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Arts & Culture

NATURE: The Beauty Of Ugly

"Nature" gets up close with perhaps the ugliest mammal in all of Africa, the warthog.
Matthew Wright ©Image Impact/EBC 2007
"Nature" gets up close with perhaps the ugliest mammal in all of Africa, the warthog.

Airs Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

In the animal world, as in our own, looks aren’t everything. In fact, some of the most aesthetically challenged creatures — from warthogs and proboscis monkeys to bull elephant seals — are also the most fascinating. A stunning variety of these ghastly yet glorious forms are explored in "NATURE: The Beauty of Ugly."

On the Web site for "The Beauty of Ugly," you’ll get an in-depth look at some of these intriguing creatures. You’ll learn about the remarkable sensory abilities of the weird little star-nosed mole and the unusual social system of naked mole-rats and their imperious mole-rat queen, discover the threats faced by the Cape Griffon vulture, and get a fish-eye’s view of the needle-toothed viperfish and other deep-sea creatures, as photographed by a unique undersea camera called the Eye-in-the-Sea, designed by ocean researcher Dr. Edith Widder. You can also watch the full episode online.

Preview: Nature: The Beauty Of Ugly
The Beauty Of Ugly: A Twenty-two Tentacled Nose
Excerpt: Nature: The Beauty Of Ugly