Here Are The Contenders For The World's Ugliest Animal
This ugly glob of life is called the blobfish, which is actually well suited to its environment up to 4,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. Its jelly body keeps it floating in the high-pressure waters.
The proboscis monkey is known for its nasty nose. It uses the appendage to increase the volume of its mating calls — necessary when living with such an ugly face. It lives in Borneo.
The long nose on the pig-nosed turtle is used as a snorkel so it can hide under water. It's actually the only surviving member of an ancient family of turtles. It lives in Australia and New Guinea.
This slug might not look like much but has a special trick. It can jump to escape predators. It's found throughout the Americas and is called the Dromedary jumping slug because of the strange hump on its back.
This flabby frog is called the Titicaca water frog, and is the biggest on Earth that spends its entire life in water. The flabby folds of skin help it breathe, as they absorb oxygen from the water. Its latin name means "aquatic scrotum" — yuck.
Known as the Axotol, this ugly salamander can regenerate entire limbs. It lives in Mexico City and is threatened by the pollution and rapid city expansion there.
Lots of people dislike bats and think they are ugly, but they are incredibly special mammals. They are the ONLY flying mammals. They see with sound! All 18 species of British bats are nominated for the ugly animal award. This one is the Greater Horseshoe Bat.
The greater short-horned lizard is found right in our backyard. It's officially a lizard but looks like an ugly toad. It's so ugly it cries stinky blood — ok, not because it's ugly but as a defense mechanism to scare away predators.
Parrots are usually cute, brightly colored animals that mimic human speech. But not this Kakapo, a critically endangered parrot that can't even fly but has giant ugly legs to walk around. It lives in New Zealand.
This European common eel is ugly, but seems to be quite tasty — it's a common snack and is threatened by overfishing. It grows uglier as it matures, changing color from transparent to yellow to dark grey.
Public lice are gross and gross-looking. Some reports suggest that they may be decreasing in number because of increased hygiene practices after 3 million years of living in our hair.
(The evidence that public lice is actually going extinct is kinda flimsy. Read more here.)
This ugly beetle literally lives in poop, elephant and buffalo dung to be exact. Called the flightless dung beetle, it is found only in South Africa and its population is plummeting as populations of its pooper of choice decline.
Scientists also want to bring animals back from the dead.
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