Do you want to know the easiest way to teach your kids the name of animals? Here is one useful way.
My boy is four and a half years old and can name the letters after learning them from the letter song. Now his favorite hobby is to know people’s names, learn the first letter, and try to remember the name of an animal he knows.
He started doing so on his own, and I found it really fascinating when I was showing him a picture of the tiger. Since his name is Timothy, he soon realized that the first letter of both names is the same, and he kept finding other animals that start with t.
I ended up making a list of animal names that begin with t and telling him one every day so that he can keep remembering the names gradually. So here are some amazing facts and scientific features about animals that start with T.
List of Animals That Start with T by Classes
Scientists have made specific categories to divide the whole animal kingdom into small groups with animals that have the same physical features. Can you name all of them?
They are Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes, and Invertebrates. And the most exciting part is that I have found animals that start with the letter T for all of the types I have just mentioned. Here is a list of animals according to their type, and don’t forget to scroll after reading this list because I have included a detailed list of more than 35 animals.
Mammals That Start with Letter T
Birds That Start with Letter T
Reptiles That Start with Letter T
Amphibians That Start with Letter T
Fish that Start with T
Insects and Invertebrates Beginning with T
Overview of Common Animals That Start with the Letter T: Classification, Diet, Behavior, and Interesting Facts
Other than the pets we have around us, for example, dogs, cats, or birds, we usually do not talk about the animals that live in the forest. This is exactly why I wanted to share my findings about all the fierce and cute animals that start with T.
You can thank me later, but for now, let’s dive into the detailed list of animals that you can use as fun facts to discuss with your friends. Or turn the facts into a bedtime story of animals for your kids instead of the same old fairy tales.
Let’s jump into the animal kingdom full of animal names starting with T.
1. Tiger
Scientific name: Panthera tigris
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 20-25 years (in captivity) and 10-15 years (in the wild).
Habitat: You may find tigers in various wildlife settings and climates. However, their common habitat is grasslands, rainforests, savannas, and, most importantly, mangrove swamps.
Diet: Tigers surely have a big appetite. They can hunt and eat household domestic animals near mangrove forests or fight and hunt wild deer, boar, monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, and even leopards.
Fun Fact: When cubs are born, they are blind and survive by following their mother’s scent. However, almost half of them cannot last long as they cannot keep up because of cold weather or ends up becoming other male tigers’ food.
Tigers are more like strategic hunters as they prefer to attack from behind when their prey is not looking. They love to play or swim in the water and love to rest in a majestic way after fulfilling their hunt and hunger.
Usually, they will not attack you if they are not feeling threatened. But it is better to keep a safe distance and walk backward slowly if you are lucky enough to find one.
2. Turtle
Scientific name: Chelona mydas
Type of animal: Reptile
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 20-50 on average. They can sometimes live for more than 100 years.
Habitat: Their usual habitat is in the water, whether it is ocean or river. You can also find them in muddy and swampy locations and often in the dry land where they occasionally come for sun basking.
Diet: Turtles are omnivores in nature and prey on small squid, crabs, shrimp, algae, seagrass, insects, fish, snakes, and fruits in dry land.
Fun Fact: Instead of having teeth, turtles have beak-like mouths made of keratin (the same as your nails).
Turtles find it difficult to survive and reach adulthood as the young ones can easily become prey. But if they do, they can migrate and travel approximately 13000 miles to build nests and hatch eggs.
3. Termite
Scientific name: Isoptera
Type of animal: Insect
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: The queen termite lives for 25-50 on average and up to 100 years, and the workers, on average, 1 to 2 years.
Habitat: Termites prefer to stay in areas with high humidity. You may come across a large colony of termites in the forests of tropical and subtropical areas in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Northern or Southern America, and Oceania.
Diet: They are herbivores and usually have grass or wood type of organic plant matter included in their diet.
Fun Fact: Can you imagine that the queen termites are capable of laying millions of eggs all year round? And another interesting fact is that the soldiers and worker termites are all blind and depend on a certain pheromone.
Although you may say what this little insect does, I was dumbfounded when I learned that the colonies can damage millions of dollars of crops or products. Furthermore, even being totally blind does not affect their work, and they can follow the lead of building a colony by receiving information from the king and queen termites.
