Animals That Start With R

77 animals Animals and nature Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 77 animals that start with R, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

R has 77 animals, led by mammals such as rabbit, raccoon, reindeer and rhino. Robin, rooster and raven bring in the birds, and all of these are easy for young children.

Red is the colour that keeps returning: red fox, red deer, red squirrel, red panda, red wolf and red bat. Spotting those compounds is a quick win in alphabet games. The roadrunner is a fast desert bird, and the rhea is a big South American bird that cannot fly. Rhino and rhinoceros are both listed, short and long forms of the same name.

Animals starting with R: 77
Best known: ray, robin
Longest name: rhinoceros beetle
Most are: mammals

Best-known animals that start with R

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

ray
robin
ram
rat
rabbit
raven
rhino
reindeer
rooster
raccoon
red fox
rhea
rattlesnake
rhinoceros
red deer
roadrunner
rainbow trout
red squirrel
red panda
river otter
reef shark
rhinoceros beetle

All animals that start with R

#	Name	What it is	Type
1	rabbit	any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails	mammal
2	raccoon	an omnivorous nocturnal mammal native to North America and Central America	mammal
3	raccoon dog	small wild dog of eastern Asia having facial markings like those of a raccoon	mammal
4	racehorse	a horse bred for racing	mammal
5	racer	slender fast-moving North American snakes	reptile
6	rail	any of numerous widely distributed small wading birds of the family Rallidae having short wings and very long toes for...	bird
7	rainbow fish	small freshwater fish of South America and the West Indies; often kept in aquariums	fish
8	rainbow runner	streamlined cigar-shaped jack; good game fish	fish
9	rainbow trout	found in Pacific coastal waters and streams from lower California to Alaska	fish
10	ram	uncastrated adult male sheep	mammal
11	rat	any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse	mammal
12	rat kangaroo	any of several rabbit-sized ratlike Australian kangaroos	mammal
13	rat snake	any of various nonvenomous rodent-eating snakes of North America and Asia	reptile
14	rattlesnake	pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken	reptile
15	raven	large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail	bird
16	ray	cartilaginous fishes having horizontally flattened bodies and enlarged winglike pectoral fins with gills on the...	fish
17	razor clam	marine clam having a long narrow curved thin shell	mollusc
18	razor fish	any of several small wrasses with compressed sharp-edged heads of the West Indies and Mediterranean	fish
19	razorback	a mongrel hog with a thin body and long legs and a ridged back	mammal
20	red admiral	of temperate Europe and Asia; having black wings with red and white markings	insect
21	red bat	North American bat of a brick or rusty red color with hairs tipped with white	mammal
22	red coral	corals of especially the Mediterranean having pink or red color used for ornaments and jewelry	other
23	red deer	common deer of temperate Europe and Asia	mammal
24	red drum	large edible fish found off coast of United States from Massachusetts to Mexico	fish
25	red fox	New World fox; often considered the same species as the Old World fox	mammal
26	red grouse	reddish-brown grouse of upland moors of Great Britain	bird
27	red panda	reddish-brown Old World raccoon-like carnivore; in some classifications considered unrelated to the giant pandas	mammal
28	red snapper	an esteemed food fish with pinkish red head and body	fish
29	red squirrel	of northern United States and Canada	mammal
30	red wolf	reddish-grey wolf of southwestern North America	mammal
31	red worm	terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil	worm
32	redfish	male salmon that has recently spawned	fish
33	redwing	small European thrush having reddish flanks	bird
34	reed bunting	European bunting inhabiting marshy areas	bird
35	reef shark	shark that lives around tropical coral reefs	other
36	reindeer	Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called `reindeer' in Eurasia and `caribou' in North America	mammal
37	reptile	any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia including tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators,...	reptile
38	requiem shark	any of numerous sharks from small relatively harmless bottom-dwellers to large dangerous oceanic and coastal species	fish
39	rhea	smaller of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed	bird
40	rhesus	of southern Asia; used in medical research	mammal
41	rhino	massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns...	mammal
42	rhinoceros	massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns...	mammal
43	rhinoceros beetle	large beetle with a horn on its head	insect
44	ribbon snake	slender yellow-striped North American garter snake; prefers wet places	reptile
45	ribbon worm	soft unsegmented marine worms that have a threadlike proboscis and the ability to stretch and contract	worm
46	rice rat	hardy agile rat of grassy marshes of Mexico and the southeastern United States	mammal
47	ridley	a marine turtle	reptile
48	right whale	large Arctic whalebone whale; allegedly the `right' whale to hunt because of its valuable whalebone and oil	mammal
49	river dolphin	any of several long-snouted usually freshwater dolphins of South America and southern Asia	mammal
50	river otter	sociable aquatic animal widely distributed along streams and lake borders in North America	mammal
51	roach	European freshwater food fish having a greenish back	fish
52	roadrunner	speedy largely terrestrial bird found from California and Mexico to Texas	bird
53	robber fly	swift predatory fly having a strong body like a bee with the proboscis hardened for sucking juices of other insects...	insect
54	robin	large American thrush having a rust-red breast and abdomen	bird
55	rock bass	game and food fish of upper Mississippi and Great Lakes	fish
56	rock beauty	gold and black butterflyfish found from West Indies to Brazil	fish
57	rock crab	crab of eastern coast of North America	crustacean
58	rock dove	pale grey Eurasian pigeon having black-striped wings from which most domestic species are descended	bird
59	rock hopper	small penguin of the Falkland Islands and New Zealand	bird
60	rock lobster	large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters	crustacean
61	rock partridge	of mountainous areas of southern Europe	bird
62	rock pigeon	pale grey Eurasian pigeon having black-striped wings from which most domestic species are descended	bird
63	rock python	very large python of tropical and southern Africa	reptile
64	rock squirrel	large grey ground squirrel of rocky areas of the southwestern United States	mammal
65	rock wren	wren inhabiting badlands and mesa country of western United States and Mexico	bird
66	rockfish	marine food fish found among rocks along the northern coasts of Europe and America	fish
67	rodent	relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing	mammal
68	roe deer	small graceful deer of Eurasian woodlands having small forked antlers	mammal
69	roof rat	common household pest originally from Asia that has spread worldwide	mammal
70	rook	common gregarious Old World bird about the size and color of the American crow	bird
71	rooster	adult male chicken	bird
72	rose beetle	a common metallic green European beetle: larvae feed on plant roots and adults on leaves and flowers of e.g. roses	insect
73	rosy boa	boa of rocky desert of southwestern United States	reptile
74	rubber boa	boa of grasslands and woodlands of western North America	reptile
75	rudd	European freshwater fish resembling the roach	fish
76	ruddy duck	reddish-brown stiff-tailed duck of North America and northern South America	bird
77	ruff	common Eurasian sandpiper; the male has an erectile neck ruff in breeding season	bird

