The Weird and Wonderful

This article appeared in the papers recently documenting Nature's Weirdest creatures. From newly discovered deep-bottom dwellers to mammals that resemble rodents, nature has unraveled some outright weird-looking creatures. They certainly reminded me of some of the toys Jared and Javon used to collect when they were much younger. Scroll down to see what they are :)

The Dumbo Octopus can be found in any ocean and is known to have been found anywhere up to approximately 7,000 meters below sea level. The Dumbo Octopus is strange compared to others of its kind as it prefers to swallow its prey whole. When down on the sea bed Dumbo Octopus will feast mainly on worms and crustaceans, and when away from the sea bed they will eat pelagic cope-pods. The Dumbo Octopus gets its name from the two fins which look like and are situated like ears. ‘Dumbo’ will swim using these larges fins and with the help of its arms it is a formidable swimmer.

The axolotl, Ambystoma Mexicanum, is the best known of the Mexican neotenic mole salamanders belonging to the Tiger Salamander complex. Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate most body parts, ease of breeding, and large embryos. They are commonly kept as pets in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Japan and other countries.

As mentioned, seeing these creatures in the papers reminded me of the Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā) the boys used to collect. The Pokémon anime series and films are a meta-series of adventures separate from the canon that most of the Pokémon video games follow. Pokémon merchandise was just a hit for them and they enjoyed collecting the little buggers. Here are just some of them. Click on the pictures below for a bigger and better view :)

With names like Treecko, Zigzagoon, Ludicolo, Beldum, Regirock, Huntail, Seviper, Ninjask, Groudon, Makuhita, Dusclops, Loudred, Exploud, Carvanha, Rayquasa and many more, it was just amazing how kids could remember all their names and mouth them off to each other.

The original series (1st generation) had names like Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard, Raticate, Parasect, Nidoran, Kadabra, Alakazam and many many more. The list just goes on and on. There are a total of 493 Pokémon to date.

Even the wife got hooked and started collecting some Pikachu figurines ;p Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is one of the species of Pokémon creatures and is among the most recognizable Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the Pokémon anime series. Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, is regarded as the official mascot of the Pokémon franchise, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years.

And here's possibly all the Pokémon that have ever appeared (click on the picture to view)