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