Blogs - Endangered Ugly Things

Hunter S. Slug

Much the same way I found the Astingy Leaf Chameleon, I was searching ARKive for some good invertebrates. I could probably spend a good month on animals picked solely from that section, but the two that stuck out the most were the Pondoland Cannibal Snail and the Snake Skin Hunter Slug¹. Since I was having problems deciding which one to write about, I asked a friend who randomly picked the slug. Don’t worry… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 11, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Paddlin' Madeline Home

Phantom Midge¹ gave me a few good suggestions recently, but alas, neither the Yeti Crab nor the Zombie Worm are listed, whether or not they are actually in danger of becoming extinct. There are gobs of disgusting-looking deep-sea critters, but since so little is known about their populations and habits, there is not en… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 10, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Karma Chameleon

All right, so this’ll be the second EUT in a row from Madagascar (and third total), but I saw this animal on ARKive¹, and it was so cutely hideous (or hideously cute, I’m not sure), that it needed to be written about. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 9, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Secret Agent Bat

It’s been a bit since I’ve written about a mammal (actually, a month to the day) so I decided to raid the EDGE¹ website, which deals with exceedingly endangered mammals, many of which are, unsurprisingly, small-rodent looking things, simply due to the large percentage of small-rodent looking mammals² (those may come later). In this post, howev… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 8, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Birdhouse in your Waldrapp

I had hoped that a trip to the Cleveland Zoo this last weekend with Miladyofthelake¹ would prove fruitful, and, in fact, it did. Along with the Cinereous Vulture (near threatened—does that count?) and the Lappet-Faced Vulture (… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 7, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Eye of the Tiger

I’ve been searching for more EUTs; rather, I’ve been searching for a new place to search for them. The Ohio list is all well and good, although a little small. I always worry that I won’t get enough information about the organism¹. The IUCN Redlist has the opposite problem: it’s huge and I don’t know where to start looking. I’m starting to exhaust the… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 7, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Reel Big Salamander

In the footnote for the Sagala Caecilian¹, I mentioned some big, ugly salamanders. Both are endangered, and closely related to the Hellbender², in the family Cryptobranchidae, and the three species are together known as the Giant Salamanders. I’ll skip over the second largest salamander… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 6, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Golden Nosering

Two weeks ago, Phantom Midge¹ threw a suggestion into the ring. I like the fact that when I complain about having been given no suggestions, there are always a few people who feel bad enough for me and find some. I’ll admit that this one isn’t horribly ugly, but once again, it’s the creepy, creepy nose. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 5, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

The Monkey with the Red Face

Natalie¹ suggested² that I write about the White Uakari. The only problem was the species, the Bald Uakari, was listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN redlist. I’d like it to be at least “vulnerable” before I write about it. But then I looked at the page for the White Uakari subspec… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 4, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Mama Cass

Despite my pleas for ideas, no one sent in any suggestions. My girlfriend, who wrote the Andean Condor post, wanted another one on birds, and mentioned an animal that is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous animals to keep in captivity. I like to refer to them as the “Angry Technicolor Ostrich.” … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 3, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

"Will You Walk Into My Parlor?"

Sorry for such a late post. I don’t have any good excuses; I’ve just been slacking. A few weeks ago, Greg (who also suggested the Siaga Antelope) suggested an EUT for me¹. I found out that its story is unavoidably attached to another Endangered Ugly Thing. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 2, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

I'm So Blue

I decided to look through the Ohio list to see if I could find anything of specific interest¹. I realized that I hadn’t written about any fish for a while (though it seems I was on a bit of a fish-kick at the beginning). While in the fish section, I came across this blue sucker. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on June 1, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Maxwell's Silver Sword

My parents just came back from a cruise in Hawai’i¹, and I felt compelled to ask if they found any exciting wildlife. They had, in fact, found a plant with this blog in mind. Instead of saddling Florabot with this one, I figured I’d write my first plant post.

The… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 31, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Might As Well Jump

Phantom Midge¹ has given me a suggestion for this week’s post. The name was way out there—far enough that I knew it had to be written about. Meet the Dromedary Jumping-Slug (Hemphillia dromedarius). … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 30, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Modest Mole

So the purpose of me writing is to talk about the endangered species that people normally wouldn’t want to save, right? Right; the issue is, I’ve noticed that there seem to be more comments on the fuzzier animals, or, failing that, the vertebrates. I suppose this is why the WWF generally focuses on marketing the saving of the pandas and tigers. Aren’t you here for the fruit flies and mosses? Apparently not. So here’s a fuzzy Endangered Ugly Thing, because I give the fans what they want. That, an… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 27, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Mussel of Love

In the very first post, I mentioned a particular animal and I haven’t gotten around to talking about them yet. It doesn’t have the distinction of being endangered anywhere save for Ohio and Minnesota (though it is threatened in Wisconsin). I wish I could find more detailed information about them, but I’ll share with you what I’ve found out about the Wartyback Mussel¹.… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 26, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Lichen Rock

Well, I wanted to spread the love to all the taxa, and since no one suggested anything last week, you get to read about lichens. Lucky you. Well, to what group do the lichens belong, you may ask. The answer: most of ‘em. The major part of the lichen is a fungus, but it has a symbiotic relationship with either an alga or a cyanobacterium (or both) that allows them to be photosynthetic. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 25, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Stuck on You

(Alternate title: Lice Lice Baby) Well, Stephanie (who I can’t find a link for) suggested whale lice, but alas, they are not listed. I will get to them, because it’s very possible that they’re endangered. While looking for information on them, I came across an interesting term: coendangered. While this may refer to close-knit predator/prey or flower/pollinator relationships, that’s not the relationship I’m focusing on. The species that I will claim this post is about is the Pygmy Hog-Sucking Lo… Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 24, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Rudolph the Long-Nosed Antelope

A few weeks ago, Greg¹ suggested some animals about which I could possibly write. I thank you profusely for your suggestions, and urge other people to send their ideas. I would never have thought to look at some endangered antelope to see if it was ugly. … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 23, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Does Whatever a Spider Can

After the post on most of the arachnids on the US List, I couldn’t help but look at the non-cave spider. I will get to your suggestions¹, but I’m still trying to spread the love to all the taxa². … Continue

Added by Nathan Yaussy on May 22, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

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