20+ Animal Names in English with their Characteristics

In this lesson, we will learn about the words we use to name animals. We have many different names of animals from all over the world thanks to people from different cultures and countries who have discovered them. In English, we can find animal names from Greek, Latin, German, Dutch, French, and even Native American languages.

We already know that a cat is called a cat or a kitten which is a baby cat or a dog is also called a dog or puppy which is also a baby dog. But what about a donkey? It’s called a donkey but why don’t we call it an ass? And what about giraffes? Let’s study all of them in detail.

List of Animal Names in Detail

Lion

Lion is the largest and the most developed cat in the world. Lions live in Africa and Asia. These cats can also be found at zoos all over the world.

A lion is called a lion because it has a mane around its head which looks like a crown or a king’s crown, just like how people used to look during ancient times when there were still kings and queens ruling different countries and empires.

Tiger

It’s not easy to mistake a tiger for anything else thanks to its stripes. The spots on tigers’ bodies make them very distinct from any other creature on earth such as leopards who have spots on their skin but also have a spot pattern. Tigers are native to Asia, especially in India and China.

The word “tiger” came from the Greek word “tigris” which is what people called this animal because of its striped body that looks like a river especially when it walks through water which is why sometimes we also call tigers by the name of “water tigers”.

Elephant

Both Asian and African elephants live here on earth with us. Even though these two species look a little bit different from each other, they still belong to the same family group called Elephantidae .

People knew about elephants even before ancient history was written down for us to read today. Since there were no books at that time, people learned about elephants through tales and mythologies passed down from one generation to the next before it was ever written.

Giraffe

People used to believe that giraffes were part of the camel family but scientists found out years ago that they actually belong to a different group which contains antelopes, deer, oxen, sheep, goats and cattle. Nowadays, we know that giraffes are mammals just like humans who also have hair on their bodies unlike fish or snakes who don’t have any hair at all! Giraffes are very tall creatures with very long necks compared to their legs. They use their necks as tools to reach high up to eat leaves from tall trees.

Penguin

Although penguins live on land just like humans, they look very different from us because they have webbed feet which help them swim around in water. Penguins also have feathers, but not all over their bodies – only on parts of their bodies such as the front part where we have hair instead of feathers or fur. If you want to be more specific, we call these types of birds “water birds”, which means they spend most of their lives in water.

Owl

Owls are very different from other birds because they have big eyes that allow them to see better at night compared to the day when everyone else’s eyes get really small! Owls also have flat faces which help block out any light coming into their face so they can’t hurt their eyes while looking for food or watching out for enemies.

Jackle

Jackle is a type of animal that belongs to the dragon family. It’s called Jackle because it has a pointy nose and its eyes are blue in color. Its fur is also white, but Jackles can change colors depending on what mood they’re feeling at any given time which makes them very unique among their kind.

Toad

Toads are very special creatures even though they look like frogs or toads with bumpy skin filled with warts! Toads have longer legs than frogs so they can jump higher while froggies have shorter legs. Toad always lives on land while frogs lives mostly around water. Toads love eating insects while frogs eat fish and other things that swim in the water!

Fox

Fox are very intelligent animals that are known to be tricksters. They’re very crafty when it comes to finding food for themselves. Foxes eat things like birds, mice and rabbits like other predators but also like fruit and vegetables when they can find them in the wild which is not too often!

Moon bear

It’s called moon bear because of its crescent-shaped white patch on its chest! It’s actually a type of bear found in Asia where there are no polar bears even though people call these two types of bears “polar” because they live around or under ice and snow! Moon bears love staying in trees because they’re really good at climbing up high just like monkeys do.

Panther

Panthers look similar to leopards and jaguars, but they have a few differences especially when it comes to their size. They look very similar except the panther has shorter legs compared to its body than other cats do. The Panther is also bigger than these types of cats which makes them stand out more.

Rhino

People used to think that only one type of animal could be called a “rhino” until we found many different types that belonged to this same family! Rhinos are huge animals that eat grass and leaves off trees during the day when they’re awake. At night, they like sleeping in mud or water to keep themselves cool while resting after eating such big meals all day long!

Zebra

Zebra’s stripes make it easily recognizable from other animals, but it’s also known for its behavior. Zebras have a unique way of running in groups instead of being at the back or middle of their group to protect them from being attacked from behind because they’re very fast runners! All zebras are very good at running because that’s how they survive in the wild.

Lion

Lions are big and strong cats with thick fur to keep themselves warm even though they live in areas close to the equator where it can get really hot during the day! Lions spend most of their time sleeping to make up for all that lost energy when hunting which is something they do every single day. They also eat meat like other predators, but they will eat plants if there aren’t any animals around to hunt!

Tiger

Tigers are the biggest cats out there! They look like lions except they have stripes across their body which makes them very special among tigers. Tigers spend most of their day swimming in rivers to stay cool and looking for food, but they also like sleeping under trees because it’s cooler than sleeping on the ground. ‎They also like eating meat more than plants which makes them a true predator because only hunters eat other animals or plants that eat animals!

Penguin

Penguins are birds found in places with colder temperatures than anywhere else on Earth so they wear thick feathers all year round even though it gets really hot where penguins live too! Penguins swim very fast underwater to catch fish and other small animals and bring them back to their babies sitting on eggs! They also like eating krill which is a very tiny form of an animal that lives in the water.

Chimp

Chimps are some of our closest relatives who live in groups just like we do, but they’re also known as some of the smartest animals on Earth because they can use things like rocks as tools to dig into termite mounds for food or sharp grass as spears when hunting other animals such as monkeys and antelopes! Chimps don’t only eat fruit from trees, but also meat from dead animals if they find one.

Leopard Seal

Leopard seals are a type of seal found living around Antarctica where it’s always cold even during summertime! Leopard seals are very large with long necks and jaws, but they can’t breathe out of the water just like other fish so they need to come up for air whenever they’re tired after swimming around hunting for fish and small animals.

Bear

Bears are predators that look similar to dogs because their front legs are shorter than their back legs which let them stand on only two feet! Bears love climbing trees because it’s fun and also a great way to find food by raiding bird nests. They also eat berries, honey, eggs from birds’ nests, fish, or small animals if there aren’t any more berries left in the forest nearby. All bears sleep during winter time when it gets too cold for them outside even though some bears live in places with warm weather all year around!

Komodo Dragon

Komodo dragons are the largest type of lizard and they live on a few different islands near Australia and also in Indonesia where people can see them in their natural habitat, but they’re famous because of their bites which can kill animals much bigger than themselves. Komodo dragons eat mostly meat from dead animals like other predators do such as fish, small mammals or even carrion (meat from already dead animals) like vultures.

Crocodile

Crocodiles are reptiles with long snouts to grab onto their prey when attacking it; crocodiles attack anything that moves around them! Their jaws make huge sounds when opening and closing really fast! Crocodiles live in warm weather all over the world except for Antarctica!

A to Z Animals with Pictures