12 Animals that Start with Y – See Photos and Videos

There are many animals that start with Y out there that you probably have not heard of their name before, or you don’t even know.

Notwithstanding, you might know a few around your environment but we have compiled a list of animals that start with Y, that will catch your fancy.

All you just need to do is to read through our post and you will be very amazed to see the animals that start with Y on our list. They are animals that most people are not familiar with.

Dive in and explore!

Animals that start with Y

  • Yellowhammer
  • Yacare caimans
  • Yak
  • Yuma Myotis
  • Yellow-Eyed Penguin
  • Yorkshire Terrier
  • Yeti Crab
  • Yellow-backed Duiker
  • Yellow-Pine Chipmunk
  • Yapok
  • Yabby
  • Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby

1. Yellowhammer


This is one of the animals that start with Y is a passerine bird belonging to the bunting family that originated from Emberizidae and was also found in Australia and New Zealand.

Yellowhammer birds are usually seen around an area that is open with trees or shrubs. They are always in groups during winter and their sound is alike to the pine bunting, which are their close relatives with which they hybridize.

Yellowhammer

Just like their name, they are yellow in color, but their male species happens to be brighter while the color of their female looks dull most of the time. They are highlighted as endangered species on the RSPB’s “Red List of Birds.”

The yacare caiman is one of the animals that start with Y. They are reptiles belonging to the crocodilian alligator family, Alligatoridae. They are one of the six living caimans species and are native to South America.

2. Yacare caimans

Yacare caimans

The bodies of Yacare caimans are long with short legs, scaly skin, big jaws, and firm. They are mostly seen in the wetlands and rivers of Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.

Yacare caiman is a close relation to spectacled caiman. Their males are bigger than females, they are very small in size and they are carnivorous reptiles. Yacare caiman is listed as the least concern on the IUCN Red List.

3. Yak

Yak

Yaks are long-haired mammals belonging to the family Bovidae, also known as grunting ox, hairy cattle, or Tartary ox, and are commonly seen in regions like Gilgit-Baltistan, the Himalayan region, the Tibetan Plateau, the Indian subcontinent, Yunnan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Siberia, Mongolia, and Sichuan.

The yak is of two species which are the domesticated yak (Bros grunniens) and the wild yak (Bos mutus). They produce milk and meat for human consumption and they are used for transportation

They can adapt to cold and mountainous environments due to their long and thick woolly hairy coat. On the IUCN Red List, the wild yak is currently listed as Vulnerable.

4. Yuma Myotis

Yuma Myotis

The Yuma myotis is one of the animals that start with Y, It is species of vesper bat and it is a small bat that is native to western North America and is commonly seen in arid shrublands and in boreal (northern) forests near water. other places they like dwellings include trees, bat houses, buildings, bridges, caves, etc.

Yuma myotis has brown fur, dark membranes, and short ears. The confusing thing about this species is that  It looks like Little Brown Myotis. It is said to have a stable population as it is least concerned.

5. Yellow-Eyed Penguin

Yellow-Eyed Penguin

The yellow-eyed penguin made it to our list of animals that start with Y, it also has other names which are Tarakaka and Hoiho.

This species of penguin happens to be native to New Zealand. I was initially said to be a close relative to the little penguin but was proven wrong by molecular research which showed that it is a close relative to penguins of the genus Eudyptes.

It is piscivorous just like other penguins and it is an Endangered species as its population is said t be decreasing.

6. Yorkshire Terrier

Yorkshire Terrier

The Yorkshire Terrier is a native of England, a British breed belonging to the family toy dog terrier. Which was found in the English county of Yorkshire in the nineteenth century.

It weighs 3.2kg which makes it not just the smallest of the terriers but of all its breeds and was named after the country it is where it was found.

It is a very smart, courageous, intelligent, peaceful, and independent dog whose life span is about  13 – 16 years. It is presently listed as an endangered breed.

7. Yeti Crab

Yeti crab

The scientific name of the Yeti crab is Kiwa Hirsuta belonging to the family Kiwaidae and is a crustacean that was found in the South Pacific Ocean in the year 2005. It is 15cm long and it dwells close to the hydrothermal vents

This species derived its name due to the hair it has on its pincer, which enables it to put together bacteria that it feeds on. One uniqueness of the Yeti crabs is that they keep each other warm.

As they are usually seen close to the hydrothermal vents staying on each other to form a stack and per square meter can have about 700 crabs in these stacks.

The conservation status of this species is unknown.

8. Yellow-backed Duiker

Yellow-backed duiker

The yellow-backed duiker also made it to our list of animals that start with. Is an antelope that lives in the forest and is from the family Bovidae in the order Artiodactyla.

The yellow-backed duikers happen to be the most common of all duikers. They are mostly seen in Western and Central Africa, like Senegal to Western Uganda and probably some are seen in the Gambia.

The yellow-backed duikers were named because they had yellow hair and usually stood up whenever they were in danger. They are classified as Least Concern (their population is decreasing)

9. Yellow-Pine Chipmunk

Yellow-Pine Chipmunk

This animal is in the list of animals that start with Y, is a species that is commonly seen in the United States, western North America, and some parts of Canada.

The Yellow-Pine Chipmunks belong to the family Sciuridae of order Rodentia and they usually dwell in areas that area that is surrounded by brush. The Scientific name of this species is Tamias Amoenus.

They look very cute but they are said to be carriers of tick-borne disease and the plague and their nests are usually built on rocks or logs.

The IUCN Red List and other sources do not publish the total population of yellow-pine chipmunks, though this species is popular in the areas where they are seen.

They are currently categorized as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and have a stable number.

10. Yapok

Yapok

The yapoks are well known as the “water opossum.” the family Didelphidae is a marsupial and it happens to be the only surviving species of its genus Chironectes. The scientific name of this animal is Chironectes minimus.

These semi-aquatic animals dwell in lakes and freshwater streams in South America, Mexico, and Argentina. The name of this species “yapok”, was derived from the name of the Oyapok River, which is in French Guiana.

The yapoks use their tails to swim, and they also carry objects with their tails. They are not on the list of endangered species.

11. Yabby

Yabby

The Yabby is an Australian freshwater crayfish species in the Parastacidae family that is commonly seen in several parts of Australia.

Yabby is also referred to as the Cyan Yabby because of its color that bright blue and the color varies depending on the quality of the water in its environment.

Due to the fact that this animal has a large population in Australia, the most popular activity carried out in that country is catching this animal for both consumption and to make a profit. It has the ability to travel across dry land for many kilometers.

It is listed as a vulnerable species of crayfish by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the wild yabby population is still firm and has enlarged.

12. Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby

Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby

This is also included in our list of animals that start with Y. It initially called the ring-tailed rock-wallaby, belongs to the Macropodidae family.

It is closely related to the kangaroo, the yellow-footed rock wallaby that dwells in the mountainous areas of Australia. It has warm-hued fur which makes it unify with its surrounding, it is more active at night.

Wallaby put about 10% of their body weight in water in order to survive the Australian heat. The Scientific name is Petrogale Xanthopus and its Conservation status happens to be Near Threatened.

Watch Video of Animals that Start with Y

Conclusion

Most of these animals that start with y that are mentioned in this post are probably not popular and you might have not seen them around you but some are common and close to you.

The amazing thing is that you now have knowledge of these animals that start with Y that you don’t know before.

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Precious Okafor is a digital marketer and online entrepreneur that got into the online space in 2017 and since then have developed skills in content creation, copywriting and online marketing. He is also a Green activist and hence his role in publishing articles for EnvironmentGo

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