Our world is teeming with incredible animals that have some remarkable abilities, but every now and then, a critter is born with a genetic mutation, making them more unique than we could’ve ever imagined. Whether left to stand out as a one-in-a-million wonder or selectively bred by us humans, these beasts epitomize the extraordinary results of the genetic lottery. Let's explore some of the amazing creatures that’ve won the evolutionary race!
Angora Rabbit
What do you get when you cross a rabbit and a sheep? You probably didn’t know that these hybrid creatures actually exist, kind of. Meet the angora rabbit, which is essentially a rabbit hidden somewhere underneath that fluff.
The angora breed originates from Ankara, Türkiye, and is one of the oldest types of woolly rabbits. It turns out these animals are used for wool production, with over 3,000 tons of the angora fluff produced per year. The rabbit’s distinctively long hair is the result of a genetic mutation, which was then enhanced within the breed through selective breeding over time. The breed comes in varieties, with the biggest, the German angora, weighing up to 11.5 lbs, that makes them heavier than a 2-month-old baby! Some angora rabbit varieties, such as the French angora, have smaller wool ratios and can live happily for around 12 years, which is pretty good going for a domestic rabbit, which usually average around 8 years!
Hairless Animals
Mongo the chimpanzee hailed from Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, England, and had alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. Humans get it too, and there are a bunch of reasons for it, with stress typically being the main one. Maybe Mongo was feeling the strain of zoo life?
That's not to say alopecia doesn’t occur in the wild, look at the Zimbabwean hairless baboon below! To his chimp brethren, Mongo’s muscles weren’t a big deal, but to us humans, his full-body baldness shows off just how swole chimps are. These apes are about 1.5 times stronger than the average human, with most capable of pulling twice their own body weight. The reason for this is the higher proportion of muscle fibers needed for powerful, rapid movements, like swinging through trees and evading predators. Mongo sadly
passed away in 2012 but he wasn’t the only animal rocking hairlessness out there. Look at this next cute bald guinea pig. What they lack in chimpanzee muscle, they make up for in lovability.
Hairless guinea pigs, also called Skinny Pigs, are just like regular guinea pigs, only with little to no hair.
They are the result of a genetic mutation first discovered in 1978 at Montreal medical research facility. Today, not only do they look like tiny hippos, but they also make popular pets due to their gentle, placid nature. Without coats, they tend to eat more than your average furry guinea to keep up healthy fat reserves and are more likely to snuggle up with you to keep warm.
Ayam Cemani Black Chicken
Ayam Cemani is a kind of chicken that is completely black! Its skin, beak, meat, organs and even its bones are black. Their distinctive color is down to a mutant fibro melanistic gene that results in this black hyperpigmentation. The amount of melanin animals produce is responsible for making the skin either darker or lighter. The greater the amount of melanin in the pigment, the darker the skin, so Ayam Cemanis produce a heck of a lot of melanin compared to normal chickens.
Originating from Sumatra, Indonesia, these cluckers are pretty average for medium sized chickens, with roosters weighing 4.5 to 6 lbs and hens 3.5 to 4.5 lbs. If you’re thinking of buying one, though, you should know that there are only about 3500 Ayam Cemani in the entire world, and their rarity means that a single high quality chicken fetches up to $6,000. The meat isn’t even supposed to taste that much yummier than a normal chicken, and if anything is slightly gamier. Hyper pigmentation doesn’t just affect chickens, though, plenty of animals can appear all black, such as hedgehogs, seals, even giraffes! But the way the fibro melanistic gene intermingles with regular skin pigments can result in astonishingly beautiful combinations, like this melanistic fox! These are also known as cross foxes, because sightings of the creatures are so rare, they were once thought to be a distinct species! But actually, these are red foxes with higher melanin in their skin pigments, resulting in the stunning coloration. Most prevalent in northern Canada, the cross fox is what happens when a red fox and a completely melanistic fox, often called a black or silver fox, get to know each other. Who’d have thought that chickens and foxes would have so much in common.
Polydactyl Cats
We all know cats use their claws to catch mice, climb trees, and ruin furniture, but imagine the additional chaos they could achieve with a few extra claws? Or, more specifically, toes. This is a condition called polydactyly, a genetic abnormality that results in those affected having extra digits, which it turns out cats can also develop!
