8-letter Animals that contain R

List of 8-letter Animals that contain R

1

Aardvark

Orycteropus afer

A secretive nocturnal African mammal with a pig-like snout and long sticky tongue — the only living species in its entire order, an evolutionary singleton that has changed little in tens of millions of years.

2

Anteater

Myrmecophaga tridactyla (giant); Vermilingua suborder

A long-snouted, toothless mammal with a sticky tongue that flicks 150 times per minute — eating exclusively ants and termites, with the giant anteater of South America consuming up to 35,000 insects daily.

3

Babirusa

Babyrousa babyrussa

The deer-pig of Sulawesi — one of the most anatomically bizarre pigs in the world, with upper canine tusks that grow upward through the skin of the snout and curve back toward the skull; males carry these extraordinary recurved tusks throughout life, and in older individuals the tusks can complete a full circle; a Vulnerable species of Indonesian rainforest.

4

Capybara

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

The world's largest living rodent — a semi-aquatic South American herbivore the size of a large dog, famous for its docile temperament and remarkable tendency to be adopted as a companion by nearly every other animal it meets.

5

Kangaroo

Osphranter rufus

The largest living marsupial and Australia's emblematic animal, a powerful hopper that can clear 9 m in a single leap and travel 70 km/h across arid plains.

6

Mandrill

Mandrillus sphinx

The world's largest monkey and the most colourful mammal — males develop electric blue and red facial colouring and a brilliantly coloured rump; despite their fearsome appearance, mandrills are omnivorous and live in enormous groups called hordes.

7

Red Panda

Ailurus fulgens

A cinnamon-red tree-dwelling mammal of the Himalayas and Chinese mountains — not closely related to the giant panda despite sharing its bamboo diet, it was discovered by European science 50 years before the giant panda and may have given pandas their name; it eats bamboo with the same false thumb (enlarged wrist bone) evolved independently in both species.

8

Reindeer

Rangifer tarandus

The only deer species in which both males and females grow antlers — domesticated for thousands of years by Arctic peoples for meat, milk, hide, and transport; famous in Western culture as Santa Claus's sleigh-pullers, based on real Sámi traditions of reindeer herding.

9

Squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis (Eastern grey); Sciurus vulgaris (Eurasian red); many species

A small bushy-tailed rodent of trees and parks — among the most successful suburban-adapted mammals, with hoarding behavior that accidentally plants countless trees each year.

10

Starfish

Asteroidea (class)

A radially symmetric marine invertebrate (more correctly called a sea star) with hundreds of tube feet, the ability to regenerate lost arms, and a unique digestive system that turns inside-out to feed.

11

Wild Boar

Sus scrofa

The ancestor of the domestic pig — a powerfully built, tusked omnivore with coarse grey-black bristles that has recolonised much of Europe and Asia; a major game animal, agricultural pest, and ecological engineer whose rooting transforms forest floors.