4. Tasmanian Devil
Scientific name: Sarcophilus harrisii
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: They can live from 5-8 years, depending on whether they are living in the wild or in captivity.
Habitat: You’ll find Tasmanian Devil in woodlands, coastal heath, mixed sclerophyll rainforests, and forests of Tasmania as they are native to this region.
Diet: In their solitary lifestyle, this little devil hunts and devours rats, mice, and rabbits.
Fun Fact: These little creatures can bite so hard that they may crush your bones.
In order to act defensively in front of predators, this animal releases an odor. Although they are furious in nature, it doesn’t take much time for them to hide in a suitable place.
5. Tibetan Mastiff
Scientific name: Canis lupus
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 10 to 15 years.
Habitat: As the name suggests, you’ll find this primitive breed of dog in Tibet and other regions with high altitudes, for example, Ladakh and the Himalayas.
Diet: Since you can adopt a Tibetan Mastiff, you need to make sure you provide all sorts of proteins, for example, chicken, beef, lamb, eggs, fish, and turkey.
Fun Fact: There is a common belief among Tibetans that the souls of the nuns and monks who fail to reach Shambhala turn into Tibetan Mastiffs. And the double-coated furry dogs look as peaceful as monks to make the saying a little bit true.
These Mastiffs have many nicknames. The most common are the most loyal guard dog and the bear dog. They are most active at night.
6. Tarantula
Scientific name: Theraphosidae
Type of animal: Venomous Spider
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: Female tarantulas live more than male ones. They can live 20-25 years, whereas the male lives for 7 to 8 years.
Habitat: Tarantulas like their living space in dry areas, whether it’s desert or grassland.
Diet: Large tarantulas eat frogs, small rodents, and snakes, whereas the smaller ones eat baby spiders, crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers,
and beetles.
Fun Fact: One sad but true fact about tarantulas is that the mother lets her babies feed off the entire body alive so that they don’t need to starve.
Tarantulas line the burrows with the silk they produce. And usually, they are not as terrifying as the horror movies suggest. Again, they have regeneration properties and can grow a broken limb when they molt.
7. Tapeworm
Scientific name: Cestoda
Type of animal: Invertebrate
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Average lifespan: 25-30 years.
Habitat: You may find tapeworms in human intestines, in pork, beef, and fish.
Diet: While living in the intestines, tapeworms eat all the partially digested food.
Fun Fact: They don’t have a stomach inside their body. The blood tapeworms suck from your intestine, they store it in the outer surface.
With the suction cup or hook, tapeworms suck blood from the host’s intestine or muscle. The larger the host, they get more food to consume and get bigger. Tapeworms in whales’ bodies can grow up to 100 feet.
8. Tuna
Scientific name: Thunnus orientalis
Type of animal: Fish
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 15 years
Habitat: Tuna fish are available in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean as the fish prefers the temperature of these tropical seas.
Diet: Tuna fish prefers to eat fish, cephalopods, mollusks, and crustaceans.
Fun Fact: Because of their lean body, Tuna can swim at speeds more than 40 mph.
There are 15 species of Tuna, and the Bluefin is the most expensive among them, and they live for more than 40 years. Tuna fish lay millions of eggs, and they prefer to migrate from one place to another. Therefore, they don’t have any specific region, and they swim all through the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
9. Tortoise
Scientific name: Testudo hermanni
Type of animal: Reptile
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 30 – 150 years
Habitat: Whether it’s mountains and forests, grasslands, or deserts, you can find tortoises in different parts of the world where the ocean meets the ground.
Diet: Leafy greens, grass, and weed is the ultimate favorite food of tortoises.
Fun Fact: Can you guess how long a tortoise can live? At most, it can live for 255 years, an Aldabra giant tortoise lived for such a long time. Again, since they can stay for a long time without consuming any water or food, sailors take them as fresh meat resources on the long voyage.
There are different data for their activity hours, but mostly they sleep throughout the night and work during day time, and they are found most active in the Twilight hours. They cannot hear as they don’t have ears and seem to have more dependency on their eyesight and sense of smell.
