Here is some weekend reading for those interested.
Over at bulbapedia a guy (George Hutcheon) has written some articles concerning the real life animals or mythological animals which have been the inspiration for some pokémon. 
His first column was for Wooper in April 2010, and his most recent was in March 2011 concerning the Venipede family. All 27 articles are very informative little reads. Sadly, it has been awhile since that last one and hopefully he does not stop.
The freakiest one = Paras and Parasect
(Source: bulbanews.bulbagarden.net)
