Have you ever seen an animal so round and squishy that you want to hug it? Some of nature’s creatures seem specially designed to be adorably chubby. In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the chubbiest animals and what makes them so pleasantly plump.
From hefty hippos to rotund manatees, these delightful critters prove nothing wrong with extra padding. Their delightful dumpiness is part of their charm. So read on to meet seven super squishy species that will make you smile.
Hippos
Hippos might be the poster children for pleasantly plump creatures. These massive mammals look like giant floating potatoes with tiny ears and tails. An average adult male hippo can weigh upwards of 3,300 pounds! That’s a lot of heft for an animal that spends most of its time wallowing in rivers and lakes.
So, what makes hippos so husky? It mostly comes down to their diet and lifestyle. Hippos are herbivores that spend up to 16 hours grazing on grasses and other plants daily. They can consume over 80 pounds of vegetation in one night! That adds up to a lot of calories that get stored as fat. This gives hippos their delightfully roly-poly appearance.
Another factor is that hippos spend most of their days in water. This helps support their massive weight. Hippos are so dense that they can’t swim or float! They just walk along the river bottom or bob along the surface. This low-impact lifestyle prevents hippos from burning many calories through exercise. So, most of their food gets converted into the thick layer of fat that gives them their adorable rotundity.
Rhinos
Like hippos, rhinos are mega-herbivores with appropriately stocky builds. The largest white and black rhinos can weigh over three tons each! Even the smaller Javan and Sumatran rhinos tip the scales at over a ton. With all that heft, rhinos claim to be among the chubbiest creatures on Earth.
A rhino’s tremendous tonnage is due to its evolutionary adaptations for grazing huge amounts of grass and foliage. They need massive, broad mouths and huge guts to process all that rough vegetation. Rhinos graze for 10-16 hours daily, consuming over 100 pounds of plants.
Rhinos also have very low metabolisms compared to other mammals of their size. This means they require less energy and can get away with being pleasantly plump. Their thick skin hangs in heavy folds around their bodies, adding to their rotund appearance. The folds help protect rhinos from thorns and brush when ploughing through vegetation.
Like hippos, rhinos’ bulk helps make them less vulnerable to predators like lions. Their thick skin folds make it difficult for teeth and claws to penetrate. And their immense strength and mass helped them put up a formidable fight.
Elephants
As the largest land mammal, elephants have decidedly sturdy physiques. Full-grown African bush elephants can weigh over 6 tons! Even the smaller Asian elephant averages 4-5 tons. With such massive size, elephants can’t help but be pleasantly plump.
An elephant’s bulky body is specially adapted to support its enormous weight. Their pillar-like legs are as big around as some tree trunks. Their squat, rounded shapes help spread out their tonnage more evenly. This gives them a delightfully dumpy appearance.
Elephants have thickly padded feet that act like built-in orthopaedic shoes. This protects their joints from all the pounding of supporting their heavyweight bulk. They also have specialized ankle bones that distribute weight better. These adaptations prevent excess wear and tear.
Like hippos and rhinos, elephants are herbivores that eat much of the day. An adult elephant can consume over 300 pounds of vegetation per day! This helps provide the immense energy needed to keep their huge bodies going. This also gives them adorably ample figures.
Manatee
For delightful dumpiness, sea cows like manatees are hard to top. These gentle giants average 10 feet long and 1,000 pounds. But with their blubbery bodies, tiny flippers and stubby tails, manatees look like gigantic water raindrops. Everything about them is adorably round.
Manatees spend nearly all their time in warm, shallow waters, dining on aquatic vegetation. An adult can eat 100-150 pounds per day! But with their slow metabolism, manatees utilize very little of this energy. So most of those calories get stored as fat. This gives manatees their pleasantly plump and pillowy appearance. Their fat helps insulate them in chilly waters.
Since manatees have no predators, their pudgy physiques don’t pose much disadvantage. Their rotundness helps them float effortlessly. And their sheer bulk means they have little to fear from other creatures. Overall, the manatee’s portliness is perfectly suited for an aquatic life spent happily munching mouthfuls of greenery.
With their gentle, whiskered faces and roly-poly bodies, everything about manatees seems designed to delight. These blubbery blobs of chub are like swimming stuffed animals. Their endearing size and shape make them one of the cutest chunky creatures.
Dugong
Close cousins of manatees, dugongs are similarly stout sea cows. They live in coastal waters from East Africa to Australia, feeding on sea grasses and other aquatic plants. Like manatees, dugongs have very slow metabolisms. So, most of the huge amounts of vegetation they eat get turned into thick fat layers.
An adult dugong can weigh over 1,100 pounds. But their immense girth is distributed into delightfully dumpy proportions. They have full round torsos, short forelimbs, and a tiny fluke tail. Overall, they look like overgrown water droplets. Everything about their anatomy seems designed for maximum adorableness.
Dugongs spend their days peacefully grazing on seagrass meadows. Their pleasantly plump sizes make them slow and docile. And their bristly snouts give them permanent looks of gentle curiosity. Seeing a dugong’s whiskery face peering above the water will surely melt any heart.
Some key differences are that dugongs have fluked whale-like tails and tusks like those of elephants. But otherwise, they share the same endearingly rotund body type as their cousins, the manatees. These hefty creatures prove chubbiness and add an unbeatable cuteness.
Beluga Whale
Most whale species have slender, hydrodynamic bodies. But beluga whales break the mould with their distinctive chubby shapes. Their proportions make them look like aquatic turnips – almost comically round. This pleasant plumpness makes them all the more endearing.
So why are belugas so adorably rotund? It allows them to survive in the frigid Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. Belugas have a thicker layer of fat than other whales. This insulates them in near-freezing temperatures. It also provides energy reserves when food is scarce.
Another adaptation is belugas’ round, bulbous heads. This spherical melon contains oils and fats that help focus their echolocation. It allows belugas to navigate icy coastal waters and locate breathing holes in the ice. Their plump heads give belugas a cute, baby-faced appearance, adding to their appeal.
The beluga’s chubby proportions are specially adapted for life in the chilly north. Their thickset bodies and large, rounded heads make belugas the cutest cold-weather cetaceans. Their adorable dumpiness helps them thrive in harsh environments while simultaneously warming humans’ hearts.