I’m Squirming At These 16 Creatures That Look Straight Out Of A Horror Movie But Actually Exist Here On Earth

Eyeem Mobile Gmbh / Getty Images

These boneless, jawless creatures tin beryllium recovered successful astir temperate regions astir the world, successful lakes, rivers, and oceans. They usage their teeth-filled rima holes to suction onto their pray and devour its soma and blood.

Stan Tekiela Author / Getty Images

Found successful swampy areas of North America, the star-nosed mole's titular appendage consists of 22 probes with 25,000 sensory receptors, which it uses to consciousness its mode around, and to place and devour prey truthful rapidly it really holds the Guiness World Record for being the fastest-eating mammal.

Neil Bromhall / Getty Images

Naked mole-rats, recovered successful the Horn of Africa, unrecorded underground successful colonies led by a queen and look precisely arsenic their sanction suggests: wrinkly sacks of rat-shaped tegument with precise crisp teeth. What's truly wild astir them is that they don't truly look to consciousness overmuch pain, are resistant to cancer, don't look to age, tin unrecorded up to 18 minutes without oxygen, and often devour poop.

Lindblad Expeditions / YouTube / Via youtube.com

The Antartatic standard worm, recovered DEEP successful the ocean, doesn't look excessively scary astatine archetypal glimpse — it adjacent has pretty, brushed golden edges. But it besides has a concealed Xenomorph-like rima that springs retired to teardrop isolated its prey. 

George Melin / Getty Images

Another heavy oversea curse — I mean carnal — the pink-skinned goblin shark grows to beryllium betwixt 10 and 20 feet agelong and has a "slingshot-like jaw" that it tin sprout guardant astatine large velocity to fastener successful connected prey.

Taciophilip / Getty Images

The quality botfly, recovered successful the Americas, looks similar a regular — if large — fly, but its larvae (pictured above) is genuinely terrifying. You see, quality botflies laic their eggs connected mosquitoes, which past provender connected mammals. When that happens, the eggs hatch and the larvae burrow nether the mammal's skin, spending 6-10 weeks feeding and increasing earlier yet erupting retired of the skin.

Jormungand / Getty Images

Coming successful astatine 12 inches long, this is the largest centipede successful the world, recovered successful South America and the Caribbean. It has highly toxic and deadly venom, tin ascent walls and bent upside down, and feeds connected immoderate different animal it tin negociate to overpower and kill, including spiders, scorpions, lizards, frogs, birds, bats, and snakes.

- / Getty Images

Giant squids dwell successful the Southern, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, and measurement betwixt 20 and 40 feet long. They person the largest eyes in the satellite (about the size of meal plates), agelong tentacles, and heavy arms that are covered with crisp suckers, and almighty beaks, which they usage to teardrop isolated their prey. Oh, and they're cannibals!

Samuel J Coe / Getty Images

Found successful tropical waters astir Australia, these are the smallest jellyfish successful the satellite (their bodies usually don't get bigger than an inch) and they are besides wide — making them hard to spot and truthful incredibly dangerous. Covered successful thousands of stinging cells, they tin occurrence stingers which inject venom that causes 'Irukandji Syndrome,' symptoms of which see feelings of impending doom, terrible pain, vomiting, cardiac issues, and stroke.

Pr2is / Getty Images

Japanese spider crabs, recovered successful the waters astir Japan, tin turn up to 12.5 feet successful size. They connect sponges and different animals to their shells for camouflage, and scavenge for nutrient — chiefly plants and dormant creatures. They tin besides regenerate their limbs, laic astir 1.5 cardinal eggs astatine a time, and unrecorded up to 100 years.

Natalie Ruffing / Getty Images

Turns retired sarcastic fringehead is not conscionable my idiosyncratic nickname, but a benignant of reclusive food recovered successful Pacific waters astir the US. They're very aggressive, and person Demogorgon-like mouths that unlock to doubly the size of their ain heads, filled with rows of teeth, which they usage to ward disconnected and combat competition. 

Nicolas Reusens / Getty Images

Vampire bats are, arsenic their sanction suggests, bats that provender wholly connected humor — from different mammals, birds, and reptiles. They're recovered successful Central and South America, emerging astatine nighttime to sneak up on sleeping prey, which they pierce with their teeth successful bid to devour its blood.

Habibi Alisyahbana / Getty Images

Vinegarroons are the largest benignant of whip scorpions, and they dwell successful the Southern United States and Mexico. They're carnivorous and nocturnal. When threatened, they discharge an acidic substance that smells similar vinegar, which tin origin tegument irritation and impermanent blindness.  

Kittichart La-iad / Getty Images

Jewel wasps get their sanction from their attractively-colored bodies, but their behaviour is thing but pretty. They reproduce by attacking cockroaches and taking implicit their "minds" to incapacitate their flight instincts. The jewel wasp volition past pb the roach to its burrow and laic an ovum connected the roach's legs earlier fundamentally burying it alive. When the ovum hatches, the larva feeds connected the extracurricular of the roach earlier burrowing into its abdomen to devour its interior organs and yet usage its assemblage arsenic a cocoon.  

Eric Lowenbach / Getty Images

The confusingly-named tarantula hawks are really different benignant of wasp, known for hunting tarantulas. They're ample and person 1 of the astir achy stings successful the world. Like the jewel wasp with cockroaches, tarantula hawks laic their eggs connected incapacitated hosts — successful this case, spiders, which are still alive erstwhile the larva hatches and starts feeding connected them from the wrong out.

Robert Way / Getty Images

Penis fish are named for precisely what you think, but they're not really a food — they're a benignant of marine spoonworm recovered successful Asia. They not lone look beauteous ick, they besides concealed mucus to make mucus nets successful their burrows, which they usage to drawback the detritus they provender on.