Most of the animals that we come across in our life are pretty cute, but there’s still some that are not. Some just look ugly, although others can’t harm you at all. Let’s explore the 20 ugliest animals on Earth while they’re still around.
1. Blobfish
In 2013, the British Society for the Conservation of Ugly Animals, founded by Simon Watt, chose the blobfish as a mascot. The blobfish won over other ugly animal species with a sad facial expression by scoring 10,000 votes.
2. Naked Mole-Rat
The hideous-looking, but also fascinating and unique to Africa, a close relative to regular rats, lives in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. This type of rat is considered long-lived among rodents – it lives for about 30 years and barely spends a day on the surface. The animal surprised scientists with several characteristics: it doesn’t drink water, it’s insensitive to pain, cuts, and burns; it’s easily tolerant of an abundance of CO2; and it isn’t sensitive to the formation of cancerous tumors. The specific appearance results from the rodent’s adaptation to underground life that is meant to dig its way through mounds of dirt time after time until something edible falls through on top or below.
3. Probosci’s Monkey
Proboscis monkeys are long-nosed monkeys found in the tropical rain forests of Borneo, Indonesia. The characteristic feature of this species of monkey is its long nose. They are born with blue faces and small noses, which get bigger and bigger over time. Males have larger noses than females which may be an advantage as it enhances male’s vocalizations and allows them to compete more effectively for mating opportunities. Proboscis monkeys consume food in leaves, seeds, and raw fruits but occasionally these animals prey on insects and are found on the Island of Borneo.
4. Warthog
The warthog is a member of the pig family and unique in appearance with its flattened skull and warty growths covering its head. The not-common warthog, with its big bristly mane, grows hairs unevenly – the back of their head, body and ridge are thick. They love to dig in puddles and look ugly; they have patches of calluses from constant digging that you can see on their body if you know where to spot them. Their tail will rise as a warning, even when scared.
5. Star-Nosed Mole
This animal is pretty scary and not just looks ugly, it smells too. It’s native to North America, but otherwise has 22 tentacles as if it was a monster straight out of our nightmares. It uses these tentacles for sight and smell, giving it the ability to examine up to 13 objects per second with combined camera usage.
6. Aye-Aye
The Aye-Aye (Daubenton’s Big-eared Lemur), is a lemur that lives in Madagascar. It has an unusual appearance and nocturnal habits, like all primates. The large primate has hands uniquely shaped by continuously growing teeth, with nails as long as its fingers. One of its middle fingers is three times as long as the other ones and stick thin, used to detect prey by tapping on tree trunks and nearly invisible prey like insects.Its body, tail, and white hair are covered with cottony brown or black fur interspersed with silver hairs. Its ears are spoon-shaped and it uses a third finger to make small incisions in timber and grab small creatures hiding inside them like bugs.
7. Monkfish
This underwater monster lives in an abyss so deep it is the equivalent to three kilometers beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The male monkfish is small compared to the female, only measuring 3 centimeters while the female maxes out at 20 centimeters. They share a unique organ on their head that shine light, traps prey as well as many other illuminating characteristics! Only captured in its natural habitat at the end of 2014 through help of an underwater robot with Monterey Bay.
8. Marabou Stork
The marabou is an ugly, evil, and insidious bird. It’s rare to find a marabou that doesn’t have a bald head, a massive beak, and a fleshy, leathery bag hanging from its chest. The bird also has a long, massive beak that likely serves as the bird’s main tool for finding food. If you look at the head of the marabou closely you’ll notice that it also has differently shaped feathers around its neck and top of the head formed like vultures’ wings. Marabous are primarily scavenger birds but they can eat eggs and baby crocodiles too. While their digestive system allows marabous to digest large bones, they’re somewhat gregarious towards each other when nesting in clusters in humid regions or building nests of twigs in trees.
9. Horseshoe Bat
Horseshoe bats have reverse-curved noses and large brownish or bright red skin flakes. They are found in tropical and temperate latitudes of Southeast Asia’s, Eurasia, Africa, and Australia’s temperate forests. Their body size can range from 3.5 to 11 cm, and the weight is 5-30 g. These special flaps of skin amplify sounds that attract mates during the mating season in August to September. During the winter dormancy, which starts around the end of October, these bats lower their body temperature to ambient temperatures.
10. Axolotl
Axolotls are an amphibian that’s very peculiar to look at. Its main feature is in the larval form, which it will stay in all its life because there are no terrestrial animals to change into. In fact, this particular amphibian is neotenous and can only live in an aquatic environment. The species of salamanders has a tiny tail fringed with fins that acts as a rudder so they can move about the water.