Do you know all the species out there in the wilderness? Have you ever thought or imagined that there are a lot more animals that we didn’t know about?
Certainly we know those species that we are surrounded of, or those we learnt about, but there are much more that will capture your attention and make you want to learn all of the species. Learning about the unknown is always a great challenge.
Animals that start with D
So, here is a list of the most fascinating and spectacular animals that start on the letter D. Let’s take a look and see if you are unfamiliar with some of them.
1. Deer
The deer is wholly covered in a coat with a brown color, it can have some other neutral colors, but the brown is mostly consistent at this type of animal. They also have antlers on the head that can be very large.
The deer mostly lives in Africa, Australia, and Antarctica and nowadays is also found in Sahara desert. They can live in some tropical rainforest environments or in tundra. Some of them are ecotone and can live in savanna or prairie.
2. Dhole
This animal is also known as Asiatic wild Dog, Red Dog and Indian Wild Dog. It lives in the jungles in Asia and is declared as endangered species.
It is similar to the African Wild Dog but there are 3 species of it that are similar in the characteristics but are different in the color and the location of living.
These animals are affected by the dogs and the cats and their diseases.
3. Dik-Dik
This little cute animal is found in East Africa and is also considered to be as dwarf antelope. It is 36 cm high and can get up to 3.2 kg weight. The male animals have horns while the female are heavier.
Its coat is soft and brown and has some hooves with hard bottoms so it can walk on some rocky paths. They have big eyes with white circle around and black spot at the inner side of each eye.
4. Dingo
This dog used to be domestic dog but within time started living in the wilderness and became independent of humans. The name of the dog “dingo” comes from the populations that live in Australia, but it has been also found in Thailand.
The dogs have bushy tail, short fur, and their color is mostly like the color of the sand, sometimes brown to red or occasionally white, light brown and black.
They usually have 2 colors with some white marks on the legs, the chest, the paws or the muzzle.
5. Discus Fish
This is one interesting species that is known to be quiet, elegant and peaceful fish living in the water environment.
They are among the unique species because of their shape, color and regal bearings and sometimes they have some patterns of green, brown, red, blue shade patterns.
The variations of colors you can find this fish is mostly blue and green, orange and red, blue diamond, solid cobalt, red with green spots and different combinations.
6. Dog
The dogs are considered to be grown as pets in East Asia long time ago. They were using the dogs as guardians of the property. Today the dogs are considered to be as a subspecies of the gray wolf.
People today keep the dog as a pet, a member of the family. There are 800 species of this domestic dog in the world and among them are the Neapolitan Mastiffs, Tibetan Mastiffs, Husky, Saint Bernards and more.
7. Dolphins
It is impossible to fall in love with these amazing creatures. It is considered that the dolphins are related to the porpoises and the whales, but there are 40 species of dolphins worldwide.
They are originating from terrestrial mammals whose ancestors went in the water 50,000,000 years ago.
Their body is streamlined so they can swim fast in the water and have control in their swimming with the tail. The dorsal fin provides stability in the swimming.
Their color is usually grey, and some different shades of grey with some lines or patches on the side below with lighter contrast. The dolphins don’t grow hair.
8. Donkey
It is considered that the donkeys were made domestic animals 5000 years ago in East and North Africa.
The domestication process then occupied the whole world where the donkeys were used to carry some heavy stuff or for transportation purposes.
They are normal and have normal breed behavior, but there are also some hybrid donkeys in the world.
9. Dormouse
This small and cute creature belongs to the rodent family and was found in Europe. 29 species of this mouse are present worldwide and are mostly known for the long periods of hibernation in the cold months.
It can grow to 25 cm long and that is depending on which species belongs and can move easily without being noticed.
10. Dotterel
The Dotterel is a small wader that belongs in the family of the birds and has black and brown color with white strips around the eyes.
The female species are more colorful than the male and its name was used back in time with the meaning “old fool”.
11. Dove
One type of the doves originates from Australia and the other type from USA.
As a pet dove is mostly kept the Diamond dove that originates from Australia while the Ring-neck doves are originate from Arabia and Africa since they are mentioned in the Bible.
The doves originating from USA are mainly with grey color and are similar to the doves we have today.
12. Dragonfly
The dragonfly belongs in the family of insects and can be found in different colors. The dragonflies can change from ugly nymph to a beautiful creature like the one on the picture.
The colors in which the dragonflies come are: blue, gold, orange, pink, red, fuchsia, black, saffron, emerald, earth tones, metallic, maroon and much much more.
