Armadillos) and are instead classified under Pholidota (Pangolins). Phlyogenetic evidence suggests that the closest relatives of the pangolin are members of the Carnivora (Cats, Dogs, Hyena, Bears, Seals).

Birds

Secretary Bird
Sagittarius serpentarius

The secretary bird is a terrestrial raptor native to Sub-Sahara Africa. The scientific name is derived from the Latin Sagittarius ("archer") and serpentarius, which references the bird's habit of hunting snakes. This avian hunts reptiles in the savannah, using its strong legs to pack a powerful kick of approximately 20 kg (195 N) of force. The kick itself only lasts 15 ms (0.015 s), which is ten times faster than blinking.

Superb Lyrebird
Menura novaehollandiae

The lyrebird is a passerine avian native to Australia. The common name of this species is derived from the aesthetic of its elaborate tail feathers, which resemble a lyre. This creature is one of the world’s largest songbirds and is renowned for its mastery of mimicry; it uses its complex vocal chords to copy the sounds it hears, from construction noises to car alarms to video game sound effects.

Birds of Paradise
Paradisaeidae

The birds of paradise are a group of divergent avians native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. This family of sexually dimorphic Passeriformes exhibit some of the most extravagant mating rituals and behaviours amongst the avian class, especially intricate, ritualistic dances by the brightly plumaged males.

Reptiles

Mata Mata
Chelus fimbriata

The mata mata is a species of freshwater turtle native to South America, predominantly found in the Amazon. When hunting, this creature lays motionless and uses suction feeding to catch its prey. It opens its jaw as wide as possible, creating a low-pressure vacuum that sucks prey into its mouth; when it shuts its jaw, water is expelled and the prey is swallowed whole.

Longisquama
Longisquama insignis

Longisquama insignis is an extinct species of reptile that lived in the Triassic Period (~237 Ma). These creatures were believed to be arboreal, living in the canopies of trees. The long, feather-like appendages along their spine were vaned, which may have assisted the reptilian in gliding as a means of travel. Scientists have also speculated that the appendages exhibited other functionalities as a mating display, warning signal or thermal regulator.

Armadillo Girdled Lizard
Ouroborus cataphractus

The armadillo girdled lizard is a desert reptile native to South Africa. The females are viviparous, which means they give live birth to offspring. Females may also feed their young, which is considered highly unusual for a lizard. The males are extremely territorial and will defend their area, especially if females are nearby. The genus name Ouroborus refers to both its defence mechanism and the mythical ouroborus, an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.

Fish

Leafy Sea Dragon
Phycodurus eques

The leafy seadragon is a species of marine fish native to Australia. This creature uses mimicry to camouflage itself as floating seaweed in order to avoid detection from predators. Despite its numerous lobes, only two fins are used for locomotion; one pectoral fin on the ridge of its neck and one dorsal fin near its tail. Both of these fins are nearly transparent and exhibit diminutive undulation, making it very difficult to see.

Whorl Shark
Helicoprion bessonowi

Helicoprion is an extinct genus of eugeneodontid, holocephalid fish that swam the oceans in the Permian Age (~290 Ma). All species exhibit commonality in the arrangment of their teeth, called "tooth whorls". Due to lack of fossil preservation, scientists can only create educated guesses about its anatomy, behaviour and other habits.

Green Sawfish
Pristis zijsron

The green sawfish is a species of ray native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The common name of this creature is derived from its flattened rostrum, which is lined with a single row of teeth that gives it the appearance of a saw. The rostrum is used to hunt and capture prey. Unlike sharks, the teeth of the sawfish are irreplaceable and only grow larger throughout its life cycle.

Pacific Viperfish
Chauliodus macouni

This creature is one of the deepest predatory ichthyes in the ocean, hunting in the bathypelagic zone (1,000 – 4,000 m). At night, these fish migrate to the mesopelagic zone (200 – 1,000 m) where food is more plentiful. It exhibits photophores along its flank, which create a source of bioluminescence in the oceanic abyss. According to researchers, this luminescence may aid in a variety of behavioural functions including mating, territoriality, hunting formation and conspecific aggregation or as a defence mechanism to warn or blind predators. Its body does not have scales, instead covered in a thick, transparent substance.

Spotted Handfish
Brachionichthys hirsutus






Handfish are slow moving, benthic ichthyes that prefer to “walk” rather than swim by using highly dextrous pectoral fins to manoeuvre across the sea floor. These creatures live in microhabitats such as depressions and ripple formations with rocks and shells to avoid predators.

