Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer

Hotheaded naked ice borers are a small, molelike species that is unusually adapted to life in the Antarctic. Bony plates on their head fed by numerous blood vessels radiate large amounts of heat, allowing these creatures to burrow through solid ice at high speeds. They feed on penguins whom they attack by rapidly melting the ice beneath them, causing the hapless birds to fall down into the slush. The ice borers then kill their prey by ripping it apart with their sharp teeth. This animal was discovered by wildlife biologist April Pazzo in the early 1990s, and first reported in Discover magazine on April 1, 1995. Dr. Pazzo speculated that hotheaded naked ice borers may have been responsible for the mysterious death of polar explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837.

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