Trying to come up with a list of vague words for different "kinds of animals" (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I'm fiddling with a card game concept, and a very important part of it is creatures interacting with other specific kinds of creatures. This necessarily means I need to come up with lots of type names that are descriptive but vague enough to shove literally anything in them. Here's some good examples: "bug" containing ants, shrimps, pillbugs, bees, and literally anything that could be called a creepy crawly; "fish" containing everything from salmon to sharks to eels to octopi; "trees" containing all the stuff you are thinking of as well as those precambrian 6-foot fungi pillars; and "cats" including housecats, big cats, cheetah, and carcals.

And that's everything I can think of that would be useful. You see my problem? I know there are other casual-usage words for big categories of critters, but my grasp of the Enlgish language is fickle and leaves me whenever it is most inconvenient. If there is a list I could work from, that would be very helpful. Otherwise, volunteer as many words as you think would be useful.

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[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Non-exhaustive, non-reviewed, GPT-generated list of classes:

Mammals (Class Mammalia): Warm-blooded animals with hair or fur; most give live birth and produce milk for their young.
Birds (Class Aves): Warm-blooded vertebrates with feathers, beaks, and typically the ability to fly.
Reptiles (Class Reptilia): Cold-blooded vertebrates with scales, including snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles.
Amphibians (Class Amphibia): Cold-blooded vertebrates that typically begin life in water and undergo metamorphosis, including frogs, toads, and salamanders.
Fish (Class Pisces): Cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates with gills, fins, and scales, including bony fish (Osteichthyes) and cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes).
Arachnids (Class Arachnida): Invertebrates characterized by having eight legs and two main body segments, including spiders, scorpions, ticks, and mites.
Insects (Class Insecta): The largest class of animals, characterized by having three main body segments, six legs, and typically one or two pairs of wings.
Crustaceans (Class Crustacea): A diverse group of aquatic invertebrates with exoskeletons, including crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and barnacles.
Invertebrates: While not a formal class, this group includes various animals without a backbone, such as:
- Arthropods: Includes insects (Class Insecta), arachnids (Class Arachnida), and crustaceans (Class Crustacea).
- Mollusks (Class Mollusca): Snails, clams, octopuses.
- Annelids (Class Annelida): Segmented worms.
- Cnidarians (Class Cnidaria): Jellyfish, corals, sea anemones.
- Echinoderms (Class Echinodermata): Starfish, sea urchins.

[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

For mammal, if you wanna dig deeper into the orders... again, non-exhaustive, non-reviewed GPT stuff:

Here’s a list of some of the major orders within the class Mammalia (mammals):

Monotremata: Egg-laying mammals, such as the platypus and echidnas.
Marsupialia: Marsupials, which give birth to underdeveloped young that typically continue to develop in a pouch, including kangaroos, koalas, and opossums.
Eulipotyphla: Insectivores, including shrews, moles, and hedgehogs.
Chiroptera: Bats, the only mammals capable of sustained flight.
Primates: Includes lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans.
Rodentia: Rodents, characterized by continuously growing incisors, including mice, rats, squirrels, and beavers.
Lagomorpha: Rabbits, hares, and pikas.
Carnivora: Carnivorous mammals, including dogs, cats, bears, and seals.
Perissodactyla: Odd-toed ungulates, such as horses, zebras, and rhinoceroses.
Artiodactyla: Even-toed ungulates, including pigs, deer, giraffes, and cattle.
Cetacea: Whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
Sirenia: Manatees and dugongs, also known as sea cows.
Proboscidea: Elephants, characterized by their long trunks.
Hyracoidea: Hyraxes, small, herbivorous mammals that resemble rodents.
Scandentia: Tree shrews, small mammals that are somewhat similar to squirrels.
Dermoptera: Colugos or flying lemurs, gliding mammals found in Southeast Asia.
Xenarthra: Includes anteaters, sloths, and armadillos, primarily found in the Americas.

this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024

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