Usually, our feline friends have five toes on their front paws and four toes on their back, whereas
polydactyl cats can have six or more on each paw. Polydactyl is caused by a genetic mutation in a dominant gene; however, there’s no need to be alarmed, as the condition is mostly harmless to the cat’s health.
In fact, wider paws can mean better balance and improved hunting skills. Back in the day, sailors believed that cats with extra toes brought their ship good luck, since they thought it made them better at catching mice and kept the ships vermin free. Back in 2002, the Guinness World Record for the cat with most digits was awarded to Jake, a ginger tabby with 28 toes, while no images of him exist, another ginger tabby called Thumbz also has 28 toes, with some of the extra digits making it look like he has a set of thumbs!
But it gets stranger. Over in Turkey, there’s a very special Instagram celebrity, Midas, the cat, who doesn’t have extra toes, but does
have extra ears!
Much like polydactyl cats, those extra ears are due to a recessive genetic mutation passed down from her parents. However, she sadly doesn’t have double the amount of hearing. With all these extra body parts, all cats are going to need are a set of opposable thumbs and they’ll be able to take over the world!
Rare Snakes
Back in 2021, the world met a reticulated python, but not just any reticulated python because this one was covered from head to tail in shimmering, rainbow-colored scales. Her name is MyLove, and she’s from the Reptile Zoo in Fountain Valley, California.
MyLove was bred by the zoo’s founder, Jay Brewer, who’s essentially the Joe Exotic of snakes. According to him, MyLove was born with a motley and golden child gene. These are two mutations bred in domesticated snakes that affect their scale color. Combine these two together and this distinct pattern is the result! Reticulated pythons are one of the largest snake species in the world, with a few reaching nearly 30 ft, that’s longer than four average sized men laid end to end! In 2022, MyLove measured 12 feet long, but there’s nothing stopping her from doubling that length as she gets older. While pythons are known for their aggressive behavior, wrapping around their victims and using brute strength to constrict and crush their prey, sweet MyLove hasn’t constricted anyone yet. Even with all that muscle in her coils, MyLove wouldn’t last long in the wild. Reticulated pythons typically have brown diamond patterns for camouflaging into their surroundings. With those iridescent hues, MyLove would stick out like a disco ball in the jungle!
She isn't the only python slithering into the spotlight, though. Thanks to a condition called leucism, some pythons appear completely white!
This condition is different from albinism. In Albinism, there is a total loss of pigmentation in the animal, resulting in colorless skin and features like their eyes, which, because of the shading of the blood in the capillaries, can appear faintly pink or red. In leucism, there is only a partial or reduced pigmentation, which is why the eyes of this snake appear blue. Leucistic snakes of any species are popular in pet trades, though, much like MyLove, they’d be a rare sight out in the wild, with their reduced camouflage abilities.
Green Dogs
Puppies are pretty adorable. They’ve got boundless energy, big eyes, and, occasionally, green fur. In 2020, on the island of Sardinia, Italy, a farmer’s dog gave birth to 5 pups. Except, the last one out was green!
Unfur-gettable: Puppy with green fur born in Sardinia by Reuters While rare, it is not totally unheard of for puppies to be born with this green hue. Earlier in 2019, a Great Dane in Colorado gave birth to a remarkable pistachio colored puppy.
Great Dane gives birth to green puppy by Rumble Viral But what’s causing all these adorable mutations? Luckily, it’s not actually a mutation! The phenomenon happens during pregnancy. Puppies in the womb can come in contact with biliverdin, a green pigment found in bile. It’s the same pigment that makes bruises turn green sometimes. If the level of biliverdin in a puppy’s birth sac is unusually high, then the pigment dyes their fur, resulting in a crazy looking canine. The condition isn’t dangerous, nor is it permanent. Eventually, as the puppy grows the color fades. But dogs aren’t the only ones going green; cats are trying it out too. In 2014, people on the streets of Varna, Bulgaria, noticed this curious looking cat!
