7 Strange Natural Phenomenon in The Animal World

The natural world can be a bit odd at times. You’d hear a lot of crazy stories about how certain animals act, but believe it or not, some of those crazy stories that you hear are actually true. From strange team-ups to exploding insects, below are a seven phenomenal wonders that happen in the animal kingdom.

Strange Pair

Sure, some species work hand in hand to help each other, but some pairs are just too unlikely and strange. In the ocean, sharks would hunt with a sidekick fish, eels would get cleaned up by shrimps, and anemones are used by crabs like poisonous boxing gloves. On air, certain birds would actually preach inside a crocodile’s open mouth to clean up scraps from their teeth, or would rest on top of large animals like elephants and buffaloes. On land, zebras would often act like eyes while ostriches would act like eyes to keep each other safe.

Colorful Stealth and Clever Camouflage

Invisibility is a common power in science fiction stories, but animals do it all the time in the wild. Animals have adapted over time to the surroundings, and camouflage and stealth could mean eat or be eaten. There are insects that look exactly like leaves or twigs, fishes and other marine life that blend perfectly into the corals or sea bed, and mammals that can hide in the bushes with their stripes and dots.

Shape-Shifting and Color-Changing Animals

Some animals need a lot of time to change from one state to the next while others need just a matter of minutes. Take for example the chameleon, which can turn to different colors, depending on its surrounding. Some octopus species can also do this, changing their colors to match the coral reefs they live in.

Cannibalistic Mate-Eating Animals

There is still no scientific explanation on why some species end up eating their mates. The main theory is that they need the nutrients to keep themselves sustained for their fertilized eggs. However, some species would try to eat their partners even before mating. The male scorpion would sting their partners to save themselves, male mantises would wait on a feeding female before approaching her, and some spiders would bring food to potential mates, hoping that they don’t become dinner.

Animal Architects and Group Builders

Humans have learned a thing or two from insects on building structures. Some animal structures are ju arguably more impressive. Spider webs that are so detailed, ant colonies that extend thousands of miles, termite mounds that can reach more than 10 feet tall, these are just a few examples of how these tiny animals could creating something so complex.

Exploding Animals

Yes, certain species actually have the ability to make themselves explode. Certain ant species, when threatened, would secrete a certain chemical which makes their abdomen burst, spreading acid. Toads in Germany were also reported to swell up and explode.

Raining Animals

Although this sounds ridiculous, there have been a few recorded times that this has happened. Birds, frogs, and fishes are the most common animals reported to have dropped from the sky in the thousands. There are a number of theories that explain this. It’s generally assumed that a strong wind or even a tornado caused these animals to get swept off the ground or water and then fall from the sky.