Explore 15 Amazing 6-Letter Animals

Animals come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Many common animal names are just three letters long, like cat, cow, or bat. But they can also be 21 letters long, like everyone’s favorite Hawaiian fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Check out these 15 amazing 6-letter animals, including mammals, reptiles, insects, and everything in between. 

1. Monkey

The word “monkey” is a common name that refers to primate mammals that can live both on the ground and in trees. Monkeys have tails and eat a variety of foods, including seeds, fruits, eggs, and small insects. 

2. Aye-aye

This funny-looking primate also has a unique name. Aye-ayes are lemurs native to Madagascar and feature long fingers and rodent-like teeth. They are the world’s largest nocturnal predators, patrolling forest canopies for insects and small birds.

3. Gopher

The gopher, or pocket gopher, is a burrowing rodent endemic to North and Central America. These creatures are well-known for their tunneling behavior, during which they often move backward underground. Gophers use their teeth to dig tunnels.

4. Wombat

These short-legged muscular marsupials are native to Australia. Wombats are classified as marsupials due to their special pouch used to carry around their babies. And they are cousins of the koala and kangaroo!

5. Turtle

Turtles are an order of reptiles with special shells developed from their ribs. And there are many species of turtles, from red-eared sliders, painted turtles, and sea turtles. There are seven species just of marine turtles. And you can find them in the wild or as pets.

6. Badger

Belonging to the Mustelidae family, badgers are short-legged omnivores related to wolverines and weasels. They eat a diverse diet, from prairie dogs and birds to fruits and worms. Badgers are nocturnal and they don’t bring food into their setts because they like a clean house.

7. Alpaca

These camelid mammals are often confused with llamas. While closely related, alpacas are quite smaller than llamas. They are native to South America, where they graze on pasture grass and hay. Alpacas use body language to communicate and use spitting as a warning mechanism.

8. Weasel

The weasel is a small mammal from the Mustelidae family, which includes ferrets, stoats, and minks. These little creatures are active predators, featuring short arms and legs and long, slender bodies. Despite their size, they can take down rabbits, birds, and other small mammals.

9. Iguana

Iguanas are a group of herbivorous lizards native to Central America, South America, and Mexico. These lizards feed on fruit, flowers, foliage, and occasionally insects and other small animals. The largest iguana species can grow up to six feet long!

10. Beetle

Beetles are a type of insect from the Coleoptera order. Their distinguishing feature includes hardened wing cases called elytra. The beetle group is the largest in the animal kingdom, containing around 400,000 species.

11. Possum

Possums belong to the marsupial order and are endemic to the Americas. While they often look similar, there are 93 species of possum in the Western Hemisphere. These scavengers are omnivores that eat worms, insects, dead animals, birds, fruits, amphibians, and small mammals.

12. Walrus

The walrus is a large, blubbery marine mammal with long tusks. These pinnipeds live in Arctic and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They spend much of their time on sea ice, where they rest and migrate.

13. Python

The Python genus includes fangless, non-venomous, constricting snakes that subdue their prey by squeezing and swallowing them whole. Pythons can greatly range in size, from the smallest measuring only 20 inches long, to the largest growing over 20 feet.

14. Bobcat

Bobcats are medium-sized wildcats native to North America, ranging from Mexico to Southern Canada. And they live in varied habitats, including woodlands, swamps, and deserts. These carnivorous felines eat everything from rodents to deer.

15. Quokka

The quokka is a small marsupial in the Macropod family. These rodent-like animals are about the size of domestic cats. And they are nocturnal and herbivorous. Due to the shape of their mouths, quokkas look like they are always smiling. Quokkas are one of the most unique 6-letter animals!

Amazing 6-letter Animals: A Recap of the Top 15