Venezuelan Poodle Moth
Discovered: 2009
Location: Venezuela
We’ll give you one guess where you can find this species. Hint: it starts with a “V.” This species truly does get its name honestly. Yes, it is from Venezuela in South America but it also certainly does look like both a moth and poodle all rolled into one. As you can tell by the images of the species, it is pretty weird looking and unlike anything that you have likely seen before. To us, that makes it one of the most unique animals in the world. We actually did not really know the species existed in the larger scientific community until 2009.
That was when Kyrgyzstani zoologist Dr. Arthur Anker took a trip to the Canaima National Park in Venezuela. He took over 70 images of the moth, and would later publish the photos for the scientific community to see. A lot more studies need to take place before we can know more about the species. Yet from what has been discovered, most of these moths only get to 2.5 centimeters in length. Many now feel like the images were part of an elaborate hoax, especially since the moth has yet to be spotted again by those who went to the same location as Dr. Anker. Time will tell, of course.