Schnoz

This Borneo native, known as a proboscis monkey, looks like some people I know.

Photo courtesy: www.arkive.org.

Impressive Statistics

The elephant seal can get to 6,000 lbs and can dive as deep as 2,000 feet. The longest recorded dive is for 119 minutes. Impressive stats for such an ugly beast.

Photo courtesy: www.mexfish.com.

Age Before Beauty

This old reptile deserves a place of honor. Not for being ugly - though he wouldn't win any beauty contests - but for hanging around as long as he did. This particular Aldabra tortoise (Aldabras are second in size only to the Galapagos tortoise) has been with the zoo in Calcutta, India, since its opening in 1875. When he died over the weekend from liver failure, he was believed to be aged around 250 years!

Photo courtesy: Yahoo!

Macawgly

The ugliness of this baby macaw is offset only by its helplessness. We'll let you slide by this time, little bird, but grow some feathers fast.

Photo courtesy: Yahoo!

Ugly Is as Ugly Does

Here is a nice close-up of the Green Moray Eel. What is worse, the little barbels that stick out from the snout, the serpentine body shape, or those clouded eyes? For me, it is the hissing and ugly demeanor - they aren't nice fish. Ugly is as ugly does.

Photo courtesy: M. Shane Glass.

Alright, Lunger, Let's Do It

Following up on our shoebill post, here is the African lungfish. These carnivorous fish have two lungs which allow them to breathe should water become scarce. One of their primary predators is the shoebill. They can't complain, though. These fish are known for having nasty temperaments, and will attack nearly anything that moves - including the nutballs who keep them as pets (I would like one, too, but their too expensive).

Photo courtesy: www.aqualandpetsplus.com.

You Are What You Eat

Here is a shoebill. This Central African bird is the source of much controversy in the ornithology and birdwatching community. Is it a type of stork or heron or pelican? Or is it a bird in its own class?

I can't answer any of those. All I can say is that it is ugly, and is therefore welcome here.

Their primary source of food is the African lungfish - a very ugly fish. "You are what you eat" has never been truer than with this bird.

Stay tuned for a look at the lungfish ...

Photo courtesy: www.ueba.com.

China's Finest

A little while ago we did a post on the japanese giant salamander, which bears the distinction of being the world's second largest salamander. We would be remiss in our duties if we didn't do a post on the world's largest salamander. Check out the chinese giant salamander. These nocturnal beasts can grow to be 6 1/2 feet long, and weigh as much as 55 pounds! Another characteristic: they have been whacked with both the amphibian and the over-sized ugly sticks, which makes for a bad combination.

Photo courtesy: www.caudata.org