5 Wonderful Types of Lemurs

Lemurs are one of the most mysterious creatures on the planet. Often mistaken for monkeys, they were named after lemurs, which are spirits or ghost in roman mythology. These animals are endemic to the island of Madagascar and the areas around it. Many subspecies are still being discovered to this day, and some of the subspecies don’t even resemble lemurs.

Below are wonderful and strange lemur species that would get you wondering if they are really lemurs or a whole different type of animal.

Brown Mouse Lemur

Although this little fella looks nothing like a lemur and more like a sugar glider or a squirrel, they’re actually one of the smallest lemur subspecies. They feed on insects, flowers, and fruits. On a sad note, these cute little lemurs have the shortest lifespan amongst all primates, ranging from around 6 to 8 years.

Diademed Sifaka

Their beautiful golden fur is not the only thing that gives them away. The diademed sifaka is one of the biggest lemurs around, not to mention one of the fastest as well. They usually stay in the canopies and rarely come down. Their strong arms and legs help them to move swiftly through the trees. Tagged as critically endangered, there is an estimate of only 10,000 of these colorful lemurs left in the wild.

Mongoose Lemur

One of the two lemur species found outside Madagascar, these ones look like a fluffy teddy bear. What makes them different from most of the animals in Madagascar is that they’re cathemeral, which means they can be active during different times of the day or night, depending on the availability of sunlight and the season. They live off fruits, nectar, and flowers.

Aye-Aye

You’re probably surprised to know that this creepy looking creature is actually a lemur. Locals believe that they carry bad luck and death, but although they’re scary-looking, they’re actually pretty harmless. It lives of eating bugs and worms that they find with their long, boney fingers by tapping on tree trunks. They’re very active at night, which adds to their creepiness.

Bamboo Lemur

They weren’t called bamboo lemurs until around the 1980s. These lemurs were original named gentle lemurs, which is kind of ironic considering that they’re actually pretty aggressive when placed in captivity. Although they might scratch and bite, they only live off bamboo so don’t expect it to attack you if it ever does feel hungry.

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8 Scary Looking Animals that are Actually Harmless

Animals come in all forms of shapes and sizes, and some of them come with scary, nightmarish looks. However, some of these eerie looking animals don’t deserve their fearsome reputation. Some of them might just even make good companions.

Here are 6 scary looking animals which are actually perfectly harmless.

Milk Snakes

The reason why people are afraid of these snakes, besides the fact that snakes are the stuff of nightmares for most, is that they have a very close resemblance in color to the coral snake, which is highly venomous. Milk snakes are harmless and are even taken in as pets by exotic pet keepers.

Aye-aye

Although they look like gremlins, with their long, skinny witch-like fingers, patchy looking skin and big yellow eyes, these Madagascar natives are actually pretty harmless and would prefer to munch on grubs and insects from trees. Locals also believe that they bring bad luck and death if they would ever point their finger at you, but that’s just purely superstition.

Gharial

What looks like a common crocodile but with a snout that’s long and narrow, Gharial’s actually can’t bite large animals because of their fragile jaws. A native of the Indian subcontinent, they live off eating small fish, insects and frogs. As long as you don’t place your hands inside their mouth, these reptiles would never harm you.

Basking Sharks

Seeing the giant mouth of this animal open wide is enough to scare the life out of any diver. But unlike their carnivorous cousins, these sharks are harmless filter feeders, meaning they live off eating tiny zooplankton and would never take a bite out of anything bigger than a grain of rice. These animals are also known to be very tolerant with nearby boats and vessels, as well as divers.

Vultures

These giant birds are often given a negative image because of how frightening they look. Their large wing span and inappropriate habit of appearing when there’s something that’s inches away from death or is already dead makes them even grimmer, but they’d never come close if you’re still alive. Vultures soar above gracefully and are truly majestic to look at.

Goliath Birdeater

A lot of people are afraid of spiders. But imagine one that’s about the same size as a small plate. The Goliath Birdeater is one of the biggest spider species in the world, said to be able to take down a bird. However, normal diets for these spiders are smaller insects, and they tend to be passive and entirely harmless to humans.

