The title of ‘strangest animal skull’ is hard to pinpoint, but believe me; there’s a lot of contenders. From hippos to bats, snakes to elephants there’s a wide variety of peculiar animal craniums out there.
With spooky season upon us, it felt only natural to do a thematically creepy blog this week. That’s why I’ve chosen to take you through some of the strangest animal skulls in the world (in my humble opinion!)
Hippos
Seen as i already mentioned them, it feels only right to start here. Hippos are gigantic, round and deadly creatures with a formidable amount of strength hidden behind a dopey appearance. Able to crush a watermelon in one chomp, their jaws are insanely strong. Their skulls certainly show it too.
In fact, their skulls are almost the stuff of nightmares. With large protruding teeth on their top and bottom jaws, supported by immensely thick jaw bones – they’re a force to be reckoned with. To be honest, you can hardly call them teeth! Looking at a hippo skull next to a hippo does make you wonder how wrong we are about some dinosaurs…
Tapir
Perhaps not the most well known animal, tapirs still have a lot of interesting facts to uncover. For instance, their skulls! Whilst maybe not the strangest animal skull, they’re certainly weird. For a start, they have an almost xenomorph-esque set of front teeth that protrude outwards and away from their back teeth.
The strangest feature of their skull, however, is their ‘nasal cavity’ of sorts. Where their snout connects to their skull, they have a piece of born that protrudes in an interesting way. I think it sort of looks like a little unicorn pig, but that might just be me!
Once again, maybe not the STRANGEST animal skull, but definitely worth a mention on this list!
Bottlenose Dolphin
You might think this is a strange inclusion, but that’s the point! Dolphin’s are immensely intelligent creatures with immensely large brains. For reference a human brain is 1300 grams, whereas a dolphin skull is 1600! Of course, this gigantic skull needs somewhere to stay.
Bottlenose dolphins have freakishly long skulls with eye sockets that are spookily far apart. The complexity and granular texture of the ‘top’ of their skulls compared to the smoothness of the snout makes my skin crawl, i don’t know about you.
Walrus
Walruses are infamous for one feature in particular, as i’m sure you know. That’s right, it’s their flippers!
Just kidding, it’s obviously their mammoth (or walrus) tusks. And nothing quite shows their vastness like seeing their skull. The ratio of a walrus’ tusk size compared to it’s overall skull size is almost cartoonishly exaggerated. I mean, really. They look more like a Looney Tunes creation than a real animal skull!
I’ve said it before but there are plenty of peculiar skulls out there. So crowning one of them as the ‘strangest animal’ skull is an impossible task. That being said, i do truly believe the four I’ve mentioned here are strong contenders. If you’re curious (and brave) i urge you to research some more strange skulls, believe me it’s worth it!
Extra information
Animal-Club provides animal parties or animal handling workshops. You will be able to see, learn and interact with many wonderful animals with the help of our presenters. Our mobile zoo has many friendly animals such as rabbits, tarantulas, geckos, vinegaroons and more, perfect for an animal party. We can also come over to your school for an animal school visit or arrange for an animal workshop with us where the children can learn about looking after animals and animal behaviour, and have fun too.