From the Department of Awesome Animal Hybrids come Octopussy and Seahorse 2, two more wonderfully weird and tentacular paintings created by San Francisco-based artist Robert Bowen (previously featured here).

Both are currently available here as signed, limited edition prints.

[via OMG Posters!]

It’s Tentacle Day on Geyser of Awesome!

Lithuanian DeviantARTist saulinis and Worth1000 contributor minouz both used their photoshop skillz to demonstra that elephants make unexpectedly awesome butterflies.

[via enpundit]

Redditor Gyyp created an awesome gallery of hybrid creatures that all have one very important thing in common: they’re all part guinea pig. 

[via Reddit]

From the Department of Awesome Hybrid Animals comes the work of French artist Julien Salaud, who has made a name for himself by carefully combining parts of different animals to create taxidermic hybrids like the awesome Feathered Piranha, or Vieux Piraï Emplumé, seen here.

As awesome as the spectacle would be, let’s be thankful that piranha-birds don’t actually exist. Agressive, chompy fish flying through the air sound even scarier than killer bees.

Visit Designboom to view several images of the creation of the Julien Salaud’s colourful frankenfish.

Sculptress Jessica Joslin uses a wide variety of wonderful objects such as an “antique ceremonial collar, antlers, bone, velvet, antique hardware, glass eyes, universal joints, springs, brass standoffs, casters, mink collars, saxophone keys, antique shoehorn, beads, lamp fittings, glove leather, music wire, [and] cast pewter feet” to create an awesome menagerie of fantastic hybrid creatures like the ones you see above. 

“Her work recalls a sense of the Victorian era’s obsession with detail and death and yet retains a playfulness attributed to circus shows of trained animals performing gravity defying feats.”

Visit Hi-Fructose to read an excellent interview with Jessica Joslin and learn more about her unique creative process.

[via Laughing Squid and Hi-Fructose]