Top 10 Unbelievable Ways Animals Survive in Dangerous Environments

The natural world is full of competition and harsh climates, and to survive many animals have had to adapt in surprising ways.

1. Wood frog body freeze

To survive the winter, up to 60% of the Alaskan wood frog's body freezes. They also stop breathing and their heart stops beating. This allows them to survive temperatures as low as -62 degrees Celsius. And in the spring, they thaw.

To achieve this semi-frozen state, frogs accumulate high concentrations of glucose (10 times the normal amount) in their organs and tissues. The sugary substances act as 'cryoprotectants,' preventing their cells from shrinking or dying.

2. Kangaroo rats live without drinking water.

Kangaroo rats have adapted to survive in the desert without drinking a single sip of water. Instead, they get all the moisture they need from the seeds they eat. These creatures also have incredible hearing and can jump up to 2.7 metres, helping them avoid predators.

3. Fish in Antarctica have "antifreeze" proteins in their blood.

Five families of notothenioid fish can produce their own 'antifreeze' proteins to survive in the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The proteins bind to ice crystals in their blood, preventing the fish from freezing. This unique adaptation helps explain why these fish make up 90 percent of the region's fish biomass.

4. African bullfrogs create "houses" of mucus to survive the dry season.

African bullfrogs live in the African savannah, where the weather is very hot and dry. When a frog comes out of the water, the mucus on its skin helps it breathe by dissolving oxygen from the air. To prevent its skin from drying out in the hot African climate, the bullfrog buries itself 15 to 20 centimeters underground. It then creates a mucus membrane, which hardens into a cocoon. The frog can stay in this cocoon for up to seven years while it waits for rain. When the rains come, the moisture softens the mucus sac, waking the frog and signaling the start of the rainy season. This is also when frogs breed and are most active.

5. Cuttlefish with the ability to blend into their surroundings

Cuttlefish have the amazing ability to change the color and texture of their bodies to blend in with their surroundings. They can detect the amount of light absorbed into their environment and then mimic it with their own pigments. They have three layers of skin (yellow, red, and brown), which can stretch in different ways to create unique colors and patterns. Their skin also has spines that give the cuttlefish the appearance of being as hard as coral. Together, these features allow cuttlefish to escape predators, as well as sneak up on unsuspecting prey.

6. Tubeworms turn toxic water into food

Scientists have long thought that life could not exist in hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean. But in 1977, they found giant tubeworms living along the Galapagos Rift, 2.4 kilometers below the ocean's surface. These tubeworms live in complete darkness in their habitat, and they also live in waters filled with toxic gases and acids.

That's why they don't have stomachs, intestines, or eyes. Instead, they're "bags of bacteria" with structures that resemble hearts and reproductive organs. The bacteria inside the worms use the toxic hydrogen sulfide in the water, which would kill most other animals, as an energy source to produce carbohydrates.

7. Okapi have scent glands on their feet.

In case you didn't know, the Okapi is a strange animal that looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra. They live in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the climate is very hot and where predators like leopards are always lurking.

To survive, okapis use three main adaptations. First, they have scent glands on their feet to mark their territory. Second, they have infrasonic calls, which allow them to communicate with their young without being overheard by predators. Finally, they have long tongues that can be 35 to 45 centimeters long, allowing them to clean their eyes and ears.

8. Puffer fish can inflate to more than twice their original size.

Pufferfish are capable of filling their bellies with water if they feel threatened. They can also expose their jagged spines in the process to deter potential predators. Sometimes they puff up simply to stretch their muscles. And they can swell to twice their original size.

Additionally, pufferfish produce a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin that, when consumed by predators, can cause paralysis and convulsions. In some cases, eating a pufferfish can lead to death in humans.

9. Elephants use their giant ears to cool down.

Elephants' ears act as a built-in cooling mechanism. They can cool down by flapping their giant ears. By making the flapping motion, elephants are creating a breeze and promoting blood flow through the vessels in their ears, helping them cool down.

Sometimes, elephants swim freely in a body of water and use their trunks to spray streams of water behind their ears for an added cooling effect.

10. The platypus uses its beak to detect electric fields created by its prey.

The platypus's beak can detect subtle electrical fields created by its prey while hunting and foraging. The platypus typically dives for food along the bottom of a body of water such as a river or stream. It searches for bottom-dwelling organisms such as crustaceans, worms, and insect larvae.

Using special receptors in their bodies, platypuses can detect changes in pressure, movement, and electrical signals left by small prey. By simply sweeping their head from side to side to activate the receptors, they can activate a chemical structure that allows them to detect different stimuli from touch, pressure, vibration, and even sound.