You know those animal alphabet books that you have as young child? Well you have been placed in charge of creating the animal alphabet book that the next generation will be raised on. Pick an animal for each letter of the alphabet to make the ABC animals of the future! Rules: All letters of the English alphabet must be included. Try to represent animal diversity. Animals do not have to be at species level (you could do "B is for Butterfly" or "F is for Frog" if you wish). Each animal must be only one word (you can't do "S is for Sumatran Rhino" or "A is for Association Europeenne pour l'Etude et la Conservation des Lemuriens' Sportive Lemur"). You can use animals with a hyphen in their name (if you wish, you may do "A is for Aye-Aye" or "M is for Mata-Mata"). Try to include some threatened species so your book has a conservation message.
Antelope Babirusa Cheetah Dromedary Elephant Fennec Gundi Hippopotamus Indri Jackal Kea Lemur Mongoose Nyala Octopus Pig Quetzal Raccoon Shoebill Tiger Uakari Wallaby Xenophora (the only exception using a scientific name because I can't find an English common name after struggling my brain a lot) Yak Zebra
What about an unusual - but reasonably interesting for the average person, I hope - list? A little hard to do with just one word animals and trying to dodge mammals, but I'll try: Axolotl Babirusa Cassowary Dugong Echidna Fennec Gharial Hyrax Indri Jerboa Kiwi Lionfish Mata-mata Narwhal Okapi Pteropus (I wish I could use "Megabat", but Mata-mata was the only fitting Testudines I could think of. TT^TT Of course, I wish I could use "Flying fox" too.) Quokka Roadunner Seadragon Tuatara Uakari Vinegaroon Wombat Xenopus Yak Zorse
Aye-Aye Babirusa Capybara Dingo Elephant Fisher Giraffe Hirola Impala Javelina Llama Maleo Narwhal Okapi Paddlefish Quokka Raccoon Saola Tuatara Uguisu Vulture Walrus Xona Yak Zebu
A xona is a small land snail. Here is my animal list Aye-aye Bilby Colocolo Dugong Eel Flea Graptolite Halosaur Indri Jaguarundi Knifefish Linsang Madrepore Narwhal Olingo Petromure Quokka Rockfowl Spookfish Thylacine Unau Viperfish Xenurus Yapok Zorro
Mine is a little different - it was done from memory, but I then checked on some of the spellings. I confess that I have cheated a little on one of the, can you tell which? Anomalurus Boa Callochromis Daubentonia Egernia Fratercula Gorilla Halichoerus Irena Jordanella Kobus Leontopithecus Manis Necturus Otaria Pongo Quelea Rusa Symphysodon Tenrec Uaru Vini Wallago Xenotoca Yssichromis Zoogoneticus
Maybe Yssichromis? At least is the only one that I don't know from memory, if that's what you mean with "cheat".
Yes, I think it's currently usually treated as a subgenus of Haplochromis: the late Humphrey Greenwood created it when he revised that super-sized genus. Many years ago I kept some elderly specimens of Haplochromis (Yssichromis) pyrrhocephalus from Chester Zoo, to give them more space for the next generation of the species. They were enchantingly colourful and graceful mid-water planktivores, quite unlike the average East African 'haps'.
Arowana Bison Chiru Dhole Elasmotherium Flamingo Gigantspinosaurus Hammerhead I'iwi Jabiru Kakapo Loris Microorganism Nilgai Orthocone Pirarucu Quetzalcoatlus Rook Saiga Therizinosaurus Upupa Vicuña Vervet Xiongguanlong Yinlong Zuniceratops
Oldish thread but I think this is a really cute idea! I don't quite know why but I love mashing human first names with alliterative animal names to see which combination fits best (i.e. Emily Elephant and Anna Ant) If I had to do something like this I would probably actually do a series of smaller books (a la. Mr. Men), with one for each letter (and sometimes a combination like XYZ), and Sesame-Street style I would have as much of the word be represented at every opportunity. Pictures would be brightly coloured and have some clear depictions of lesser-known species, the stories also probably would be set in some kind of anthropomorphic city. Examples: "Lara Leopard loves her lava lamp. She loans it to Lisa Lemming but she loses it on Leonard Lion's Lawn." "Chelsea Cheetah and Charlie Chimp are best friends. They play catch in the garden but accidentally throw their ball into the cranky Mr. Cranston Crocodile's Cabbage Patch" Idk why I just love that aesthetic
gonna try with all American birds (don't think I can without using latin) Albatross Bobwhite Caracara Dowitchee Eider Flicker Grosbeak Hoopoe (accidental haha) Ibis Junco Killdeer Longspur Murre Noddy Osprey Phoebe Quail Redpoll Scaup Titmouse Uria (Ok needed latin) Verdin Whip poor will Xenus (more latin) Yellowlegs Zenaida (ok another latin) well I came close yssichromis?
Aracari Binturong Cotinga Dugong Eagle Fennec Fox Gharial Hartebeest Iguana Junco Kakapo Lungfish Matamata Numbat Oropendola Pangolin Quokka Ringtail Serval Tamandua Uakari Vulture Wombat Xenops Yak Zebu
