There is a massive variety of different animals around the world and even if you think that you know about more different species than the average person, there are still some animals which you might not know about or might have simply forgotten.
This article is made to explore a variety of animals which all begin with the letter O and look at some facts about them.
If you want some information about animals which begin with O, keep reading!
Oarfish
An Oarfish is an extremely long as well as thin fish which can be up to 36 feet or 11 meters in length, and they are incredibly rare due to them not being present in waters which can be easily monitored which makes it, so they are very hard to witness in person.
The giant oarfish is also the longest of any bony fish.
A bony fish is a type (see also: 9 Types Of Koi Fish) of fish which has a skeleton that is made from bone similar to humans unlike other marine life like sharks which use cartilage instead.
Ocelot
An ocelot is a wild cat which is about a medium size and is usually found in the forests of South America as well as having some presence in the south of North America.
The ocelot has a gold coat and similar to other cats it often has black lines and spots on its coat.
This animal is usually nocturnal and survives on small mammals as well as birds and reptiles.
Octopuses move by crawling or either swimming and some of them can even move through the water using a system of pushing water through their body called jet propulsion.
This makes it so the water surrounding an octopus is pushed out quickly from an opening called a siphon.
Some octopuses are also capable of being able to change their color to try and camouflage themselves, and they can even sometimes emit a dark ink which is used on their predators if they are in danger.
Oilbird
An oilbird is a bird which is nocturnal which is native to South America and they tend to live in caves only leaving at night to collect fruit and other substances to eat.
These birds are interesting because they are one of the few species of birds which is capable of using echolocation to be able to move around swiftly in the dark.
They do this by making a high-pitched clicking sound, and they can use the sound of the echoes to work out their surroundings.
Okapi
An okapi is an endangered mammal that is usually found in rainforests located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is in the center of Africa.
This mammal has its legs and its hindquarters striped in a way which looks like a zebra, but the rest of its body is instead a deep shade of brown.
The closest living species which is similar to the okapi is actually a giraffe and because of this both of these species are classified as the species Giraffidae.
Opossum
An opossum is a marsupial which is a type of mammal with a pouch, and they are usually found in North and South America.
There are actually around 100 different types of species of opossum and like a lot of similar marsupials they are born quite undeveloped but will get further developed living inside the pouch of their mother.
The only type of opossum which is found above Mexico however, is the Virginia opossum.
Orangutan
The orangutan is part of the hominidae family which is also referred to as the great ape family, and they are a large tree-dwelling (also called arboreal) type of ape that largely live off of fruit.
There are 2 main types of this ape being the Borean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan.
Unfortunately both are in a critical stage of endangerment and the main reason for this is because of deforestation with their habitat being cleared for crop plantations.
Orb Weaver
This is a spider that is in the Araneidae family which make webs which have sticky droplets and if a fly goes into the web they will be bitten by the spider and wrapped in silk.
There is a massive more than 3000 types of orb weaver spider than this only makes them the 3rd most common type of spider.
However, not all spiders that make a circular web are classified as orb weavers.
These whales are apex predators meaning they are the top of their food chain, and they hunt in a group called a pod and sometimes even attack an adult whale.
Ostrich
Ostriches are famous for being the world’s biggest birds and there are 2 main species of this big bird being the common and the Somali ostrich.
These birds can not fly, but they are instead the fastest bird on land and are able to run a crazy 43 miles per hour.
Otter
An otter (Also check out Different Types Of Otters) is an aquatic predator which is in the Lutrinae subfamily of the Weasel family.
They have powerful tails and long bodies with characteristic webbed feet and short legs.
The heaviest of this species is the sea otter, but this is also the smallest of the marine mammals and the longest otter is the giant otter, unfortunately both these species are endangered.
Owl
Another common animal to associate with the letter O, an owl is a bird of prey classified as Strigiforms.
They are nocturnal and are adapted to fly and hunt in low light conditions.
They have round bodies and heads and have large eyes and the feathers around their head divert sounds to their ears.
Finally, checkout the entire series of animals that begin with or start with the letter: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Hi, I’m Olivia Kepner and I am a zookeeper here in San Diego. Since I was a young girl I have always been fascinated by animals and species across the globe.
I used to beg my parents to take me to our local zoo every single weekend. Well, I say local – it was more like a two hour drive away. But they took me as much as they could, allowing me to fall in love with the animals again and again.