10. Tasmanian Tiger
Scientific name: Thylacinus cynocephalus
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 8 to 10 years.
Habitat: Tasmanian Tigers used to live in the grasslands and forests.
Diet: They used to eat birds, wombats, kangaroos, possums, bettongs, and echidnas.
Fun Fact: Sadly, this animal doesn’t exist in the world, and in the earlier 20th century, it went extinct.
Like kangaroos, Tasmanian tigers had a pouch in their body. The female ones used them to carry infants and males to protect their genitalia.
11. Toad
Scientific name: Bufo bufo
Type of animal: Amphibian
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 2-4 years
Habitat: You’ll come across a toad in any swamps and forest with humid air and moderate temperature except for Antarctica.
Diet: Smaller arthropods and insects are at the top of their food list.
Fun Fact: Two amazing facts about toads are they can hibernate, and as they do not have teeth, they do not chew and directly swallow their food.
Toads catch their food with their sticky tongues and try to find food at night, as they are nocturnal.
12. Tiger Shark
Scientific name: Galeocerdo cuvier
Type of animal: Fish
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 27 years.
Habitat: They live in tropical and subtropical coaster waters worldwide.
Diet: They eat whatever fish, squid, or turtles they find in the ocean.
Fun Fact: They eat whatever fish, squid, or turtles they find in the ocean.
Tiger sharks are usually slow swimmers, however, they can swim at 20mph speed when they hunt. Their teeth are powerful and strong. Whether it’s a turtle with a hard shell or the cans, metals, or any waste in the ocean, they eat it all.
13. Trout
Scientific name: Oncorhynchus mykiss
Type of animal: Fish
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 7-11 years
Habitat: Streams, rivers, and lakes of Europe, north-America and Asia.
Diet: They eat minnows, crayfish, and insects.
Fun Fact: Scales appear on their body later in their life, not when they are young. Depending on where they are living, the trout’s color pallet changes. And they prefer to stay in cold water. The male ones become aggressive when defending their infants.
14. Toucan
Scientific name: Ramphastos toco
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 12-20 years
Habitat: Toucans live in semi-open and tropical forests.
Diet: They prefer to eat small birds, lizards, rodents, insects, and fruits also.
Fun Fact: A Toucan’s beak is one-third of the length of its body.
You may have heard the calling of this colorful bird that sounds like a frog-like squawk.
15. Tarantula Hawk
Scientific name: Pepsini
Type of animal: Insect
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: Male: a few weeks, female: 4-5 months
Habitat: You may find one in the rainforests, desert scrubs, open arid or grasslands of Africa, Asia, and America.
Diet: Tarantula hawks eat nectar, pollen from flowers.
Fun Fact: They fulfill their duty as excellent pollinators.
You must be careful of their sting as it is said to be a really painful one.
16. Tapir
Scientific name: Tapirus terrestris
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 25-30 years
Habitat: If not captivated, they live in grasslands, mountains, swamps, and forests.
Diet: Tapirs are herbivores.
Fun Fact: The roots of Tapir can trace back 30 million years.
The number of their teeth varies from 42 to 44, and they have 52-80 chromosomes.
17. Turkey Vulture
Scientific name: Cathartes aura
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 10-15 years while living in wild
Habitat: They live in the forests and farmlands of America.
Diet: Their favorite food item – carcasses.
Fun Fact: They can eat diseased or rotten meat and digest that with the strong acid of their stomach.
Turkey vulture weighs 2-5 pounds and doesn’t fly unless threatened since it takes them a lot of effort.
18. Tang Fish
Scientific name: Paracanthurus hepatus
Type of animal: Fish
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 8-20 years
Habitat: They prefer to stay in the Open Ocean and coral reefs of the Indian, Pacific Ocean, and Caribbean Sea.
Diet: Tang fish usually eats algae and plankton. If they are lucky, they find meat to eat.
Fun Fact: When they come across a predator, they can lie motionless as if they are dead.
Tangs can behave aggressively to other fishes with their scalpel. So, it’s better to keep them in a large fish tank if you want one as a pet.
