Here is a chart for reference:

But real thoughts: i get what you mean, but not its no inherently sexual. People with animal features (tail and ears) are quite common these days. But also digital art from all cultures is way more accessible then it ever was. First there was no internet, today we even have generative ai. So your chance to be exposed to some aesthetics is more common.

Now i am going try to describe what i think this aesthetic is. Split up in 3 parts.

1: humanoid with “animal features”, these have exists since the ancient ages. Evyptian and celtic gods may ring a bell. But those depictions aren’t comparable

2: Japanese culture, Japanese have an obsession for cute. Moe anime/manga is characterized by an exaggeration of visual and paychol “kawaaii”, huge eyes for example. Doesn’t take a genius artist to look at a cute cat and a cute girl and mush them together. I find the psychological effect in Japanese media often plays a larger role then realism. I am just assuming but it explains much of the weirdness.

3: the internet is for porn, but not everyone is fucking their stepsibling. Every aesthetic can be made either sexual and not sexual. On the internet you will find both, but not in equal ammounts.

I also find that a while ago furry culture was a bad word and many would want to avoid everything that might relate to it. But these days there is more understanding of that every culture consists of people, for better or worse, sexual and not.