Top 10 Most Incredible Animals with Legit Superpowers

A member of the Apodiformes order of birds, swifts are some of the fastest birds in the animal kingdom. They’ve been clocked in at up to 105mph - not quite as fast as a speeding bullet but pretty good for something that eats bugs all day. Their unique wing structure allows them to maximize their energy efficiency. Like their cousins the hummingbird, they can rotate their wings at the base, which allows them to generate power on both the downstroke and upstroke. Not only are they fast, but they also can also fly nonstop for up to 10 months.

The supervillain Electro has nothing on this animal. Despite his name, he isn’t an eel at all, but a member of the knifefish family. While some fish are capable of generating weak electric fields for communication and navigation, the Electrophorus electricus is unique in that it can use it to attack and defend. It can generate up to 860 volts, giving a human a shock similar to a stun gun – and doing much worse to smaller animals. It does this in much the same way a battery would generate a current, except it comes from inside its own guts.

This echinoderm might not look too impressive, but the sea cucumber actually has a pretty amazing ability. Much like Mystique, this ocean dweller can change its shape at will. True, this little fella can’t change itself to look like Wolverine, but it makes great use of its superpower. Sea cucumbers use this ability for defense and fitting through small spaces. But how can it change its shape like this? By manipulating the collagen in its body. Collagen is abundant in humans, but we can’t change ours on a whim. Not a bad trick for such a little guy.

Remember that awesome guy from Police Academy who could mimic sounds? Well, this ground-dwelling Australian bird takes that to an extreme. The Lyrebird has been heard mimicking the songs of many other different types of birds, but it doesn’t stop there. It can also imitate other animals, machinery, and nearly anything else it hears – even, in some rare cases, the human voice. Photographers have reported the bird doing a perfect impression of their camera’s shutter sounds. It can do this because it has the most complex syrinx of all songbirds.

Maybe some people would classify explosive flatulence as a super-annoyance rather than a superpower, but there’s no denying it’s an amazing ability. The bombardier beetle has two storage reservoirs in its abdomen where it keeps hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide. When threatened, or when they just wanna show off at a party, this animal opens an internal valve that causes these chemicals to mix. They reach a temperature similar to that of boiling water, allowing it to shoot a toxic spray from its butt. This deadly concoction has a foul smell and can cause fatal damage to attacking insects.

Also known as the horror frog, this amphibian has hair-like structures along its body. But these aren’t your everyday hair-like structures. These dermal papillae contain arteries that are thought to help in the absorption of oxygen. On top of that, the hairy frog can intentionally break its own toe bones to produce a claw-like weapon. Yeah, we’re thinking this frog sounds exactly like Wolverine too – fitting considering it’s also known as the wolverine frog! And on top of that, when these defensive claws retract, the damaged tissue regenerates. Okay, so maybe Hairy Frog doesn’t match Wolverine as an awe-inspiring name for Logan – but it might’ve been more accurate.

This colorful crustacean packs a serious punch. Typically growing up to 4 inches, the mantis shrimp has a pair of thoracic appendages that can strike out at the speed of a bullet. It uses these claws to smash open prey and even break through glass in aquariums. However, if clubbing its prey with bullet-fast claws doesn’t work, these strikes also cause small cavitation bubbles and shockwaves that can injure anybody on this shrimp’s bad side. In addition to having these amazing fists, mantis shrimp also have 16 color cones in its eyes. Humans have three. This means mantis shrimp can see many colors we can’t even imagine.

Ranging in size from one foot to 12 feet, this group of snakes includes rattlesnakes, lanceheads, and Asian pit vipers. They stand out due to a heat-sensing organ located between their eyes and nostrils. These organs give the snakes a kind of sixth sense – in effect, they can see heat. Kind of like in the movie Predator. These organs are in fact so sensitive that they can use infrared rays to detect objects that are as low as 32 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the environment. With this super attribute, hiding from a pit viper is practically impossible.

While a number of animals can mimic other shapes, none can do so to the extent of the mimic octopus. Using pigment sacks called chromatophores, which contain colored and light reflecting cells, this octopus can change its color as well as its shape. It can even create patterns of color. This greatly enhances its ability to closely resemble nearly anything it comes across. It does this to either hide and avoid predators or to intimidate and scare them. And it’s handy for fooling unsuspecting prey of its own. When it comes to disguises, this guy is in a class by itself.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Dung Beetle
- Dragon Millipede [aka Desmoxytes]
- Mountain Goat

The salamander may be able to regenerate limbs, but the gecko can do that with its tail - and that’s just the start of its talents. They can see at night in near darkness, can perceive hundreds of times more colors than humans, can hyperextend their toes backwards and can walk on walls and ceilings. To make up for these incredible superpowers, they aren’t able to blink and must lick the transparent membranes on their eyes to keep them moist. Meh, seems like a fair trade off. It’s like the gecko went around absorbing other animal’s powers to become the greatest strange animal of them all.