10 Animals That Aren’t What Their Names Suggest

By Rajni Pandey | January 2, 2025

10 Animals That Aren’t What Their Names Suggest

This raccoon relative doesn’t eat much honey and isn’t a bear. Its long tongue helps it raid bee nests, but it mainly feasts on fruits.

1. Honey Bear

Image Credit: Canva

Despite its name, the red panda isn’t closely related to the giant panda. It belongs to its own family, Ailuridae, and eats bamboo.

2. Red Panda

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It’s not a whale but the largest shark in the world. Its immense size and filter-feeding habits are similar to baleen whales.

3. Whale Shark

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Neither from Guinea nor a pig, this rodent’s name likely came from trade routes or its squealing pig-like sounds.

4. Guinea Pig

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This South Asian mammal isn’t a bear or a cat. Known as a binturong, it’s one of the few carnivores with a prehensile tail.

5. Bearcat

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This bat doesn’t fly like a fox but glides with a wingspan of up to 1.5 meters. Its fox-like face and reddish fur explain its name.

6. Flying Fox

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Actually a dolphin, not a whale, the orca’s smaller size and dolphin-like body set it apart from its larger whale relatives.

7. Killer Whale

Image Credit: Canva

It neither flies nor is a lemur. Found outside Madagascar, this glider uses skin membranes to soar between trees.

8. Flying Lemur

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This frog is named for its chicken-like taste. Found in the Caribbean, it’s critically endangered due to overhunting and habitat loss.

9. Mountain Chicken

Image Credit: Canva

Not a fish at all, the starfish is an echinoderm related to sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Its proper name is now “sea star.”

10. Starfish

Image Credit: Canva

Next: Top 7 Rare and Endangered Turtle Species Found in India
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