Weekly Readers' Poll: What's Your #1 Favoritest Animal in the World?

So, what is it? What is YOUR favorite animal? Is it something obscure like a lesser long-nosed bat? Or something a little more Middle America like that baby penguin from Happy Feet?

Here's an idea of the kind of answer we're looking for (and yes, video comments are highly encouraged):

More like this

Regular visitors will no doubt have noticed the failure of my promise to post a picture a day. Well, alas, I'm going to have to take a much more relaxed approach, as it has proved impossible to find time even for that. So, I might post a new picture every day on the blog, and I might not. My…
So in the previous post - required reading before you get through this one, sorry - we looked at the various hypotheses that have been published on the origin of sanguivory (blood feeding) in vampire bats. We saw that only two hypotheses matched with the phylogenetic pattern of feeding styles…
As an added bonus, this week's entry includes a behind the scenes peek at our FSB "process". Yeah, I'm scared, too. Walking across a large field at the junior high school where we sometimes play soccer: Younger offspring: My foot almost went in a hole. Elder offspring: Be careful! There are lots…
I'm about to head out of town for three weeks. You may have noticed posting getting lighter the last couple weeks as I attempted to tie up loose ends before the trip. Posting will be getting even lighter for the next three weeks as I head west to visit family. Then, a week from now, Nora and I will…

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'd like to vote for the jaguarundi in the category "talent deserving wider recognition."

The Killer Whale is by far my favorite. No natural predators as an adult and gets to eat fresh fish all day. Sounds like a good deal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyala
Nyala antelope! I will concede that saiga antelope are incredibly awesome as well. In fact, put me down for all bovids, there are too many cool ones in the group to choose.

Chimpanzees. Primates in general, but especially chimps. I spend most of my vacation time traveling to volunteer at ape sanctuaries and attend chimp conferences. Some people might call it an obsession.

I'll go with puffins for now, but I'd have a hard time turning down llamas if they tried to buy my vote. Same with hedgehogs. Or any of a half-dozen pretty insect species. Or...

Sloths. All sizes, all shapes. Just watching them relaxes me and before long I need a nap.

Also, Hyena. Because they're just NEAT, with the bone-crushing and the super-protein milk and the matriarchies.

The Alligator! Crikey he's been around for millions of years, is the best evidence that a meteor did not kill the dinosaurs(else why would he be here?) and is the perfect organism for hunting, and is the perfect mother to her brood.

All tapirs!

The fuzzy wuzzy Wooly Tapir, the panda bear Malayan Tapir, the sleek Baird's Tapir and my personal fav of the fav: the proud Brazilian Tapir.

My animal is the shark.

extremely wary of humans and are very difficult to photograph or film,â said Dr. Roger Fotso, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Societyâs Cameroon Program. âEventually