7 Adorable Animals That Spawn Terrifying Babies

Frogs begin life as eggs and eventually turn into tadpoles. Unless you were soli
dly drunk through fifth grade science, you know that much. But the image that co
mes to mind is of those streamlined, spermy looking black torpedoes that dart ar
ound the edge of the water. That . is not entirely accurate:We didn't have to go
far to find that misshapen, malformed homunculus up there. That's a tadpole of
the species Rana temporaria, or the common frog. During one stage of their devel
opment they sport external gills, which explains those strange, diseased looking
growths you see poking out from the sides.We'd have guessed "sea broccoli."Thei
r mouths aren't fully formed yet, leaving them with a kind of pouty sucker on th
eir face that looks like something between a perpetually staring Cyclops eye and
an unwashed Fleshlight.That's . well, that sure is a fish, isn't it? That's abo
ut as fish shaped as you can get, yes sir. And here are the babies:Jurgen Berger
Mahendra SonawaneWe're guessing mom and dad don't stick around long.It's like s
omebody turned a Pokemon inside out. You ever give a small chew toy to a big dog
? This is what you pick up from the lawn the next morning.Scientists love these
little guys because, in addition to being genetically pliable and easy to care f
or, zebrafish have Wolverine level regenerative abilities that allow them to reg
row their fins, tails, hearts, and even brains. Yes, the zebrafish knows your fi
rst impulse upon seeing it is murder hot, steamy murder for the thing that sho
uld not be and it's cool with that. It's evolved to counter that response. Go
ahead. Do your worst. It pretty much cannot die. Although it clearly wants to.Dr
. David McCarthy, colored by Annie CavanaghIt is far too ugly for the reaper.1.
KeasRobin Bush / Oxford Scientific / GettyThe kea is a fairly exotic mountain dw
elling parrot from New Zealand, best known for the bright coloring on its wings
and its propensity for intelligence (the kea can even solve simple puzzles). And
since it's so goddamn smart, the first question we'd like to ask it is: What's
the deal with your terrible babies?And why on Earth would you keep making more o
f them?Jesus! It looks like it wants to puke just thinking about itself. Yes, th
e beautiful multicolored genius parrot started life as this abomination, which l
ooks more like something your cat coughed up than a living thing. Much like Nevi
lle Longbottom, puberty is apparently very, very kind to the kea.According to ex
perts, the reason the kea is listed as a "vulnerable" species is "mainly due to
mammals which are able to get into its nests to steal eggs and young." This impl
ies that kea mothers are just as repulsed by these things as we are, leaving the
ir nests unprotected while they head off to the local parrot bar to get plastere
d and forget about their ungodly spawn for an hour or two.Always on the go but c
an't get enough of Cracked? We have an Android app and iOS reader for you to pic
k from so you never miss another article.Related Reading: Hey, check out this Cr
acked video about adorable animals with secret dark sides. If you're more intere
sted in animals who throw a middle finger at the rulebook, check out these flyin
g damn snakes. Oh, and just because we like you here's a lizard dressed as Spide
r man.