Animals That Start With R: Rabbit, Raccoon, Rhino and More

Rabbit

All domestic rabbits descend from the European rabbit, native to the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France. Rabbits live in burrows and give birth to blind, hairless young, unlike hares, whose young are born furred with their eyes open; see rabbit vs hare. Although introduced rabbits spread across Australia and other continents, the species is now Near Threatened in its native range.

Raccoon

The raccoon is a masked, ring-tailed mammal native to North and Central America. Its front paws are extremely sensitive, and it often handles or dunks food in water before eating, which is why it was long thought to “wash” its food. Raccoons released or escaped in the 20th century now also live wild across central Europe and in Japan.

Rattlesnake

Rattlesnakes are venomous pit vipers found only in the Americas, from southern Canada to central Argentina, with about 36 species. The rattle is made of loose, interlocking segments of keratin, and a new segment is added each time the snake sheds its skin. Rattlesnakes rattle to warn people away; anyone bitten should seek emergency medical help immediately (call 911 in the US).

Raven

The common raven, found across most of the Northern Hemisphere, is the heaviest songbird in the world, with a wingspan of 116–153 cm (46–60 in). Ravens are famous problem-solvers and can imitate many sounds. Legend says the kingdom will fall if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, so several are kept there. See crow vs raven to tell them apart.

Ray

Rays are flattened relatives of sharks with wing-like fins. Many, such as stingrays, rest on the sea floor, while manta rays glide through open water filtering plankton. The giant oceanic manta ray can measure about 7 m (23 ft) from wingtip to wingtip and has one of the largest brains for its size of any fish. It is listed as Endangered.

Red deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species, found across Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and it is the largest native land mammal in the UK. In autumn, stags roar and clash antlers to win groups of females. Their antlers fall off and regrow every year. Red deer have also been introduced to New Zealand and Argentina.

Red-eyed tree frog

The red-eyed tree frog of Central American and Colombian rainforests sleeps by day with its bright blue and orange body hidden. When disturbed, it suddenly opens its huge red eyes, which may startle a predator just long enough for the frog to escape. Its eggs are laid on leaves above water, and the embryos can hatch early and drop into the water if they sense a snake attacking the clutch.

Red fox

The red fox is the most widely distributed wild carnivore on Earth, found across the Northern Hemisphere and introduced to Australia. It is a highly adaptable hunter of voles, mice and rabbits that also eats insects, fruit and scraps, and it has moved into many cities in Europe and North America.

Red kangaroo

The red kangaroo of the dry Australian interior is the largest living marsupial. Males usually weigh 55–90 kg (120–200 lb) and can stand over 1.8 m (6 ft) tall. They can reach speeds of around 60 km/h (37 mph). A female can care for a young joey at foot and a smaller one in her pouch while a third embryo waits, paused in development, inside her.

Red panda

The red panda is a cat-sized, red-furred mammal of the Himalayan forests of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and southwestern China. It was called a panda before the giant panda was, but the two are not closely related, and the red panda has its own family. It eats mostly bamboo and is listed as Endangered.

Red squirrel

The Eurasian red squirrel lives in forests across Europe and northern Asia and grows ear tufts in winter. In Britain it has disappeared from much of its range since gray squirrels were introduced from North America in the 19th century, and its remaining strongholds include Scotland. It is still widespread across mainland Europe.

Red-tailed hawk

The red-tailed hawk is the most common hawk in North America, often seen perched on poles beside highways. Adults have a brick-red tail. Its hoarse, rasping scream is so dramatic that films and television often use it as a sound effect for other birds of prey, including bald eagles.

Reindeer

The reindeer, called caribou in North America, lives on Arctic tundra and in northern forests. It is the only deer in which females regularly grow antlers. Some herds in Alaska and northern Canada make some of the longest land migrations of any mammal. Reindeer are also herded by people in northern Europe and Siberia, and the species as a whole is listed as Vulnerable.

Rhea

The greater rhea is a flightless bird of the grasslands of South America and the largest native bird in the Americas, standing about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall. Males build the nest, incubate eggs laid by several females and raise the chicks alone. A small wild population has even become established in northern Germany after rheas escaped from a farm.

Rhinoceros

There are five living rhino species: the white and black rhinos of Africa and the greater one-horned, Javan and Sumatran rhinos of Asia. Their horns are made of keratin, like hair and fingernails. The black, Javan and Sumatran rhinos are Critically Endangered, and fewer than 100 Javan or Sumatran rhinos survive. Learn the differences in white rhino vs black rhino.

Rhinoceros beetle

Rhinoceros beetles are large scarab beetles, and the males of many species carry horns that they use to wrestle rivals off branches. The Hercules beetle of Central and South American rainforests is the longest beetle in the world, measuring up to about 17 cm (6.7 in) including its horn.

Ring-tailed lemur

The ring-tailed lemur lives in the dry forests and scrub of southern Madagascar. Its long tail carries 13 or 14 black rings alternating with white. Groups are led by females, and rival males hold “stink fights”, wiping scent onto their tails and wafting it at each other. It spends more time on the ground than most lemurs and is listed as Endangered.

Roadrunner

The greater roadrunner of the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico is a ground-dwelling member of the cuckoo family. It can run at up to about 32 km/h (20 mph) and eats insects, scorpions, lizards and even small rattlesnakes. It is the state bird of New Mexico.

Robin

The European robin is a small, round songbird with an orange-red breast, famous for singing even in winter and for following gardeners to catch worms. It was voted Britain’s national bird in 2015. The American robin is a larger thrush, named by European settlers for its similar red breast; it is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Rock hyrax

The rock hyrax is a stocky, rabbit-sized mammal of rocky outcrops in Africa and the Middle East, weighing about 4 kg (9 lb). It looks like a large guinea pig, yet its closest living relatives are elephants and sea cows. Colonies bask together in the morning sun to warm up, because hyraxes are poor at controlling their body temperature.

Rockhopper penguin

Rockhopper penguins are small crested penguins with red eyes and spiky yellow eyebrow feathers. True to their name, they bound up steep, rocky shores with both feet together. They breed on islands of the Southern Ocean, such as the Falklands. The southern rockhopper is listed as Vulnerable and the northern rockhopper as Endangered.

Roe deer

The roe deer is a small deer of woodland and farmland across Europe and western Asia, weighing about 20–35 kg (44–77 lb). It is the only hoofed mammal known to have delayed implantation: after mating in summer, the embryo pauses its development for several months, so fawns are born the following spring when food is plentiful.

Rook

The rook is a sociable member of the crow family found across Europe and Asia, recognized by the bare, grayish-white skin around the base of its bill. Rooks nest in noisy colonies called rookeries in treetops. In experiments, captive rooks have used and even shaped simple tools, such as bending wire into a hook to reach food.

Ruby-throated hummingbird

The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummingbird that breeds widely in eastern North America. Adults weigh only about 3 g (0.1 oz), and males have a glittering red throat. Before migration, many double their body fat and then fly nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, a journey of about 800 km (500 mi).

Rufous hummingbird

The rufous hummingbird is a tiny, fiery orange hummingbird of western North America. Each year it flies thousands of kilometers between nesting grounds as far north as southern Alaska and wintering areas in Mexico, an enormous journey for a bird weighing only a few grams. Males are famously aggressive and chase much larger birds away from flowers and feeders. It is listed as Near Threatened.