I read an article the other day talking about the aye-aye. I'd never heard of an aye-aye; but apparently it's an animal in Madagascar bordering on extinction. The thing is, it's uuuuugly. Extremely ugly. It looks like a monstor in a horror movie. So the article was asking: "How do you get people to care about an ugly animal?"
I came up with a list of what are, I think, the world's ugliest animals. In order to do so I had to set some ground rules. 1) No animals smaller than my thumb. 2) No parasites. That was to exclude fleas and ticks and tapeworms.
So here we go...in no particular order.
Wolf Eel
Octopus
Horseshoe Crab
Echidna
Belarus Catfish
Leopard Slug
Anglerfish
Aye-Aye
7 years ago
6 comments:
the wolf eel, angler fish, and aye-aye are ugly, but the rest are kinda purdy or cute in their own ways.
as for getting people to care about an ugly animal, you probably have to show them how it's existence benefits cute animals....pull out the ole' we-gotta-balance-the-ecosystem card.
maybe if it weren't for the wolf eel, some other sea creature's population would sky-rocket. that sea creature would eat all the plankton and leave none for the cute cuddly whales.
The only one that I felt a bit of a hesitation on (as for giving my agreement) was the octopus. You should have had a picture of them when out of the water -- much uglier. I'm glad you didn't put jellyfish. Some people think they're ugly -- but I think they're glorious. The rest of these. . . yeah, you have to wonder. They're pretty scary.
Yeah, I'm torn on octupuses as well. Sometimes they're absolutely gorgeous with their colors and legs...like an drop of watercolor paint in water. Especially when they're moving.
But when you really look at them, with their bulbous heads and razor beaks, alien eyes and a nightmare of sticky tentacles...they're quite ugly. But I really should have put the giant squid instead of the octopus: they have more of the nightmare and less of the beauty...
"Belarus Catfish"
Back home, we call that "dinner"...
"aye-aye"
Back home, we call that "la chupacabra"....
BTW, found your theospective/theospection.... I am very interested, and look forward to some of your articles.
um.. plankton isn't a wolf-eel staple... your "cute" whales will be just fine WITH the existence of the cute Wolfies... they like the "crunchier" fare like sea urchins, sand dollars and crabs.. The Wolfies are one of the sea's gentlest creatures, prized for being able to warm up to divers, interacting with them, and can be handfed when offered food.
So chalk one up for inner beauty more than outer looks. =)
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