There are arguably as many beautiful creatures in the world as there are creepy ones. But since they’re not as pleasant to look at, the latter might not appear on your news feed as often as puppies or kittens do.
Well, today we want to shed light on the underdogs, the eyesores, the fascinating yet at the same time disgusting creations of Mother Nature. If you think you’re brave enough to see them, scroll down to find an entire list of some of the most bizarre-looking creatures out there. But if you are squeamish about spiders, weird aquatic beings, and reptiles, among other similar things, you might want to check out some dog memes instead.
Here at Bored Panda we were curious to learn more about all sorts of weird-looking beings, so we got in touch with the evolutionary biologist and Professor at the Department of Biology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Dr. Robert Montgomerie, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. If you’re curious, too, scroll down to see what the professor had to say about them.
#1 Dead Man's Fingers Fungus. So Excited To Have Spotted This On A Recent Trail Hike (Location: Ontario, Canada)
Image credits: to_eden_rose
#2 Tupelo Trees In A Dried-Up Swamp. Really Pretty But Kind Of Creepy (George L. Smith State Park)
Image credits: grabmysquatch
#3 Aplysia Vaccaria Is A Species Of Slug Native To California And Mexico That Can Grow Up To 1 Meter In Length And Weigh 30 Pounds
Image credits: polegurl
If you’re reading this, it means that you already saw at least a few bizarre-looking beings. (Feeling alright so far?) And if you’re wondering why in the world they look the way that they do, you’re not alone; we were curious, too, so we got in touch with Prof. Robert Montgomerie, hoping to get an answer.
The professor explained that in general, the ‘appearance’ of plants and animals is shaped by natural and sexual selection, as well as simple genetic drift. “These various influences are always constrained to some extent by an organism's past history and selection can only work with the variation that is available to it.”
#4 Euphorbia Balsamifera Emerging From The Underworld
Image credits: fishbethany
#5 Welp, I’m Gonna Die. Do I Call The Army Or What?
Image credits: RealJakeyPooV
We were also wondering if the arguably weirder-looking beings usually live in more isolated areas—deeper in the ocean, for instance, or somewhere in a remote location in the jungle—as it doesn’t seem that people stumble upon something this awe-inspiring too often.
“To me there are lots of weird-looking plants and animals in my own backyard. I expect that we think that things look weird if we do not see them often, or ever. I thought that a lot of birds and mammals in Australia looked weird before I actually went there for several months; I expect that Australians did not find them to be weird-looking at all,” Dr. Montgomerie shared.
#6 Found This Coming Out Of My Sink That Had Not Been Used In A Week. It Had The Tensile Strength Of Fine Hair
Image credits: fireflyphoenix
#7 Nature Is Creepy
Image credits: thaootino
#8 Underground Nest Of Garter Snakes At A Friend's House
Image credits: Professional_Eye_480
The professor is probably right saying that certain species don’t look odd at all, when you familiarize yourself with them. But the thing is, there seems to be quite a few creatures we might not know that well, or at all, for that matter.
Take the beauty found in northern Oregon, US, for instance: just a couple of weeks ago, on June 3rd, 2024, some passersby on the beach stumbled upon a ginormous 7.3-foot-long creature washed ashore. What was first considered an ocean sunfish, or Mola mola, was later found to be a newly discovered species, known as the Mola tecta or the hoodwinker sunfish.
The New York Post reports that with the help of photographs, measurements, and tissue samples, it was researcher Marianne Nyegaard who identified the marine animal. She also suggested that it may be the largest specimen of the kind ever sampled.
#9 Found In My Dad’s Shower In Puerto Vallarta
Image credits: mfdonuts
#10 Spider Who Tried To Nest In My Ear
Image credits: Feedora69
#11 This Absolute Unit Of An Insect (Malayan Jungle Nymph)
Image credits: berserker81
Just a few days after the hoodwinker sunfish was found in Oregon, the news about another discovery regarding a different kind of unusual creature broke – remains of a fossil of the smallest known great ape were found in Germany, dating to roughly 11m years ago.
Known as Buronius manfredschmidi, the ape was estimated to have weighed just 10kg and was likely the size of a human toddler, which makes it far smaller than other hominids. According to Prof. Madelaine Böhme, a palaeontologist at the University of Tübingen leading the research, it’s unclear why the species was as small as it was, The Guardian reports. But one version is that its size allowed it to occupy a different ecological niche from its larger counterparts, while another suggests that the Buronius manfredschmidi simply represents a more ancestral version of great apes.
#12 Woke Up To See This In My Kitchen, I Live In The Middle Of The Mountains Like 500 Km From The Nearest Beach
My wife screamed as if she saw a ghost at 5 AM in the morning, turns out she went to get some water and saw this huge crab crawling in the kitchen. It's just insane.
Image credits: reddit.com
#13 Found Under My Friend’s Flower Pot, AKA The Gates Of Hell
Image credits: becauseitssociety
#14 This Wasp I Caught Flying Around My House Has An Ant Head Latched Onto Its Back Leg
Image credits: THATMAYH3MGUY
Discussing other odd-looking creatures, Prof. Montgomerie shared that the ones he thought looked rather weird when he saw them for the first time were the anglerfish (Linophryne arborifera), shoebills (Balaeniceps rex—a bird), glass frogs, goblin sharks, and naked mole rats. “I expect that they would no longer seem weird if I studied them for a while,” he added.
