52 | May• 2019
10 ANIMALSWITHSUPER POWERS
CUTTLEFISH
INVISIBILITY
Cuttlefishhavelargebrainswhich
theyusetoperforma rangeofintel-
ligentbehaviours,includingchang-
ingtheirskincolourandpatternsto
camouflageandhidefrompredators.
Infact,theyhavesomeofthebest
camouflageskillsintheanimalking-
dom.Theycandistorttheirbodiesto
resemblenearlyanyaquaticshapeto
blendinwiththeirsurroundings.They
evenhavesacsintheirskincontaining
pigmentssotheycanchange colour at
a moment’snotice.
ELEPHANTS
VERSATILETRUNKS
Weallknowelephants’trunkscan
pickupobjectslikeanextralimb,
butdidyouknowtheycaneasilylift
anobjectweighingonetonneusing
onlytheirtrunks?Theirtrunkscan
alsoactashoses,snorkels,pokers
andforks,dependingonthesitua-
tion.Unfortunately,poachershave
puttheseintelligentanimals on the
endangeredspecieslist.
SEACUCUMBERS
REGENERATEORGANS
Acommon, largesea cucumber
(Bohadschiaargus) iseasytoidenti-
fyduetoitsdistinctivepattern.This
speciesofcaterpillar-likeseacrea-
turehasoneofthemostfascinating
defencemechanisms,althoughit’s
ratherunpleasant. Theycontract
their muscles and eject some of their
internalorgansoutoftheirrearends- stickydefensive threadswhich
entanglepredatorsandemita toxic
chemical.Theexcretedorgansare
laterregenerated.We’regladStanLee
didn’tuseseacucumbersasinspira-
tionforanyofhiscomic books.
LYREBIRDS
MASTERIMITATORS
TheseAustralianbirdsarewellknown
fortheirabilitytomimicalmostany
sound.Theycanimitateotherbirds
andanimals,includinghumans,as
wellaschainsaws,caralarms, and the
clickofa camera shutter.HYENAS
STOMACHSOFSTEEL
OK,notliterally,buttheyareableto
eatallsortsofanimals– whetherit’s
theirownpreyorarottingcorpse- fromwildebeestsandbirdstoliz-
ardsandsnakes.Theirjawsareeven
abletocrushbones.Theonlythings
theycan’tdigestarehooves,horns
andhair.Everything else is on their
menu.
CERTAINSNAKES
INTERNALHEATSENSORS
Thankstoorgansontheirfaces,some
speciesofvipers,pythonsandboasare
abletodetectthebodyheatofnearby
prey.AccordingtoWiredmagazine,
sincenervesconnecttheorgantothe
brain’ssomatosensorysystem,which
processesthesenseoftouch,snakes
may be able to feel actual heat.