Earth's Most Alien-Looking Place? Socotra Houses Exotic Alien Species, Nearly Extinct Trees

The island of Socotra, which is part of the Republic of Yemen, is considered the most alien-looking place in the world, housing several mysteries and distinct species.

Socotra: Earth's Most Alien-Looking Place

Back in 1980, George Wynn Brereton Huntingford, an English anthropologist, described the island as the Earth's most alien-looking place. The area's interior is quite a mountainous and barren landscape with plateaus of varying altitudes.

The area stretches roughly 250 kilometers. It covers four islands and two other rocky islets. The area deals with both heavy floods and extreme heat. Such conditions, coupled with the isolation of the area, morphed the terrain's geology. This resulted in an odd-looking life after years' worth of evolutionary processes.

Exotic Species in Socotra

Socotra is acknowledged for its universal importance due to its rich and unique biodiversity. The area can house up to around 100,000 individuals. However, more than that, it is actually the home of at least 126 exotic species.

Though not all of the exotic species are invasive, those belonging to this category may pose a threat of spreading illnesses, outcompeting species that are native, and undermining the archipelago's fragile economy.

The site is also known to be rich in biodiversity and unique fauna and flora. In fact, roughly 37% of its 825 total plant species, 95% of its land snail species, and 90% of its reptilian species cannot be found elsewhere in the world. Socotra has also been acknowledged by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site in 2008.

Some of Socotra's rare fauna include bunting, Socotra warbler, ghost crab cormorant, limestone crab, loggerhead turtle, and Egyptian vulture. It also houses other endemic plant species, including frankincense, pomegranates, giant succulent trees, different aloes, myrrh trees,and cucumber trees.

Dragon's Blood Trees

Interestingly, one of Socotra's most distinct and perplexing things is its Dragon's blood trees. This plant species can only be spotted on one archipelagic island. The Dragon's blood tree can grow up to 30 feet in height and live for thousands of years.

The tree has a mushroom-like appearance, with smaller branches stretching outward and upward from the bark at the center. It then forms a vein umbrella that produces berries that are rich and have a red sap. This is also the basis of its name.

These trees have now been considered vulnerable to extinction due to four strong cyclones that hit the archipelago since 2015. These calamities led to the displacement of thousands of islanders and the uprooting of trees and livestock that consumed the saplings.

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