#15 My Tarantula Had Babies
Image credits: THEORETICAL_BUTTHOLE
#16 A Swarm Of Honeybees Looking For A New Home Decided That My Mother's Jeans Looked Comfortable. We Contacted A Local Beekeeper, And He Just Came By And Shook Them Into His Box
Image credits: BenGreaper
#17 Of All The Mutations That Could Happen
Image credits: camaro79
While some of Mother Nature’s creations are clearly more visually appealing than others, they are the way that they are for a reason, and they’re arguably all necessary in the animal kingdom.
We discussed the importance of every being—no matter how adorable or creepy-looking—with Dr. Montgomerie, who pointed out that it is a rather philosophical question that might depend on who’s answering it and how one defines what is important.
“From a biodiversity perspective, every species is important both for maintaining the ‘natural’ order and for the possible, as yet unknown, benefits to mankind,” he pointed out. “If your only interests are in human welfare, there are probably lots of species that contribute nothing to most people. Again, that’s a philosophical point of view as I feel that my own well-being is aligned with the preservation of all species and is diminished every time one of them goes extinct. I expect that that is far from the majority view. I agree with Thoreau who said 160 years ago ‘in wildness is the preservation of the world’.”
#18 This Is Idiacanthus Antrostomus, Also Known As The Pacific Blackdragon, A Type Of Dragon Fish
Image credits: connorgallagherproductions
#19 A Tree That Has Grown Around And Inside A Piece Of Spine
Image credits: seplin0902
#20 Inside A Common Starling's Mouth
Image credits: ElvisIsNotDjed
If you found this list adorable, for some reason (or curiosity-inducing, at least), rather than off-putting, you might want to check out some similar lists on Bored Panda next, such as these horrific things Mother Nature has produced or these things some people would call scary as hell. Happy scrolling!
#21 These Folks Having A Rave On My Porch
Image credits: singletonaustin
#22 Seen In Costa Rica
Image credits: kenwanepento
#23 A Wild Tokay Gecko Eating Someone's Pet Tarantula
Image credits: Volkcan
#24 Absolute Unit Of A Jerusalem Cricket, Which Is Neither From Jerusalem Nor A Cricket
Image credits: 0rigamiDragon
#25 So Some Bees Decided To Make A Hive In Between The Window And The Shutters
Image credits: Flaneur_7508
#26 Saw A Ton Of Vultures On A House Today. I'm Not Sure What This Implies. Google Says Either A Gas Leak Or A Body
Image credits: Anonymousthrow20
#27 These Are All Brown Recluse. A Man Said He Had A Lot Of Glue Traps That Looked Just Like This In His Home
Image credits: mroinkboy
#28 There Is Something Attractive And Repulsive About Crabs. Mother Nature Tried
Image credits: rfedortsov_official_account
#29 This Evil-Looking Mushroom Thing In My Yard
Image credits: Fat_sandwiches
#30 Well, That Is Some Fungus
Image credits: Markovitch12
#31 Went To Go Brush My Teeth Last Night, And
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#32 Insects Nest That Looks Like A Skull
Image credits: afdafdcuckfag
#33 Inside The Hive Of The Stingless Honey Bee Plebeia Sp
Image credits: ajiazul
#34 A Giant Swarm Of Maggots Eating A Dear Carcass On The Nature Trail Behind My House
Image credits: StatsNerdMom
#35 Something You Don’t Want To See While Driving… A Hundred Baby Spiders Crawling Up Your Leg
Image credits: bjustice13
#36 A Bunch Of Ducks Followed Me Yesterday Night. They Stopped And Stared Whenever I Turned Around
Image credits: peacesold
#37 This Nest Of Caribbean Reef Lobsters That I Came Upon During A Night Dive
Image credits: A_HECKIN_DOGGO
#38 Spider In Our Pantry
Image credits: Vico1730
#39 Found On A Dog Walk
Image credits: PiskieGreen
#40 Blue Heron About To Eat An Alligator
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#41 I'm Pretty Sure I Came Across The Scene Of A Crime This Afternoon
The smaller spider looks like a widow to me. At first, I thought it was a black widow, but it has more of a brown color, and I don't recognize the red stripe. Plus, its web is in an exposed location above a window on the outside of our house. What is it?
The bigger one (the victim, I think) is curled up, not moving, and partially wrapped in webbing. I thought it might be a tarantula, but I'm not sure. It has really fuzzy legs and body.
Image credits: Cindy Brunner
#42 This Creature Is Growing In My Backyard
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#43 That Is Wild
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#44 32 Tentacle Octopus Found In South Korea
Image credits: Calmwaterfall
#45 I Found This Guy Getting Tossed In The Surf In Kauai
Image credits: basketballboots
#46 There's Nothing Unusual About A Catfish With Teeth
Image credits: rfedortsov_official_account
#47 The Amount Of Flies Trapped In This Window Glass
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#48 Mormon Crickets At My Local Hospital
Image credits: SpicyArivataSauce
#49 Found Some Creepy Teeth
Image credits: forest_spider
#50 Flies Devouring A Gecko Still Stuck To A Pole (Okinawa, Japan)
Image credits: MrsHayashi
