Life's Great Mysteries - Why do we think certain animals are cute?

You know what I'm talking about. We see certain animals, and we automatically say (or think), "Awww."

THE FIRST PHOTO is a juvenile cottontail rabbit I saw a few weeks ago, and it's a perfect example.

The leading explanation for this phenomenon comes from Konrad Lorenz, an ethologist (someone who studies animal behavior). In 1943, Lorenz suggested that almost all baby animals have certain physical characteristics in common. For example, a relatively large head compared to the body, rounded cheeks, a high forehead, a small nose and mouth, and rounder bodies. He called this the "baby schema," and the reason most people find these critters to be cute is because humans have a deeply ingrained instinct to nurture babies. After all, humans are animals too, and our babies have these same physical characteristics.

On a more fundamental level, when we perceive cuteness, this stimulates the pleasure center of the brain, releasing dopamine and oxytocin, which promote social bonding and reduce aggression. Cuteness actually triggers a physical response.

And, from my experience, I feel like the closer the baby animal is related to humans, the more we feel the cuteness factor. Baby non-human primates, for example. THE SECOND PHOTO includes a baby howler monkey that we saw in Belize a few weeks ago.

With many species of monkeys, we even perceive the adults as cute. THE THIRD PHOTO is an adult white-faced capuchin we saw in Panama. Even though this individual appears to be grouchy, its similarities to a human, and the overall baby-like proportions of its face, stimulate our brain to feel affection for it.

And a lot of other types of mammals that are not primates have body proportions as adults that strike us as cute. THE FOURTH PHOTO is an agouti (a large type of rodent) that we saw in Belize. Even though this is an adult, its proportions trigger our brain to feel affection for it.

The animals don't even have to be mammals. THE FIFTH PHOTO is a baby gecko we found in Belize, barely larger than the tip of Trish's finger. Simply because its eyes were proportionally huge compared to its body, we both immediately thought of it as cute, and we went to considerable effort to move it safely to a place where it wouldn't get stepped on.

The cuteness factor is powerful!

All photos by Stan C. Smith