List of Animal Names

List Of Animal Names

This list gives names of animals used depending on the context. Many species of animals, particularly those domesticated, have been given specific names for the male, the female, and the young of the species. There are a few generic terms, "bull-cow-calf", for instance, that are found across species, but many species have been granted unique names for these gender/age characteristics. An empty table cell indicates incomplete data and should not be interpreted to mean that the animal does not have a specific name of that type. However, a table cell with a dash in it signifies that no term for the indicated combination exists.

It is thought that many of the bizarre words used for collective groupings of animals were first published in 1486 in The Book of Saint Albans, in an essay on hunting attributed to Dame Juliana Berners. Many of the words are thought to have been chosen simply for the humorous or poetic images they conjured up in her lively imagination.

Most terms used here may be found in common dictionaries and general information web sites.

See also: List of collective nouns

Read more about List Of Animal Names:  Generic Terms, Terms By Species or Taxon

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, animal and/or names:

    “A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “Love’s boat has been shattered against the life of everyday. You and I are quits, and it’s useless to draw up a list of mutual hurts, sorrows, and pains.”
    —Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930)

    “Certain anthropologists hold that man, having discovered tools, ceased to evolve biologically. Animals, never having discovered them, continue to fashion drills out of their beaks, oars out of their hind feet, wings out of their forefeet, suits of armor out of their hides, levers out of their horns, saws out of their teeth. Whether this be true or not, all authorities agree that man is the tool-using animal. It sets him off from the rest of the animal kingdom as drastically as does speech.”
    —Stuart Chase (1888–1985)

    “It was a poetic recreation to watch those distant sails steering for half-fabulous ports, whose very names are a mysterious music to our ears.... It is remarkable that men do not sail the sea with more expectation. Nothing was ever accomplished in a prosaic mood.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)