I'm giving a presentation today while I'm at ASM, and I'm using a picture of a wombat (one of the topics in the talk is E. coli from Australian mammals). So I have a question for you:
Which critter is cuter:
Pandas:

or Wombats:

Discuss. Inflammatory rhetoric is encouraged.
Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology. Comment policy: say what you want, but back it up with an email address. I don't like anonymous trolls.



Comments
I'd recommend breeding them to create a wombanda -- that critter would be so cute, little girls would have knife fights to determine ownership.
Otherwise, I'd pick the wombat, because the panda is a symbol of repressive China while Australian woman are really hot.
Posted by: David Reagan | May 22, 2007 12:14 PM
if you vote for the wombat, the terrists win
Posted by: matthew | May 22, 2007 12:34 PM
Wombats. I have a sign from a trip to Australia that says WOMBAT CROSSING. Pandas are just so common......
Posted by: Betsy | May 22, 2007 1:09 PM
Looks like the critter in the top photo just learned about the search-and-replace comedy in "Of Pandas and People."
Posted by: mark | May 22, 2007 1:22 PM
I think they both have traits that readily make them cute. An important distinction to be made is that the panda is an infant, while the wombat looks fully grown. A full-grown panda would most likely lose to a full-grown wombat. This holds for both photo contests and knife fights.
Posted by: Brian Thompson | May 22, 2007 2:03 PM
Hey! You're in Toronto!
Let's meet ... there are several other bloggers here. See American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.
Posted by: Larry Moran | May 22, 2007 3:07 PM
Pandas have this sense of entitlement: "Oh, we've got a fake thumb," blah, blah, blah.
Wombats have pouch. So there.
Posted by: Josh Rosenau | May 22, 2007 3:47 PM
Hey! You're in Toronto! I didn't even realize; for some reason I thought you weren't coming. You should definitely join us for dinner tomorrow...otherwise, I'm presenting a poster for the afternoon session. Stop by and say hi if you'll be around.
Posted by: Tara C. Smith | May 22, 2007 5:54 PM
I guess it hasn't occurred to any of you wombat lovers that wombat-land is closer to the emptiest parts of the Southern Ocean than any continent except Antarctica. On top of that, if you've ever watched a wombat bumbling about, it quickly becomes apparent their creator was wholly unconcerned with injuries such as bruised noses and stubbed toes (thus the classic Australian insult 'wombat', meaning one who is unusually clumsy). Now, I ask you, what kind of monster lives in the desolate reaches of the Southern Ocean, and willfully created cute and cuddly critter which seems only barely capable of safely navigating its environment?
That's right. Only Cthulhu could have created such critter. Wombats, you see, are creatures of Cthulhu, luring humans into a false sense of security with their seemingly innocent cuteness, while they prepare the world for that Great Day, when the Stars Are Right.
Posted by: llewelly | May 22, 2007 5:57 PM
I'd like to be the first to sign up for the "wombanda knife fight". Be advised, I'm bringin' a gun-because I do not intend to lose! (Cute and fuzzy drives me wild!)
Posted by: lisa | May 22, 2007 10:15 PM
Heck with cute...use a Tasmanian devil. Better yet, do platypus have E. coli?
Posted by: Paul Decelles | May 22, 2007 11:25 PM
Posted by: spyderkl | May 23, 2007 11:22 AM
wombats taste better.
http://wombatdiet.net/2007/03/16/i-join-the-blockheads/
Posted by: Eats Wombats | May 23, 2007 3:27 PM
Bamboo is green and yellow, why on earth is the panda black and white and cuter than a teddy bear?
Posted by: sailor | May 23, 2007 3:28 PM
I know the talk is over, but I vote for baby tapirs.....
Posted by: brook | May 27, 2007 2:02 PM
If you Breed a Kangaroo and a wombat it would create a wombaroo.
Posted by: Brandee Mcdougal | May 14, 2008 12:13 PM