Ugly Overload

A distinctive digit

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:09:00 +0000

The aye-aye is one of the ugliest and strangest of primates. A nocturnal lemur, it has a curious adaptation in the form of an elongated middle finger which is perfect for holding on to a coffee cup - No, wait. There are no paper coffee cups in the wild in Madagascar, so although that fellow at the Duke Lemur Center has found a civilized use for his unique digit, that can't be right, can it?

Right. In fact, what the aye-aye does is use its finger to tap on trees to find cavities within them that might contain tasty grubs. It uses its teeth to dig into the cavity, and then the long finger fishes out the food.

The finger is extremely sensitive to vibrations, and now some scientists have discovered that it has another unusual property. When the aye-aye is searching for food, the finger heats up by several degrees, but is much cooler at other times. In the thermal image, you can see that the finger is black - cooler than the rest of the animal - when it's not in use:

It remains to be determined exactly what the mechanism is for heating and cooling the finger, but as for reason, the researcher says "Like any delicate instrument, it is probably best deactivated when not in use."

Don't forget to stop and eat the roses

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:46:00 +0000

That's a Javan langur or Javan lutung, showing us that even an ugly animal can appreciate beauty, as long as it's tasty beauty, anyway. They also enjoy the smell, according to their keepers at Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks in Kent.

This is a primate that we've only seen once on this blog, which is way too infrequently, given that even the babies are so wrinkled that they look like they're a hundred years old:

Aside from the wrinkles, some have mottled faces that looks like some other kind of skin disease, they've got that nose that looks like they were in a terrible nose-losing accident, and to top it off, they sport a variety of perfectly awful hairstyles, like this one:

Truly an ugly animal that's got it all.

Thanks to Flickr users Tombream07 and Tim Ellis and to the always interesting Nothing To Do With Arbroath.

-Wombat (No Relation)

The Japanese have a word for it.

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:19:00 +0000

Today I visited some lovely acquaintances of mine who are smooth-sided toads (Bufo guttatus) like the one in this rather dreamy portrait by Brian Gratwicke, conservation biologist at the National Zoo.

I was reminded of this blog post, in which I learned that if I were Japanese, I wouldn't have had to make up a word for "ugdorable." Here's what author Matt Alt says in the post about what he calls the age-old "love-hate relationship" between the Japanese and toads:

Sure, they're warty and bumpy and hang out in slimy dark places, but there's something about those beady little eyes that demands a certain amount of affection.

The Japanese actually have a word for this type of cognitive dissonance: it's called kimo-kawaii: cute and gross, all at the same time.

Not surprising I guess that this country which is a world leader in cute had a handle on this concept before the rest of us.

-Wombat (No Relation)

No further comment

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:46:00 +0000

Those are some camels in a competition for the most beautiful camel in Saudi Arabia. All I can say is, it must be a difficult choice, right?

- Wombat (No Relation)

First look at a rare ugly

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:18:00 +0000

Yeah, we usually try to have better pictures than that one. But this is a special occasion. These are the first pictures of a living Myanmar snub-nosed monkey.

We sort of met this monkey back in 2010 when its discovery was announced. But scientists had only found out about the species when a hunter brought them a dead one, so news stories were accompanied by a photo of a related species given a Photoshop dye job, to approximate the appearance of the new species in life.

The monkeys were well-known enough by the locals that they had a story about how to find them: They don't like to get rain in their sad, deformed-looking noses, because it makes them sneeze. So look for them when it's raining and follow the sound of the sneezes.

Scientists decided instead to set out camera traps, but there are so few of these monkeys in existence that they didn't actually hope for much. So these pictures are quite exciting, especially the ones that show that more of these exceedingly rare primates are being born:

Not great photographic art, sure, but great ugly animal news.

-Wombat(No Relation)

Ugly dogs on the rise

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

After starting off the New Year here with a pug, I happened upon some canine-related news that should warm the hearts of lovers of ugly animals. According to kennel club statistics, the British are choosing fewer conventionally attractive breeds of dogs in favor of those that are unusual-looking and downright ugly.

Registration numbers for German Shepherds and golden retrievers, for example, are down 27% and 20%, and cute little Yorkies are down 32%, since 2001.

In contrast, pug registrations are up 557 per cent. And among the breeds rising fastest in popularity are the Mexican hairless and the Chinese crested - the latter famous for its dominance in the World's Ugliest Dog competition.

