Species that deceive

The animal kingdom has names for species which are called by other names. Majority of the names contain the names of animals which have their own species. For instance, African elephant is an elephant, blue whale is a whale etc.

But, there are names of species whose names literally deceive us which we thought that they are those species. This post reveals those species who have cheated us by their names.

Living in the undergrounds of Prairies (temperate grasslands of North America), prairie dogs are one such species. These burrowers aren't dogs by name but rodents characterized by their gnawing teeth, rodent-like head etc.

Cetaceans which are characterized by black & white markings, killer whales or orcas aren't whales but dolphins. In fact, they are the largest of dolphins. Thanks to their ability to get trained easily.






Really cute-looking red critters inhabiting Asia's mountain forests called red pandas aren't pandas in real sense but just its own species without any family relation but in the group of skunks,raccoons,civets etc.Really smart animal to boast its own identity.





As it is known, cougar is an animal known to boast many names in English. One of such names is the mountain lion. Going by the name, it isn't included in the sub-family of lions but in that of jaguarundi (a pale-colored small Tropical American  wild cat) shown in the image beside. But, in reality the sub-family of lions contains jaguars and leopards along with lions themselves.

We would be stumped to find that an animal called as horned toad isn't a toad but a kind of lizard. These scaly critters boast a ridiculously bizarre talent of shooting blood through their eyes when in defense many times to canine animals (dogs,wolves and coyotes) who would not only get confused but also receive a foul taste.


So, whenever such names are heard we now really know well what these animals are.