Molluscs

Blue Angel
Glaucus atlanticus

Despite their fish-like appearance, these creatures are actually sea slugs that use surface tension to stay afloat and wind currents to traverse the ocean in the pelagic zone. They use countershading as camouflage, with their blue posterior facing the sky and their silvery anterior facing the ocean.

Dumbo Octopus
Grimpoteuthis

This cute cephalopod is a type of pelagic umbrella octopus that lives near the surface of the ocean, using its two “ear” flaps to propel itself through the water. These creatures do not possess ink sacs, instead using chromatophore cells to change colour and blend in with their environment.

Sea Bunny
Jorunna parva

This adorable gastropod is one of sixteen species in the family Discodorididae, aptly named due to its resemble to a rabbit. Its "ears" are chemosensory organs called rhinophores, which act as sensory receptacles for taste and scent. Its "fur" is known as caryophyllidae, which is composed of fleshy protuberances called papillae and spicules, both of which provide sensory functionality.

Crustaceans

Ausubel’s Mighty Claw Lobster
Dinochelus ausubeli

This titular crustacean’s moniker is aptly named due to its large, toothed appendage. Its scientific name is derived from the Greek words dinos (terrible) and chela (claw); ausbeli refers to environmental scientist, Jesse. H. Ausubel. This newly discovered species is completely blind, although scientists are still uncertain as to the true purpose of its large claw; speculations have alluded to the claw being a defense mechanism, a mating display or a thermal regulator.

Giant Isopod
Bathynomus giganteus

These benthic crustaceans grow up to 50 centimetres (~20 in) in length and are the quintessential species of deep-sea gigantism, as they are far larger than the average isopod species that are up to 5 centimetres (2 in) in length. Giant isopods are opportunistic scavangers and have four sets of jaws in which they masticate (chew) their food.

Insects

Orchid Mantis
Hymenopus coronatus

This member of the Mantodea uses its mastery of disguise to camouflage itself as an orchid flower to lure in prey. In addition to their mimicry, these insects use chromatophore cells to change colour along a specific spectrum (white – pink – brown) to blend in with their environment.

Common Scorpion Fly
Panorpa communis

These chimeric creatures scavenge dead insects from spider webs and exuded tree sap for their source of food. Even though these insects have functional wings, they prefer to mate and hunt on the ground. The males are equipped with unique genitalia resembling a scorpion tail; despite its appearance, it is not a stinger – it is used exclusively for mating.

Hickory Horned Devil
Citheronia regalis





Despite their appearance, regal walnut moth larvae are harmless; their barbs do not exude poison nor do they sting. As adults, they have vestigial mouthparts and are nonfeeding. Consequently, the lifespan of an adult moth is approximately one week.

[Inkidu]

Thanks for the finds. I'm especially interested in creatures with strange biological quirks, too, even if they don't look exactly the part. Regardless, it's much appreciated and helps give me avenues of research to head down.

[Sain]

Funniest Quirk I've heard of is these EXPLODING ANTS. A species of kamikaze bombers basically.

[Nachtmahr]

Thanks for the finds. I'm especially interested in creatures with strange biological quirks, too, even if they don't look exactly the part. Regardless, it's much appreciated and helps give me avenues of research to head down.

Ribbon worms are the real cosmic horrors. If you need something terrifying and repulsive in your setting, these should be right up your alley! When hunting for food, they shoot out a sticky, vein-like web that, among some species, spread in random directions, grabbing whatever they can find.

ICKY! - Ribbon/Proboscis worm doing its thing.

[Tolvo]

I've been debating whether or not to respond, because I know many but also I hate seeing many of them! I know a lot about animals and draw on them a lot in world building and monster design(Especially deep sea creatures). Many have already been posted(I fucking hate the Viper Fish!) but I'll post the ones I didn't spot being posted yet. You can look up additional pictures of them but I won't they're too freaky!

LOTS OF FREAKY SCARY THINGS AHEAD

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican_eel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcastic_fringehead

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroscopus_guttatus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiacanthus_atlanticus - Pictured Below

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccopharyngiforms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_shark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin_shark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swallower - Pictured below

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp - They're cute but a bit alien and can punch so hard it stuns and kills other fish at a distance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annelid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moray_eel - Inspiration for the Xenomorph's second mouth in their jaw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stareater_(fish)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barreleye - The wiki page doesn't do it justice, it's head is clear and organs are visible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lophius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychaete

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk - The wasp that injects larva into spiders that then eat them from the inside out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botfly - Fly that injects maggots into organisms that eat their way out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymothoa_exigua - A parasitic Isopod that eats the tongues of fish and replaces them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacculina - Of the type of parasite that eats and replaces sex organs of organisms, called castrator parasites.

