From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: Some colleagues in another department once surveyed prospective readers for fun and asked what Christianity Today’s mascot should be. As I recall, there were a few popular answers: a lion, an eagle, a lamb, Billy Graham. No one guessed what ended up becoming our favorite animal: a giant rodent called the capybara.
 
A couple years ago, one of our designers was working on a project and used a picture of a capybara—looking straight on, with its wiry fur, big nose, and unamused eyes—as a filler image where people’s headshots were supposed to go. The team was so tickled by the unusual creature that they kept responding with capybara memes. Our Latin America editor, who joined the staff later, soon noticed our fondness for the animal and shared photos from his Brazilian hometown, where capys roam in parks.
 
The capybara has recently taken off online, giving even more fodder for our unofficial internal mascot. The New Yorker this week dedicated a 6,500-word essay to capybara obsession. I haven’t shared it to our staff message board yet, but it’s probably only a matter of time before someone does.