Remarkable Creatures: Unveiling Nature's Most Unique Animals

 Bony fish are some of the largest creatures in the ocean

The animal kingdom is a vast and diverse group of creatures, many of which we will never get a chance to see up close. Thankfully, we have plenty of photos of the world's strangest animals to show you what you've been missing. Whether you're curious about the strange fish that live in the depths of the open ocean, or the nocturnal creatures that live in the trees of Africa, we've got you covered.

Most of the fish in the ocean are considered bony fish, but this big guy is the king of them all. This huge creature is the Mola alexandrini ocean sunfish, it was initially thought to be Mola mola, but recent research has helped to re-identify this animal. Sunfish are the largest bony fish known to man, and due to their size they have evolved into strange shapes – often resembling discs or wagon wheels.

While this giant fish holds the title of the heaviest bony fish in the world, the largest recorded fish was actually M. alexandrini or southern sunfish, caught off Kamogawa, Japan in 1996. Looks like there are some pretty big boys in the Eastern Seaboard.

Someone take this guy to the hairdresser, stat. The Angora rabbit is one of the oldest species of domestic rabbit, and is bred for the long fibers of its coat known as Angora wool. No one knows how they became pets, but it is believed that they were first brought to Europe from Ankara, Turkey by French sailors to mimic the shawls they saw on native women.

There are at least 15 breeds of Angora rabbits, with the English Angora being the most popular. Apparently this guy's hair has grown out of control, and most Angora rabbits require daily grooming to keep their hair from getting out of control.

The endangered Mexican crocodile lizard is a beautiful small invertebrate that looks more like a swirling piece of turquoise than a member of the animal kingdom. They are slow-moving, although when they feel threatened they can run with the best of them. These lizards live primarily in high-altitude cloud forests in Central America, especially Mexico and Guatemala.

Mexican alligator lizards have a healthy diet of low-protein insects such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, and katydids, although during the summer they are preparing to breed, so they don't get every single one of them. Local people believe that these lizards are poisonous, but fortunately for collectors this is not the case.

These beautiful deer are actually red deer or fallow deer that suffer from a condition called leucism which causes its hair and skin to lose their natural color. Although these animals are mostly considered mythological creatures appearing in everything from Hungarian mythology to Harry Potter, they can actually be seen all over the world, you just have to keep your eyes open.

There are not many animals suffering from leucism in the wild, as the lack of pigmentation in albino animals gives them no advantage with predators. Still, some of these animals manage to survive without the ability to socialize with each other.

If you're worried about bumping into this ugly little creature, don't worry, you'll have to travel all the way to Madagascar to run away from this animal, which the locals believe brings bad luck. Of course this isn't really bad luck, it just seems ridiculous. Aye-ayes do their best to spend most of their lives among the trees of the rainforest and only come down at night.

They spend most of the day curled up in a ball, hunting insects crawling under the tree bark when they wake up. They use their long middle fingers to hunt larvae which make up the majority of their diet. These animals can live up to 20 years, which is a long time to live in a tree.

These proud harpy eagles, whose scientific name is Harpia harpyza, can be found from southern Mexico to Central and South America and even northern Argentina, although their home is being threatened by deforestation. While they reach up to 3.5 feet in length, their hind paws are about 3-4 inches long, which is similar to the size of a grizzly bear.

Harpy eagles are very protective of their young, and they continue to bring fresh green twigs and branches to their nest after their offspring are born to keep them cool and safe from parasitic insects.