A group of animal researchers just launched a project that's been arousing a lot of attention! They gave a group of marmots an OnlyFans page, but – thank god – it's not at all like what you might be thinking...
A buzzy news development has popped up just in time for Fat Marmot Week, AKA the biggest marmot-themed holiday of the year.
Some cheeky new marm-fluencers are throwing their hats in the ring for internet fame, and y'all – it's working.
The Trump administration's widespread funding cuts have been negatively impacting the research of a team at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory studying yellow-bellied marmots, a species of ground squirrel.
The researchers in question work at a field station near Crested Butte, Colorado, which has been running since 1962.
With 65 years' worth of marmot data at stake, project leadership had an unconventional idea.
The marmots turned to OnlyFans. But wait! They did it classy.
OnlyFans is a site known for user-driven adult entertainment content, so the marmot team's venture has caused something of a stir in the academic community and beyond.
RMBL announced the creation of their so-called "OnlyMarms" account on Instagram last month.
"The state of funding is so bad we are turning to only fans, or as we like to call it 'OnlyMarms,'" they wrote. "Head to the link in our bio for the uncensored marmot content!"
Marmot researchers look to boost funding for these adorable critters!
UCLA Professor Daniel Blumstein, who studies ecology and evolutionary biology, told LiveScience, "We’re trying this out of frustration with an extremely challenging funding environment."
He noted that, while the OnlyFans account could help raise money for supplies and some expenses, "unless we are very lucky, it won't replace the federal funding that has driven discovery in the US since the 1950s."
Blumstein assured the public that the page features "almost all G-rated" content of marmots playing, digging, and just generally being adorable.
"Routine stuff for marmots," he said.
Wait a minute – what's the non-G-rated stuff?!
"The occasional scuffle makes it PG-rated," the professor clarified. Whew.
The absurd-sounding account has gone viral, it's true, but in actuality, the page has only brought in a few hundred dollars so far.
To raise more money and awareness, RMBL has also launched Fat Marmot Week, an event beginning August 24 in which the public can vote for the fattest marmot in the Crested Butte area.
Bear in mind, however, that this is all done in the spirit of body positivity. We as a society must not tolerate marmot body shamers of any kind. Not in Jimothy's America!