While we’re lovers of all kinds of animals here at IFLScience, even we have to admit that some of them do look quite spectacularly silly – which arguably, makes us love them even more.
Continue reading to discover some of our favorites…
Arabian sand boa
Our first animal was described by one member of the IFLScience team as “when you buy a snake from Wish” and frankly, that’s a pretty accurate assessment of the Arabian sand boa (Eryx jayakari).
When someone on the internet says “snek”, this is what we picture.
Image credit: Dan_Koleska/Shutterstock.com
Endemic to the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and western parts of Iran, these relatively small, non-venomous reptiles might look like someone forgot where the eyes go on a snake, but there’s a very good reason why they’re on top of its head rather than the side.
Arabian sand boas spend most of their time hiding under the sand. When the night draws in, aka the time for a tasty little rodent snack, having eyes on top means they can stay buried within the sand whilst keeping an eye out for prey, making it easier to take it by surprise.
Essentially, having derpy eyes means they can sit pretty and wait for the food to come to them, which sounds like a regular Friday night for many of us humans.
Irrawaddy dolphin
10/10 would pat (but please don’t).
Image credit: Jodphoto/Shutterstock.com
Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) are most likely how I would’ve drawn a dolphin when I was a kid (and now, if we’re being honest). Unlike the more pointed snouts seen in the more well-known bottlenose dolphin, this species has no distinct beak and a pronounced rounded head.
Combine that with the arm-roll-on-a-baby-esque creases from their unusually flexible necks, general chonkiness, and smile-like expression, and you’ve got yourself a thoroughly friend-shaped looking animal.
Unfortunately, Irrawaddy dolphins are also an endangered species, with human activity bringing them to the brink of extinction in the late 20th century – but thanks to 21st-century conservation efforts, their numbers were recently reported to have increased in Cambodia.
Tibetan fox
It’s safe to say that Tibetan foxes (Vulpes ferrilata) look quite different from the red foxes that many of us will be familiar with. “Is it just me or do Tibetan foxes just look like someone tried to draw a normal fox and it kinda sucked[?]” posted one Reddit user. Others have said they look like taxidermy gone wrong or the result of a bee sting.
Tibetan foxes’ snack of choice is the plateau pika.
Image credit: han longwei/Shutterstock.com
Looking at these creatures, such comments aren’t all that surprising. Tibetan foxes have big heads with square-shaped faces and small, triangular ears. Quite why that’s the case is unclear, particularly as their skulls are quite similar to those of their red fox relations.
Rain frogs
The epitome of the slang term “angy”.
Image credit: Lauren Suryanata/Shutterstock.com
If someone was asked to draw a small, angry frog from memory, we imagine it would probably look something like a rain frog, a whole group of adorably small, grumpy looking amphibians that give off the same energy as an unentertained Boo in Monsters Inc.
While this has seen them earn a place on many “cute animal” lists, one member of the gang, the common rain frog (Breviceps adspersus), is perhaps better known on the internet as the frog with “buttcheeks”.
Obviously, it would be hilarious for a caked-up frog to exist, but sadly, saying it has buttcheeks isn’t quite accurate. As fact-checking site Snopes pointed out, it’s actually the frog’s cloaca, the chamber where the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary systems all link up and let their contents out.
If you’re on the lookout for other unusual-looking animals, check out the breed of goat that appears less like someone drew it from the memory of a regular goat and more like the memory of their sleep paralysis demon.
Source Link: These Animals Look Like They Were Drawn From Memory