1. Nutria
   Quokka
2. Platypus
   Markhor

The platypus is one of the world's most unique animals. It has a bill like a duck but has fur like a mammal. It has venom like a snake and also lays eggs like a bird. It's one of only two mammals in the world that lays eggs.

1. Wombat
   Opposum
2. Platypus
   Tarsier

They may be cute, but you shouldn't get too close. If provoked, the wombat can give you a pretty serious bite. There was one case of a wombat biting a man through his boat and almost an inch into his leg!

1. Fossa
   Sunda colugo
2. River opposum
   Star-nosed mole

The star-nosed mole is found in the North-Eastern United States and Canada. Their funny-looking nose is extremely sensitive to touch and it helps them navigate, which makes up for their poor vision.

1. Orchid mantis
   Venezuelan poodle moth
2. Driver ant
   Amazon giant fishing spider

It may look like it's wearing an angora sweater, but that's it's actually its body. They weren't discovered until 2009 and still haven't been confirmed as their own unique species.

1. Warty frogfish
   Angelfish
2. Dumbo octopus
   Cuttlefish

It may look more like a pile of mold than a fish, but the warty frogfish lives in the tropical Pacific. They can change colors to blend with their surroundings and eat basically anything in sight. So keep your fingers away!

1. Long-beaked echidna
   Pangolin
2. Olinguito
   Solenodon

The pangolin is found in Asia and Africa. They may look like armadillos, but they also have stink glands like a sunk. As you can probably guess from their scales, they curl into a ball when scared.

1. Assassin bug
   Giant katydid
2. Praying mantis
   Orchid mantis

The orchid mantis is one of the most interesting insects in the world. If you were to see one sitting on a tree, you would probably mistake it for a flower. Don't let their beauty fool you, though. They're known to eat lizards and small frogs.

1. Oilbird
   Long-wattled Umbrellabird
2. Shoebill
   Flightless cormorant

The shoebill goes by several other names, including the whalehead and the shoe-billed stork. It gets its name from its large bill that gives it the appearance of always smiling. You can find them in Zambia and Sudan.

1. Chinese giant salamander
   Mudskipper
2. Axolotl
   Aretochoana

The Chinese giant salamander can grow to be almost 6 feet long. They might give you a fright if you came across one swimming in the mountain lakes of China. However, they eat mostly insects and fish so you won't have anything to worry about.

1. Warty frogfish
   Batfish
2. Sea pen
   Northern Krill

If you saw this creature lying on your desk, you might pick it up thinking it's a writing quill. They can grow more than six feet tall and feed mostly by filtering plankton out of the water.

1. Amazon giant fishing spider
   Assassin bug
2. Tiger spider
   Black widow

The assassin bug has some moves that even the most highly-trained ninjas would be jealous of. They are known to cover themselves in dead ant bodies to sneak up on bees and other prey.

1. Microbat
   Vampire bat
2. Honduran white bat
   Egyptian fruit bat

How big do you think this bat is judging by the picture? Believe it or not, they only grow to be 1.5 inches long. You can find them in the jungles of Central America, where they spend most of their time hanging from heliconia plants.

1. Gila monster
   Mexican mole lizard
2. Mexican beaded lizard
   Water monitor

At a glance, the Mexican mole lizard looks like an earthworm that sprouted legs and a head. You probably won't see one unless you're wandering through the desert at night after a thundershower.

1. Magnificent frigatebird
   Large ground finch
2. Galapagos penguin
   Flightless cormorant

If you want to see a flightless cormorant, you'll have to travel to the Galapagos Islands. Through years of evolution, their wings have shrunk until they've lost the ability to fly.

1. Baird's tapir
   Red panda
2. Capybara
   Black Slavonian pig

The Baird's tapir is also known as a mountain cow and is the national animal of Belize. They spend most of the day sleeping and come out at night to eat. They're currently listed as endangered.

1. Kakapo
   Long-wattled umbrella bird
2. Superb bird-of-paradise
   Shoebill

The male superb bird-of-paradise has his work cut out for him. Because their population has a low female-to-male ratio, it's not uncommon for females to reject 15 or more males before choosing a mate.

1. Lamprey
   Anglerfish
2. Sea python
   Manta ray

Lampreys are a jawless fish, and most species use their razor-toothed mouths to filter feed. They may look intimidating when you look into their mouth, but they're harmless to humans.

1. Mantis Shrimp
   Red-lipped batfish
2. Japanese spider crab
   Blue dragon slug

You won't find the mantis shrimp on the menu at a seafood menu, but you can find it hiding in coral reefs in the pacific. They catch their prey with their praying mantis-like front arms.

1. Axolotl
   Newt
2. Tiger Salamander
   Mudskipper

If you want to see an axolotl in the wild, you'll have to travel to Mexico and visit Xochimilco Lake. However, their populations are in decline because of water pollution. Axolotls eat mostly worms, small fish, and mollusks.

1. Red octopus
   Dumbo octopus
2. Common squid
   Cuttlefish

If you want to find a dumbo octopus, you'll have to dive at least 10,000 feet into the ocean to find one. They get their name from their fins on its face that look similar to elephant ears.

