The Great Wheel, or the Wheel of Life, whereby consciousnesses are distributed 'randomly' throughout the universe. This is based on Eastern Mysticism, but if you had some Eastern creatures with mixed-up consciousnesses, I think that could be really funny. Like somebody threw a stick in the spokes of the Wheel of Life, and a Panda Bear, a Dragon, a Fox, and an Elephant are incarnated with the personalities of creatures diametrically opposite in temperament. For instance, the Elephant is incarnated with the consciousness of a mouse; the Fox, a chicken; the Dragon, a small water lizard (?); and the Panda Bear, a salmon (!).
It was a long shot, but there you go...