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Eglė Bliabaitė

99 Of The Most Amusing Animal Faces To Make Your Day

David Attenborough

If David Attenborough has taught us anything, it is that animals make life worth living. Whether they are furry, feathered, slimy, or slithering, every creature on this planet is out here living its most authentic life with a commitment and a charisma that most humans can only aspire to. They do not second-guess themselves. They simply exist, and sometimes pull a face while doing so.

Because animals, it turns out, are incredibly expressive. Scientists have spent considerable time studying animal facial movements and have found that many species have a far wider range of expressions than we previously gave them credit for. But you do not need a research paper to tell you that. You just need to look at the face of a cat who has been mildly inconvenienced.

#1 Donkeys In Oatman, AZ

#2 She Is My Beautiful Derp

She is very hard not to love.

#3 Skink Doing T-Pose

Few animals have left a mark on internet culture quite like Grumpy Cat, the flat-faced feline whose perpetual expression of deep, unshakeable dissatisfaction with the world made her a global phenomenon. Her real name was Tardar Sauce, and her iconic look was the result of feline dwarfism and an underbite rather than any actual displeasure.

She spawned millions of memes, a feature film, a book deal, and a merchandising empire estimated at around $100 million. Tardar Sauce sadly crossed the rainbow bridge in 2019, but her face remains one of the most recognizable in internet history. A legacy built entirely on one expression. Absolutely iconic.

#4 My Friend's Dog Ate A Forbidden Brownie Yesterday

#5 Anger Teefs

#6 Photobomb

Dogs have been living alongside humans for roughly 40,000 years, and in that time, they have developed something that no other domesticated animal quite matches: a set of facial muscles specifically evolved to communicate with us. Researchers found that dogs have a muscle above their eyes that wolves do not, which allows them to raise their inner brow.

This produces the exact expression that humans instinctively read as sad, soulful, and impossible to say no to, aka "puppy dog eyes." Dogs did not accidentally get good at making faces. They evolved specifically to make the faces that work best on us. They have been manipulating us for forty millennia, and we have enjoyed every second of it.

#7 My Friend's Dog Is Not Happy About Leaving The Dog Park Early

#8 Our Cat Pluto Loves His Paper Bag

#9 I Said Smile For The Camera, But Didn’t Think He Actually Would

The blobfish has become one of the internet's most beloved faces, and the story behind that face is both fascinating and slightly heartbreaking. In its natural deep-sea habitat, the blobfish looks like a completely normal fish. The famous drooping, melancholy expression from its heavy jowls and downturned mouth gives the general air of a middle manager who has given up.

But many people don't know that it only appears when the fish is brought to the surface, where the dramatic change in pressure causes its body to expand and collapse into the form that launched a thousand memes. The blobfish is not sad. It is just significantly out of its element. Which is, when you think about it, deeply relatable.

#10 Llamas Are Majestic Creatures

#11 I Just Wanted To Take A Pic Of Her Snuggling With My Mum

#12 Got An Update About My Previous Foster Cat From His Adopter - Should Be Any Day Now That He Gets His Day With The Braincell

When it comes to facial expressiveness across the animal kingdom, the rankings might surprise you. Humans sit at the top with 27 distinct facial expressions, which sounds impressive until you meet a cuttlefish. While the cuttlefish technically has no face in the traditional sense, it is arguably the most expressive non-human creature alive.

It is capable of changing its skin texture and color in real time to communicate fear, aggression, and everything in between. Among mammals, horses are the standout performers, capable of 17 distinct facial movements, including nostril flaring and precise eye adjustments. Basically, horses have more facial expressions than most actresses in Hollywood these days.

#13 I Have No Idea How This Cat Has So Many Personalities. That’s One Of Them, Grumpy Grandma

#14 This Was The Look My Cat Give Me When Cleaning His Litter Box

#15 Sometimes, No Matter How Much You Try To Look Cute, You're Just Not Ready When The Camera Goes Off. As Jo Can Attest

Pet rats and mice have a way of expressing pure contentment that is so specific and unexpected that most owners discover it by accident, leaving them utterly bamboozled. When a rat is completely relaxed and happy, it grinds its teeth together in a behavior called bruxing.

The vibration from the grinding causes their eyes to rapidly pulse in and out of their sockets in a phenomenon known as boggling. It looks, objectively, absolutely unhinged. It is also, once you know what it means, one of the most endearing things an animal can do. A tiny creature so overwhelmed with happiness that its eyes vibrate. The world is full of wonders.

#16 My Friend Gave Her Pet Chicken "Marshmallow" A Bath. I Don't Think He Liked It

His name is Sirius, not Marshmallow. That's her other pet chicken. My mistake.

#17 My Child Belongs To The Horse Now

I put her hair in little glittery ‘giraffe buns’ this morning and joked that now the horses would think she was one of them. Should have recognized the dark path we were headed down!

#18 Lulu Gettin’ Her Beauty Sleep

Guinea pigs and chinchillas have developed what is scientifically the most joyful physical response to happiness in the entire animal kingdom, and it is called popcorning. When one of these small creatures experiences a surge of excitement or pure uncontainable joy, it leaps straight into the air, twists its body mid-flight, changes direction, and lands ready to do it again.

The movement so closely resembles a kernel of corn popping in a pan that the name was inevitable. There is no ambiguity in a popcorn. It is not a subtle signal. It is a small animal launching itself into the air because it simply cannot hold the happiness inside its body any longer. We should all be so expressive.

#19 I Started Laughing When I Spotted Her Making This Face

#20 Lil Donkey Derps

#21 If You Have A Cat, You've Definitely Seen It From This Angle On Your Face

Humans are the only animals capable of a deliberate, fully intentional frown, the kind deployed in meetings, at bad news, and at the self-checkout machine when it asks for the fourth time whether you have a loyalty card. Other animals come close in their own ways. Chimpanzees produce a distinct pout face when frustrated or seeking reassurance, pushing their lips forward like a sulky teen.

Cats, despite lacking the specific muscles needed to turn the corners of their mouths downward, can furrow and lower their brows to communicate discomfort with a precision that anyone who has ever tried to give a cat a bath will recognize immediately. The frown is universal. The e*******n just varies.

#22 Happy Sleeping Face

#23 Wife Snapped This At The Perfect Derp Moment

#24 My Dog When The Camera Comes Out

Milo is an Australian Shepherd x Border Collie mix that came into my life when he was 10 months old. Usually, when he sees the camera come out, it means either treats, toys, or trick training is gonna happen, so he works it for the camera!

From Grumpy Cat's legendary resting expression to the boggling eyes of a contented rat, what every face on this list has in common is that it tells a story without a single word. Animals do not perform for the camera or curate their expressions for an audience.

They just feel things, and those feelings show up immediately and completely on their faces, in their eyes, and occasionally in the vigorous launching of their entire bodies into the air. David Attenborough has spent a lifetime showing us how extraordinary the natural world is. These 99 faces are just further evidence that he was right about all of it.

Which one made your day a little brighter? Tell us in the comments!

#25 I Told Him Not To Get Dirty While Outside To Potty. This Is His "Sorry Mom, It Was An Accident" Face

#26 My Cat Sneezed. I Hope This Makes You Happy Too

#27 Say Cheese

We occasionally take our puppy to a daycare, and they post pics during "roll call". This was one of the shots of another dog, and it was too good not to share.