1. The Axolotl (Ambystoma Mexicanum)
The Ambystoma Mexicanum or better known as the Axolotl is really cute and it looks abit like a funny pokemon. This aquatic slamander is categorized as critically endangered with only 700 to 1200 axolotls left in the wild. Wild Axolotls can be found only in lake Xochimilco and Chalco in Mexico City. However because of their amazing ability to regrow entire limbs and regenerate parts of major organs, they can be found in most labs around the world. Their ability to be extremely cute pets has them ranked as one of the most widely distributed amphibians in pet shops everywhere.
Like Peter Pan, they too never grow up! They are Neotenic , so unlike other salamanders who grow up and start walking on land, the Axolotl retain their feathery gills and stay in water for their entire lives.
You can check out more info about Axolotls here:
Biology's beloved amphibian - the axolotl - racing towards extinction
2. The Aye-Aye (Daubentonia Madagascarlensis)
It looks like a teenager at a rave party with one too many Ecstacy tablets in the system. The Aye-Aye (pronounced Heh-Heh) is the world's largest nocturnal primate. Classified as Endangered by the IUCN, this lemur is native to Madagascar and is considered by the natives of the island to be a harbinger of evil and killed on sight. No wonder the species is almost extinct!
I would really love to see this animal giving the finger as it has an extremely long middle finger. This helps ithem dig out tree grubs through a hole that is first punctured in the tree using it's front teeth which are unusually big, like bugs bunny big.
You can find out more about Aye-Ayes here:
Wildscreen Akive
The IUCN Red List
3. The Blobfish Psychrolutes Marcidus
Found in the deep ocean floor between 800 and 1200m off the coast of Australia, this fish lacks a swim bladder normal fish use to control their buoyancy. They use instead their heavy gelatinuos skin to hover above the ocean floor. The Blobfish has absolutely no muscles and that's why it looks so blobby in all photos of it as it is rarely photographed alive. The blobfish won the title for the 'World's Ugliest Animal' and is the current mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. They aim to raise awareness of animals who are usually ignored because they are not super cute.
Without water pressure, the fish turns into it's namesake, a huge pink blob and because of that scientists have found it hard to study them as they usually die before reaching the water surface due to the sudden change in water pressure.
To read more about this fish that resembles a sad bald man:
Telegraph- What do we know about the world's ugliest animal
8 Interesting Facts About The Blobfish
Blobfish -Wikipedia
4. Red-Lipped Batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini)
Another bottom dwelling species, this fish is found at depths of more than 30 meters. It has modified pectoral and pelvic fins which help these lousy swimmers to 'walk' along the ocean floor. They have bright red lips which look like they used your MAC lipstick while you weren't looking and get this, it is believed by some researchers that the lips help enhance species recognition during spawning!
Learn more about these batlike fish here:
Red-lipped Batfish
The Verge Review of Animals : The Red-lipped Batfish
5. The Penis -Snake (Atretochoana eiselti)
It looks like a Penis and is called a Penis Snake but it's actually a limbless amphibian! Wow how weird is that? It doesn't have lungs and instead breathes through it's capillary filled skin. The human variety of this snake has at least one eye but the Atretochoana has no eyes. There is very little information regarding this " snake " and experts are still looking for more opportunities to study this interesting amphibian.
Please check out these links for more info on the Penis Snake:
THE TRUTH ABOUT BRAZIL'S AMAZING 'PENIS SNAKE' - NOT A SNAKE, AND CERTAINLY NOT A...
Penis Snake discovered in Amazon
Penis snake discovered in Brazil is actually a rare species of amphibian
That's all from Niki Investigates today!
This post has also been a way for me to test out what I learnt on :
- Proper citation for Images on steemit according to these articles:
Creative Commons Best Practices for Attribution
@cryptos guide to referencing image sources
@mindover - Guide to finding high quality images for Steemit posts
I am very glad I went through all that research because now I can share good, researched information with my fellow Steemians! Well worth the time and effort.
I also managed to figure out that the best dimensions for images on Steemit is probably 800 x 464. I used the Lunapic-Resize Tool for a quick and easy way to optimize your image before posting.
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and am hoping to find more reasons to vote for others! Peace, Love and Keep On Steemin!
