Humans are proud for their intelligence and mental capabilities. But, there are some animals which are great for some of the feats they do. These animals have some kind of superpowers which the human beings do not have. Few common animals like eagle, elephant, humming-bird and cheetah have some superpowers but the animals in this list we see today have incredibly shocking superpowers. Number 5 and 3 are just fantastic. They are X-men mutants.
Let’s check the 10 amazing animals with real superpowers:
10. Naked Mole Rat, Pain & Cancer Resistance
The biggest quality of a superhero is their ability to resist pain. The naked mole rats are not like the common rats we find in our streets and houses. The naked mole rats are native of East Africa and are the only species under the genus Heterocephalus. This cold-blooded mammal lives in a harsh underground environment. Even more shocking is the fact that they are completely invulnerable to cancer. They also show extreme resistance to oxygen deprivation. Naked mole rats are the longest living rodent in the world. Scientists are still doing research on their DNA to understand and replicate the DNA in humans.
9. Bombardier Beetle, Eject Chemical Spray with Sound
Bombardier beetle is a strange beetle which inhabits all over the world except Antarctica. The strange thing about this little insect is the defense mechanism. In the event of disturbance, the insect ejects hot noxious chemicals with a popping sound. They shoot the toxic chemical from the tip of their abdomen. The evolutionary history of this distinctive defense mechanism is unknown. There are several species of the bombardier beetle and the most dangerous one is the African bombardier beetle. The chemicals in the bombardier’s abdomen reacts, boils, and ejects with a popping sound which is similar to that of the propulsion system of Germany’s V-1 in World War II. The spray has temperatures around 100 degrees centigrade which are enough to kill or smoke smaller animals and scare the larger ones.
8. Tuatara, Third Eye
Tuatara may look like a lizard, but they are not lizards. They are one of the oldest known reptiles on Earth. They were on Earth when the dinosaurs were roaming. It is the only surviving species of the Sphenodontia genus which was on Earth around 200 million years ago. They are older than all the modern lizards and snakes we see today.
What is so strange about this reptile? It has a third eye! There are many animals with a third eye – salamanders, few lizards, frogs, sharks and fishes. What is so special about tuatara? The uncommon eye on their forehead is hidden by scales, has a lens, a cornea, a retina and even connects to the brain via primitive optic nerves. The exact purpose of this eye is unknown. Some scientists believe that it is to detect threats from above through the shadows. Interestingly, they are the only reptile to better tolerate cold weather.
7. Mantis Shrimp, Powerful Claws
Mantis shrimps are incredibly powerful animal which grow only 3.9 in in length. This small shrimp is powerful enough to break an aquarium glass. This is done with the help of their clubs. The mantis shrimp can accelerate their clubs at a speed of 80 km per hour which in turn produces a force of 700 N. They produce tremendous energy to break open the aquarium glass with a single blow. The powerful claws are also used by the mantis shrimp to kill, dismember or stun their prey. The animal has different names such as the “prawn killers”, “sea locusts” and “thumb splitters”.
6. Dragon Millipedes, Shoot Hydrogen Cyanide
This tiny and vibrant looking millipede has a superpower to shoot hydrogen cyanide from its mouth. This colorful millipede is toxic and spiny. The vivid pink color creature was first described in 2007. The dragon millipedes can grow up to 1.2 in. It smells like an almond because of cyanide. They are highly toxic as this tiny creature can easily become lethal to humans and other animals. They use this as a defense mechanism to protect from their predators.
5. Turritopsis Jellyfish, Immortality
This is the immortal animal on planet Earth. This small, biologically immortal jellyfish is found in the waters of Japan and in the Mediterranean Sea. They are the only animal to completely revert back to childhood after attaining reproductive maturity. They were first found in the Mediterranean Sea in 1883. The turritopsis jellyfish are extremely tiny, only 4 millimeters to 5 millimeters long. Scientists find this little animal amazing due to the immortality. Scientists are still studying them closely to know more. Due to their immortality, these animals might be slowly invading the world.
4. Pistol Shrimp (Snapping Shrimp), Stun gun
Alpheidae is the scientific name of the snapping shrimp. As the name says, these shrimps are capable of producing loud snapping sound. Another name of this animal is pistol shrimp because of their ability to produce powerful snapping sound (an amazing 210 decibels) and an even powerful jet of bubbles from their claws. The jet of powerful bubbles is strong enough to stun other bigger fishes, kill few smaller animals or break a small glass jar. Incredibly, this absurd animal generates temperatures of 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit from the jet of bubbles for a fraction of a second. That is as hot as the surface of the sun. Another interesting power of pistol shrimp is to reverse their claws and their ability to regenerate their lost claws. This little animal has a natural working gun in front of the mouth, basically a stun-gun.
3. Mimic Octopus, Extreme Mimicking
Mimic octopus is the only known animal that can imitate a diverse range of life forms and non-living objects to elude its predators. They are extremely capable of blending with their environments to take shape and color of the rocks and corals. Mimic octopus uses a pigment sac known as chromatophores to take the skin color and texture of its nearby environment. Some of the common animals the mimic octopus imitates are lion fish, sea snake, jellyfish and flatfish. The animal with this superpower is widely available in the western and central Indo-Pacific.
2. Axolotl, Extreme Regeneration
Axolotl is a weird-looking amphibian known as the Mexican walking fish or as a Mexican salamander. In one of the angles it looks like a fish and in another it looks like a lizard or salamander. They have become an ideal animal model because of their similarities between axolotl and human neural plate and tube formation. The fascinating fact about axolotl is their extreme capabilities to re-grow their body parts. There are several animals which can regenerate their body parts, but axolotl is the most extreme of them all. Absolutely amazing is that they can regrow their brain parts. Not just brain, but limbs, eyes, heart and can even grow back more than one limb.
1. Space Bears (Water Bears), Extreme Resilience
Space Bears, known as Tardigrades are incredible animals with extreme resilient powers. Probably they are not from Earth. These animals can withstand temperature ranges from 1 K (−458 °F; −272 °C) (close to absolute zero) to about 420 K (300 °F; 150 °C). Space bears are the only animals that can survive on space. They are also known as water bears because, these animals can survive six times the pressure found in the deepest ocean trenches in the world. This “alien” animal can go without food and water for 30 years. They are the only animal to be found in the equator and poles. The animal is able to survive even toxic environments.
This incredible animal was first discovered by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in the year 1773. Tardigrades are one of the few species to have survived mass extinctions that Earth has faced. They are able to survive harsh environments by breaking down their DNA and repairing the DNA when the environment is favorable. An animal with real shocking superpower!