Top 20 Ugliest Animals Ever

We’re anticipating a bit of resistance to this pick from “Minecraft” fans, but hear us out. There is such a thing as ugly-cute in our opinion. Axolotls are in the salamander family and are paedomorphic, which means their development is delayed. They have eyes without lids, and their respiratory organs are fully displayed on the sides of their heads. They are heavily researched, as they have amazing regenerative abilities; they can regrow limbs. So, to the reason they’re on this list. Though some may be considered somewhat adorable, that may be because of all those stuffed animals and cartoons. They’re not that attractive. In fact, they’re kind of creepy.

#19: Giant Isopod

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Some of these creatures truly are the stuff of nightmares. In fact, the parasites found on dead kaiju in the film “Pacific Rim” could be mistaken for these things. Isopods are in the crustacean family and have segmented exoskeletons, fourteen limbs on their thorax, and ten abdominal respiratory appendages. There are around 10,000 species of isopods, and they have been around for at least 300 million years. The giant isopod can grow up to 14.2 inches, and the largest recorded has been 20 inches long. They have compound eyes with about 4,000 facets. They are scavengers found primarily in the lowest, darkest depths of the ocean, where they can’t hurt you… or can they?

Otherwise known as the Dragon Chicken, the Dong Tao is a rare breed that was originally raised solely for royalty. Honestly, these chickens look like their heads are melting and they have serious gout in their legs, as well as a dire need for a pedicure. Apparently, their meat is delicious, they make lovely pets and lay fine, yet scarce eggs (if they don’t accidentally crush them with their enormous horrifying feet). A pair of Dong Taos can set you back $2,500, so you’d better be certain you want this creepy poultry around should you choose to invest.

Sometimes, it’s a good thing that animals are nocturnal… the darkness obscures their unfortunate looks. The Angolan free-tailed bat will not win any beauty contests anytime soon. It looks like its skull is pushing out its face, as though the bat knows it’s not attractive and is trying to retract its face, but its body won’t allow it. They are small creatures at around 4.5 inches long and have oddly wrinkled lips. They have been declared a “least-concern” species, meaning they are abundant and in no danger of endangerment. So, don’t worry, there are plenty of ugly bats for everyone!

The endangered Titicaca water frog, other than having a name that would make small children giggle, is sometimes referred to as the “scrotum frog,” a name that would make some adults giggle. The nickname refers to the frog’s loose skin. There is an ongoing effort to reverse the decline of the species, especially after around 10,000 of them mysteriously died in 2016. They do have cute little frog faces, but the cuteness stops there. They have so much loose skin they look like they rapidly lost weight and their stomach area looks like an open autopsy. Honestly, any living creature referred to as a “scrotum” can’t possibly be attractive.

There’s something about the older species. The elephant seal has been around for between 2 ½ and 5 ½ million years, otherwise known as the Pliocene period. They get their name from the proboscis, or protruding appendage on the faces of the males that resembles a trunk. It has many functions, but among them, it produces a mating call. It is used as a sign of dominance, along with certain postures during mating season. The only thing it dominates to the human eye is its unattractiveness. It really looks like one of those awful, raspy aliens from “Star Wars,” or a really creepy grandpa.

Some animals just always look freshly stepped on. The South American Mata Mata turtle has a flat, triangle-shaped head, multiple facial barbels (sensory organs) on its face, and a horn-like appendage on its snout. The appearance is likely a camouflage aid, as its carapace resembles tree bark and its head resembles dried leaves. They eat in a suction-like motion involving the constriction of their pharynx, and their mating ritual involves the movement of their head flaps… sexy. They kind of look constantly guilty or up to something, or like they know what you did last summer.

#13: Japanese Spider Crab

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What do you get when you combine a spider and a crab? Nightmares. Really, this looks like a regular crab, but with impossibly long, terrifying legs. Its carapace is a mere approximate 12 inches, whereas its leg span can reach up to 12 feet as their legs continue to grow even in adulthood. They are not too much of a force to be reckoned with, but rely on their appearance to ward off predators. Their legs are actually not strong given their length, and they are occasionally ripped off by octopus for snacks. It probably wouldn’t be a stretch to say H.G. Wells saw one of these before he envisioned the aliens for “War of the Worlds.”

Here’s one everyone has seen, but perhaps not way up close. Fruit flies are the bane of any summertime kitchen’s existence. They breed a lot. In fact, they can lay up to 500 eggs at a time, and prefer moisture, such as your ripened produce or drains. If you’re not careful, you’re ingesting quite a bit of larvae. Yum. Aside from being the worst nuisance, up close, these things are hideous. They have large, red-faceted eyes, antennae sticking out from between their eyes, and a protruding mouth featuring labella - two separate vertical lip-like organs. They actually share 60% of DNA with humans, so if you know anyone who looks like a fly, it’s probably their Drosophila melanogaster side showing.

Some animals are so ugly that their existence is debated. Many thought it was a hoax when photos of this first surfaced. Alas, it wasn’t. These creatures have only been found a handful of times. In 2011, Sea of Cortez fishermen brought a dusky shark up in their nets, only to discover this thing in her womb. It’s a baby shark, but not an adorable singing one. The fetus was deceased, but would likely not have survived in the wild. It suffered from albinism and cyclopia, meaning it bore no pigment in its skin and had only one eye. Over time, a few others have been found, though they are extremely rare. It’s really an awful sight, like a terminally ill Mike Wazowski.

