Naturally Ugly

Scientists are finding that what we find freakish in other species offers insight into how we gain massive visual information from a millisecond’s glance, then anthropomorphize it into a revealing saga of ourselves. Natalie Angier reports on warnings by conservation researchers that only by being aware of our aesthetic prejudices can we set them aside when deciding which species need to be studied and saved. “The more readily we can analogize between a particular animal body part and our own, the more likely we are to cry ugly.” Research shows that scientists may be biased toward nature’s beefcakes and beauty queens.