Top 10 Most Remarkable Noses

Many body parts capture our attention—eyes, lips, buttocks, legs, breasts, and hair—yet the nose is often overlooked. It's time to give this facial feature the recognition it deserves. So, let's dive right into some of the most extreme noses, courtesy of Sasha Rosser.

10. Goblin Shark

When the nose meets Jaws.

It's remarkable how this shark manages to feed with such an enormous snout sticking out of its face. You could probably land a plane on that thing. Who knows what purpose it serves—it could be the result of some absurd evolutionary preference. Or maybe the Cloverfield monster uses goblin sharks as darts, permitting only those with the largest noses to survive. Regardless, its rostrum is larger in proportion than any other shark's, making it pretty extreme.

9. Fei Jianjun

Meet Fei Jianjun. One day, he noticed an unusual red bump on the tip of his nose but didn't seek medical attention due to financial constraints. Over the next year, his nose grew to the size seen in the image above, so large that it pushed his eyes to the sides of his face, earning him the label of 'diseased freak' in his village. As a result, Fei rarely left his house, as he was believed to be a carrier of illness. Unsurprisingly, when your nose swells to the size of an apple, it causes significant pain. Eventually, a local hospital offered him free surgery, and a CT scan revealed that his condition was caused by a rhinocarcinoma, which they treated with radiation.

Overall, the entire situation is tragically awful, but at least he received free healthcare. And any nose that secures you free healthcare qualifies as an extreme nose.

8. Monoclonius

The rhinoceros already boasts a pretty extreme nose, with its name literally meaning 'nose horn.' But why include such a common rhinoceros on this list when a much larger, far more extreme version of this nose once roamed the Earth?

Of all the unicorn-like ceratopsids, the monoclonius had the largest nose horn by far. Standing at 2.7 meters tall, this powerful creature could easily impale a white rhino on its horn and toss it aside like a plush toy. You could even drape lights around it and pretend it was a miniature Christmas tree. The holidays definitely get extreme when you use a dinosaur's nose to amp up your festive decorations.

7. Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody's nose stands as the Mount Everest of Hollywood schnozzes. It towers over other actors' noses, laughing maniacally while unleashing tyrannical snot rockets. It looms menacingly, like Barad-dûr, growling curses in the language of Mordor. It snores, and tectonic plates shift. And so on.

Brody's nose likely played a significant role in landing him the role of Jewish-Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman in The Pianist. His masterful portrayal earned him an Oscar, along with the chance (which he took) to kiss Halle Berry. Winning an Oscar and making out with Halle Berry? That’s one extreme nose.

6. Hammer-Headed Bat

Bats are often quite amusing in their appearance. Some are known for having oversized ears, while others have comically large noses. Take the hammer-headed bat, for example, whose nose is so large it actually outstrips the volume of its brain by at least twice. This exaggerated feature also plays a key role in the species’ sexual dimorphism, as it is only the males that possess these impressive snouts. Along with the males' elongated mouth cavities and larynxes, these substantial noses enable them to produce loud, echoing honks.

It's probably not a shock to learn that the quality of these honks directly impacts how attractive the males are to females. This can be seen in full force when groups of males gather, usually near riverbanks, to compete for mates in a behavior called lek mating. Essentially, the males try to out-honk each other, while the females hover above, evaluating the honks, much like a bar scene where men compete with their best pick-up lines. Since the size of the nose affects the quality of the honk, the females choose the males with the most impressive, pronounced noses. When a nose is the deciding factor in mating, you know it’s a truly extreme feature. Plus, these bats can allegedly be used as hammers—which, let’s face it, are pretty handy tools.

5. Cyrano de Bergerac

Like many legendary men, the fictional Cyrano de Bergerac falls in love with his cousin, Roxane. And, much like many famous figures, Cyrano is unfortunate in his looks, mainly due to his enormous nose, which causes him a great deal of personal anguish. The cruelty of others often leads them to remark that his nose is so large it could serve as an umbrella.

In the famous play, Cyrano shows off his exceptional talents in sword fighting, music, and quick wit. He's also a gifted poet, crafting beautiful love sonnets, but he's too shy to present them to his charming cousin. Meanwhile, she falls for the handsome but dim-witted man who lacks the words to capture her heart. This simpleton asks Cyrano for help with wooing her, and Cyrano agrees. Roxane falls for the poetry, and when she finally realizes it was Cyrano who wrote the words, she falls for him, nose and all. Naturally, in true tragic fashion, she confesses her love as Cyrano lies dying.

