Quote - This is a strange thread. I don't think anyone or any culture can lay claim on "inventing" cute. Babies are cute. Perhaps they are cute so mommies and daddies will take care of them since they are helpless on their own. 

This is true even in baby animals.  Baby animals such as birds and mammals are cute
because even these animals have a "cuteness" sense and that encourages them
to take care of their young.  While babies of many reptiles, fish, insects
tend not to be cute because they are on their own when they hatch, hence there
is no need for them to be cute.  Baby alligators are an exception, because
mother alligators do care for their young.  It has even been found some baby
dinosaurs were cute, because those dinosaurs also cared for their young.
That may be the reason you hear stories about mother dogs taking care
of kittens and bunnies, they are too cute for the dog to resist.