1. Mudskipper
   Newt
2. Atretochoana
   Axolotl

If you look closely at an Atretochoana, you will quickly notice something missing. This unusual amphibian that lives in the Amazon doesn't have eyes. They weren't discovered until 2011 when a photographer found six of them near the Madeira River.

1. Giant katydid
   Driver ant
2. Assassin bug
   Praying mantis

The giant katydid can grow to be more than 6 inches long. Because it's disguised to look like a leaf, you might not even see it coming. They're so big that they rarely fly or jump.

1. Impala
   Saiga antelope
2. Longhorn antelope
   Gazelle

The Saiga antelope is now critically endangered and now lives exclusively in Russia and Kazakhstan. They're easy to spot by their elephant-like noses, however, because there's less than 50,000 left, you're unlikely to see them in the wild.

1. Tarsier
   Solenodon
2. Pangolin
   Olinguito

The tarsier has one of the largest eye-to-body ratios of any animal. Their bodies grow to be up to 6 inches long, whereas their eyes grow to more than half-an-inch in diameter! You can find them in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

1. European giant jellyfish
   Blobfish
2. Anglerfish
   Lamprey

It's not hard to guess how the blobfish got its name. They live in the deep waters off the coast of Australia and New Zealand, can grow up to 4lbs and their gelatinous body helps them withstand extreme underwater pressure.

1. Amazon giant fishing spider
   Black widow
2. Tiger spider
   Huntsman spider

These aquatic spiders hang around water where they wait for ripples that signal a nearby tadpole or fish. Some species can even encapsulate themselves in an air bubble and go underwater.

1. Tarsier
   Water opossum
2. Solenodon
   Pangolin

You can find water opossums from Mexico to Argentina near freshwater lakes and streams. Both sexes have a pouch. When the males are swimming, they put their genitals into their pouch like it's a bathing suit.

1. Gecko
   Chameleon
2. Green iguana
   Komodo dragon

The Komono dragon lives exclusively on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang and Flores. You probably don't want to come across one in the wild since they can grow to be more than 10 feet long.

1. Nutria
   Markhor
2. Baird's Tapir
   Capybara

The nutria spends most of its time around rivers and can weigh up to 37 pounds. It uses its front limbs for digging burrows and foraging while it uses its back webbed feet for swimming.

1. Flightless cormorant
   Hoatzin
2. Long-wattled umbrellabird
   Kakapo

The male umbrellabird has one of the strangest features of any bird. It has a wattle that hangs from its chest that can be up to a foot-and-a-half long. They can inflate their wattle when trying to attract a mate.

1. Flightless cormorant
   Hoatzin
2. Ground finch
   Kakapo

There are thought to be less than 125 kakapos left in the wild. Their small numbers can be attributed to only breeding about once every three years. They're also flightless, so they are easy prey for dogs and cats.

1. Grey wolf
   Maned wolf
2. Northwestern wolf
   Dingo

The maned wolf is the largest type of wolf in South America. You can find it in the open grasslands of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia.

1. Green iguana
   Gila monster
2. Water monitor
   Chameleon

The Gila monster lives from New Mexico to Utah as well as Northern Mexico. They grow to be about 20 inches long and eat small mammals and birds. Keep your hands away from them, because they are venomous!

1. Ring-taled lemur
   Sifakas
2. Aye-aye
   Mouse lemur

It may look like it stepped straight out of the movie "Gremlins," but the Aye-Aye is native to Madagascar. It's the largest nocturnal primate in the world and can grow to be up to 1.5 feet long.

1. Chinese water goat
   Markhor
2. Lowland streaked tenrec
   Bactrian camel

Male markhors grow to be more than 200 pounds and are native from Afghanistan to Northern Africa. Their name translates from Persian as "snake eater" because of a legend that they can eat snakes and release the venom in their cud.

1. Magnificant frigatebird
   Hoatzin
2. Ground finch
   Flightless cormorant

You may smell a hoatzin before you see it. The hoatzin's gullet and crop in its throat contain large amounts of bacteria that ferment the plants it eats. Unfortunately, this fermentation process doesn't produce the most pleasant smell.

1. Patagonian Mara
   Naked mole rat
2. Scottish hare
   Capybara

The Patagonian Mara is a rodent found in Argentina. They generally hide in low shrub, but they occasionally also roam in the Monte Desert. They feed mostly on green plants and fruit.

1. Mara
   Gazelle
2. Gerenuk
   Pronghorn

The Gerenuk is the giraffe of the gazelle world. They grow to be up to 3.5 feet tall and live in the eastern part of Africa. They use their long necks to graze on low trees much the same as giraffes.

1. Bald Eagle
   Osprey
2. Peregrine falcon
   California Condor

The California condor can have a wingspan over 10 feet long. They use their long wings to soar through the sky for miles without having to flap. If one flies over you, don't be surprised if you mistake it for a small airplane.

1. Frilled shark
   Glaucus atlanticus
2. Humpback anglerfish
   Angelfish

If you want to see a frilled shark, you'll have to dive more than 5,000 feet. They look more like a fossil than a living species. As you can imagine, they probably haven't evolved much in the last few million years.