Blobfish.
Quite possibly the ugliest animal on earth. It looks like something out of a cartoon. To survive the intense pressure at depths of 1000m and more, its body is largely made up of a jelly-like substance slightly less dense than water. The jelly allows it to float just above the sea floor without having to expend energy on swimming.
Dracula Fish.
It is just 17 millimetres-long, transparent and has hook-shaped extensions that look like teeth protruding through the skin above its mouth. Zoologists called it one of the most "extraordinary vertebrates discovered in the last few decades".
Axlotl.
The axolotl is a Mexican mole salamander, about 15-45cm in length, and one of the cleverest critters you're ever likely to meet. If the axolotl loses a limb, it will grow another. If it loses a certain part of its brain, it will grow that back, too.
Tests have shown that it will happily accept transplants from other axolotls, including eyes and portions of brain, and rewire them to work perfectly. Because of these amazing powers of regeneration, some axolotls swim about with several more limbs than are strictly necessary.
Star-nosed Mole.
The star-nosed mole best resembles a strange sci-fi amalgamation of two different creatures. It is, for the most part, a common or garden mole, with thick, dark fur and a long thick tail. But its nose seems to belong to another animal altogether.
The ring of 22 fleshy pink tentacles that wave around at the end of its snout should really be living on its own at the bottom of the sea.
Hagfish.
To escape predators, the hagfish exudes copious quantities of a viscous slime. That's the nice bit. To feed, it enters its victim through the mouth, gills or anus, and devours it from the inside out. Yep, the hagfish has absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever.
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According to Biologists, "the hollow globes & spines, probably deter predators. It would be hard to grab, much less chow down on, a beast with all those spines and excrescences. Note, though, that the ornament sports many bristles. If these are sensory bristles, and not just deterrents to predation or irritating spines, then the ornament may have an unknown tactile function."
[VIA]
The centerpiece of the pavilion is the seed cathedral, where visitors will be able to explore a variety of seeds of different plants featured on the end of each rod.
It has been designed by Brit architect, Thomas Heatherwick 'The cathedral represents UK's understanding of 'better city, better life,' which also reflects how biological diversity has influenced and improved people's life,' Heatherwick stated."
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has announced he will will try to smash the nearly 50-year-old record for the highest jump this year, becoming the first person to go supersonic in freefall.
Fox handbag
This piece is called Roadkill Mappe Mundi, made from ducklings. He did not eat them because they were too small.
Although the deer are less than 2ft tall and weigh a maximum of 31lb, the males have a secret weapon - downward-pointing fangs which can grow more than 3in long.
Latest victim was Perdita, a six-year-old Jack Russell out for a walk with Georgina Robey, 12, and her tenyearold brother Daniel. Perdita suffered cuts on her back, neck and both sides of her stomach after an encounter with a mystery predator.
Chinese Water Deer were first introduced into Great Britain in the 1870s and were kept in the London Zoo. In 1896, they were transferred to Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, with further additions being imported and added to the stock. In 1929 and 1930, 32 deer were transferred from Woburn to Whipsnade, also in Bedfordshire, and released into the park.
This years first place winner. An image of a thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) anther magnified at 20x, taken by Heiti Paves of the Tallinn Institute of Technology, Estonia. The thale cress is an important species used in the study of plant genome traits.
Weavers in Madagascar have done something never seen before. After 4 years of work, and the silk from 1 milion spiders, they have made an 11 x 4ft tapestry made completely of spider silk.
The main threads consist of 96 twisted silk lines. The brocaded patterns in the tapestry — stylized birds and flowers — are woven with threads made up of 960 spider silk lines. Peers says they never broke a single strand, yet the tapestry is as soft as cashmere.