Feline a little green! Meet the GREEN cat of Bulgaria by Rex Features Locals and news outlets were perplexed, with some even claiming it was a mutation, or the result of exposure to radioactive waste! In reality, the
color was her own doing. The turquoise tabby had made a habit of napping in a pile of powdered paint at a local garage. After being given a good bath by an animal welfare group she looked like a regular old kitty, sort of.
Muscly Mammals
Back in 2021, an image of an extremely muscular cat went viral, which eventually became known as the Gigacat. The pumped-up puss was in fact a sphynx cat born with a rare condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy.
Myostatin is a protein produced by the body that inhibits muscle cell growth, which this cat clearly isn’t lacking. Deficiencies in the myostatin protein means an animal continues to build muscle even when it may not be actively trying to, causing them to look ripped. We all have two versions of the myostatin gene. If an animal is born with one mutated version, they are stronger and more muscular than usual, though it’s not usually physically obvious. But, if an animal inherits two mutated versions, then they are homozygous. In other words, they have two identical mutated genes, and will look like they’re about to compete in an animal bodybuilding competition. Of course, Gigacat isn’t the only buff beast lumbering around. Nearly all racing whippets have one mutated gene which gives their muscles the power to reach running speeds of up to 35 mph! Though it’s pretty obvious when a dog has two.
Wendy is a prime example of a whippet with the double mutation. While an adult whippet will typically weigh 41 lbs at the heavier end, Wendy weighs a colossal 59 lbs, roughly the same as an average 9-year-old human child!
But this mutation doesn’t just affect cats and dogs! The Belgian blue cattle breed, who’re all born with this natural mutation, are bred specifically for their muscles. These Schwarzeneggers of the cow world are often called double-muscled, though actually they only have 25% more muscle mass than your average animal.
But being double-muscled isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Belgian blues are so big that their calves usually have to be born via caesarean, and their meat isn’t considered as delicious as fattier cows because it’s so lean. So, not the big flex we were all hoping for!
Spotless Cheetah
In 2012, photographer Guy Combes was wandering through the wilds of Athi Kapiti Conservancy in Nairobi, Kenya. He spotted something in the distance, but it didn’t look like any animal he’d ever seen! Combes managed to get 50 yards from the creature when he snapped pictures of it. it turned out, the animal was a spotless cheetah; a sight so extraordinarily rare, one hadn’t been seen since 1921.
Ordinarily, a cheetah’s spots act as camouflage by offsetting shadows in the grey-hued grasses where they lurk. Though, the young male’s beige fur isn’t necessarily a detriment. Despite being a top predator, cheetahs are preyed upon by hyenas, leopards, and their big cousins, lions. With this golden coat, the spotless cheetah may be mistaken for a lion, which would scare away any potential predators. Calling it spotless is a misnomer, since the cheetah does have a few on its back. Markings on all wild cats come from their skin color, and their fur matches these patterns. If you shaved off the fur, there would be the same marks underneath. So, this cat really has a rare skin condition; rather than a rare hair condition.
Some have theorized that the sandy colored coat may be the result of a recessive trait, similar to the phenomenon that causes the markings on a king cheetah; a rare variation of cheetah that features three distinctive stripes down its back and larger, blotchier spotting!
Let’s say you’ve got two average cheetahs who both possess the trait that gives a spotless cheetah its plain coat, or a king cheetah it’s stripes. If two cheetahs who both have the same recessive trait breed, then the recessive trait can become dominant and then a spotless cheetah, or a king cheetah, is born. Next time you’re on safari, keep an eye out; you might just spot a spotless cheetah!
Nosey Dogs
Eris the borzoi boasts an unbelievable 12-inch-long nose! Eris comes from Richmond, Virginia, and was adopted in 2018. She was born with an overbite as the result of a genetic defect. In total, this lanky dog measures 4 ft 9 inch from toe to tail, so that dog’s the same length as Danny DeVito is tall!
But none of this impacts negatively on Eris, who lives a perfectly happy life; her nose has even made her a social media star! Eris’s owners believe that her nose could be the biggest on the planet and are willing to put their money where their mouths are and have her nose officially measured. However, despite having that colossal conk, Eris doesn’t have a heightened sense of smell, and she isn’t the only dog around with a super snoot! Here’s a dog who’s twice as nosey.