19. Tree Frog
Scientific name: Agalychnis callidryas
Type of animal: Amphibian
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 2-5 years
Habitat: They prefer to live in woodlands, marshes, and forests. Arboreal frogs live in trees, and non-Arboreal ones live in moist places or lakes.
Diet: Tree frogs eat other small frogs, insects, and worms.
Fun Fact: All across Europe, tree frogs are considered barometers because they start croaking when they sense it will rain.
These frogs have double eyelids, and they blink when they are trying to force down their prey.
20. Tarpon
Scientific name: Megalops atlanticus
Type of animal: Fish
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: male 20-30 years, female 40-55 years.
Habitat: They live in the mangrove lagoons, bays, and coastal waters.
Diet: Tarpons hunt smaller fish than them and large invertebrates.
Fun Fact: Tarpons prefer to stay in warm water. Around 72-82 degrees is the perfect temperature for them to thrive.
People do not like to eat the ‘Silver king’ because of their smelly odor and small bones.
21. Tarsier
Scientific name: Carlito syrichta
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 2-12 years
Habitat: They live in mangroves, shrubs, and forests.
Diet: Lizards, Birds, and insects are their favorite food.
Fun Fact: You’ll see that their eyes are big. These eyes are bigger in size than their whole brain.
The long ankle bone of these monkeys allows them to jump longer distances than their body weight, which is approximately 40 times.
22. Tuatara
Scientific name: Sphenodon punctatus
Type of animal: Reptile
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 50-60 years
Habitat: They are found in the woodlands and forests of New Zealand.
Diet: Eggs of other animals, lizards, and insects comprise their food list.
Fun Fact: Around 240 years ago, these animals survived the Triassic period.
Usually, they live alone. However, they live with certain seabirds sometimes.
23. Teddy Bear Hamster
Scientific name: Mesocricetus aurtus
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 2-3 years
Habitat: You can find them in wildlife in Europe and Asia. And mostly in cages and aquariums of their owners as they are popular as pets.
Diet: They are rather the good guys of nature. They eat nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
Fun Fact: A distinct behavior is they store food in cheek pouches.
Although they are shy around people, they can be easily tamed with love and care. But make sure you move slowly with them as they bite really hard when frightened.
24. Tenrec
Scientific name: Tenrecidae
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 10 years
Habitat: If you ever visit Madagascar, you’ll find one in any grasslands, forests, and urban areas.
Diet: They look for invertebrates and insects to please their hunger.
Fun Fact: Although they resemble hedgehogs, they are not related to them.
Tenrecs are usually shy in nature. But whenever they need to face a predator, they curl up into a ball and emit clicking noises to warn them.
25. Toadfish
Scientific name: Tetractenos hamiltoni
Type of animal: Vertebrate
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 3-24 years
Habitat: They find sea bed sand and rock bubble buttons as their cozy place to live.
Diet: They live off of mollusks, sea worms, fish, and crustaceans.
Fun Fact: They vibrate their ‘music muscle’ to the swim bladder, which sounds like a motorboat horn. And again, the male fish sings to call their female mate.
Although they look like frogs, their skin is poisonous to touch or even step on.
26. Tern
Scientific name: Sterna Hirundo
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 9-10 years (varies depending on age and traits)
Habitat: Terns build their nest on rocky islands, salt marshes, and beaches.
Diet: They eat squids, insects, and fish less than 7 inches long.
Fun Fact: They have won the title of birds that travel for the longest migration.
27. Tree Kangaroo
Scientific name: Dendrolagus bennettianus
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 15- 20 years to maximum 27 years
Habitat: Tree kangaroos inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and Australia.
Diet: Since bird eggs and baby birds are vulnerable and easy to find, these are at the top of the food list.
Fun Fact: They are strong and are often called the best climbers among their species.
Tree kangaroos only come together as partners when it is mating season. The male ones are found to mate with different female partners and are polygamous. But after the mating season is over, males start to live alone again, and the females with a baby in their pouch.
28. Thorny Devil
Scientific name: Moloch Horridus
Type of animal: Reptile
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 15-20 years
Habitat: Dry deserts of mainland Australia are the home of these beautiful out-of-the-world looking animals.
