For some animals, life is tough — full of hostile environments and dangerous neighbors. To survive, many creatures have developed adaptations worthy of a bit of head-scratching. Here are a few such evolutionary traits, ranging from the quirky to the downright horrifying.
(Credit: Christian Musat/Shutterstock)
Christian Musat/Shutterstock
There is much that’s unusual about the maned wolf. Known as the “fox on stilts,” it is the tallest of the canid species and indeed looks part fox — though it isn’t actually related. The wolf’s gangly legs are thought to enable it to spy across the tall savanna grasslands it calls home. Its distinctive bark, called a roar-bark, is also quite unlike any other species.
But its most unusual trait is the smell of its urine, which smacks of marijuana. Curiously enough, scientists believe this odor is a warning to other maned wolfs to keep off their turf.
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