If we embrace the Sixteen Candles-like belief that unattractive people often have the sharpest wit, talent, and success, then Cyrano’s greatness can be traced directly to his nose. And, for the record, that nose apparently doubles as a rain shield. Now that’s extreme.

4. Proboscis Monkey

This monkey is so well-known for its unique nose that it has become synonymous with the name proboscis monkey. In fact, people just refer to it as 'the nose monkey.' You see that fellow over there, with the giant nose? Yeah, that’s the proboscis guy.

Just like hammer-headed bats, nose size in proboscis monkeys is a key indicator of sexual dimorphism within the species. Female proboscis monkeys have noticeably large noses, but they lack the truly remarkable 'Kilroy-was-here' kind of noses that the males sport. As with the hammer-headed bats, we can be confident that male nose size plays a significant role in attracting the attention of the females.

It’s safe to say that proboscis monkeys essentially have erections for noses. Like most mammals, when proboscis monkeys get excited, their heart rate increases. As their excitement builds, blood flow to their nose increases, causing it to swell. This engorged nose forms a resonance chamber that amplifies their calls, especially when sounding an alarm. This comes in handy when one monkey detects danger: the excitement (and the swollen nose) help him communicate the threat to the group. A super-siren nose, all while looking like Squidward? That's extreme.

3. Elephant

Elephants are quite the extraordinary creatures. Not only are they the largest land animals alive today, but they also mourn their dead, have teeth that are like conveyor belts, and when sexually frustrated, they can destroy entire civilizations. Oh, and did I mention they paint too?

They also possess trunks, which, naturally, are just ridiculously awesome noses.

In many ways, an elephant’s trunk is like a human hand. They use it for greetings, hugs, and playful gestures. They pick up objects, bring food and water to their mouths, and even bathe themselves by sucking water into the trunk and spraying it over their bodies. They can snorkel with it. Their trunks can delicately pick up tiny seeds without crushing them, plant them, and later uproot the trees that grow from them. And of course, they can use their trunks to store or forage goods from other elephants’ rear ends. Truly, the trunk is a nose that knows no limits.

Elephants also have remarkable olfactory abilities, enhanced by their skill to aim their trunks towards or away from sources of scent. Extreme? Absolutely.

2. Star-Nosed Mole

Different species interpret the layout of their surroundings based on their sensory preferences. Humans predominantly rely on vision. Dolphins lean on sound. Moles depend on touch. Among them, the star-nosed mole has the most sophisticated tactile organs, located right on its nose.

Describing the star-nosed mole as having hands protruding from its face is an understatement. It wouldn't even be accurate to say it has four. A gentle tap on your hands doesn’t harm you, but the star-nosed mole’s nose is incredibly sensitive. This heightened sensitivity is due to clusters of mechanoreceptors that extend from the dermis, through columns of epidermal cells, up to the skin’s surface. These specialized structures, known as Eimer’s organs, make the mole’s nose highly developed, housing about 25,000 of these sensory organs, and all within just 1 cm. For comparison, your nose contains far fewer tactile nerve endings.

In a Nature article, the star-nosed mole was named the 'fastest-eating animal'. Its specialized sensory organs, with heavy myelination of neurons, speed up signal transmission from the nose to the brain, allowing it to determine the edibility of something in just 120 milliseconds—a time that is close to the upper limit of neuronal transmission speeds. That’s how quickly the star-nosed mole evaluates food.

As if its talents weren't extreme enough, the star-nosed mole can even smell underwater. It exhales nose bubbles onto an object, then inhales them to detect scents. Isn’t that incredible?

1. Pinocchio

This child cannot tell a lie without his nose growing outward like the Ruyi Jingu Bang when Sun Wukong needs to snatch cookies from the highest shelf. Consider the possibilities; to turn his nose into a weapon, Pinocchio only has to stand in front of someone, point it at their eye, and declare, 'I’m a real boy! I’m a real boy!' Too bad he abandoned his superpower; it could have been pretty extreme.