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Animals come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, from spindly stick insects to blubbery whales. Round animals are harder to come by, but they're more common in the ocean than on land. So what is the roundest animal, and why are round animals uncommon?

At a glance, round animals might not seem that out of place on land. After all, small mammals like rabbits and pikas often look a bit spherical when their fur is puffed out and they're sitting. But Chris Law , an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, said this shape is mostly an illusion.

"They're physically not as round as they appear to be," he told Live Science.

A sphere has the lowest surface-area-to-volume ratio of any shape, which is ideal for heat conservation. Law said the ability to curl or scrunch into a sphere can be essential to the survival of small animals, which lose heat more quickly than larger animals do .

Some small and furry mammals like the cotton-tail rabbit, Ezo flying squirrel and northern pika make look spherical when they're scrunched up and sitting down, but in reality they're not as physically round as they appear to be. (Image credit: Chris Rogers/Satoru S/feathercollector via Getty Images) Rolling into a circle can also offer protection. To safeguard their vital organs, animals like armadillos and hedgehogs roll into balls when threatened, leaving only their armor or spikes exposed to predators. But when you look at the skeletons of these supposedly round critters and their shape when they're not scrunched up, they aren't round at all, Law said.

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In fact, there are several reasons why round creatures are rarely found on land. Being perfectly round all the time would make it difficult to fit into small spaces, which is a key survival technique for avoiding predators, he added, and with the effects of gravity , having a lot of unsupported round mass puts strain on an animal's body. Overly round mammals, like obese cats and dogs, often suffer joint issues and other health problems.

"As a round animal, you're probably going to lose mobility, and you're going to be picked off by predators pretty easily," Law told Live Science.

There are exceptions, however. For example, beetles are small enough not to be affected as much by gravity and can fit into nooks and crannies without much wiggling. Their round shape coupled with their hard carapace makes them more difficult for predators to eat. And rain frogs puff up into a round shape to keep predators from removing them from their hiding spots.

If we're counting animals that are only round sometimes, then pill bugs (also known as rolly pollies) might take first place for the roundest land animal. But if not, rain frogs, and beetles like ladybugs, are the top contenders for the roundest land animal. But even these animals aren't perfectly round; ladybugs have flat bottoms to make it easier to move around, and rain frogs are less spherical when not puffed up.

Round sea animals

Being round at sea is a little more feasible than it is on land. In fact, sometimes, it's critical to survival.

Karly E. Cohen , a biomechanist at Friday Harbor Labs in Washington, studies lumpsuckers , a type of fish she describes as "quite round." These bulbous fish have suction cups made of enamel on their stomachs, which they use to latch on to surfaces at the bottom of the ocean. Lumpsuckers have armor, also made of enamel, covering their round shape. According to Cohen, lumpsuckers' roundness plays a huge part in keeping them attached to the seafloor or other surface. The curve of their bodies, coupled with the tooth armor, modifies the drag around the animal, creating a force that pushes them down rather than shooting them into the water column.

A lumpsucker sits on a rock. These animals use their enamel armor and their round shape to stay anchored to the ocean floor. (Image credit: MWCPhoto via Getty Images) Although gravity still works underwater, buoyancy helps push objects up , meaning the effects of gravity do not feel as strong at sea as they do on land. According to Cohen, lumpsuckers can get around just fine, if a bit more slowly than their more streamlined neighbors. And like pufferfish and porcupine fish, lumpsuckers' round shape and uninviting exterior make them tough to swallow ‪—‬ literally.

"There's no real good way to eat an apple whole; you have to take a bite," Cohen told Live Science. "And then this thing is armored, so it's very hard to take a bite."

All about symmetry

Despite their spherical shape, lumpsuckers don't quite win the award for the roundest animal. Lumpsuckers, like most animals, have bilateral symmetry, which means they are divided into two symmetrical sides across one plane of symmetry. But there are animals that have radial symmetry, which means they are symmetrically arranged in a circle around a central point with multiple planes of symmetry.

Echinoderms ‪—‬ which include sea stars, sea urchins and sand dollars ‪—‬ have pentaradial symmetry, which means they have five planes of symmetry arranged around a central point. According to Laurent Formery , a developmental biologist at the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer in France who studies echinoderms, scientists aren't entirely sure of the benefits of pentaradial symmetry or why echinoderms are the only modern animals that have it.

However, Formery thinks being divided into five sections instead of two may give echinoderms better sensory perception than bilaterally symmetrical animals. Echinoderms have decentralized nervous systems , meaning that instead of a brain, they have a series of neurons distributed evenly across their body, and photoreceptors all over their skin.

"They are kind of like a big crawling eye and brain, so they are receiving information from everywhere," he told Live Science. "They have a completely different way, that is difficult for us to imagine, of interacting with their environment."

An urchin in the genus Histocidaris . Underneath their spines, sea urchins are almost perfectly spherical. (Image credit: Volgi archive via Alamy) Because of this unique organization, radially symmetrical animals can sense predators from any direction . They can also easily switch which segment of their body is in the lead, making it easier for them to change directions to capture prey.

Discounting their spikes, certain species of sea urchin are almost perfectly spherical. Like lumpsuckers, sea urchins' spherical shape, coupled with their spines, makes them difficult meals for predators, Formery said. Sponges lack any symmetry, so they can develop all sorts of body shapes. One species, called the death ball sponge , looks like a Sputnik lamp, with many hook-covered spheres attached to its spindly "arms."'

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Under the sea, urchins in the genus Histocidaris , like Histocidaris purpurata and Histocidaris formosa , are the closest to perfect spheres, making them the top candidate for roundest animal.

Although roundness might be uncommon in the animal kingdom, Cohen said it's fascinating to study these animals and the reasons for their adaptations.

