There’s a solid reason why most people can agree on what makes an animal adorable. Our evolutionary background determines what we find cute, thus we pay attention to human infants.
Other animals have been affected by this, and most newborn animals of all types seem to catch our attention. The characteristics of a baby schema must be present in an animal in order for humans to find it attractive and shriek with excitement when we do.
These 10 animals take full use of a human’s instinct to adore newborns, whether it’s because of a disproportionately huge, round head or enormous eyes that captivate the heart.
10 Most Baby Mammals
People find virtually all young animals to be adorable in general, which is one of the ways that people have tamed animals over time. Consider one of the numerous species, the domesticated dog, Canis lupus familiaris, which evolved to thrive by passing on the genes that make them adorable. Seriously. Dogs made sure their progeny has all the qualities people value, capitalizing on humanity’s urge to love adorable things. They are little, with huge heads compared to their bodies and enormous eyes compared to their heads.
This pattern is almost universal among mammalian species, and those that don’t are frequently regarded as pests. For instance, newborn rats and mice often lack hair and are unable to open their eyes. This is true for the majority of birds and other animals that seldom cause people to shriek with excitement. It’s interesting to note that the concept of “cuteness” as it relates to infant animals has been well researched, with some studies indicating that young animals frequently rank higher in terms of the baby schema than the majority of human babies.
9 Slow Loris
One method toy companies leverage our inborn need for cuteness to get us to buy is whether you’ve ever seen those fuzzy dolls with absurdly huge eyes. The Slow loris is one of the creatures that doesn’t require any assistance in that regard. There are several species of Slow loris, yet they all have some characteristics in common that we all find to be endearing. The most noticeable of them are their protruding eyeballs, which were not developed to make them attractive to humans but rather as a modification to their nocturnal existence.
Slow lorises fit several criteria on the infant schema because of their short snout and nose and huge eyes. Most people who see them therefore find them to be charming, but despite their attractiveness, no one should touch these little monkeys. A Slow loris’ highly lethal bite is unusual among animals. It is produced when someone licks a sexual gland on their arm; this gland releases a liquid, which when combined with saliva, forms a dangerous substance. On stave off predators, they applied this material to their coats. Although slow lorises are adorable, they are a species that should be observed without being touched.
8 Meerkats
Small mongooses known as meerkats are among the world’s cutest sociable creatures. They are endemic to southern Africa. They have odd survival instincts and dwell in big bands of up to 30 individuals. In order to keep an eye out for predators, it is necessary for one or more meerkats in a group to sit or stand outside their burrow on their hind legs. This gives them their recognizable posture, which is visible in zoos all over the world, but for the majority of humans, it is merely adorable behavior rather than a survival instinct. They are always on the lookout for raptors and other dangers, so in fact it’s everything but charming.
The physical features of a typical meerkat include a wide head, big eyes, short outer ears, and a pointed nose. According to the infant schema, it is cute because of all of its face traits. Although meerkat adults are endearing, the young are much more so than other young animals. Their forehead and eyes are bigger than normal due to their size. Although they develop into their bodies, most people frequently utter the word “aww” when they see newborns. This is also true of meerkats, who act benevolently toward one another’s young, a trait that is uncommon in most animals.
7 Koala
Koala bears are adorable, cuddly, and must be completely avoided. It’s well acknowledged that most people find these Australian marsupials to be adorable. Koalas are another attractive species that must be avoided, though. This is because they have razor-sharp fangs and claws that they would not hesitate to use if they felt threatened. Koalas are classified as “vulnerable,” and the 2020 Australia wildfire season significantly reduced their population. Despite significant habitat loss, the fact that humans find koalas adorable may help ensure their existence.
If we find a species cute, people are more likely to help rescue it. This is demonstrated by the effort and resources spent on koala conservation as opposed to rescuing a species of slug. The wide, round heads and petite features of koalas are among the key characteristics that endear us to them. These do a great job of drawing attention to their condition since they resemble the skulls of our own infants. Other characteristics like their 20-hour daily sleep schedule, languid movement, and fuzzy ears do not lessen their widespread attractiveness.
6 Flapjack & Dumbo Octopodes
Because of our encounters with them over tens of thousands of years of evolution, humans frequently find animals to be endearing. Occasionally, their sweetness is just accidental. This is the situation, of all things, with a cute species of Flapjack octopus. The species was found in 2015, and it resembles a Pac-Man ghost in appearance. They feature huge eyes, stubby tentacles, and a brilliant pink color. Since they are abyssal organisms that have evolved to live in the deep water on the ocean floor, their attractiveness is unrelated to human adoration, though it is unquestionably a benefit.