A proboscis refers to the elongated nose of a mammal, such as elephants’ trunks. If your entire species title refers to it, then it’s clear that it’s the most noticeable thing on your face. The proboscis monkey is native to Asia and is one of its largest monkey species. The males have one large protrusion as a nose, which actually obscures their mouths. The females have smaller noses, albeit still larger than average. Their noses aid in calls, which come out as a honking sound, not surprisingly. We could make some crude comparisons to the enlarged proboscis, but we’ll take the high road on this one.

#9: Aye-Aye

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The aye-aye is a lemur native to Madagascar and is a nocturnal animal in the primate family. It is also the largest of its kind. It is, unfortunately, an endangered species. It grows to a length of 2 feet and has a noticeably longer middle finger used for foraging in tree trunks. But don’t expect to be flipped off, as it also has an extra digit in the form of a small thumb used for grip. The Malagasy people consider them to be bad omens and will kill them on sight. Though their faces may be a little cute, those claws really create a sinister image. They look like horror film creature hands, wrapping around a door frame. And do they even blink?

#8: Mexican Burrowing Toad

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These toads are named so for their behaviors: they burrow underground and only emerge for a very short 1 to 3 days of breeding. The males will emerge, inflate their bodies and produce a mating call (much like humans, in a way, no?) When we say inflate, we mean inflate. They really look like they might explode any second. And their shape before they inflate is really odd and features some orange markings reminiscent of flames on toy cars. Since they only come out to breed, we really mostly get to see them in their weird, balloon-forms, and it really looks like they’re struggling to stay together.

Really, the worst-looking creatures are the ones for which we struggle to find their facial features. These bats are really small, with a maximum length of 4.3 inches. Their faces are where the ugly part comes in. Horseshoe bats have “nose-leaves,” which are protrusions on either side of their noses, the front parts of which resemble horseshoes. These serve a purpose in echolocation practices. They have really small eyes that are actually heavily obstructed by these leaves. Horseshoe bats have also been researched recently as carriers of a certain pandemic… thanks a lot, ugly bats.

Some of us think all spiders are hideous, but that list would be much too long. Wolf spiders are native to most of the world, in some species or other. Their typical body sizes range from 0.4 to 1.38 inches, excluding the legs. They have 8 eyes arranged in 3 terrifying rows and excellent vision. Anything with “rows” of eyes is likely to not be so handsome. Two of the eyes are larger, making it easier to make eye contact when telling them to get out of our houses. Oh, and the females carry their egg sacs around like little, horrible backpacks. When they hatch, they carry the baby spiders around on their backs. Like little spider taxis. Ugh.

Have you ever seen those “check out these heinous deep sea creatures” images? This is the poster boy. There are a number of different kinds, but they’re really all beauty contest losers. They typically vary between 1 and 7 inches in length, but some have been known to reach up to 39 inches. They have gigantic, fanged mouths, and most of the females have an organ known as an illicium protruding from their foreheads, which serves as a sort of luminescent fishing rod in the dark depths of the ocean. It’s a really good thing the worst-looking anglerfish live way out of sight. They really are just… grotesque.

#4: Star-Nosed Mole

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As previously mentioned, if you can’t make out the facial features, the result is not good. These moles get their names from… Well, it’s kind of obvious. Their creepy noses are adorned with 25,000 Eimer’s organs, which are its only sensory organs. They are used to move around, as the moles are blind. They inhabit moist areas in North America and eat very small prey. They are excellent hunters and are sometimes considered to be the fastest eaters in the mammal world. Sure, all this is fascinating, but look at these things. They look like their faces cartoonishly exploded, and the fleshy bits just stayed hanging.

These are in the same family as the aforementioned anglerfish. Where deep-sea anglerfish are scarcely seen, monkfish are a lot more frequently sighted as they dwell in shallow waters. However, they’re also of the ugly variety. Monkfish have enormous heads which are the most prominent part of their bodies. The width of their mouths extends all around their heads, and they bear a multitude of pointy, sharp teeth. Their ventral and pectoral fins are so strong that they permit monkfish to “walk” along the ocean floor, which definitely proves that they’re really creepy. They look like sentient, old cast iron pans with little sinister faces.

The naked mole-rat looks like nature made a mistake. They are, however, a great source for research given their resistance to cancer, capacity for oxygen deprivation, and lack of pain receptors. They’re quite small, the lengthiest being around 4 inches. They have tiny eyes, poor vision, four sharp teeth used for digging, and a nearly complete lack of hair. Obviously, the lack of hair is the likely culprit that really makes these creatures hideous. They look like a removed section of human intestines or a girthy tapeworm. Replace rat infestation with naked mole-rat infestation, and it’s suddenly a horror movie.

This fish actually looks upset that it’s so unfortunate in the looks department. It knows. Actually, the swollen, gelatinous look of these melancholy-looking sea creatures stems from human intervention. When the fish are taken from their natural deep-sea environments, the decompression affects their outer layers, resulting in the melted, bloated look. However, somewhat going along with their looks, they are actually physiologically lazy: they lack any muscle, float rather than swim, and basically eat whatever happens to pass in front of their mouths near the ocean floor. That’s the dream, isn’t it?