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Development of bipinnaria larvae of the Luidia sarsii starfish.

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Coot feet

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Keas

by Lisa Hubbard

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The Stalk-Eyed Fly

This has to be one of the strangest creatures I’ve ever seen. Male Stalk-Eyed Flies gulp air bubbles up into their heads, then pump those air bubbles into the stalks that support their eyes. The eye-stalks are then inflated to terrifying proportions, acting as nature’s creepiest balloon animals. Lastly, they straighten out any kinks that they may find (because as we all know there’s nothing more embarrassing than a wrinkly eye-stalk). Apparently, this is a sexual adaptation, as the males with the longest eye stems get all the ladies. 

Thank you, evolution, for being more creative than any science fiction writer and for providing me with endless wonderment and nightmares. 

via: Life

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What even are caterpillars??  

via: The Insect World

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Octopus eggs!

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These creatures survive in the deep ocean where no light can penetrate. Because of this, many have developed their own light called bioluminescence. See more of these amazing creatures in action here.

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Sure dog and cat paws are adorable. But have you seen spider paws?

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The egg of the kiwi takes up 20% of the mother’s body weight!

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This Lovecraftian monstrosity may look like an amalgam of dying octopuses, but it’s actually a single creature called a Basket Star, a type of deep sea brittle star. They can reach up to 11 pounds in weight and 70 cm in length!

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Orange feather wing moth, Alucita xanthodes, Alucitidae

Photographed in the Mandalay rainforest, Airlie Beach, Australia

Photos by Steve & Alison1

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I can't stop thinking about how much mole skeletons remind me of whale skeletons.

We're all familiar with Space Whales but nobody ever talks about Space Moles. Or Desert Whales. Or Giant Ocean Moles. And that's terrible.

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They be blessing

{ they're called glass frogs btw }

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Actias dubernardi - Chinese luna moth

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“[The creature is called] Moder in the novel. … It’s female. … I wanted to preserve my own experience of reading the book, wherein the creature’s design is somewhat shifting. Or at least you have competing ideas about what it might be. We dug into Norse mythology and discovered a Jötnar clan of giants that were known as shape-shifters and would sometimes present with combined human and animal qualities. It felt close enough to what Adam had imagined but gave us a little room to experiment. … I reached out to Keith Thompson, who I was a huge fan of, and was very fortunate to have him come on board. He experimented with those ideas and provided many different possibilities, as well as concepts for the decrepit parishioners, the effigy in the attic, and the hanging elk. It all tied together and told a visual story. The beast design we finally settled on was simply the one I couldn’t take my eyes off of. I think anyone who’s familiar with his work can tell through and through that this is one of his uncanny creations.” - David Bruckner