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New Vampire CrabsA newfound species of vampire crab, Geosesarma dennerle, is an aquarium pet. In March, researchers announced they'd traced the freshwater crab, as well as a related species, back to its wild source in Southeast Asia.
photograph by Chris Lukhapu

Top 10 Weirdest Animal Stories of 2015—Editors’ Picks

From a three-tailed lizard to a real-life “Kermit” frog, we rounded up the year's most unusual offerings from Mother Nature.

Photo gallery byYodith Dammlash
ByChristine Dell'Amore
December 14, 2015

From real-life sea monsters to vampire crabs, 2015 was legendary for odd science.

For our biggest fans of the bizarre, we've selected the year's weirdest animal stories, which you can explore in this gallery. (See the weirdest animal stories of 2014.)

Number ten on our list is Geosesarma dennerle and Geosesarma hagen, two new species of vampire crab found on the Indonesian island of Java (map).

(Two Vampire Crab Species Found, Are Already Popular Pets)

So named because of their glowing yellow eyes, vampire crabs have become popular pets, but the origin of some of these spooky-looking crustaceans had previously been cloaked in mystery, according to a March study. (Also see "Pictures: New Purple Crab Species Found.")  

Click through the photos for more of Mother Nature's odd phenomena.

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