Other breeds that have gained in numbers are the wrinkly dogue de Bordeaux and the bat-eared Pharaoh Hound (above). Readers of this blog will no doubt enjoy the slideshow here of photos of some popular but not-conventionally-beautiful breeds.

It's good news, but I can't help but say it: We liked ugly animals before liking ugly animals was cool!

-Wombat (No Relation)

Wishes for the coming year

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:47:00 +0000

We love ugly animals, but still, even we think they should stay where they belong. Here's hoping you don't get any vampire squid on your head in the New Year.

-Lilly and Wombat (No Relation)

Year-End Reviews: Whose side are you on?

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:42:00 +0000

You have a choice. You could look at more of photographer Alex Wild's favorites from the past year on his blog Myrmecos, like the photo above. That's a type of army ant biting the photographer - getting a grip like that makes it easier for the ant to use her stinger at the other end.

Or you could look at The Telegraph's Review of the Cutest Animals Pictures of 2011. After all it does contain ugdorable babies like this orphaned wombat in a teacup:

Only you can decide what's right.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Life imitates art

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:01:00 +0000

I'm not sure the lined leaf-tailed gecko counts as ugly, especially compared to some of its creepy-looking relatives that we have seen on this blog. But it sure is the opposite of warm and furry - in fact it looks almost exactly like a carved wooden animal:

Apparently this is its way of trying not to be seen in the bamboo forests where it lives, like so:

That's not bad, but I think it might be even better off trying to hide in a gift shop full of wooden souvenirs... except I would probably buy him and take him home.

Thanks for our friends at Archie McPhee's Geyser of Awesome for introducing me to this gecko and for photos, to Flickr user David d'O and Wikispecies.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Holiday baking inspiration... or not

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:15:00 +0000

Distracted by my urge to post pictures of my pugs in Christmas outfits, I was finding it a bit of a challenge to come up with a respectable idea for a holiday-themed post about ugly animals.

But then I realized - of course! For many people, the holiday season is all about baking those Christmas cookies, so why not the cookie cutter shark?

The cookie cutter shark uses the impressive teeth in that picture to gouge nice round pieces out of the flesh of large prey. And in fact, there's some recent cookie-cutter-shark news that I neglected to report on: in November, a paper was published documenting the first recorded attack of a cookie cutter shark on a HUMAN. The critter took a chunk out of the leg of a guy who was attempting a long-distance swim from Hawaii and Maui.

This was actually fairly widely reported, but for the first hand account, check out this interview at Deep Sea News. It's complete with a clear photo of the actual wound which may spoil your appetite for those Christmas cookies for a while.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Up close and personal with ugly creatures

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

According to The Telegraph, "Senior invertebrate keeper Evan Armstrong is adorned in various species of stick insects to celebrate the opening of the Bugs Garden habitat at Wild Life Sydney." Do YOU love ugly animals that much?

And while I've got your attention: a shark-themed gift guide from our friends at Southern Fried Science.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Hairy germ-eating sea life

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:33:00 +0000

I'm sure you all remember the yeti crab, an amazing creature that was first discovered only in 2006. It's a deep-sea species that lives around methane-belching hydrothermal vents, and to top it off, it's got all kinds of bacteria growing in those hairlike filaments all over its legs.

Now the existence of a second species of yeti crab has been announced. It's actually somewhat less hairy than the first, making it more authentically ugly - the silky-looking hair on the original species would really be attractive, if only it weren't on a crab.

And even better, scientists have discovered something new about that hair-bacteria as well. It's the crab's main source of food, and the crab even seems to actively "farm" it by waving its arms around (you can see videos here). "This 'dance' is extraordinary and comical," says one scientist, but it's not just good for a laugh: the behavior exposes the bacteria in the "hair" to the oxygen and sulphide that it needs to grow.

Another appreciative scientist commented, "The original yeti crab was charismatic. This one is even more so."

-Wombat (No Relation)

Your Monday ugdorable

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:33:00 +0000

This is a trailer for a show about the baby sloth orphanage at the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica, to air this coming Saturday. Check out Slothville.com for more info, or just watch this and be careful your head doesn't explode from the onslaught of ugdorable.

Ugly rebel baby

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:56:00 +0000

We've seen echidna babies on this blog before: from one that's younger and creepily hairless, to one that's old enough to have reached the ugdorable stage. But this one... even knowing that baby echidnas have the cute name of "puggle" isn't enough to make this anything but hideous.

Its ugly childhood is actually far from the most notable feature of the echidna: it's an egg-laying mammal. The egg hatchs after about two weeks and then the mother carries the puggle in her pouch for about two months. Then, says the Perth Zoo where this one was born, “Once the puggle’s spines started to emerge the mother deposited it in the nursery burrow.” Ouch.

