11 Animal Wizards Whose Super Powers Are Totally Legit
MrHumptyDumpty
Published
10/14/2014
Don't believe in magic? Hang out with these guys for a day or two.
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1.
Cardinal Fish: Breathes Fire - When swallowed by its arch enemy, the Cardinal fish, a zooplankton called Ostracod secretes a sudden blast of luminescent chemicals. This makes the Cardinal light up like a Times Square billboard, which is no bueno for a fish with plenty of its own enemies to avoid. -
2.
Pistol Shrimp: Sonic Boom - Dont let it's tiny size food you: this shrimp packs a hell of a punch. Despite being less than an inch long, this creature can emit an astonishing 218 decibels--that's louder than a gunshot--just by snapping its claws together. The sound, together with the resulting air bubble, stuns the shrimp's prey just long enough for it to gobble them up. -
3.
Hummingbird: Levitation - This tiny bird's narrow, tapered wings and amazing joints make it the only one on Earth that can sustain long-term hovering. They can also fly backwards and change direction almost instantly. -
4.
Kangaroo Rat: Lives Without Water - Humans can barely make it three days without water. Yet this little desert rat can survive without it for three YEARS. Why? Because they spend their time nibbling seeds and other plants that contain moisture. They also conserve water by hanging out underground during the day, emerging only in the cool of the night to search for food. -
5.
Sperm Whale: Holds Breath For 90 Minutes - Most marine mammals must surface regularly to breath in the sweet, sweet oxygen that keeps us all alive. But not the sperm whale. Thanks to electrically-charged proteins in their blood, the sperm whale's circulatory system carries and stores oxygen more efficiently. Armed with this special protein, sperm whales can dive deep without running out of breath. -
6.
Plumed Basilisk: Walks On Water - This Central American lizard loves to hang out in shrubs and trees near water, waiting to pounce on delicious insects who might happen by. If threatened, however, the little reptile will take off at top speed--across the surface of the river or pond. This truly amazing super power comes from long toes on the lizard's rear feet...along with fringes of skin that unfurl to meet the water. Together, these features create little air pockets under the lizard's feet that allow it to skim without sinking. The ability has earned the plumed basilisk the nickname of Jesus Christ lizard. -
7.
Jellyfish: Immortality - Turritopsis dohrnii is a tiny jellyfish found in the Mediterranean Sea and waters off the coast of Japan. Instead of dying when its lifecycle comes to an end, this immortal jellyfish just transforms itself back into their juvenile polyp state. After a period of time hanging out on the ocean floor, this real-life Benjamin Button regrows its tentacles and starts life all over again. -
8.
Octopus: Shapeshifter - Octopuses are lovers, not fighters, so their first line of defense against predators is not to be seen by them at all. Outfitted with specialized skin cells that can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectivity of its epidermis, the octopus can blend in almost anywhere. -
9.
Gecko: Walks Up Walls - The Geckos ability to climb walls, hang upside down, and apparently "stick" to anything is the envy of superheroes everywhere except Spiderman, maybe. This real life superpower is the result of thousands of tiny hairs and hair-like structures on the lizard's feet, called setae and spatulae. -
10.
Tarsier: Night Vision - With enormous eyes, the largest of any mammal, relative to body size, it should come as no surprise that the tarsier has extremely acute eyesight and superb night vision. Each of its eyes more than its brain and is fixed inside its skull. To look around, the tarsier rotates that whole freaky head, up to 180 degrees! -
11.
African Hairy Frog: Wolverine Claws - OK this one is going to blow your mind. African hairy frogs, commonly found in Cameroon, have the ability to break their toe bones and transform them into claws when they feel threatened. When something attacks, the frogs claws bursts from its skin, ready to attack. It may not be adamantium, but I'd love to think this little frog was Marvel's inspiration for you know who.
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