Opisthoteuthis adorabilis has been suggested as their scientific name, which sounds appropriate despite the fact that they are not the only species of Flapjack octopus in the ocean. Little Flapjack octopuses aren’t the only octopus species that people find endearing. Similar characteristics may be seen in the so-called Dumbo octopus, which also has enormous flaps that resemble the Disney character’s big ears. Speaking of Disney characters, Opisthoteuthis californiana, another species of flapjack octopus, served as the inspiration for the charming tiny octopus Pearl in Finding Nemo, but Pearl was undoubtedly cuter than the genuine thing.
5 Piglets
A piglet is adorable, but an adult pig is everything but; this makes pigs an intriguing animal for our list. This feature has caused issues in the pet trade since, as a pig grows older, it transforms from a little, adorable animal to a large beast best used for making bacon. Piglets fit numerous criteria on the baby schema, including having rounder faces, short snouts with big nostrils, and large heads and eyes relative to the rest of their bodies.
At eight weeks old, a normal piglet weighs about 35 lbs. (15.9 kg), which is a reasonable weight for many house pets. Consider the same piglet at six months; many dogs weigh far more, but, depending on the species, you can be left with a pig that weighs an average of 250 lbs (113 kg) or more. In contrast to the other animals on this list, pigs lose some of their attractiveness the longer they are near people. Anyone who has owned a so-called “Teacup pig” pet knows this to be an issue; when they get big, they lose their cuteness.
4 Fennec Fox
The Sinai Peninsula and the Sahara Desert are home to the little Fennec fox species. They are very well suited to their desert habitat, mostly because of their ears. The major reason the African Elephant has the biggest ears in the world is because bigger ears in animals are better at dispersing heat. The Fennec Fox has several adaptations that enable them to survive in the desert in addition to its hearing. Their fur coat and kidneys have been been modified so that they may survive in a hot, water-scarce habitat.
They are treasured by people for their enormous ears, which are the biggest ear to body ratio in the canid family, when it comes to cuteness when it comes to humans. This is significant since the Fennic fox is the smallest canid in the entire planet. They can weigh up to 2.9 to 4.3 pounds at their maximum weight (1.3 to 1.9 kg). Despite not having been tamed, fennec foxes are frequently offered for sale as exotic pets. After removing puppies from their moms to raise them on their own, this is achieved by taming.
3 Red Panda
The Red panda was named “certainly the most gorgeous creature in existence” by Frédéric Cuvier when he first described it in 1825. They have been characterized in many ways throughout the years, but Seth Meyers’ description, “They’re like a fox and a raccoon and a bear and a dog and a cat,” is arguably the best. They are all the cutest animals combined into one. It’s hardly a scientific explanation, but I think anyone who has seen one of these things would agree with him.
Given that they are not closely related, red pandas should be smaller than giant pandas. People also enjoy their long, fluffy tails, yet despite their enormous popularity, they are an endangered species. Their greatest dangers come from human collection of both living and dead animals, deforestation, and habitat degradation due to competition with domestic cattle. Since 2008, there have been conservation initiatives in place, and the species has recovered in certain locations. Additionally, captive breeding initiatives have generally proven effective globally.
2 Sea Otters
Even though their appearance has a lot to do with how adorable they are, most people visit zoos to observe sea otters because of their social nature. When they are sleeping, sea otters frequently hold hands with one another. They are kept together by this as a survival strategy to prevent them from drifting away. Additionally, it exhibits traits of human behavior, which we find adorable in other creatures. For a sea otter, staying afloat is their primary concern, but for humans, it’s just cute behavior on show.
Another intriguing trait of sea otters is that they save their favorite rocks in a pouch that they use to crack open different kinds of shellfish. Similarly to how puppies behave, they have also been observed to play with toys in captivity and homemade toys in the wild. Although much of their behavior resembles our own, most people also find their physical characteristics to be attractive. They have broad faces with huge eyes and noses, which fit the infant schema that makes people attracted to other animals.
1 Quokka
Small marsupials known as quokka are indigenous to southwestern Australia and belong to the same family as kangaroos and wallabies. They have a distinct facial expression that closely resembles a grin that has made them well-known across the world, and humans have recently propagated this emotion online. Since quokas are so well-known for their expressive faces, most individuals who see them in the wild end up taking a picture with them, which is against the law. This led to a lot of cute photos of humans posing with wild animals, but since they are wild animals, it also led to a few bites.
Quokka have been nicknamed “the world’s happiest creatures” due to their propensity for smiling and overall lack of fear of people. However, despite the fact that they are unquestionably adorable, they should not be handled in the wild since they are now classified as fragile and in need of protection.