Scientists Share Their Most Adorable Animal Photos With #Cuteoff

If there’s anything Twitter hashtags are good for it’s sharing cute animal pictures. Over a week ago, the scientists of Twitter started an informal competition to see who could post the most impressive photos of animal junk. #Junkoff was followed by the much less alarming #cuteoff, which encouraged scientists to share their most squee-worthy animal images. As was the case with #junkoff, the hashtag yielded a diverse group of creatures, from huge rodents to lichen-loving micro-organisms. One thing these pictures show is that cuteness knows no bounds.

Infant Sooty Mangabey // Erin Kane, Ohio State

Breviceps // Ambika Kamath, Jonathan B. Losos Lab at Harvard

Eastern Red-Backed Salamander // Rosemary Mosco, Bird and Moon

Mouse Lemurs // James Pitt, Harvard HEB Graduate

Nudibranch // Milana Featherbottom, UT Austin

Pteromys Momonga // Benjamin Burger, Utah State University 

Eoperipatus Totoros // Gwen Pearson, WIRED Science

Gray Bee Fly // Erica McAllister, Natural History Museum (London)

Brown Antechinus // Parks Australia

Least Tern Chick // Kelsi Hunt, VT Shorebird Program 

Tardigrade // American Museum of Natural History

Coast Horned Lizard // U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit // Oregon Zoo