Animals that contain M

List of Animals That Contain M

1

Armadillo

Dasypus novemcinctus

A small American mammal armored in bony plates, the only mammal that gives birth to identical quadruplets and one of the few wild carriers of leprosy.

2

Camel

Camelus dromedarius (one hump); Camelus bactrianus (two humps)

A large hump-backed desert mammal capable of going days without water — central to desert civilizations from Arabia to the Sahara, with two hump-counts (one and two) representing distinct species.

3

Chameleon

Chamaeleo chamaeleon (European chameleon); Furcifer pardalis (panther chameleon) and others

The famous colour-changing lizard — chameleons change colour not primarily for camouflage but to communicate mood, temperature regulation, and social status; they have independently rotating eyes that provide 360-degree vision, a tongue that launches at 13 km/h to catch insects, and feet designed like tongs for gripping branches.

4

Chimpanzee

Pan troglodytes

Humanity's closest living relative — sharing 98.7% of our DNA — a great ape of African forests with sophisticated tool use, complex social politics, and documented warfare between communities.

5

Colobus Monkey

Colobus guereza (black-and-white colobus)

The striking leaf-eating monkey of African forest — the black-and-white colobus is one of Africa's most visually dramatic primates, with jet-black fur contrasting with white facial frame, a long white mantle over the shoulders, and a white-tipped tail; colobus monkeys eat mainly mature leaves that other primates avoid, relying on a specialised sacculated stomach to ferment and detoxify the leaf material.

6

Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus amphibius

A massive, semiaquatic African mammal — the third-largest land animal after elephants and rhinos, with surprisingly close evolutionary ties to whales and a reputation as one of Africa's most dangerous animals.

7

Komodo Dragon

Varanus komodoensis

The world's largest living lizard — a monitor lizard of the Indonesian islands that can reach 3 metres and 70 kg, kills large prey including deer and water buffalo with venom-laced saliva and a bacteria-laden bite, and can reproduce by parthenogenesis; its ancient lineage and isolated island habitat make it genuinely prehistoric in character.

8

Lemur

Lemuriformes (infraorder)

A primate family endemic to Madagascar — over 100 species evolved in isolation for 60+ million years, ranging from the tiny mouse lemur to the dramatic ringtailed lemur, all critically threatened by deforestation.

9

Llama

Lama glama

A South American camelid domesticated for cargo, wool, and meat by Andean civilizations — sure-footed at extreme altitudes, with a tendency to spit at threats and a deep cultural place in Inca religion.

10

Manatee

Trichechus (genus)

A massive, slow-moving aquatic herbivore — the "sea cow" of warm coastal waters — vegetarian, gentle, and inexplicably evolutionary close relatives of elephants.

11

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.

12

Maned Wolf

Chrysocyon brachyurus

The giraffe-legged wolf of South American grasslands — an unmistakable canid with improbably long legs, reddish-orange fur, a black mane, and large ears; the maned wolf is not closely related to wolves or foxes, being the sole member of its genus; it is an omnivore that eats more fruit than meat, and the wolf-apple (lobeira fruit) forms a large part of its diet.

13

Mara

Dolichotis patagonum

The Patagonian mara looks exactly like a small deer but is actually a giant guinea pig — a large South American rodent that runs on the tips of its hoofed toes, mates for life, and lives in colonial warrens where multiple pairs deposit their young in a communal den while taking turns guarding.

14

Markhor

Capra falconeri

The national animal of Pakistan — a large wild goat of the Himalayas and Hindu Kush with spectacular spiral horns that in old males can reach 160 cm; the horns spiral outward in a tight corkscrew, unique among wild goats; the markhor lives on vertiginous cliff faces inaccessible to most predators and is revered in the region — its Farsi name means "snake eater," though it does not actually eat snakes.

15

Meerkat

Suricata suricatta

A small social mongoose of southern African deserts — famous for upright sentinel posture, tightly cooperative family groups, and starring roles in nature documentaries and "The Lion King."

16

Mole

Talpidae (family)

A small underground mammal with paddle-like front feet for digging — found across most of the northern hemisphere, dug-into-the-ground specialists with extraordinarily refined sense of touch and a near-permanent underground existence.

17

Mongoose

Herpestidae (family)

A diverse African and Asian mammal family famous for snake-fighting prowess — about 35 species ranging from solitary forest dwellers to highly social pack animals like meerkats.

18

Monkey

Cebus capucinus (white-faced) and several related species

A small, intelligent New World monkey famous for its tool use and dexterity, named after the brown-and-white robes of Capuchin friars and the most studied genus of monkey in cognitive research.

19

Moose

Alces alces

The largest living deer species — North American and Eurasian, browsing on aquatic plants and tree bark, capable of being unexpectedly aggressive and outweighing most cars they collide with.

20

Mouse

Mus musculus (house mouse)

One of the most successful mammals on Earth — house mice have followed humans worldwide, while wild mice species number in the dozens, serving as both pest, prey, and the most-used laboratory animal in modern biology.

21

Musk Ox

Ovibos moschatus

A massive Ice Age survivor of the Arctic tundra — famous for the defensive circle it forms against wolves, its extraordinarily warm qiviut wool, and the musky odour males produce during rut.

22

Mussel

Mytilus (genus, marine); Unionidae (freshwater)

A bivalve mollusk attached to rocks and ropes by tough byssal threads — an ecologically critical filter feeder, a major sustainable seafood, and an emerging water quality indicator.

23

Numbat

Myrmecobius fasciatus

A small, striped Australian marsupial that eats nothing but termites — one of Australia's most striking and critically endangered mammals, with a sticky tongue that can flick 100 times per minute.

24

Opossum

Didelphis virginiana

North America's only marsupial — a Virginia-opossum surviving and thriving across most of the continent, with a prehensile tail, 50 teeth, and the famous "playing dead" defense.

25

Pine Marten

Martes martes

A cat-sized mustelid of British and European forests — agile enough to chase squirrels through the tree canopy, the pine marten is one of Britain's rarest mammals; reintroduced to Wales and southern England, it is playing an unexpected role in reducing invasive grey squirrel populations, which flee the marten while native red squirrels learn to tolerate it.

26

Proboscis Monkey

Nasalis larvatus

The monkey with the most extraordinary nose in the animal kingdom — the male's enormous, pendulous nose can grow longer than 10 cm, acts as a resonating chamber to amplify calls, and appears to be a signal of genetic fitness to females; found only in the rainforests and mangroves of Borneo.

27

Puma

Puma concolor

The Americas' most widely distributed large cat — known also as cougar, mountain lion, and panther — a powerful, adaptable solitary hunter that ranges from the Canadian Yukon to Patagonia.

28

Salamander

Caudata (order)

A diverse order of amphibians with elongated bodies and tails — about 700 species worldwide, capable of regenerating limbs, organs, and even portions of the brain.

29

Siamang

Symphalangus syndactylus

The largest of the gibbons — a black, shaggy ape of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra that produces one of the loudest calls of any land animal using an inflatable throat sac the size of a grapefruit; pairs bond for life and sing coordinated duets that carry through rainforest for kilometres.

30

Tasmanian Devil

Sarcophilus harrisii

The world's largest carnivorous marsupial — a stocky, jet-black scavenger and hunter from Tasmania, famous for its bone-crushing bite, spine-chilling screams, and its battle against a contagious facial tumour disease.

31

Wombat

Vombatus ursinus

A stocky, burrowing Australian marsupial famous for producing cube-shaped feces — the only animal in the world known to do so — and a backward-facing pouch that keeps soil out while digging.