Animals that start with J

Animals That Start With J, List With Pictures & Facts

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Animals that start with J include mammals such as jackals, jackrabbits, jerboas, junglefowl and the jaguar; birds such as jaegers, jays, and juncos; fish such as the John Dory, and invertebrates such as the Jerusalem cricket and jumping spider.

On this page you’ll meet these and many other interesting animals beginning with J, together with pictures and facts on each animal.

Below many of the animals you’ll find links that you can follow for further information, pictures and videos.

Included in this list are individual species (e.g., the jaguar) and well-known groups of species (e.g., jackals) whose names begin with J. The scientific name and conservation status are provided for each of the individual species.

Discover more animals in our A to Z animals section by clicking on the letters below…

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Jabiru

Jabiru stork
  • Scientific name: Jabiru mycteria
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Ciconiidae
  • Where found: South America, North America
  • Conservation status: Least Concern

The jabiru is a large, striking-looking member of the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is found mainly in South America, from Columbia south to central Argentina, and is also present in Central America and north into Mexico. It is very occasionally seen in the United States.

Like all storks, the jabiru is a long-legged, long-necked bird. Standing at up to 5 ft. / 1.52m tall, the jabiru is South America’s tallest flying bird, but not the continent’s tallest bird; the rhea (which is flightless) is slightly taller. (North America’s tallest bird is the whooping crane.)

The jabiru’s body and wings are white / pale gray. At the base of its neck is a bright red band. The rest of the neck, together with the head and bill, are black.

The jabiru hunts by holding its huge bill in the water and waiting for prey to come within snapping distance. An opportunistic feeder, the jabiru will feed on most small animals that cross its path, including fish, small reptiles, mollusks and insects.

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Jacamar

Rufous Tailed Jacamar
Rufous Tailed Jacamar
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Galbulidae
  • Where found: South America, North America

The eighteen species of jacamar make up the family Galbulidae. They are small, mostly brightly-colored birds found in woodlands and forests in Central and South America.

Jacamars are insectivores (insect-eaters), equipped with long, thin bills for catching their prey in mid-air. Jacamars typically hunt by sitting on a suitable perch and waiting for prey to come within range.

The great jacamar Jacamerops aureus, which reaches lengths of up to 30 cm / 12 in., is the largest jacamar species. It lives in rainforests in Central and South America.

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Jacana

African jacana
African jacana
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Jacanidae
  • Where found: All continents except Europe and Antarctica

Jacanas are a family of eight wading birds that together make up the family Jacanidae.

Jacanas have long legs and extremely long claws, which are adaptations for walking on lilies and other floating plants.

Jacanas are known as “Jesus birds” due to their habit of walking on lilies (giving the observer the impression that they are walking on water).

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Jack Russell Terrier

Jack Russell Terrier
  • Scientific name: Canis lupus familiaris / Canis familiaris
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Canidae
  • Conservation status: Domestic

The Jack Russell terrier is a breed of domestic dog first bred in England in the early 19th Century by the Rev. John Russell. A keen fox-hunter, Russell recognized that the breed’s small size and short legs would allow it to drive foxes from their burrows.

The Jack Russell is a small dog breed with either a smooth or rough coat. It is typically white with ether brown or black patches.

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Jackals

Black Backed Jackal
Black-backed jackal
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Canidae
  • Where found: Europe, Asia, Africa

There are three jackal species: black-backed, side-striped and golden. All belong to the dog family Canidae.

The closely-related black-backed jackal and side-striped jackal are found in Africa.

The side-striped jackal, the larger of the two African jackals, typically inhabits woodlands.

The black-backed jackal is usually found in more open habitats, including grasslands and savannas. It is an ancient dog species; individuals today are little changed from their Pleistocene ancestors.

The golden jackal is found in southeast Europe, the Middle East and south Asia. It is more closely related to the gray wolf than it is to the other two jackal species.

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Jackrabbit

Antelope Jackrabbit
Antelope Jackrabbit
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Leporidae

Despite the name, jackrabbits are hares, not rabbits. Hares (and jackrabbits) belong to the genus Lepus. Lepus is part of the family Leporidae, which also contains rabbits.

The seven species of jackrabbit are all found in North America. The largest jackrabbit is the white-tailed jackrabbit. Its range extends further north than that of any other jackrabbit.

Unlike rabbits, hares (including jackrabbits) don’t dig burrows. Instead, they rest and bring up their young in shallow holes in the ground known as forms. The young of hares and jackrabbits are precocial – able to move and feed by themselves soon after being born.

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Jaeger

Pomarine skua jaeger
Pomarine jaeger (also known as the pomarine skua)
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Stercorariidae
  • Genus: Stercorarius

Jaeger is a North American name for three birds in the skua family, Stercorariidae. The three jaegers are: the long-tailed jaeger; the Arctic, or parasitic jaeger; and the pomarine jaeger. Outside of North America, these birds are known as skuas.

The jaegers are large seabirds that breed in the Arctic. Jaegers are infamous for their kleptoparasitic behavior. A kleptoparasite steals the prey of other species, rather than catching its own. Skuas steal food from other seabirds.

Food taken from other birds makes up the majority of a skua’s diet, although they do catch their own food.