"As somebody that's interested in the tools and ways organisms work in their environments," she said, "they're a real treasure trove of evolution."

What do you know about the animal kingdom? Test your knowledge with our animal quiz!

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If "murderhobo" was an army, I think it'd be the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Ogor Mawtribes. These monstrous gluttons are interested in one thing: eating and fighting. Well, that's two – but in my defense, they're one and the same thing for these horrors.

The mechanics of the Mawtribes' overindulgence force me to really play up to that idea, which ends up the perfect marriage of theme with gameplay. Everything about the Ogor Mawtribes is designed to make them hit hard and chow down harder, with combat often allowing your troops to take literal chunks out of other Warhammer Age of Sigmar armies. They're utterly disgusting, and that really helps them stand out from their rivals.

Barbaric goodness

(Image credit: Future/Benjamin Abbott) This faction of gross gourmands was first introduced in 2005 for the Warhammer Fantasy Battles system, but back then, they were simply known as Ogres. Their range didn't change much with the introduction of the streamlined Age of Sigmar wargame; they simply got a new title and were left to it, becoming a nomadic species known for their love of food and fighting. That means many of their models are now decades old, and while they've held up surprisingly well to the ravages of time, they're in dire need of a spruce… and that's exactly what 2026's refresh does.

The Ogor Mawtribes Army Set is our first chance to take this revamp for a spin, and I was able to get my hands on a copy early following its announcement in the Big Summer Warhammer Preview 2026 . Although it's lighter on headcount (which should tell you something about how hard the faction hits), there's plenty of barbaric goodness inside. Besides a full Spearhead force featuring a Tyrant leader, Maulbeast Cavalry, elite Ironguts infantry, and Gluttons foot-soldiers, the set includes a special edition version of the Battletome alongside 52 Warscroll cards.

Come get 'em

(Image credit: Future/Benjamin Abbott) While you can pre-order the Ogor Mawtribes Army Set direct from Warhammer, I'd recommend checking out Miniature Market in the US and Wayland Games in the UK, as well. They traditionally offer discounts between 10-15% on new Warhammer.

I went into this unsure of what to expect, because my only experience with Ogors have been via mercenary units for the likes of Cities of Sigmar (a faction that brings back the weird, old Warhammer I love so dearly ). However, it's immediately obvious that these new models are so much more dynamic than their forebears while still honoring their distinctive vibe. As is probably befitting their more… to-the-point attitude, they're really not that complicated to make. However, that doesn't mean they lack personality. There are plenty of customization options (more so than last year's excellent Helsmiths of Hashut , anyway), and while you'll need to be careful of certain heads only working on specific torsos, you can personalize the force a decent amount.

Bowled over

(Image credit: Future/Benjamin Abbott) Their gameplay is an equally no-fuss affair. The Ogor Mawtribes aren't interested in the art of war or complex weaponry; they just wanna hit stuff, and then eat it whenever possible. This translates to incredibly tough troops who hit hard but will always be outnumbered – particularly with the Mawglutt Maurauders Spearhead featured in this box, whose troops don't all turn up until later in the game. This apparently represents their nomadic nature, but it also likely evens the playing field.

That kind of theme-to-mechanics thinking carries over into visceral, hard-hitting rules that make this army a lot of dumb fun to use. I adore the "Eat 'Em Alive" rule, for example; it shows your Ogors having picked up enemy body parts to chew on during the fight phase, providing numerous benefits like adding to their Control score or giving them dangerous bonuses. The "Bull Charge" is also a laugh; after charging, you can move your target three inches back to represent them being bowled over like tenpins.

Fresh to the fight

(Image credit: Future) New to Age of Sigmar? I'd recommend trying the smaller, more focused Spearhead match type. The best entry-point is the City of Ash box set, which provides everything you need from rules to terrain.

All this makes the Ogor Mawtribes army a great fit for anyone that prefers the "just smack things" approach to Warhammer, or as a starter force that doesn't need to deal with much complexity. Mawtribes is also a great choice for a second army as a result, because its smaller number of models makes it easier to paint quickly, and the rules don't require quite as much juggling as others.

In other words? This is one of the few times where the game actively encourages you to be a murderhobo…

Looking for something else you can play on the tabletop? Don't miss our guide to the best board games .

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In the battle over AI regulation — from Washington, D.C. to Silicon Valley — one term has become unexpectedly controversial: “AI safety.” After all, who doesn’t believe in making these tools safe?

But depending on where people stand on the issue, “AI safety” has come to signal wildly different things. Some are concerned about existential threats to humanity, while others are worried about protecting children and warding off mass job loss — and then there are those who think preaching “safety” is often a nonsensical excuse to shut down any technological progress at all.

“AI safety” is now something of a Rorschach test for how tech founders, politicians and everyone in between thinks about AI development. Understanding how that term has come to have different connotations for different stakeholders is a useful way to map the vast universe of AI policy and politics that has quickly emerged.

What’s perhaps most surprising is that the debate doesn’t break down along obvious partisan or ideological divides. The technology is still so young that political opinions surrounding AI have yet to be firmly locked in, and it’s possible to find skeptics and boosters on both the left and right.

Traditionally, the “safety-focused” community has been broadly associated with the effective altruist movement , which has significant ties to much of the AI world, in particular to the leading firm, Anthropic. But even among effective altruists, there is significant debate about how best to regulate AI — and as the issue has spread beyond Silicon Valley, where many of them reside, the concept of “AI safety” has grown more amorphous.

So, we decided to ask 20 of the smartest, most consequential people working in and around the industry the same question: When you hear the phrase “AI safety,” what’s your first reaction and what does it mean to you?

Here’s what they said, and where they fall into specialized categories created by POLITICO Magazine.