There are many but I'll stop for now. Parasites are a good place to draw from.

[Oniya]

A little surprised no one has mentioned tardigrades yet. 

While pretty harmless, these little buggers can survive damn near anything, including exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation. Tardigrades have even survived exposure to outer space.

Enlarge one of those to actual 'bear' sized, and you've got a D&D monster in the making.

[Inkidu]

A little surprised no one has mentioned tardigrades yet. 

While pretty harmless, these little buggers can survive damn near anything, including exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation. Tardigrades have even survived exposure to outer space.

Enlarge one of those to actual 'bear' sized, and you've got a D&D monster in the making.

Yeah, water bears are neat. Though I did read an otherwise forgettable science-fiction novel about alien hunters and apparently an Alpha Centaurian Tardigrades are on the order of Arrakisian sand worms.

[Tolvo]

Though if they are scaled up it wouldn't function the same though that only matters if you're going really hard science in the setting. As well they don't do well in a lot of those environments but can merely survive exposure to them for a time(For cold years, for space much shorter). It is like hibernating to preserve resources almost like freezing in carbonite or other scifi methods of long sleep though for a non-microscopic organism would resemble becoming a mummy. As it mentions they aren't true Extremophiles though you can look at lists of Extremophiles for organisms that can thrives in such environments though I think all might be single celled.

[Sain]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornean_bearded_pig

[Xyza]

How about a White Sabertooth Lion. I would love to have one as a pet. Ahahahah. It's too fantasy. Sorry but hope it helps or something. hahahah.

[Mr Quixotic]

Being an Aussie,

I'd suggest the echidna and platypus; the only monotremes or egg-laying mammals.

The Echidna

has one of the most unusual (and frightening!) reproductive systems:

"Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female's two-branched reproductive tract. Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two. ... Therefore, no one has ever seen an echidna ejaculate."

as well as other unique biological quirks

and

The Platypus

is such a unique looking creature that when the first specimen was sent back to England,

"British scientists' initial hunch was that the attributes were a hoax.[8] George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature,[9] and Robert Knox believed it might have been produced by some Asian taxidermist.[8] It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches."[10]

with many biological curiosities such as a venomous spur on its hind leg, nursing without nipples and use of electrical pulses to locate prey and navigate underwater.

(Quotes from Wikipedia)

[gaggedLouise]

I nominate the American giant beaver - sadly it went extinct just after the end of the latest glaciation, but it looks spectacular and it's easy to imagine the beast in a historical landscape. The thought of a beaver reaching two meters/seven feet in length is both grand and intimidating though... :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castoroides


Just figure the dams those creatures would have built... :)

[Sain]

Recently, I've been loving these types videos about pre-historic animals as monster inspiration. There was one about sea cow, and they're just super cool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GakZEA80xNI

[Sain]

Jewel caterpillar (Limacodidae)

[Argyros]

Eastern Emerald Elysia (Elysia chlorotica)

Elysia chlorotica

E. chlorotica is a species of sea slug that is capable of photosynthesis; it does this by assimilating the chloroplast from algae into its digestive system, and utilizing its own high surface area body to absorb solar radiation.

[Inkidu]

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank everyone for all they've been doing, and it's allowed me to come up with some pretty grounded, but fantastical ideas. Mostly it's just getting scale right. I would never have been able to find a quarter of these fantastic and strange creatures on my own; I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it, and if you want to keep them coming, I don't mind. Let it be a general thread for the wildest things that have ever lived.

Thank you all so much for all your work.

Ink

[Blythe]

Macropinna microstoma deserves a mention here, I think. They have one of the most peculiar heads I've ever seen. I think its very fantastical; it almost looks like a tiny world hidden in its head.

Also known as the 'Spook Fish'

It's got a transparent fluid-filled head and barrel-shaped eyes that rotate like binoculars. It's typically found at depths between 2,000 - 2,600 ft.

[Nico]

This is Medauroidea extradentata. Also known as "Annam walking stick".

They belong to the Phasmatodea and live primarily in the tropics or subtropics. Their natural camouflage makes them difficult for predators to detect.