Cute Cat

Human babies are the original source of these characteristics. Scientists theorize that appearing soft, vulnerable, and loveable is an evolutionary adaptation that ensures survival. In other words, babies are cute so that adults will take care of them!

But it’s not just human babies who trigger our caretaking instincts; kittens, puppies, lambs, and other baby animals make us feel the same way. And so do adult mammals who retain their “kinderschema.”There’s a scientific term for that, too: neoteny, or “the retention of juvenile features in the adult animal.”

Of course, not all adult cats have big heads or round eyes. But most of them have soft, rounded body shapes. They have fur that’s pleasing to touch. They make high-pitched, baby-like meows and comforting, rumbly purrs. Cats are chock full of cute characteristics that make humans want to take care of them.