80+ Animals that start with U – Interesting Animal Facts (2024)

Animals By Letter

ByShuJanuary 17, 2022January 17, 2022

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Last Updated on January 17, 2022 by

The Ubiquitous Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Looking for the best list of animals that start with U?

The letter U is certainly an unusual letter, and there are some unusual animals on this list! What animal comes to mind when you first think of the letter U? Is it Urchin? Unicorn? In this article we’ll review the top 80 animals that start with the letter U.

The letter U includes some of the most unusual and unique beings!

Have you heard of the Uakari, Uguisu and Umbrellabird? I bet there will be more than a few new letter U animals for you to discover.

Unrivaled, Unmatched: 15 Well-known Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Learn more about these animals unrivaled for their popularity, characteristics, dispositions, or ecological contributions.

Uakari

Uakari monkeys, also known as bald uakaris, are medium-sized primates with reddish hairless faces yet hairy bodies. Despite this bizarre appearance, they leveled these physical features for attracting mates. They also have short tails as opposed to what most monkey species have. These primates are found in the tropical rainforests of South American countries such as Columbia, Brazil, and Peru. Unfortunately, habitat loss and fewer reproductions have caused uakaris to become endangered.

Uganda Kob

This average-sized mammal shares a resemblance with impalas. Both have long horns that grow upward and have a reddish-brown coat. However, the Uganda kob is more muscular and heavier than the impala. This antelope inhabits grassland and savannah areas in Uganda and other parts of East Africa.

Uguisu

Also known as the Japanese bush warbler, this tiny bird has dull olive-colored feathers, a long feathered tail, and a drab brown beak. It is famous for its perching sound used to catch the attention of a potential mate. This songbird is also native to Japan and resides in Asian countries such as China, Korea, and the Philippines, but they prefer to stay in lower areas to avoid the cold climate on mountains.

Ulysses Butterfly

This large winged butterfly is well-known for its bright cerulean wings with black borders, gaining the nickname “Mountain Blue Butterfly.” The vibrancy of their colored wings helps them camouflage in their environment. It also has an extended wingspan, reaching up to nearly six inches wide. This swallowtail butterfly lives in tropical rainforests in Queensland, Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. In fact, the Australian government considers the Ulysses butterfly significant species that you need a permit to breed this butterfly.

Umbrellabird

The umbrellabird is a black-feathered bird dwelling in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. It is distinguishable for its umbrella-shaped crest, where it also got its name. Like roosters, umbrellabirds have wattles hanging below their throats but are just longer. Hence, it is also called the long-wattled umbrellabirds. They love feeding on fruits and end up dispersing the seeds everywhere. However, they cannot scatter those seeds in faraway places since they can only fly short distances due to their heavily built bodies.

Unau

Unau, commonly known as Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth, is a mammal with pale and dark brown hair, a small head, and two big eyes. It also has two extended arms and long curved claws used for climbing and clinging on trees. It also has a shorter tail compared to three-toed sloths. This particular species of sloth inhabits the northern part of the Amazon River and countries in South America. Like other sloths, unaus are extremely sluggish because of their slow metabolism. Yet, these wild creatures take advantage of their low metabolic rate to survive for up to two decades.

Uncas Skipper

Commonly known as the white-vein skipper, the Uncas skipper is a rare species of butterfly that resides in the midwestern part of the U.S. This insect has a stocky body with dull brown wings with white veiny patterns, dark orange borders, and tiny brown spots.

Unicornfish

Unicorns are mythical creatures, but the unicornfish is a real-life sea critter. This wide-bodied fish has a small horn on top of its snout, giving it a unicorn-like appearance. This protruding part is believed to be an asset for courting. These herbivore fish species swim in the Pacific and Indian oceans, and they love feeding on algae and zooplankton.

Upland Chorus Frog

This amphibian resides in wet grasslands, river bottoms, or lakesides in many areas in the U.S. This frog has a drab brown bumpy skin and a pale yellow ventral and shares some similarities with the Western chorus frog. Male upland chorus frogs exhibit a satellite behavior where they would stay near loud chorus frogs.

Urial

Urials are large-horned mammals populating in Central and South Asia. These wild sheep have cinnamon-colored (brownish-red) fur and curvaceous horns that grow long outward and long enough to reach the back of their head. You can also distinguish males from females because they have extensively large horns.