DOG with TWO NOSES!!! MEET TOBY!!! by venicebeachfreakshow In 2014, Toby the Australian Shepherd was a stray on the streets of Fresno, California, before being taken in by a dog shelter. Nobody wanted him because of his unique appearance and was due to be put down, before he was adopted in the nick of time. Now, as for that extra schnoz, this is likely the result of a chromosomal abnormality, and there were some fears that the canine might have breathing issues. However, this is no concern for two-nose Toby, whose vet said he’s in perfect health.
Biggest Rabbit In The World
Let’s hop over to Stoulton, Worcestershire, England, and meet Darius, who holds the Guinness World Record for being the biggest rabbit in the world. He weighed 35 lbs and measured 4ft 3in long, that’s longer than your average Labrador retriever!
Darius the world's largest bunny rabbit by On Demand News Being a continental giant breed, Darius was always going to be pretty large. The breed owes their size to being bred for meat with the first documented specimen recorded in 1983. As his day job, Darius was used for siring other giant rabbits that was until
he was stolen! Apparently, in April 2021, Darius’s owner awoke to find her big bunny missing from his hutch. Sadly, the colossal coney has never been found. While Darius may be gone, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been other gigantic rabbits. Ralph was a 3-foot-long behemoth from Uckfield, East Sussex, England. In 2013,
Ralph broke the scales at nearly 55lbs, that’s three and a half times as heavy as a bowling ball!
Honey, That's One Big Bunny! Meet 'Fat Ralph' by illeone69 His owners spent £50 a week on his diet, which is roughly some $60! His owners were so shocked at his colossal size that they took Ralph to be exorcised! A medium believed that his immense size was due to him being haunted. It's rather doubtful ghost bunnies had anything to do with Ralph’s bowling ball weight. Gigantism is a genetic condition that ran in his family, with both his parents holding records for their weight and size.
Deer With Huge Antlers
While most stags wear their antlers well, there are some whose antlers wear them! Deer like the one in the image below would never appear in the wild, instead these stags all live on farms or parks where they are protected, trough fed and selectively bred.
As generations pass, deer with big antlers are bred together to produce offspring that have even bigger antlers that start to, well, branch out. Unlike horns, antlers are grown and shed every year. They’re mostly made of calcium, like bone, and are covered with a thin layer of skin and blood vessels, called velvet, which feeds and develops the antlers until the deer are ready to use them to rut and fight for breeding rights. However, the selective breeding to produce big antlers has become extreme. There are even whitetail deer farms in the USA, where these animals are bred specifically for trophy hunters, in a practice called canned hunting. Shooters on these pseudo-hunts are looking for a set of antlers to hang on their wall, and bigger is, sadly, better.
Breeders on these reserves selectively breed, and even inbreed, their whitetail stags to give them the biggest antlers possible. For this reason, the horns of some stags become twisted, bloated, and deformed. While they do look huge, they actually ruin the animal’s health, since the deer’s head and neck can’t support the growth. While a typical stag can live up to 12 years, these guys rarely live past 7. This form of breeding and hunting has been, unsurprisingly, condemned by a variety of animal welfare groups. Though that hasn’t stopped sales, because bucks with these freakish antlers can fetch more than $50,000!
Jackalope
We’ve all got that one relative who’s a bit odd. For lagomorphs, which is the group that makes up rabbits, hares and pikas, it’s the jackalope.
The jackalopes are not real, but the myth of jackelopes has been found all over the world, with some people today even believing they’re the genuine article. Take a look at the manuscript below from 1280 AD, you can see a rabbit-like creature with what looks like a long horn sticking out of its head.
Then there’s this barbed bunny from a 1502 illustration, completed back when naturalists genuinely believed jackalopes were a distinct species of the rabbit family. So, what’s behind this fantasy? The truth is just as we like it, dark and unsettling.
Rabbits can get affected by a virus called shope papillomatosis which causes growths to sprout and harden on a rabbit’s head, resembling horns. This nasty infection is believed to be spread through biting insects, like ticks. But don’t worry, most infected rabbits can bounce back from the condition. The animal’s only in real peril when the growths become so large, they interfere with its ability to eat and drink.
If you were amazed at these amazing animals that won the genetic lottery, you might want to read about the
rarest animals in the world. Thanks for reading!