Vampire Bats

They fed on blood, look ghoulish, only appear at night, and live in hollow trees and dark caves. But beside this, vampire bats are harmless. They rarely even bite humans since they only feed on goat and cattle blood. Interesting enough, they would even adopt baby bats when something happens to their mothers.

Manta Ray

The biggest ray species on the planet, these giant beasts can reach a width of 25 feet. They’re huge, smart, and are commonly seen swimming in the clear warm tropical waters of the world. Since they’re filter feeders, don’t expect one to bite you if you’d ever get the chance to dive with them.

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7 of the Strangest Looking Animals on Earth

Not all animals end up as extravagant and colorful as peacocks or as cute and cuddly as giant pandas. Some of them look very strange and sometimes even scary. However, even if these animals are a bit of a fright to look at, most of them are actually pretty harmless.
Below are 7 of the strangest looking animals on earth.

California condor

A very rare bird that’s found in North America, the California condor shows a lot of grace when it glides above the deserts and canyons of North America’s west coast. Up close, however, this giant bird definitely isn’t photogenic. Its head is bald, adapting to its nature as a scavenger. Feathers on the head might become bothersome and clotted with blood as it feeds on carrions.

Blobfish

This fish looks more like a ball of goo with a face. It’s slimy, gelatinous appearance actually helps it survive its natural habitat. Blobfishes live in very deep parts of the world’s oceans, so its pudding-like body helps it endure the high pressure and stay buoyant.

Naked mole rat

Life’s very difficult when you can’t see. However this isn’t an issue for naked mole rats. These hairless rodents spend most of their time underground, dinging for insects and worms in colonies. Their furless bodies help them adapt to the underground environment and they have very little need for sight. For an animal its size, they have a pretty long lifespan, reaching about 30 years.

Proboscis monkey

We humans might think that a giant nose is embarrassing, but for these monkeys, the bigger their nose is, the better it helps with looking for a mate. Proboscis monkey live in groups composed of a male and multiple females and their young. Some all-male groups also exist, composing of juvenile males. Their big nose also helps them make loud warning calls.

Warthog

A wild member of the pig family, these animals are characterized by their snout, medium sized tusk that protrudes from their mouth, and a curvature that looks like a wart on their face, hence their name. They also have a mane that runs down their backside. Commonly seen in the grasslands and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, these pigs are well adapted to surviving the harsh heat of their environment.

Star-nosed mole

These moles look like any other regular mole, except for their noses. They have a bizarre star shaped nose which they actually use to help them find their way around their habitat. Star-nosed moles have 22 small, fleshy appendages on their snout that function more like sensitive fingers. Their snouts contain 25,000 sensory receptors that the more uses to guide itself though their underground lair.

Aye-aye

This creature, which looks more like a gremlin, is actually related to monkeys. Not only do they look unusual, they also have strange traits like tapping on tree branches and trunks with their long, bony fingers to looks for grub and insects. Found in Madagascar, many locals say that this animal brings bad luck, but it’s actually just a harmless creature of the night.

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The Aye-aye

Known for being the world’s largest nocturnal primate, the Aye-aye is one of the more interesting of lemurs found in Madagascar, with its way of finding food being most its most notable trait.

As a lemur, the Aye-aye’s features mirror the base physical characteristics which have defined lemurs as a whole, but it is unique with a thin middle finger that simply stand out from its hand, along with a set of rodent like front teeth.

With the use of its rodent like front teeth, the Aye-aye finds grubs by gnawing holes on wood, then uses its long and thin middle finger to pick and pull the grub out. There are only two known creatures which find their food this way, the Aye-aye and the Striped Possum.

With its eating habits likened with that of woodpeckers, the Aye-aye and the woodpecker are typically viewed from a similar ecological point of view, in the sense that they both hollow out grubs from trees.

Aye-ayes are typically found alone, which has led experts to conclude that they are solitary. Adult Aye-ayes are known to sport a thick coat of multi-hued fur, but they are generally born with a silver-hued coat of fur, that is complemented with a stripe that runs down their back.

Most Aye-aye measure up to three feet in length, with their tails generally as long as the rest of their bodies are. Though they are considered to be the largest type of nocturnal primate, it is their long and thin middle finger which has made them popular as an intriguing and interesting member of the lemur species.

Aye-aye Video

 

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