Key Takeaways on the Cutest Animals
The cutest animals according to Discover Magazine are the red panda, fennec fox, quokka, koala bear, sea otter, hedgehog, meerkat, giant panda, penguin, pika, arctic fox, axolotl, rabbit, sugar glider, capybara, Japanese weasel, margay, pygmy marmoset, raccoon dog, and the sand cat.
This list is a mix of mammals, amphibians, and birds, and range in location from North America, to the Eastern Himalayas.
There are about 9 million species on planet Earth that exist today, according to a paper in PLOS Biology. While it’s impossible to discern from all of these species which are the cutest animals of all time, there are certain behaviors and features that attract us to certain creatures.
Psychologically, as humans, we are drawn to baby animals because of our nurturing instinct. And we are even addicted to sharing cute animals on social media because it elicits a positive response, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
“The creation, consumption and circulation of animal photos has become a social phenomenon,” said co-author Zeynep Arsel, a professor in the Department of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business, in a press release. “It has gone well beyond animals advertising animal products.”
So we took a look at a few species and narrowed this list down to 20 of the cutest animals that exist today. From cuddly rodents to happy amphibians to waddling birds, enjoy these delightful animals.
1. Red Panda, Cutest Animal in the Himalayas
Native to the eastern Himalayas, red pandas are more closely related to raccoons than the giant panda. Although these forest dwellers have extremely cute faces, their colorful facial markings have a purpose — helping to camouflage in their environment.
According to University of Queensland Ph.D. candidate Damber Bista, who tracked red pandas in Nepal over a 12-month period from Queensland using GPS telemetry, red pandas are known for their tree climbing abilities and cuteness. But factors like human impact on their habitat are driving the species closer to extinction.
“It’s difficult to know how many red pandas are left in the world, but it is estimated that 10,000 are left in the wild, and between 500 to 1000 are in Nepal,” Bista said in a press release.
2. Fennec Fox, Cutest Animal Ears
With big ears and cute little faces, the fennec fox lives in the deserts of North Africa. They're the smallest wild dog, weighing in at only 2 to 3 pounds. Their ears — as big as half their body length — help dissipate excess body heat on hot days.
3. Quokka, Cutest Animal with a Grin
Part of the marsupial family, Quokkas have a permanent grin. Typically breeding once a year, quokkas produce only one baby, a joey. Found mostly on Australia’s Rottnest Island, tourism has led to increasing interaction between quokkas and humans.
While they look friendly and approachable, Larisa DeSantis, a vertebrate paleontologist at Vanderbilt University who studies quokkas, says otherwise.
“You don't really want to get that close to them,” she says. “One of the things people don't realize is quokkas have been known to bite people […] But you can get a nice photo with a quokka without encroaching on their space too much.”
4. Koala Bear, Cute Animal, but Not Friendly
Koalas are not bears at all but part of the marsupial family in Australia. These cuddly-looking animals are not as friendly as their cute appearance suggests. They can become aggressive when threatened. Koalas spend most of their time sleeping and eating — consuming a diet mostly of eucalyptus leaves.
Bushfires are impacting the koala populations, however, and the fires could impact their habitat even more looking forward.
“Wildfires will increasingly impact koala populations in the future. If this iconic and vulnerable marsupial is to be protected, conservation strategies need to be adapted to deal with this threat,” said lead author of the research, assistant professor Farzin Shabani, who now works in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Qatar University, in a press release.
5. Sea Otter, Cutest Animals that Hold Hands
The sea otter is the smallest North American sea mammal and the southern sea otter can be found along California’s central coast. It also has the densest fur of any mammal, with up to a million hairs per square inch. Aside from their cute appearance, they engage in endearing behaviors, such as rubbing their faces and holding hands.
These creatures are not just cute to look at, they are also important to their environment. After experts reintroduced sea otters to Southern California coastlines, the kelp forests that were previously destroyed made a come back.
