The 45 Coolest Animals on the Planet Take Extreme Measures To Survive

Snails are all over the map when it comes to sleep. We’ll define them as manic. They may nap for several hours, then stay awake for sessions of 30 hours or more. On the flip side, they have crazy hibernation periods. They can snooze for periods of up to three years, a survival instinct for when they feel the need to self-preserve.

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These birds have the insane ability to swivel their heads in almost a full circle thanks to their flexibility and the fact that their heads are only connected by one socket pivot. Researchers at Johns Hopkins also found that owls have backup arteries, so when they turn their heads at extreme angles, they’re still getting blood and nutrients when their blood vessels are cut off during turning.

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When the African Lungfish feels it’s in a life-threatening situation, it secretes a mucus cocoon and burrows itself up to nine inches under the soil, where it gets air through its lung via a built-in breathing tube that leads to the surface. It then relies on rainwater to breathe.

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That’s enough electricity to kill a horse. And while it might not be enough to kill you instantly, it’s enough to knock you out and leave you to drown. Another nasty note: If you’re shocked by one, it burns your skin.

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The stonefish produces intense vasoconstriction. If you’re stung by one, it can cause shock, paralysis, malaise, nausea and vomiting, sweating, delirium, pyrexia, cardiogenic shock, respiratory distress, and even death if it’s not treated within a few hours by anti-venom. If you do survive, the symptoms can last a long time, from days to weeks, and full recovery may take many months.

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At over 25 tons, the whale shark is the second largest fish in the world, and yet it’s fueled mostly by plankton, plants, and algae. It has over 4,000 teeth, but it’s a filter feeder. It collects food through a technique called “cross-flow filtration,” similar to some bony fish and baleen whales.

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Kangaroos can jump over 27 feet in one bound. They can accomplish this thanks to having small front legs and a long, strong tail that helps keep them balanced while jumping.

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They may be small, but they cause millions of deaths a year around the world, according to the World Health Organization. This is because mosquitoes carry and transmit a number of viruses and diseases, from malaria to dengue to yellow fever. In 2015 alone, there were 438,000 deaths from malaria.

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The Black Mamba slithers up to 12.5 miles per hour, but hopefully you can run faster. If it catches you, you have 20 minutes to find some anti-venom—or else you’re toast. The snake is responsible for an estimated 20,000 deaths each year.

This insect native to New Zealand freezes itself for several months, and then thaws itself. It’s the world’s largest freeze-tolerant insect, and withstands freezing 80 percent of its body tissues. It does this to survive drastic temperature changes thanks to a protein that prevents the formation of ice crystals in its blood-like fluid.

The dung beetle has been deemed the strongest insect on Earth. They’re able to push balls of fresh animal poop (hence their namesake) that weigh more than 200 times their body weight. Researchers documented one individual dung beetle that was pushing a ball that was 1,141 times his body weight, the equivalent of a 150-pound person moving a whopping 80 tons.

Don’t let the name fool you—it’s not a spider or a bird. It’s actually a wasp. But this insect leaves one of the most painful bug bites. According to entomologist Justin Schmidt, who created the “Schmidt sting pain index” to measure the severity of bug bites, on a scale of 1 to 4, the tarantula hawk is one of just two insects that scores a 4.

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Jaguars kill their prey with one bite by piercing the neck of their prey from behind, killing it instantly. And by the way, jaguars and black jaguars are the same species; the lack of markings is due to a mutation that occurs in approximately 6 percent of the wild population.

While hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water, they also take to the land (and have been known to be super aggressive). And for their size, they’re super speedy. Don’t try to outrun a hippo, because you’ll lose. They grow between 2,000 and 4,000 pounds, and can run between 15 and 30 miles per hour.

Komodo dragons can grow up to 10 feet long and swell to around 150 pounds, which means they eat…a lot. Try up to 80 percent of their own body weight in a single meal. Their post meal-ritual? They regurgitate all of the indigestible parts (bone, hair, feathers, scales) into gastric pellets that smell awful.

You’ve likely seen videos of scientists squeezing snakes’ venom into glass beakers. According to researchers, the snake that contains the most venom in volume is the King Brown, which can provide 1.3 grams of dry venom from a single milking.

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Looney Tunes made Taz a lovable cartoon character. But in real life, the devil is anything but. According to a study, it has the strongest bite on Earth. Although these animals weigh just 20 pounds on average, they can exert up to 94 pounds of pressure, for a “Bite Force Quotient” of 181. That’s nearly twice as strong as a hyena and some 60 points higher than a lion.

Emperor penguins live in the Arctic, arguably one of the cruelest environments, where it can get below -40 degrees Fahrenheit on the regular. They inhabit the ice and ocean that surrounds them, and have become experts at surviving. They dive up to 1,755 feet for food in water that’s well below freezing.

Ringtail lemurs have one of the most unique conflict-resolution tactics of all animals: stink fights. Since lemurs live in large social groups of 20 to 30, breeding season can bring a lot of competition. Male ringtails have scent glands on their wrists and shoulders. The wrist gland produces a volatile, short-lived odor, while the shoulder gland produces a brown, toothpaste-like substance, which is much longer lasting. Basically, male lemurs wave their tails and waft a fragrance toward their rivals, resulting in a smelly standoff until someone backs off.

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Nine months is nothing: African elephants have the longest pregnancy of any mammal, which can last up to two years. Scientists don’t really know why it takes so long to grow an elephant, but it could have something to do with their highly developed brains—elephants have complex social relationships and cognitive skills.