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This Soldier fish (Gymnapistes marmoratus – image below) is found in the Indo Pacific and is not only a master of camouflage, it’s also one of the most venomous fish in the sea. So it’s not just the most toxic fish, it has a switchblade and it can hide from you like a champion.
This soldier fish has a larchrymal saber (switchblade is cooler) which is a bony protuberance that can jut out, just under their eye.
The soldier fish can rotate the face blade 90 degrees. Considering the larchrymal’s location this is actually a fish version of a weaponized mustache.
One of the species (Centropogon australis) even has a saber that glows an eerie green because the saber absorbs light and then emits it, (biofluorescence). Now I’m not saying that it’s a light saber… but I’m also not saying that it’s not.
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Porcupines don’t grow bone spikes or have some special type of substance that produces their pointers.
Their spikes are really just hair that have extra keratin on them ( keratin is also found in skin.)
The spikes don’t fire. The porcupine rattles them as a warning. Then charges and they disconnect on contact. All can be regrown.
Some of you might look at the below picture and wonder why a snake would try to squeeze a porcupine.
Rest assured – the snake didn’t squeeze a porcupine .
He swallowed it.
Bad move.
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The hairy or wolverine frog, Trichobatrachus robustus, is amazing in a couple of ways. For one thing, the males have thin, hair-like filaments of skin which are used for collecting oxygen. Secondly, they use fractured toe bones as weapons. Yes, the frogs intentionally break the sharp bones of their toes so they stick out and can be used as claws.
The “claws” are only found on the hind feet, and are usually attached to a bony nodule by collagen. When the wolverine frog is grabbed or attacked, the collagen breaks and the sharp bones are deployed. This defense mechanism is virtually unique across the whole animal kingdom, though the Otton frog is vaguely similar.
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Ever wonder why surgeonfish are so called? It’s because of the bony blades they have on the sides of their tail (the orange thing in the photo), which are reminiscent of surgical scalpels. When attacked, the tropical fish flick these spines outward, and retract them when danger has passed. Surgeonfish blades have been known to give humans deep wounds.
Despite the fish lacking any form of venom, a cut from a surgeonfish is allegedly “extremely painful” and usually penetrates deep. Nausea, aching muscles and anxiety are all documented consequences of said injuries.
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During the Pleistocene epoch, Jamaica was home to a bird known as Xenicibis. One of only two flightless ibises in history, it had clubs on its wings. Its metacarpal bones were thick and heavy – so much so that some think Xenicibis would have walked like a quadruped – turning them into weapons with which they could fight conspecifics.
Xenicibis was just one of the bizarre birds which lived in the Pleistocene Caribbean – if the right question pops up, I must write an answer on the full avifauna of that time and place sometime soon.
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The caterpillars of silver-spotted skipper moths use their own feces as a defense. In a technique known as ballistic defecation, the insects can fire their own poo an incredible 1.4 metres away. Technically, this is more like the countermeasures of an aircraft, drawing predators to the wrong place, but it’s still an anti-predator strategy so I feel it belongs here.
Adelie penguins are also able to expel liquefied feces half a meter away from them, but this is just so they can defecate without having to leave the warmth of their nests, and of course captive chimpanzees sometimes throw their poo when frustrated. However, these caterpillars are the only animal which uses feces as a defense.
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Decapods, (crabs, lobsters, etc) can generate the greatest force per body mass with their claws of any group of animals. The most powerful of which is the coconut crab. They are related to the hermit crab and while only weighing in at about 10 pounds can lift over 66 pounds and the pinch from their claws nearly matches a lions bite. They are in the top 15 strongest bite forces in the animal kingdom.
8) This is an Iberian ribbed newt.It has little knobs called “tubercles” running on either side of its body, as you can see in the picture above. These contain a poison which can cause severe pain or even death.
When the newt is threatened or attacked, it swings its ribs forward, which cause it to puncture the tubercles and get coated in poison. The tips of its ribs stick out of its body and act like spines. When a predator tries to pick the newt up, it will get stung in the mouth.
Yes, it is as terrifying as it sounds. Luckily, this mechanism doesn’t inflict any major harm upon the newt, since its effective immune system and collagen-coated ribs help the pierced skin regrow quickly.
Isn’t that amazing?
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whip scorpion and its Leather Whip.
This do not have any venom in its whip instead it has a kind of acid, when it feels threatened then it will whip its tail around and deliver a stream of pungent fluid from its a**l glands. its not poisonous but it threatened the predator.
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Fire Ant
I think most people know about this tiny soldier.
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Archer fish,
Sharp shooter of the rivers, water is its weapon.
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Hagfish
The hagfish, found in most of the world’s oceans, makes a really big mess to ward off would-be predators. When this fish is feeling stressed or senses harm, it releases a thick slime that acts as a protective coating. Once the threat is gone, the hagfish ties itself into a knot and then twists its way back out of it, scraping the slime away, or else it could suffocate on its own gunk.
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Platypus
Most people thinks that this animal isn’t dangerous but it has its own weapon.
The venom is secreted from spurs on the hind limbs and is only produced by males during mating season.
Platypus venom can paralyze small animals (such as a rival male) and, although it is not quite potent enough to do the same to a human, an attack is surprisingly painful and incapacitating.
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Komodo dragon
This animal isn’t a fastest but its vulnerable to others it doesn’t have a venom but it have numerous bacteria’s it its saliva so if this saliva mixed with blood of any animal then it is dangerous.
the bacteria’s will kill the animal slowly.
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The rams, or the male bighorn sheep, of the Rocky Mountains happen to grow these horns that weigh more than the rest of their skeletal structure. When another ram happens to intrude on their turf, or the female bighorns are looking for the toughest mate, rams will run towards each other and beat one another with their horns.
Farm animals such as goats, and most cattle, grow horns that are used as weapons when headbutting. Males and females will fight if provoked.
If anyone ever wondered if life on the farm is monotonous for these creatures, well, apparently it isn’t for some. The skulls of animals that are prone to headbutting have some shock-absorbing properties.
Still, it seems that goats are more hardheaded than cows.
