Nashville's Newest Baby Clouded Leopard Is Cute And Historic ... But Mostly Cute

NASHVILLE, TN — Do you like science? Or history? Or history-making science? What about history-making science that produces impossibly adorable baby animals?

The Nashville Zoo and The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced that a male clouded leopard born Wednesday is the first ever produced using artificial insemination that utilizes frozen and thawed sperm. Neat, huh? Not for nothing, but back in 1992, the first-ever clouded leopard artificial insemination of any kind was performed by the Nashville Zoo, basically the world's leading center of artificially inseminating clouded leopards. For more science and cute baby animals updates and other Nashville news, click here to subscribe to the Nashville Patch, or find your local Middle Tennessee Patch here.

According to scientists, the procedure is really important because captive clouded leopard populations aren't self-sustaining, so they have to come up with effective ways to keep the species going.

According to Patch, this clouded leopard is really cute. Read more about the science here. Look at the cuteness below.

Images via Nashville Zoo/Aimee Stubbs