14 animals containing the letter Y — each with origin, classification, and notes.
Below are animals that contain the letter Y anywhere in the name. Each of the 14 animals below opens to a full profile.
The most unusual primate on Earth — a nocturnal Madagascan lemur that uses a highly elongated, skeletal middle finger to tap on tree bark, listen for hollow chambers containing grubs, then gnaw through and extract the larvae; it fills the ecological niche of woodpeckers on an island where woodpeckers do not exist.
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.
The world's most dangerous bird — a large, flightless ratite of the New Guinea and Australian rainforest, armed with a dagger-like inner toe claw 12 cm long; females are larger than males and leave all parental duties to the father; the brilliant blue-and-red neck wattles serve as status signals.
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.
A medium-sized wild canid that has thrived as humans have transformed North America — expanding from prairie origins to colonize all 49 mainland US states, suburbs, and major cities.
A patient, sure-footed working equid descended from the African wild ass — the world's primary cargo animal in mountainous and arid regions for over 5,000 years.
A powerful African scavenger and predator with the strongest bite force of any mammal — capable of crushing bones, organized in matriarchal clans of up to 80 individuals, and far more an active hunter than the scavenger reputation suggests.
A diverse group of marine cnidarians with translucent bodies and stinging tentacles — among Earth's oldest animals, with body plans essentially unchanged for 500+ million years and increasingly abundant in warming oceans.
A large, snow-adapted wild cat with characteristic ear tufts and short tail — four species spread across the northern hemisphere, with populations recovering from near-extinction in some regions.
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.
An egg-laying, beaver-tailed, duck-billed, otter-furred Australian mammal — among the oddest animals on Earth, with venomous spurs, electroreception, and one of evolution's most surprising survivors.
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.
A small to medium kangaroo relative — there's no clear biological distinction between kangaroo and wallaby; "wallaby" generally means smaller species — found across Australia, New Guinea, and as introduced populations in New Zealand, Britain, and Hawaii.
A massive long-haired bovine of the high Himalayas, central to Tibetan and Mongolian life as a beast of burden, milk producer, and source of meat, fiber, and butter for tea.
Try animals that start with Y, or end with Y. Or browse the full animals index.