Every couple of years, a new collection of animals find their way into the mainstream. It used to be lions, tigers, and even monkeys. These days, however, a new triumvirate has taken the crown for animals most beloved by children: sloths, capybaras, and quokkas. Once relegated to the margins, these alternative animals have now gone mainstream. Lunchboxes, t-shirts, and viral videos are just a few examples of evidence for this monumental shift in child loyalty. There’s real science behind this phenomenon, too, and it has to do with how “cuteness” affects our perception.

Sure, there are more complicated aspects of this virality, involving the mechanics of modern digital culture and evolutionary biology, but cuteness reigns supreme. The popularity boost for animals like sloths and capybaras involves characteristics—behavioral and physical—that bypass adult deduction and hit right at the heart of a child’s need for connection and comfort. Let’s explore the reasons why capybaras, sloths, and quokkas reign supreme in the modern child’s imagination. The answers may surprise you.

You’ve seen how moms react to babies of any species. Even the most stoic man can’t help but feel affection for adorable infants, no matter their shape or size. Children, too, exhibit this sense of affection when dealing with babies, and it has to do with instinct. To describe this phenomenon, ethologist Konrad Lorenz coined the term “Kindchenschema,” or ‘baby schema.” This decidedly German term refers to a set of physical features, including large heads, round faces, big eyes, and soft bodies, that trigger instinctual caretaking responses in human beings.

The idea is, at least on some primal level, the cuter the baby, the less you want to eat it. Look around the animal kingdom, and you will find countless examples of this infantile defense. Indeed, it’s pretty hard to find babies of any species that aren’t cute. What about our hallowed three: the quokka, the capybara, and the sloth?

Kids love quokkas because they have some of the happiest faces of any animal; their mouths are evolutionarily adapted to pant and dispel heat.

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