Urchin

Also known as the sea hedgehog, this small-sized echinoderm with moving spikes and lives on the warm ocean waters. They may look immobile, but underneath each pointed spine is a miniature leg that provides movement and protects this echinoderm from predators. The spikes have venom that can sting an animal or a human when they puncture the skin. When an urchin dies, those spikes detach from the body called test.

Urochordata

Commonly called the tunicate or the sea squirt, the Urochordata is an invertebrate attached to coral reefs. It got its unusual name from the fluids that spurt out from its body when it getsdetached from its abode or the coral surface. Their rubber-like bodies vary in color with two transparent tube-like parts.

Uromastyx

This genus of lizards is well-known for its long spiny tail and orange-and-green-colored scaly skin. Since this reptile is cold-blooded, it needs external heat to keep its body warm. It darkens its skin color so that its body can absorb more sunlight. Their adult body length can grow up to 14 inches long, and their tails might look intimidating due to the spikes, but uromastyx lizards are not aggressive.

Urva

Urva is the genus for Asian mongooses. These small mammals usually have dusky or pale greyish-brown and unkempt fur, a long fuzzy tail, and a small head. Urvas are native to Asian countries, and as carnivores, they love consuming small insects, crustaceans, arachnids, snakes, and mammals.

Utah Milk Snake

The Utah milk snake shares some similarities with coral snakes for their skin color. Both have vibrant, lustrous, and scaly skin with red, orange, yellow, black, and white colors. However, the black stripes are thinner in Utah milk snakes. They neither produce nor drink milk as babies, but they got their names from a folktale about a snake stealing and feasting on milk.

Animals with Uncanny Names that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Get to know the following animals with never-been-heard names.

U-mark Sandperch
Unicorn Sole
Union Jack Butterfly
Ulysses Butterfly
Underwood’s Bonneted Bat
Unadorned Rock Wallaby
Unicorn Leatherjacket
Uliodon
Usambara Akalat
Unlined Giant Chafer Beetle
Unarmed Dwarf Monocle Bream
Ursula’s Sunbird
Usambara Akalat
Urich’s Tyrannulet
Ussuri Sharpbelly

Unusual, Uncommon, Unexpected: Weird Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Expect these animals to have unexpected appearances or habits!

Ukrainian Brook Lamprey
Útila Spiny Tailed Iguana
Uroplatus Phantasticus
Unicorn Icefish
Uakari
Umbee Cichlid
Upland Horseshoe Bat
Undistinguished Sabertooth
Usambara Eagle Owl
Uromastyx Lizard
Umbonia Spinosa
Uruguayan Eartheater
Uluguru Blue-bellied Frog
Uganda Clawed Frog
Umbonia Spinosa

Animals with Unceasing Cuteness that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Check out the following list of animals and see if you can resist the unceasing cuteness of these lovely creatures.

Upland Pipit
Uluguru Violet-Backed Sunbird
Unspotted Saw-Whet Owl
Ultimate Shrew
Utah Prairie Dog
Ussuri White-Toothed Shrew
Uinta Chipmunk
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Ultramarine Grosbeak
Ultramarine Lorikeet
Unicolored Jay
Uvea Parakeet
Usambara Weaver
Ussher’s Flycatcher
Ural Owl

Undersized Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

These small-sized creatures will shock you not because of their size but due to their not-so-ordinary characteristics.

Ucayali Spiny Mouse
Upemba Mud Turtle
Uzzell’s Lizard
Uganda Nothobranch
Ulrey’s Tetra
Umatilla Dace
Upland Bully
Utah Blind Snake
Unicolored Tree Rat
Ural Field Mouse
Underwing Moth
Unstriped Ground Squirrel
Ussuri Tube-Nosed Bat
Unicorn Crestfish
Uganda Large-toothed Shrew

The High and Mighty: Unexpectedly Large Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

Here are some of the large and mighty creatures that roam in the wilderness.

Ursus Arctos
Ukrainian Riding Horse
Urial
Uda Sheep
Undulated Moray Eels
Union Snook
Ursus Maritimus (Polar Bear)
Ultimate Mastiff
Unmol Horse
Uzunyayla

Undeniably Adorable Animals that Start with the Letter ‘U’

No one will deny that the following creatures are 100% adorable.

Utonagan
Urocyon Cinereoargenteus
Unalaska Collared Lemming
Upland Goose
Ussuri Cat
Ukrainian Levkoy
Ural Rex
Upland Antshrike
Uniform Treehunter
Ursus Americanus (American Black Bear