List of animal names

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Mother sea otter with sleeping pup, Morro Bay, California

In the English language, many animals have different names depending on whether they are male, female, young, domesticated, or in groups.

The best-known source of many English words used for collective groupings of animals is The Book of Saint Albans, an essay on hunting published in 1486 and attributed to Juliana Berners.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Most terms used here may be found in common dictionaries and general information web sites.<ref name="oxfordfaq">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="dictcom">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="merriamweb">Template:Cite web</ref>

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Generic terms

The terms in this table apply to many or all taxa in a particular biological family, class, or clade.

Scientific term Trivial name Young Female Male Collective noun Collateral adjective
Aves bird chick hen cock, rooster flock avian
Bovinae cattle; ox,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> cow, kine (plural, dialectical) calf cow (bred);
heifer (not bred)
bull (intact);
bullock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or steer (castrated)
herd bovine
Caninae dog puppy, pup,<ref name=pup>Template:Cite web</ref> cub, whelp bitch dog pack canine
Cetacea whale, dolphin, porpoise calf cow bull pod
herdTemplate:Efn
cetacean
Equidae horse colt (male), filly (female), foal jenny (asses);
mare (other equids)
jack (asses);
stallion (other equids);
gelding (castrated horse)
herd equine
Felidae cat kitten (non-big cats, such as Felis, Lynx, Puma,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> etc.);
cub (big cats, Panthera, and also Puma)
queen tom, king clowder (small cats);
pride (big cats)
feline
Suinae pig piglet sow boar drift, drove porcine, suine
Procyonidae Raccoon family of Carnivorans cub, kit gaze, smack, committee procyonid, procyonine
Viverridae Civet family of Carnivorans viverrid, viverrine
Mustelidae Ferret family of Carnivorans
(large: badgers & wolverines;
small: weasels & ferrets)
kit sow (large);
jill (small)
boar (large);
hob,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> jack (small)
colony (large);
business (small)
mustelid, musteline
Leporidae rabbits & hares nestling jill jack nest or band leporid, leporine
Osteichthyes bony fish hatchling, fry, fingerling Template:N/A Template:N/A school, shoal piscine, ichthyic

Terms by species or taxon

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Usage of collective nouns

Merriam-Webster writes that most terms of venery fell out of use in the 16th century, including a "murder" for crows. It goes on to say that some of the terms in The Book of Saint Albans were "rather fanciful", explaining that the book extended collective nouns to people of specific professions, such as a "poverty" of pipers. It concludes that for lexicographers, many of these do not satisfy criteria for entry by being "used consistently in running prose" without meriting explanation. Some terms that were listed as commonly used were "herd", "flock", "school", and "swarm".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Writing for Audubon, Nicholas Lund says that many such terms are not used in actuality. When he interviewed scientists who specialize in studying specific animals, they had not heard of these terms, such as a "bask" of crocodiles or "wisdom" of wombats, being applied in their fields. Lund noted that the common plural nouns for animals were "flock" for birds and "herd" for cows, conceding that for certain animals in small groups, there was currency in usage such as a "pod" of whales or "gaggle" of geese.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

Notes

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References

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Further reading