Puppies, kitties, parrots, squirrels, and other critters, just like people, come in all forms and sizes. However, one particular shape has earned itself almost a cult-like status on the internet.
There's a subreddit called 'Round Animals' and its 35K members, who dub themselves 'spherical beasts,' absolutely adore these endearing creatures. They share pictures that capture the charm of these round companions, and clicking through the images, we thought that you'd enjoy them too.
So open your hearts and continue scrolling to enter this digital sanctuary and meet its inhabitants.
#1 Gaze Long Enough Into The Abyss, Eventually The Abyss Gazes Back
Image credits: you-can-face-it
#2 Big Boi Hops
Image credits: Zeebuoy
There might be a psychological explanation as to why we find these creatures so adorable.
One study from 2007 found that the amygdala, a part of the brain that is involved in processing fear, reaches significantly higher activation levels when a person is shown pictures of sharp everyday objects (e.g., angular corners of a sofa) compared with their curved contour counterparts.
So we might perceive round animals as less dangerous.
#3 Guys Look At This Furry Ping-Pong Ball I Saw On Twitter ?
Image credits: runlikehell_
#4 Geometric Near-Perfection
Image credits: inflammammal
#5 Very Loud And Very Round
Image credits: NotYourBuissnesMate
Google data designer Manuel Lima believes the reason for this comes from our days as cave people.
"[Circles are] softer, they provide some safety, as opposed to angular shapes–the teeth of an animal, the hard shape of a rock. Those are signifiers of danger," he once told Fast Company.
#6 The Takahē Is A Flightless Bird Native To New Zealand That Was Once Thought Extinct
Image credits: kat_fud
#7 Winter
Image credits: GlennisMclain
#8 University Of Michigan Squirrel
Image credits: stoeri546
#9 Round Bearded Roundling (Panurus Biarmicus), Being Round
Image credits: Buzzkill_13
Other research also supports the notion that we connect the shape with happiness.
In 1978, psychologist John N. Bassili conducted an experiment in which he added luminescent dots to the participants' faces.
When the people were asked to perform expressions of happiness, the dots would form into curvilinear, upward, open shapes, while expressions of anger created downward, angular forms.
#10 A Smol Boll
Image credits: kalasnaps
#11 This Cross-Eyed Cat Laying On A Watermelon
Image credits: nighteeeeey
#12 Sphere
Image credits: Hyraxlord
#13 Arctic Hares
Image credits: nighteeeeey
Lima's last theory also talks about the curved shape of the human eye, which slightly distorts the world at the edges of the "frame"–similar to the distortions in a crystal ball or a fish-eye lens, though not quite so exaggerated.
Circular shapes tend to complement this physical construction of the eye. “[Circles] fit so well into that visual apparatus,” he said.
#14 Not Perfectly Round, But She’s Trying Her Best
Image credits: GamerLuck
#15 Round Doggo
Image credits: ya_seen998
#16 He Looks Like He's Wearing A Little Necktie
Image credits: FrankSonata
#17 No Talk Me. I'm Angry
Image credits: David-Cop-A-Feel_
The subreddit 'Round Animals' was created in 2018, the same year when AV Club ran an article on them too.
In it, writer Clayton Purdom said these critters' cuteness is "defined not by their species, nor by some abstract spiritual quality," but it transcends the regular characteristics and, "like the true nature of pi," remains universal.
We couldn't agree more!
#18
Image credits: Erk522
#19 Bunny
Image credits: reddit.com
#20 Round Little Dude
Image credits: Wildlife-outside
#21 Perfectly Round, As All Things Should Be
Image credits: reddit.com
#22 Duck Boi Round Boi
Image credits: Ceitil_Fantasy
#23 Its Probably Been Posted But I Give You: The Bearded Reedling
Image credits: Gun_Butter
#24 Oddly Thicc Chinchilla
Image credits: just-need-a-friend
#25 :○
Image credits: xparapluiex
#26 Melon Cat
Image credits: Electronic_Bamboo
#27 Corgi Cap
Image credits: GretelNoHans
#28 Snoozle
Image credits: underweasl
#29 Chonkchilla
Image credits: donteattape
#30 My Frog Baja Blast Looking Round
Image credits: Swampkilla
#31 Round Haircuts! :)
Image credits: sopadebombillas
#32 One Lorge Echidna
Image credits: ReadThisInABadAccent
#33 I Feel Like The Luckiest Human Alive To Photograph This
Image credits: soueikaku
#34 Raccoon Sleeping In A Tree
Image credits: Thelocust337
#35 Puppy Donut - The Day She Arrived And Stole My Heart
Image credits: YoureHavingAGiraffe
#36 Been Told To Add My Baked Bean To The Page
Image credits: gtlewington
#37 Assume The Cat Is A Sphere
Image credits: r2bl3nd
#38 Weighing The Borb
Image credits: nightfright88
#39 A Very Round Duck I Encountered At The Weekend
Image credits: alex_of_doom
#40 Just Some Round Pigs!
Image credits: jumperlife
#41 Say Hi To Gertrudis
Image credits: yeols182
#42 Biggus Boi
Image credits: Helpful_Assumption76
#43 The Perfect Circle
Image credits: cupofsakura
#44 Creamy Roundie!!!
Image credits: tiredofthis52
#45 She Ate Last Night And Is In Full Orb Mode Now
Image credits: Fabian-Aralia
#46 Wasabi, A Pekingese, Winner Of Best In Show At The Westminster Dog Show
Image credits: Meridian122
#47 Round Hampter
Image credits: jjiimmyyyyyy
#48 Round Netherlands Dwarf Bunny
Image credits: reddit.com
#49 Sesame Is The Happiest And Roundest Poodle Ever
Image credits: Valiran9
#50 Round Sophie
Image credits: Emergency-Article-63
