15 Terrifying Animals That Are Way Smaller Than You

Proving once again that God has a very twisted sense of humor, the cone snail, which lives off the coast of Australia, is a venomous creature that can paralyze anything it touches. Because of its colouring, some bold divers tend to try and pick it up, unaware that this tiny creatures possesses a harpoon-like ‘tongue’ that secretes a highly toxic cocktail. Worse yet, these harpoons can pierce gloves and wetsuits, putting even the most dextrous diver at risk of envenomation.

One particular subspecies, called the geography cone (which is probably the least-threatening animal name on the planet), has such a potent venom that only 0.0002-0.0005 mg is enough to cause severe paralysis. Because of this toxicity, some scientists consider this 15-centimeter-long conic creature to be the most venomous animal on earth. But the worst part is that there is no known cure for this animal’s venom, other than ‘keep the victim alive and wait for the effects to subside’.

Of course, the effects of envenomation also include hypersalivation, severe muscle spasms, difficulty swallowing, seizures, respiratory failure, coma, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cardiac arrhythmia and cardiovascular collapse.

Who would’ve ever thought that such a tiny creature could cause so much pain and suffering to an animal over a hundred times its size? Nonetheless, if there was ever a poster child for the expression ‘size doesn’t matter’, it wouldn’t be Yoda; it would be this tiny little demon with the venom of a million rattlesnakes.