Animal Names Starts With Letter: O

Animals that start with O span jungles, oceans, and open plains. Meet the forest-dwelling okapi, a shy giraffe cousin; the tool-using orangutan high in Bornean canopies; and the sprinting ostrich of African savannas. Rivers and coasts feature playful otters, fish-snatching osprey, and the powerful orca patrolling polar seas. Night brings the wide-eyed owl and the spotted ocelot slipping through tropical understory. Deserts host the elegant oryx, while reefs showcase the brilliant, shape-shifting octopus. North America adds adaptable opossums; mountains echo with nimble oudad (barbary sheep). Look closer and you’ll find ribbon-long oarfish in the deep, algae-grazing urchin partners like the oxpecker with big herbivores, and industrious orb-weaver spiders spinning precise silk. This “O” lineup includes carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores across rainforests, savannas, deserts, wetlands, rivers, reefs, coasts, and polar seas. Browse the list below for species profiles—scientific names, habitats, diets, and conservation status—and explore the outstanding diversity that begins with O.