Diet: They look for termites and ants to feed.
Fun Fact: What would you do if you were attacked by an animal? The thorny devils puff their chest muscles and sharp spines, which makes it harder for the predator to swallow the creature.
29. Tsetse Fly
Scientific name: Glossina
Type of animal: Insect
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: 4 months
Habitat: This fly lives under logs and underbrush of sub-Saharan Africa.
Diet: They find small insects and eat them.
Fun Fact: They will not hesitate to bite you if they feel threatened.
30. Tibetan Fox
Scientific name: Vulpes ferrilata
Type of animal: Mammal
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 8-10 years
Habitat: You’ll find them on the Tibetan plateau.
Diet: They are carnivores in nature.
Fun Fact: Although any other animals related to them are extremely territorial, Tibetan foxes share their area with their mate of other members.
31. Trumpeter Swan
Scientific name: Cygnus buccinator
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 25 years.
Habitat: Trumpeter Swan lives in the coastal waters of Alaska, Northwestern US, and Canada.
Diet: Mainly, Pondweeds and aquatic plants are their food.
Fun Fact: Trumpeter swan is the longest and heaviest native bird.
32. Tawny Owl
Scientific name: Strix aluco
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 5 years in the wild and up to 26 years in captivity.
Habitat: The Tawny Owl is available in the open woodland and dense forests of Europe and Asia.
Diet: Frogs, small birds, insects, or fish are on their food list.
Fun Fact: They are quite renowned because of their hooting call.
33. Takin
Scientific name: Budorcas taxicolor
Type of animal: Goat-antelope
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan:
Habitat: They roam around the Alpine valleys and mountains.
Diet: leaves, twigs, grasses, and herbs are on the list of this herbivore.
Fun Fact: Takins can jump really high, somewhat 6 feet in mid-air. And their skin secretes an oily substance that allows rain and fog protection.
Takins have four main subspecies. and the interesting part of their behavioral pattern throughout the year is that, annually, they travel and migrate in a place to get together 300 members up in the valleys. They show such behavior during summer and break in smaller groups before the winter comes and goes down the mountains.
34. Tent Caterpillar
Scientific name: Malacosoma americanum
Type of animal: Insect
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: 5 to 10 days
Habitat: Tent caterpillars are native to the woodlands of North America and the Eurasian region.
Diet: These cute little caterpillars are herbivores and eat only leaves.
Fun Fact: Tent caterpillars are named so because they build nests with silk threads that resemble tents.
Although the small bristles of a caterpillar’s body can induce irritation in human skin, they are not venomous. They live in small groups on the branches of a tree and can be seen webbing with their silk threads. Caterpillars have a very small lifespan, and mostly, they go to their matured ages and live only a few days after becoming an adult, mating, and laying eggs. Some species of this caterpillar start a symbiotic relationship with ants.
35. Tanager
Scientific name: Piranga rubra
Type of animal: Bird
Phylum: Chordata
Average lifespan: 4-6 years
Habitat: They can migrate and live in any place on earth, whether it is forests, tropical regions, or deserts.
Diet: they love having barriers but mostly have insects.
Fun Fact: These birds are smaller in size than American Robins. When their wings are spread, they can be as long as 17’’.
36. Tiger Beetle
Scientific name: Cicindela ocellata rectilatera
Type of animal: Insect
Phylum: Arthropoda
Average lifespan: 1-4 years
Habitat: Tiger beetles come up over the ground until they mature. When they are larvae, they stay underground.
Diet: These beetles are carnivores and eat insects and spiders.
Fun Fact: 125 million years is the age of the oldest fossil of the Tiger beetle. It was found in Inner Mongolia.
The adult beetles develop colorful metallic shells that look amazing to catch people’s eyes. These beetles are very sensitive to any kind of ecological changes and leave the place with the slightest change. Therefore, if you find one, you can rest assured that the area has a consistent ecosystem.
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Conclusion
There you have it! I have tried to include the most interesting animals that start with T. Hopefully, you have also enjoyed this journey, and don’t forget to read more to grow your knowledge of these animals and why we need to preserve them more effectively.