Mammals that start with R

ram
rat
rabbit
rhino
reindeer
raccoon
red fox
rhinoceros
red deer
red squirrel
red panda
river otter
rodent
racehorse
red wolf
red bat
rice rat
roof rat
rhesus
right whale
razorback
rock squirrel
river dolphin
rat kangaroo
roe deer
raccoon dog

Birds that start with R

robin
raven
rooster
rhea
roadrunner
rail
rook
ruff
rock dove
rock pigeon
redwing
rock hopper
rock partridge
red grouse
rock wren
reed bunting
ruddy duck

Fish that start with R

ray
rainbow trout
roach
rock beauty
rudd
rock bass
red drum
rainbow fish
rainbow runner
rockfish
razor fish
redfish
requiem shark
red snapper

Reptiles that start with R

rattlesnake
racer
ridley
reptile
rat snake
ribbon snake
rock python
rosy boa
rubber boa

Insects that start with R

rhinoceros beetle
red admiral
rose beetle
robber fly

Crustaceans that start with R

rock crab
rock lobster

Worms that start with R

red worm
ribbon worm

Other animals that start with R

reef shark
red coral

Filter all 77 animals that start with R

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Questions people ask

How many animals start with R?

This list has 77 animals starting with R, from well-known ones like ray, robin, ram to rarer kinds.

What animals start with R?

Well-known examples are ray, robin, ram, rat, rabbit, raven, rhino, reindeer.

What mammals start with R?

ram, rat, rabbit, rhino, reindeer.

What birds start with R?

robin, raven, rooster, rhea, roadrunner.

What fish start with R?

ray, rainbow trout, roach, rock beauty, rudd.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

See every letter on one page: animals A to Z