Extinct
This prehistoric "living fossil" fish was thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs until a live one was discovered off the coast of South Africa in 1938.
A Coelacanth
This major biological transformation allows a fully aquatic, gill-breathing tadpole to develop legs and lungs to become a land-dwelling adult.
The metamorphosis
This incredibly intelligent bird is part of the corvid family, known for using tools, solving puzzles, and even remembering human faces.
A Crow
To grow larger, crabs and lobsters must routinely cast off their old, rigid exoskeletons in a vulnerable biological process called what?
Molting (or ecdysis)
This bizarre, flat ocean predator is the largest species of venomous fish, using a jagged, toxin-laced barb on its tail for self-defense.
Growing up to 50 feet long, this prehistoric cousin of the Great White was the largest shark to ever swim the oceans before vanishing around 3.6 million years ago.
A Megalodon
Most bony fish use this internal, gas-filled organ to control their buoyancy and maintain their depth without wasting energy swimming.
A swim bladder?
What Stuffed Animal does Ricki own?
A Cow
Pound for pound, this liquid protein extruded from a spider’s spinnerets is stronger than steel and can stretch up to 140% of its length without snapping.
Spider Silk
This brightly colored reef dweller is famous for its symbiotic relationship with stinging ___ _______
Sea Anemone
With a wingspan comparable to an F-16 fighter jet (around 33 feet), this giraffe-sized creature from late Cretaceous North America is the largest known flying animal to ever exist.
A Quetzalcoatlus
These uniquely structured marine fish always swim vertically, use their prehensile tails to anchor themselves to coral, and the males carry the eggs.
A Sea Horse
This semi-aquatic Australian mammal breaks the standard rules of its class by laying eggs instead of giving birth to live young.
Platypi
Honeybees communicate the precise distance and direction of patch flowers to the rest of their hive by performing this rhythmic, figure-eight movement.
The waggle dance
Lacking a brain, heart, or eyes, these gelatinous marine invertebrates are made of roughly 95% water and use stinging cells called nematocysts to catch food.
A Jellyfish
These marine cephalopods featured a spiral, chambered shell resembling a ram's horn and are closely related to modern octopuses and squids, despite their snail-like appearance.
Ammonites
Famous in Minecraft, This smiling, critically endangered Mexican salamander is famous for retaining its aquatic larval traits—like its feathery external gills—for its entire life.
An axolotl
Unlike most birds, owls can fly in complete silence thanks to specialized, velvety feathers that break up air currents and muffle the sound of their wings.
Serrated feathers
Found in fireflies, this highly efficient chemical reaction combines luciferin and oxygen to produce light with virtually zero heat loss.
Bioluminescence
These tiny, colonial marine invertebrates secrete a hard skeleton made of calcium carbonate, building massive underwater structures that support 25% of all ocean life.
Coral
Unlike its modern, tree-dwelling relatives, this massive Ice Age beast lived on the ground, grew up to 20 feet long, and used its giant claws to dig burrows or pull down entire tree branches.
A giant ground sloth (or Megatherium)
Growing up to 10 feet long and weighing over 150 pounds, this apex predator found on a few Indonesian islands is the largest living lizard species on Earth.
The Komodo dragon
This small, scaly, ant-eating creature is famous for rolling into an impenetrable ball when threatened and holds the tragic title of the most trafficked non-human mammal in the world.
A pangolin
With a leg span that can stretch over 12 feet across, this massive deep-sea creature found off the coast of Japan is the largest living arthropod on Earth.
The Japanese Spider Crab
These microscopic, nearly indestructible invertebrates are famous for their ability to survive the vacuum of space, extreme radiation, and boiling temperatures by entering a state of deep animation.
(Hint: H2O + Grrrrr!)