Along with the platypus, echidnas belong to a group called monotremes that thinks it's too special to obey the rules that everyone else has to follow to join the mammal club. I suppose the echidna figures that as long as it doesn't have a duck's bill, it's still less of a radical than its closest relative.

Thanks to Zooborns for the tip.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Ugly holiday shopping

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:16:00 +0000

I've been researching a holiday shopping guide for my other blog and came across a couple of T-shirts that might be of interest to all of you lovers of less-lovable animals. The shirt above is available at TopatoCo. Maybe if we buy enough of them we can encourage them to have a whole line: personally I'm dreaming of "Saiga Antelope Are Cute Too."

I'm also particularly fond of this three-banded armadillo shirt by Kevin Sherry at Squidfire. Just so you know: that's NOT a tail:

(And hey, if you like his drawings, he illustrated the Animals Behaving Badly book, which I think is also an excellent holiday shopping choice. But you knew I'd say that.)

And if you want something other than a T-shirt, I feel confident that you're all exactly the sort of people who'd enjoy sticking worms in your ears to listen to music:

Available from the fine people at Archie McPhee.

-Happy shopping,
Wombat (No Relation)

The stuff of nightmares

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:01:00 +0000

You may be trying to comfort yourself that that is a child's hand and a baby carrot. It is not.

That's the largest specimen ever found of an insect called the weta, and has been declared the largest insect in the world in terms of weight. It has a wingspan of 7 inches and weighs 71g, which I am not going to translate into a weight system that I understand because I am afraid of the answer.

You can read more about it here, if you dare. You can also read more about Mark Moffett, who discovered it, here. The news coverage refers to him oddly as a "nature-lover" and "former park ranger," but he's actually a rather famous naturalist, explorer, and photographer.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Your Monday ugdorable

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Do you know what that animal is? If you do, pat yourself on the back. That's a baby Malayan tapir that was born at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in England. If you ever want to have a good time, stand in front of a tapir exhibit at the zoo and watch people try to guess what it is. (For some reason zoo visitors never read the signs.) The tapir has been described as looking "like the result of a night of passion involving a pig and an anteater," but it's not closely related to either. Prehistoric tapirs ranged all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas, but the only species left are this one in Asia and four in South America. Their closest living relative isn't any of the things you'll hear those zoo visitors guess - it's actually the rhinoceros.

The Malayan tapir is extremely threatened by habitat destruction, so any captive births are good news. Aside from the baby, the coverage of this birth included some truly excellent photos of the mom. We've posted some pretty darn good tapir snouts on this blog before, but I don't think I've ever seen such a good shot of it actually in use:

And check out that first link to Port Lympne for an adorable video clip of the baby whistling and wiggling its snout.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Happy - and Ugly - Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:52:00 +0000

Sure, turkeys are delicious. But let's not forget how ugly they are.

And read more about their ugly behavior at my other blog.

Giving thanks to Flickr users Drome and Mark Coleman.

Ugdorable mutant

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Is this the legendary chupacabra, finally captured alive? Wow, it's a lot cuter than I expected.

No, it's a hairless raccoon, found last week in Vero Beach, Florida. An officer of the local humane society says that the animal doesn't have mange or any other signs of illness. Apparently it's just a natural mutation, like the Sphynx cat or those hairless guinea pigs. And like those, isn't there something strangely appealing about it?

This wrinkled boy was found trapped in a trash can by sanitation workers, who called animal control to rescue him. There'll be no more dumpster-diving for this guy: From here on in it's room service, at a wildlife sanctuary located in the town of Jupiter. Seems like a fitting destination for this alien-looking critter.

You can see more pictures here.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Slimy and ugdorable hellbabies!

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:45:00 +0000

Today I met these young hellbenders. Aren't they cute? Look at their beady eyes and wrinkles! Look at their tiny little toesies!

These guys are about two years old and maybe eight inches long. I'm not sure, I was too busy squealing to measure them. Adult hellbenders are about two feet long and look a lot like miniature Japanese giant salamanders, but live in the eastern United States. And they're colloquially called "snot otters." It doesn't get any better than that, right?

When you're done cooing and squealing, read more at Hellbenders.org.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Ugly transformed

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

That is a Hispanolian solenodon. There are only two species of solenodon, and we haven't seen them nearly often enough here. This is another animal that doesn't stop at being ugly to look at. That rubbery nose has got a ball-and-socket joint inside it for extra mobility. And if that's not weird enough for you, this is a mammal that is venomous. They've got toxic saliva that's delivered through grooves in their lower incisors when they bite their prey.

