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   Prepare yourself to get a dose of nature at its best. We will present animals unheard of which you find unbelievable.

Pangolin
Superpower: Bulletproof body and ability to curl into a ball
Pangolins or ‘scaly anteaters’ are covered in tough, sharp scales composed of keratin. Their name comes from the Malay word ‘Peggulin’ which means “something that can roll up”. They are nocturnal, and rampage anthills consuming ants and termites with their long tongues. On being attacked, they cover their head with front legs, exposing the scales. Even predators like lions can’t figure out what to do with the ‘pineapple’ since the bite cannot tear the hard scales. (But some still try it out).

Chiton
Superpower: Possesses teeth of magnetite, the hardest of any other animal.
Swimming in the seas for nearly 400 million years, these marine molluscs have an interesting speciality in the most unusual part of their body i.e. their teeth. Yes, these teeth have magnetic properties?, since they are made from magnetite, the primary material out of which magnets are manufactured. Chitons, have shells with eight segments, a muscular foot and of course magnetic teeth, sharp enough to scrape even bacteria along with algae on rocks.
Some scientists are getting mad (researching) on this and state that synthesizing such an iron oxide substance would require high temperature and pressure along with strong acidic or basic conditions. Fact is that these creatures are able to produce that only with the algae they eat and that only in ocean water surroundings

Mantis Shrimp
Superpower:Can see all sorts of light, including Ultra Violet and Infra-Red
That incomprehensible body, bulbous elbows, segmented body, and those huge bulging eyes. The Mantis Shrimp is widely famous for its punches, but we are not taking up on that topic. Well, most of us (exception = Warren) don’t know the superpower secret behind those monstrous eyes – They can see more than any other, having the broadest visual spectrum of any animal discovered. Scientists are studying the Peacock mantis Shrimp in an (till now unsuccessful) attempt to build cameras capable of seeing cancer cells at its very early stages. Imagine having an extra pair of arms capable of moving freely in all directions with eyes on the ends!

Lyrebird
Superpower:Ability to mimic any sound present in its habitat jungle.
Have you recently boasted about your favourite singer? Most likely to be yes. But now what you are going to read will completely change your mind. Lyrebirds, who get their name from the elaborate and unwieldy tail, shaped like a lyre. However its superpower i.e. its vocal abilities is what we will now discuss. These birds actually mimic sounds of other birds during the breeding season to impress other females and probably fool some of other species. They even learn to imitate the different sounds of the forests they live in, wing beats, rustling of leaves, blowing of wind etc., if kept in captivity, hammers, drills, chainsaws, car silencers and horns, and many more. They learn the mimicry mainly from older males, rather than the model species. But friends, don’t think that our superbird can only copy, they even have their own songs and calls (perhaps to use as backup if the normal impression method does not work).

Hairy Frog
Superpower: Pierce its bones through the skin to use it as a claw against predators
Remember your favourite hero Wolverine from Marvel Avengers who has retractable alloy claws? Well, here we have a real living version of that. And you wouldn’t believe the ‘claw’ is actually its broken finger bone? It’s the Hairy frog about which we are talking. The hair you see are not hair but are modified gills. On being provoked, our hairy amphibian friend forces the bone nodule through the skin, using it as a defensive claw. Researchers couldn’t figure out how it retracts the claw back that only without the pulling of a muscle.

Sea Cucumber
Superpowers:
- Ability to liquefy and solidify its body per will.
- Forces its organs through the anus during predator attacks.
- Breathes through anus
- Can reproduce through asexual reproduction
Don’t consider this to be a tasty delicacy as is done in parts of Asia, just because the name stupid scientists gave it. These strange creatures live on the seafloor, functioning as a scavenging machine. So let’s now explore its capabilities, one by one.
Sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton in the form of plates beneath their skin, joined by connective tissue. The collagen bonds can be loosened and tightened per will, which means it can liquefy its body to fit through small cracks and crevices, and solidify it when a predator attacks. In case of sudden predator attacks, our super echinoderm forces its internal organs out through the anus, along with a toxic substance. The missing organs grow back in the next 1.5 to 5 weeks. Sea cucumbers breathe (take oxygen) through the network of channels in the anus. Possess alternative self or asexual reproduction, normal fertilisation occurs by fusion of cells released in the water.

Mimic Octopus
Superpower:Mimic characteristics of 25 different other species
Till now you may have wished of transforming into an animal of your choice, probably it may be from this article only. Consider transforming into a tiger if cornered by a group of school bullies! Well, our next contestant does exactly the same. The mimic octopus, as its name suggests, mimics forms of over 15 different species. This behaviour is observed when it hunts prey or when cornered by predators. For example, if attacked by a damselfish, it becomes a sea snake, the attacker’s predator.
Here are some of the mimic octopus’s forms along with a description of how it transforms.
Sea Snake – It hides in a hole leaving two of its arms in the open, it opposite directions. The added length of the arms appears like a long thin object, which is mostly avoided.
Lionfish – By shaping its arms like spines of this highly venomous predator, it easily fools many a lot.
Flatfish- By pulling all its arms to one side and changing its colour, it quietly slips out of its astounded predator.

Axolotl
Superpower:Ability to regenerate any amputated part of body.
Wearing a feathered headdress, little black lidless eyes, wide head and pink complexion. You must wondering what creature we are now talking about. Well you wouldn’t had recognised it by its name either (Neither did we) Even more fascinating is its regeneration abilities by which it can grow back any amputated or cut part. And yet more amazing is that these creatures can receive transplanted organs from other individuals. Axolotls also possess a fascinating neoteny in which an individual retains its juvenile characteristics on maturing.

Tardigrade
Superpower:Ability to survive in most extreme conditions of earth (and space)
Greatly resembling creatures from a Horror movie, what you are now going to read is something literally “out of this world”. Tardigrades or ‘Water Bears’ get their name from ‘Tardigrada ‘ meaning “slow stepper”. From the Himalayas to the ocean floor, from hot springs to Antarctica and even in your drain, these tough guys can survive much extreme conditions than that of earth, even the radiation and lack of air of outer space. Tardigrades can also survive temperatures above 150°C and as low as -200°C for 21 months and -272°C for 8 hours compared to the lowest temperature recorded on earth was -89°C. Water, an essential component of life, is a thing these creatures can do without for decades. In 1948, a scientist reanimated a tardigrade from a 120 year old museum sample after rehydration. The reason for this is the presence of a particular sugar, which stabilises the components such as proteins and DNA. After staying in this state called the tun state, tardigrades repair their DNA (damaged by staying in the tun stage for a long time) by antioxidants. Tardigrades produce ice nucleatic agents which doesn’t allow the ice crystal to form inside the, instead it forms outside. The deepest point of the Mariana Trench has a pressure up to 100 MPa, tardigrades can resist 6 times more than that.

The Immortal Jellyfish






Superpower:Ability to transform back to infant stage on maturing and declared biologically immortal.
Unbelievable as it is, these minor animals use the process of transdifferentiation to transform back to the infant stage when they succumb to injuries or become old. These jellyfish begin their life as planula, the larva stage. As it settles down, it forms a colony of polyps. The jellyfish buds off from the cluster and forms an individual, the medusa stage, which we know as a jellyfish. Now comes the trick, since now when it gets old or injured, and it transforms back to the polyp stage.

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