6 Unusual Traits of Animal Evolution

From powerful punches to mind control, nature regularly throws up some strange and mystifying adaptations of animal evolution.

By Sean Mowbray
Dec 19, 2023 9:30 PMDec 19, 2023 10:00 PM
Peacock mantis shrimp
(Credit: Maxfield Weakley/Shutterstock)

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For some animals, life is tough — full of hostile environments and dangerous neighbors. To survive, many creatures have developed adaptations worthy of a bit of head-scratching. Here are a few such evolutionary traits, ranging from the quirky to the downright horrifying.

1. Maned Wolf

(Credit: Christian Musat/Shutterstock)

There is much that’s unusual about the maned wolf. Known as the “fox on stilts,” it is the tallest of the canid species and indeed looks part fox — though it isn’t actually related. The wolf’s gangly legs are thought to enable it to spy across the tall savanna grasslands it calls home. Its distinctive bark, called a roar-bark, is also quite unlike any other species.

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