But as we know well on this blog, there's no animal that is so ugly that someone doesn't love it. And since this guy is highly endangered, its fans are hoping to spread that love so that people will help protect it. To this end, one conservation group has designed cuddly solenodons:

They clean up pretty nice, don't they? At least when you knit them out of wool with little t-shirts on them. Hey, if that's what it takes, I'm not going to argue.

If they've captured your ugly-loving heart and you want to know more, you can read the blog and website of the group The Last Survivors for more about how they're trying to save the solenodon, and follow naturalist (and photographer of the above) Jose Nunez who tweets as Solenondon_Joe.

- Wombat (No Relation)

Make your travel plans now!

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Usually when I learn of an ugly animal event, I make a note to post when the day comes around. But there's no way I can wait till March to tell you about the Annual Return of the Buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio.

Since the 1950s, ugly animal lovers have been gathering on March 15 to greet the buzzards returning to the Buzzard Roost in Hinckley Reservation. According to the official website:

In 1957, Walter Nawalaniec, ranger for Cleveland Metropolitan Park System (now known as Cleveland Metroparks), told a newspaper reporter that on March 15 he had witnessed for six straight years the turkey vultures returning to Hinckley Reservation. The Cleveland Press printed the story on February 15, 1957, and one month later on March 15 at 2 p.m. the first buzzard was spotted by 9,000 buzzard enthusiasts. Since then, over a hundred-thousand visitors have witnessed the return of the buzzards to Hinckley Reservation.

The event has developed into an entire ugly bird festival, with nature hikes, presentations, live music, an Official Buzzard Spotter in charge and a big Buzzard Scoreboard. Sounds like spring break to me!

Go for it!
-Wombat (No Relation)

Photo from the 2008 event by Flickr user rcoss2001. Check out his photostream for many pictures of the patience and devotion of ugly animal lovers on a cold foggy morning.

Be careful what you ask for

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:03:00 +0000

A commentor on the Hagfish Day post lamented that the photos of this animal never did it justice. I think we may have finally gotten one, don't you agree?

That photo accompanied the announcement of some research out of New Zealand: researchers have filmed for the first time how the hagfish uses its slime to defend itself. You can see how the attacking shark's mouth is filled with a cloud of slime almost instantaneously, and it leaves in disgust:

Other footage gathered by the scientists showed that hagfish, usually thought of as scavengers, are pretty nasty predators too. Yes, as we've noted before, they swim inside of carcasses and eat their way out, actually absorbing nutrients through their skin. But they also hunt, using those retracting dental plates in the photo to grab and start swallowing prey, then waiting for it to die before they finish. They might use their slime to suffocate it to hurry the process along, too.

The researchers also found that hunting technique also explains another curious hagfish ability: it can tie itself in a knot. One thing this behavior does is help give the hagfish leverage when pulling prey from a burrow. (Check out the pictures here.)

Join me in saluting the brave souls who can spend enough time with hagfish to discover all those astonishingly repulsive facts.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Animals Behaving Badly

noreply@blogger.com (Raging Wombat) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:40:00 +0000

Our own Linda Lombardi, known to us as simply Wombat, has written a book, and you must read it. She has long been a contributor to Ugly Overload, in addition to running her own blog, Animals Behaving Badly. That is the title of her newest book.

I've read this book, and I can unreservedly recommend it to all Ugly Overload readers. It is fantastic, and that's me giving an honest opinion, not just me sidling up to a published author to ride her coat tails. It's full of articles, facts, and statistics, all of which are organized and designed to give us a grim, but humorous look at the dark underbelly of the animal world. You'll walk away from this book (which could almost be a bathroom reader) thinking very differently about dolphins, chimpanzees, and hummingbirds. I guarantee laughs and cringes.

Buy it on Amazon and spread the word.

Happy Hagfish Day!

noreply@blogger.com (wombat) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:12:00 +0000

It's tough to keep up with all the ugly animal holidays this week, but we can't let Hagfish Day go without notice. At Whale Times, you can celebrate with a variety of craft activities, including (I am not making this up) a Hagfish Bouquet and Make Your Own Slime. Or if you're more the literary type, why not write your own Hagfish Haiku?

By the way, that's a photo of a whole bagfull o' hagfish dripping slime by Flickr user dirtsailor2003.