Welcome back!

Well, I guess it hadn't really gone anywhere, but... Good news on the ugly species front for a change: This toad isn't extinct anymore!

No, it's not Jurassic Park with amphibians, just careful field work. The Kandyan dwarf toad was discovered in 1872, but it hasn't been seen for over a century. But as announced in a just-published scientific paper, in 2009 it was rediscovered in a stream in Sri Lanka.

The researcher cautions that the toad is probably still highly endangered. They only saw four, and amphibians these days are all under pressure due to climate change and disease. On the bright side, they won't be bothered by people much, at least: one reason they haven't been seen because it's so hard to get to the site, with bad weather and harsh terrain. So they can probably enjoy their new celebrity in privacy.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Sometimes, I don't know...

why people think birds are beautiful.

Those are kingfisher chicks being fed a fish via The Telegraph. Usually, you can reassure a gawky adolescent that they're going to look better when they grow up, but with that tasteless color combination on the adult, I'm not so sure.

Your Monday ugdorable

That's a ten-day-old baby hedgehog, safe with rescuers after a narrow escape from a garden bonfire in England, from The Telegraph.

Don't let fashion make an ass of you

From The Telegraph, this is a Baudet du Poitou donkey, and apparently it's supposed to look that way.

That one is about to get its first trim in 17 years, because of the unusually hot weather in England, where there's a farm that raises this very rare French breed. Centuries of tradition have viewed the long dreadlocks as a sign of strength, but their owner told the BBC, "It's not very nice being sweaty when you are this hairy."

A sensible approach to fashion, indeed.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Vampire of the deep

Right now there's a post on my other blog about squid, which is something that doesn't happen very often. We don't know enough about their behavior to know the details of their character flaws, I guess.
But we do know a lot about what they look like: they're are wonderfully weird and it's been too long since we saw one here.

That picture is of one of the creepiest species, with a name to suit: the vampire squid. Though called a squid, it's actually a more primitive relative of both the squid and octopus. True to its name, it wears a cape -  its arms are connected by webbing that helps it fly batlike through the water. And while it can't suck your blood, it can pierce you: for defense, it turns that webbing inside out to cover its body and reveal the sharp spikes jutting out of its arms. Check it out:

Next time you eat calamari, hope you never meet one of its relatives looking for revenge.
-Wombat (No Relation)

Your late Monday ugdorable

Baby wart hog from Zoo Miami, via (no surprise) Zooborns.

The tapir, asserting its place

The tapir has been featured on this blog regularly. I feel this is justified because they are definitely not conventionally attractive, with their chunky outlines and odd snouts. But I also always feel slightly guilty, unsure whether they belong here because in truth I find them so adorable.

I did eventually get a chance to feature the tapir behaving extremely badly on my other blog, which I felt counted as a sort of penance. But even better, now I can give you the only picture of a tapir I have ever seen that even I find utterly unattractive.

Thanks (I think) to The Telegraph.
-Wombat (No Relation)

Happy Ugly Mother's Day!

On other websites, you're probably reading about all kinds of cute animal mothers today. I admit I've committed a bit of this sort of thing myself, but I included some ugly and badly behaved mothers as well. And here, we're going to take this day to honor the horseshoe crab, which is in the middle of its spawning season on Mother's Day. Because here's what's cool about horseshoe crabs: Most of those cute animals make their babies in private. But if you live on the east coast, you can look at this map and find out where and when to go to the beach to see their ancient spawing ritual.

Hey, if you live near the beach, it might not be too late to take Mom to see it. And it might not be too late to volunteer for the survey. It just so happens I'm going to be at the Delaware shore at the next full moon, which is one of the best times, so I'm definitely going to try to check it out.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Photo of horseshoe crabs getting it on en masse from the state of Maryland DNR.