Real Monstrosities on tumblr
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Social Spiders demonstrate what a strong, hard-working family unit can achieve if it’s a really HUGE family.
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Dawn of the Black Earwig!
Apokalypsen Earwig!
Necromancer’s Earwig!
Command of the Iron Earwig!
Nuclear Earwigs of War!
Werewolf, Semen and Earwig!
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Chromodoris reticulata is a sea slug which loses its penis every time it has sex.
And then it grows a new one in 24 hours.
I guess it turns out alright in the end, but that’s still some serious SM.
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Bloodybelly Comb Jelly. I thought it looked like a heart gone astray.
Apparently it looks more like a Valentine’s bra gone awry.
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Symbion. A whole new phylum called Cycliophora was erected when these things were discovered in 1995. They have only ever been found on the mouthparts of a single species of lobster, eating the crumbs as they pass by.
They have an incredibly complicated life-cycle.
The simple bit is when feeding adults reproduce asexually.
But then they produce a male who swims over to another feeding adult who has a female inside her. And then the male produces two more males who do the actual fertilising.
The fertilised female escapes her mother and rests on the lobster, but doesn’t actually feed. Instead, she produces a larva that eventually swims off to finally, AT LAST, find a whole new lobster of the exact same species to settle on and grow into a new feeding adult.
What a palava!
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2 Gulper Eels.They’re related, but slightly different.
The one up top is the Pelican Eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) with a seriously massive mouth and almost no apparent stomach until it expands and distends to hold food.
The lower one is a member of the genus Saccopharynx. They have a somewhat smaller mouth and a thicker body,
They’re all sickos, though.
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Blue Sea Slug. Always a favourite, this slug drifts upside down on the sea seeking out other floaters to eat. They feed on the Portuguese Man o’ War and rob their stinging cells for their own use.
They’re hermaphrodite, and the lower one has its penis hanging out.
So? What of it?
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Desert Woodlouse. Woodlice, or Pill Bugs, are crustaceans, But one of them lives in North African and Middle Eastern deserts!
A male and female dig a burrow together to lay their eggs. Then, one goes out foraging for food while the other stays behind to defend the nest.
After a few weeks the youngsters begin foraging for themselves, but they return home each day. It’s several more months before they fly the nest permanently.
I wonder if they’ll become eusocial like ants and termites one day?
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Hairy Frog. Breaks its own toe bones so that it has something sharp to hurt stuff with.
Wolverine got off lightly.
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Carinariid. A transparent snail with a tiny, transparent shell that swims in the sea by flapping its tail and a single fin.
Utter madness!