Some of the dragonflies have spots on the wings whole others can have clear wings with some spike on the tails.
13. Duck
The duck is another species that belongs in the family of the birds. The ducks are water species that are smaller than the geese and the swans and can be found in sea and fresh water.
The ducks are often confused with the coots, grebes, gallinules, loons and divers because of their similar appearance. They have long and broad body with long necks.
The end of the body is more like rounded and they have strong and scaled legs that are far from the body. They also have pointed and short wings, but very strong, so their flight requires some continuous and fast strokes.
14. Dugong
The dugong is considered to be a rare mammal that is found in the warm waters in Australia and Indonesia.
Even though the dugong is smaller from the manatee, the average length is 3 meters and the average weight is almost 400 kg, similarly to a big cow.
The flippers on the front can be up to half meter in length.
15. Desert Tortoise
This species is mostly found in the area of Northern Mexico, and some south and western areas of North America.
The desert tortoise lives in burrows and has patterned and high shell. The tortoise lives on some sandy plains, rock foothills or in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts.
When the weather is with high temperatures the tortoise digs a burrow in the sand and stays there until the heat passes. This species is one of the most intriguing creatures that exist in the world.
16. Darwin’s frog
This frog is found in the forests of Argentina and Chile, it is considered to be as a native species there. Its name is derived from Charles Darwin who discovered the frog in his “Voyage of the Beagle”.
The frogs can be found in beech-tree fields or forests in South America and they also can live in some swamps or low streams.
Its appearance makes the Darwin’s frog to look like a leaf, so often when the frog feels endangered it remains still on the ground like a leaf until the danger is gone. This way the frog protects itself from the predators.
17. Dalmatian
The Dalmatian belongs to the family of dogs. It is trained and known in the history as coach dogs. It needs a lot of exercise and practice since it is a fast runner with a lot of self-reliance.
If you let the dog wander in the wild it will go by its own for many days. It is considered that they cannot survive in some urban environments, since they are not trained for such excursions.
Due to the energy of the dog, they can be perfect companion and friend of the children, but they must be socialized with the children from puppy age in order to get used to them.
It is also considered that these dogs are unbreakable and can play for hours with the humans.
18. Dwarf Crocodile
This dwarf crocodile is one of the rare species in the world and is found in West Africa in the rainforests.
It is one of the smallest species of the crocodiles and is distinctive by its short length, tough scales all over the body and the lack of armored scales on the underside.
19. Dung Beetles
Dwellers, Rollers and Tunnellers are the 3 species of dung beatles. The Rollers make a burrow away from the dung and then collect some lumps with medium sizes in it and then roll it into the burrows.
The dung beetles have antennae on the head and you can differentiate 3 parts on their bodies: head, thorax and abdomen.
The abdomen is the back part; the thorax is the middle part, while the wings and the legs are connected with the thorax.
20. Dachshund
The Dachshunds are known as fun and playful dogs since they can play with tennis balls, can chase little kitties or birds.
These dogs are also known as stubborn and strong-headed so you will have to invest a lot of time and nerves in their training. Some of the dogs might dig holes in the gardens; bark loud so they can be great guardians of the house.
21. Dogo Argentino
This dog is known for being affectionate to the family and being loyal as well. They want to have the attention of their owners just for themselves and are very tolerant to the children.
It is considered that this dog is a game hunter so that is the reason for their tolerance. They have protective behaviors and guard anything that they consider as their territory.
22. Drever
This small dog is considered to be popular in hunting hound especially deer hunters have it as their companion.
It is found mainly in Finland, Sweden and Norway, but in Finland the hunting is not allowed, so the dogs are kept just as pets.
23. Dogue De Bordeaux
Dogue De Bordeaux is one of the best guardians and is known for their loyalty and devotion to their owners.
They have a face like they look sad all the time, but they are very active and happy dogs.
The dogs are not aggressive and are very courageous.
24. Doberman Pinschers
The Doberman Pinchers are considered for intelligent loyal, loving and gentle dogs that protect those who they love.
You can be attacked by this breed only if it feels endangered or some of the family members are in danger.
If you are treating well this dog you will receive unconditional loyalty and love.
25. Deutsche Bracke
This species of dog is small, up to 53 cm in height and has rectangular body with a narrow had. It is also described as an elegant dog with long ears and long tail. Deutsche Bracke is a small and cute dog that anyone would like to have.
Most are just sub breeds of their type ie a Daschound is just a type of dog
This is so awesome. I like looking at all the different species I did not know about. Thanks