“We always thought keystone species control their ecosystem the same way, regardless of where they are or what else is in the ecosystem,” said Ryan Langendorf, lead author of the paper, Environmental Studies researcher, and former postdoctoral researcher at CIRES, in a press release.
6. Hedgehog, a Cute Little Ball
Hedgehogs are spiny mammals that are members of the Erinaceidae family and date back approximately 15 million years ago. They live all over, from Europe to Asia. Their cuteness is enhanced by their little faces and how they curl into a ball. These quirky animals are often kept as pets.
Hedgehogs do live in the wild, however, and because of their hibernation times, they adapt easily to environmental changes.
“It was a surprise to see wild hedgehogs living in the same environment have so much variation in their hibernation pattern,” said Katie Crawford, a Ph.D. student at John Moores University who will present the research at the BES Annual Meeting, in a press release.
As social creatures, meerkats live in large groups — where they work together and enjoy companionship. Meerkats' cooperation efforts include huddling together for warmth and standing to serve as a safety lookout for the group. These group dynamics and cooperation efforts are part of what makes meerkats so intelligent.
“When meerkats are by themselves there is a higher chance of predation or harassment by other groups. Generally, meerkats therefore try very, very hard to stay together,” said postdoctoral researcher Vlad Demartsev from the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behaviour in a press release.
Meerkats also use chatter to communicate among the group. They use two different types of vocal interactions to broadcast information or connect with their neighbors, according to Demartsev.
“The first sound, a ‘close call,’ is like a call-and-response exchange between the animals,” said Demartsev in the release. “When one meerkat calls, a neighbour is likely to reply,” he added. “Whereas the second call, named a ‘short note,’ announces ‘I am here’ but doesn’t necessarily get a direct reply from communication partners.”
8. Giant Panda, a Cute and Playful Herbivore
Along with their distinctive, large black eye patches, giant pandas have short limbs and round bodies. Short limbs and pudgy body shape make giant pandas susceptible to falls. Once down, they have a playful way of rolling until they get back up.
Even though giant pandas primarily eat bamboo and are herbivores, their digestive systems are typical for carnivores. New research says MicroRNAs (miRNA) actually regulate gene expression in pandas, allowing them to have a bamboo-based diet.
“Our study proved that bamboo used as food for giant pandas does affect the change of giant pandas’ feeding habits,” said Dr Feng Li, a researcher at China West Normal University and senior author of the study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, in a press release.
9. Penguins, Cutest Flightless Birds
Penguins are flightless birds that engage in playful behaviors like sliding on snow and diving into water. Different species live worldwide from Australia and New Zealand, to Antarctica, and even Africa. They’re also devoted parents and very social creatures. The way penguins waddle when they walk, although cute, helps them maintain balance and efficiency.
Instead of wings, penguins have flippers. According to a press release, “modern penguins have excellent swimming abilities, largely due to their dense, thick bones that contribute to buoyancy during diving.”
And a penguin fossil named Pakudyptes from 24 million years ago shows researchers how these bird’s wings evolved to allow modern penguins to swim.
“Penguins evolved rapidly from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene and Pakudyptes is an important fossil from this period. Its small size and unique combination of bones may have contributed to the ecological diversity of modern penguins,” said Tatsuro Ando, formerly a PhD candidate at the University of Otago, in a press release.
10. Pika, Cutest Animal of the Mountains
Although they look like hamsters, pikas are related to rabbits. These small, egg-shaped mountain dwellers weigh only about 7 ounces. As herbivores, pikas use their sharp, chisel-like teeth for cutting and eating plants — from which they also derive their water.
Pikas live in cool habitats, typically in the mountains and as the planet continues to warm, some scientists think that these mammals will have to continue to climb higher in elevation, until they run out of habitat. However, new research suggests pikas may be more climate resilient than we once thought.
"These results show that pikas are able to tolerate a broader set of habitat conditions than previously understood," Arizona State University emeritus professor Andrew Smith said in a press release.
