To celebrate Halloween, we take a look at our top 5 frightfully awesome animal species, all with spooktacular names.
1. HALLOWEEN PENNANT DRAGONFLYThese brightly coloured dragonflies get their name from their stunning bright orange wings. Interestingly, they perch quite uniquely, with the fore-wings and hind-wings in different planes. This species is widespread in North America.2. GOBLIN SHARKGoblin sharks are extremely rare and inhabit the deep ocean. This shark is characterised by it’s distinctive, elongated snout with highly protrusive jaws. It’s snout is covered with electroreceptors called Ampulla of Lorenzini which enables the shark to sense tiny electric fields produced by nearby prey.3. AFRICAN DEATH’S-HEAD HAWKMOTHThis species gets it’s name from it’s skull-like pattern on it’s thorax. This species has appeared in horror films such as The Slience of the Lambs (1991) and Dracula (1958). It is common throughout much of Africa and Southern Europe, but migrates as far north as the UK.4. GHOST ANTGhost ants can be easily recognised from their translucent legs and abdomen, which gifts them their name. The translucent nature of their abdomen means you can often see what they had for dinner! This species often inhabits warm buildings.5. HAIRY-LEGGED VAMPIRE BATOne of three extant vampire bat species, this species is found in South America and Central America. It feeds on the blood of wild birds, but can also feed on the blood of domestic birds and humans. This species has a long groove along the top of it’s mouth, believed to act as a “blood gutter”.
Got any more animals with spooky names? Let us know by tweeting us @AnimalDynamics_
