The World Wildlife Fund has a new report about recent new species discoveries in the Mekong Delta region, which encompasses Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and a part of southern China. Here’s the thing — they’re, uh, they’re kind of advanced. Like, there’s a fish that walks on land, and a frog that composes music, and a lizard that walks on two legs, and a bat that suggests this is all because of some kind of demonic intervention.
You can read the full report here [PDF], but meanwhile, here are our favorite demonstrations that the new animals of the Mekong Delta are a force to be reckoned with and possibly a harbinger of the End Times.
Singing frog
Anyone can croak, but male frogs of the species Graxicalus quangi sing songs to their beloveds instead. The songs are a mix of clicks, whistles, and chirps, so not exactly One Direction, but … no, pretty much exactly One Direction.
Walking catfish
Clarias gracilentus looks kinda more like a slug than a fish in this photo, which is appropriate since it can walk on dry land. This catfish can climb right out of the stream it lives in and wriggle itself forward, supported on its pectoral fins, to find a more promising water source. If it completely dries out it’s in trouble, but it can kick it outside the water for long enough to abandon a stagnant pond — just not quite long enough to really annoy Glenn Beck by evolving into something that looks just like him.
Two-legged lizard
Much as C. gracilentus propels itself forward with its fins, the two-legged skink Jarujinia bipedalis can kind of skink around supported on only two teeny leglets. It’s only the second kind of land-dwelling reptile in the world to have front legs and no back legs.
Devil bat
This one’s only funny because it’s called “Murina beelzebub,” or “Beelzebub’s tube-nose bat.” Bats get such a bad rap!