11. Arctic Fox, Cutest Animal of the Tundra
The arctic fox is the only canine that changes their coat color with the seasons and is native to the tundra. In winter, it’s white — to help blend in with the snow. Other times, their coat is brown and grey to enable camouflage among the rocks.
They use their sharp noses to plunge headfirst into the snow when hunting for mice in the winter. This also protects them from injury.
“The fox’s sharp snout doesn’t significantly compress the snow, it penetrates it without much resistance,” said Sunghwan Jung, professor of biological and environmental engineering in a press release.
12. Axolotl, The Cutest Salamander
Axolotls are called the smiling salamander, and for good reason. Popular pets (but illegal in three states and Washington, D.C.), these amphibians can live up to 15 years in captivity. Salamanders are the only adult vertebrates that can regrow limbs, and axolotls are no exception.
In the wild, the axolotl is located in Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in the southern Mexico City neighborhood of Xochimilco, and is renowned for its ability to not only regrow limbs, but also organs, including its spinal cord.
13. Rabbit, The Cutest Animal Ears
With small, twitching noses and soft fur, it’s no wonder rabbits made the list. The smallest rabbit, the pygmy, weighs only a pound — while the Flemish giant rabbit can reach 4 feet long and 22 pounds. They can also be found on every continent except Antarctica.
14. Sugar Glider, The Cutest Marsupial
Sugar gliders are small possums native to Australia and New Guinea that are kept as kept as pets all over the world. Although they can bond with their human owner, there are downsides to keeping sugar gliders as pets. These include their nocturnal lifestyle and their strong odor.
They are able to glide because of a thin skin membrane called patagium. And are tiny enough to fit inside your pocket.
15. Capybara, The Cutest Rodent
Smart and friendly, the capybara is the world’s largest rodent (weighing more than 100 pounds) and is social and gentle. Native to South America, capybaras have webbed feet and are strong swimmers. They live in groups of 50 to 100, depending on the season.
16. Japanese Weasel, The Cutest Pest Control
Japanese weasels have been used to control the rat population on some smaller Japanese islands, as they are excellent hunters — able to swim, climb trees, and run down tunnels to pursue prey. For many years, they were used for their fur, but Japan eliminated fur farms in the mid-2000s.
17. Margay, The Cutest, Small Cat
The genus Leopardus includes eight small spotted cats — one of which is the margay. With a tail half as long as its body and ankles that can rotate 180 degrees, the margay is an agile and effective hunter. Their agility enables them to climb down trees head first.
18. Pygmy Marmoset, The Cutest Monkey
The pygmy marmoset is the smallest monkey in the world, these cute critters weigh in at just over 4 ounces. Able to turn their head 180 degrees and leap more than 16 feet — they can move quickly through the trees of South America’s Amazon rain forests.
19. Raccoon Dog, The Cutest Animal Combo
As its name suggests, this canid family member has face markings that bear a resemblance to that of a raccoon. They're considered invasive species in Europe and prohibited from being imported or bred. Racoon dogs are the only wild dog species that hibernate in winter.
Raccoon dogs are the most common nest predators in Finland, and according to a study on duck nests, they may have an impact on the decline of waterbird nesting populations, according to a press release.
20. Sand Cat, The Cutest Desert Cat
The smallest of the wild cats, sand cats live a solitary life in the deserts of Africa and Asia. They’re well adapted to their environment and able to go weeks without water. With a keen sense of hearing, they’re able to locate and hunt prey underground.
Read More: 5 Animals That Are Cute, But Not Too Friendly
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
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PLOS ONE. A 29-year retrospective analysis of koala rescues in New South Wales, Australia
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Why Penguins Communicate. The Evolutionary Biology of Penguins
BBC Earth. How the Collared Pika Prepares For Winter
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Allison Futterman is a Charlotte, N.C.-based writer whose science, history, and medical/health writing has appeared on a variety of platforms and in regional and national publications. These include Charlotte, People, Our State, and Philanthropy magazines, among others. She has a BA in communications and an MS in criminal justice.
