Collection

Mistaken Identity

A koala is not a bear. A guitarfish is not a shark. A myna is a starling. These are the animals people file under the wrong relatives, usually because they look like something they are not related to at all.

All 46 animals in this collection, from the African elephant to the zorilla. Most of them live in Asia and North America.

Herbivores 11
Omnivores 15
Carnivores 18
Insectivores 2

African Elephant Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis Herbivore Mammal Not one animal but two, and the ear-shaped-like-Africa trick is not how you tell them from Asian elephants.
Alaskan Husky Canis familiaris Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated Not a recognized breed at all. It is defined purely by whether it can pull a sled.
Alaskan Shepherd Canis familiaris Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated Not a breed. Two puppies from one litter can turn out to be very different dogs.
Alusky Canis familiaris Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated Not a breed, and not part wolf. It is a cross with no standard and no registry.
Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla (giant anteater); suborder Vermilingua Insectivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable Aardvarks, pangolins and echidnas are not anteaters. Four unrelated groups arrived at the same shape.
Ape Hominoidea (superfamily, about 20-26 species) Omnivore Mammal You are one. Humans sit in the same family as gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.
Boa Constrictor Boa constrictor Carnivore Reptile Conservation status: Least Concern Boas give birth to live young, pythons lay eggs, and neither one crushes its prey.
Caecilian Gymnophiona (order, about 200 species) Carnivore Amphibian There is a third kind of amphibian besides frogs and salamanders, and it has no legs at all.
Cattle Bos taurus Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated Cow, bull, ox, steer, heifer and calf are all one species. The words describe age, sex and job.
Crocodile Crocodylidae (family, about 14-16 species) Carnivore Reptile It is more closely related to a bird than to any lizard, and an open mouth means it is cooling off.
Cuckoo Cuculidae (common cuckoo: Cuculus canorus) Omnivore Bird Conservation status: Least Concern Most cuckoos are not brood parasites at all, and the roadrunner is a cuckoo.
Deer Cervidae (family, about 50 species) Herbivore Mammal Not one animal but a family of about 50, from a 13-pound pudu to a 1,500-pound moose.
Dog Canis familiaris Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated A chihuahua and a great dane are the same species, and neither one is colorblind.
Dolphin Delphinidae and other families (bottlenose: Tursiops truncatus) Carnivore Mammal The orca is a dolphin. And the smile is not a smile, just the fixed shape of the jaw.
Dugong Dugong dugon Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable Not related to dolphins. Its closest living relative is the elephant.
Eagle Accipitridae (several groups, about 60 species) Carnivore Bird The screaming eagle in films is almost always a red-tailed hawk. A bald eagle chirps.
Eel Anguilliformes (order, about 800 species) Carnivore Fish The electric eel is not an eel. And nobody has ever watched two European eels breed in the wild.
Giant Panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable It is a bear with a meat-eater's gut, living on bamboo it can barely digest.
Guitarfish Rhinobatidae and related families (about 50 species) Carnivore Fish It is a ray, not a shark, however much the back half argues otherwise. Check where the gills are.
Hare Lepus (European brown hare: Lepus europaeus) Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Least Concern Not a rabbit and not a rodent. And the March boxing is a female hitting a male, not two males fighting.
Impala Aepyceros melampus Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Least Concern That roar in the long grass may not be a lion. Male impala roar in the rut, and the sound carries over a mile.
Isopod Isopoda (order, over 10,000 species) Omnivore Invertebrate Not an insect. Seven pairs of legs, gills rather than lungs, and a closer relative of the crab than of any beetle.
Jaguar Panthera onca Carnivore Mammal Conservation status: Near Threatened A black panther is not a species. It is a jaguar or leopard, and the rosettes still show in good light.
King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah Carnivore Reptile Conservation status: Vulnerable Not a true cobra. It sits in a genus of its own, Ophiophagus.
Koala Phascolarctos cinereus Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable Not a bear. It is a marsupial, and its closest relative is the wombat.
Leopard Panthera pardus Carnivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable A black panther is not a species, just a leopard or jaguar wearing a dark coat.
Manatee Trichechus (three species) Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Vulnerable Its closest living relative is the elephant, not a whale or a seal.
Monkey Platyrrhini and Cercopithecidae (about 264 species) Omnivore Mammal Monkeys are not one branch of the family tree. Old World monkeys are closer to apes than to New World ones.
Myna Bird Acridotheres tristis Omnivore Bird Conservation status: Least Concern A myna is a starling, which is why it struts and walks instead of hopping.
Numbat Myrmecobius fasciatus Insectivore Mammal Conservation status: Near Threatened Not an anteater, and it avoids ants. A marsupial that lives on termites.
Ox Bos taurus Herbivore Mammal Conservation status: Not Evaluated An ox is not a species, it is a job: a trained, castrated male. And a musk ox is not an ox at all.
Pigeon Columba livia (rock dove); family Columbidae Omnivore Bird Conservation status: Least Concern There is no biological difference between a pigeon and a dove. The dodo was a giant flightless pigeon.
Puma Puma concolor Carnivore Mammal Conservation status: Least Concern Not a big cat, despite the size. It purrs, and it cannot roar.
Queen Angelfish Holacanthus ciliaris Omnivore Fish Conservation status: Least Concern No relation to the freshwater angelfish in home tanks, just the same shape.
Quoll Dasyurus (genus, six species) Carnivore Mammal Not a cat but a marsupial, shaped by the same night-hunting way of life.
Rabbit Leporidae: Oryctolagus cuniculus and about 30 other species Herbivore Mammal Not a rodent. Rabbits are lagomorphs, with four upper front teeth instead of two.
Red Panda Ailurus fulgens Omnivore Mammal Conservation status: Endangered It had the name first. The giant panda was named after it 45 years later, and they are not related.
Sea Lion Otariinae (subfamily, six species) Carnivore Mammal The performing animal at an aquarium is almost always a sea lion. A true seal cannot walk on all fours.
Squirrel Sciuridae (family, about 280 species) Omnivore Mammal Chipmunks, prairie dogs, marmots and groundhogs are all squirrels.
Starfish Asteroidea (class, about 2,000 species) Carnivore Invertebrate Not a fish. No gills, no fins and no backbone, which is why biologists say sea star.
Tuatara Sphenodon punctatus Carnivore Reptile Conservation status: Least Concern Not a lizard. Its line split from lizards and snakes about 250 million years ago.
Vole Arvicolinae (subfamily, about 155 species) Herbivore Mammal Not a mole and not a mouse. A stout short-tailed rodent with grinding molars.
Vulture Accipitridae (Old World) and Cathartidae (New World) Carnivore Bird Old World and New World vultures are not related, and a vulture destroys anthrax and rabies in its own stomach.
Yellowjacket Vespula and Dolichovespula (genera in the family Vespidae) Omnivore Insect Not a bee. Bees are furry and carry pollen. A yellowjacket is smooth, carries meat, and wants your lunch.
Zebra Shark Stegostoma tigrinum Carnivore Fish Conservation status: Endangered The stripes belong to the babies. Adults are pale with dark spots, and the two were once classed as separate species.
Zorilla Ictonyx striatus Carnivore Mammal Conservation status: Least Concern Looks like a skunk, sprays like a skunk, is not a skunk. It is a mustelid, closer to a weasel than to the animal it is named after.

Keep Exploring

Other collections