Skuas make lengthy annual migrations between their feeding grounds in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

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Jaguar

Jaguar
  • Scientific name: Panthera onca
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Felidae
  • Where found: South America, Central America
  • Conservation status: Near Threatened

The jaguar is the third-largest member of the cat family, Felidae – only the tiger and the lion are bigger.

The jaguar lives in the forests of Central and South America, where it is an apex predator (top of the food chain). The jaguar is also (very) occasionally seen in Texas and other southern United States.

Like other big cats, the jaguar belongs to the genus Panthera. (The definition of “big cat” is also sometimes widened to include the cheetah and cougar, which do not belong to the genus Panthera.)

The jaguar’s golden coat is decorated with numerous rings, which are known as rosettes.

The jaguar’s rosettes contain smaller black spots. (This differentiates the species from the leopard, whose rosettes lack these additional spots. The jaguar is also more heavily-built than its Old World cousin.)

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Jaguarundi

Jaguarundi
  • Scientific name: Herpailurus yagouaroundi
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Felidae
  • Where found: South America, North America
  • Conservation status: Least Concern

The jaguarundi is a wild cat found throughout much of South America and Central America. The species is also occasionally seen in Florida and other southern United States. It inhabits a wide range of habitats, from rainforests to savannas.

Around twice as large as a domestic cat, the jaguarundi has relatively short legs and short, rounded ears. The species’ coat is either golden-red or gray; individuals can be either color, even if their siblings are the other color.

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Japanese Macaque

Japanese Macaque
  • Scientific name: Macaca fuscata
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Cercopithecidae
  • Where found: Asia
  • Conservation status: Least Concern

The Japanese macaque is a monkey found only in Japan, where it lives in a variety of forest habitats.

No other primate (other than man) is found further north or in colder environments than the Japanese macaque; the species is known as the “snow monkey” because the regions in which it lives are covered by snow for part of the year.

Japanese macaques living in Jigokudani Monkey Park have become a tourist attraction due to their communal bathing in the park’s hot springs.

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Japanese Squirrel

Japanese Squirrel
  • Scientific name: Sciurus lis
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Sciuridae
  • Where found: Asia
  • Conservation status: Least Concern

The Japanese squirrel is a member of the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It lives in lowland to subalpine (below the tree line) pine forests on the Japanese islands of Honshū and Shikoku. The species was, until recently, also present on the island of Awaji.

The Japanese squirrel is one of around 100 species known as “tree squirrels” on behalf of their arboreal (tree-dwelling) lifestyles.

Tree squirrels, which are often known as just “squirrels”, are part of the squirrel family, Sciuridae, which also includes ground squirrels and flying squirrels.

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Javan Rhinoceros

Javan Rhinoceros
T.Dixon. The Zoological Society of London, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Scientific name: Rhinoceros sondaicus
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Rhinocerotidae
  • Where found: Asia
  • Conservation status: Critically Endangered

The Javan rhinoceros is one of five living rhinoceros species. Once found not only on the island of Java, but also on Sumatra and into mainland Southeast Asia, the Javan rhino is now found only in Java’s Ujung Kulon National Park.

Only around 70 Javan rhinos are left in the wild, making the species one of the rarest and most endangered of all large species.

The Javan rhino is one of two single-horned rhino species, the other being the closely-related Indian rhino. All three other rhino species have two horns.

Only the male Javan rhinoceros has full horns; females either lack horns entirely, or have small stumps.

The Javan rhino’s tough skin forms deep folds, giving the impression that it is wearing armor.

Over-hunting (in particular for its horn, which is highly-valued in Chinese traditional medicine) is the main cause for the Javan rhino’s critically endangered status.

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Jay

Jay Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Jay
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Corvidae
  • Where found: Europe, The Americas, Africa, Asia

Jays are birds in the crow family, Corvidae. There are around 50 species of jay. Not all jays are closely related; birds with “jay” in their name are spread between several genera within the crow family.

(“Genera” is the plural of “genus”. A genus is a sub-group of animals within a family. A genus contains species more closely-related to one another than they are to other members of the family.)

Two main groups of jays have been identified: Old World jays (which includes the Eurasian jay, known simply as “jay” in the UK); and New World jays (which includes species such as the Florida and California scrub jays, and the blue jay).

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Jellyfish

lions mane jellyfish
Lion’s mane jellyfish
  • Type of animal: Cnidarian
  • Phylum: Cnidaria
  • Where found: Oceans worldwide

Jellyfish are invertebrates (animals without backbones) found throughout the world’s oceans.

A jellyfish’s body consists of two main parts: the bell and the tentacles. The bell contracts and fills, pushing the jellyfish through the water.

The tentacles of a jellyfish are equipped with stinging cells that deliver venom. These are used both to capture prey and to provide defense from predators.

The sting of some jellyfish – notably species of box jellyfish of class Cubozoa – can be fatal to humans. The stings of many other jellyfish species are potent enough to cause severe discomfort for swimmers unlucky enough to come into contact with the animals’ tentacles.

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Jerboa

five toed jerboa
Five-toed jerboa
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Dipodidae
  • Where found: Africa, Asia

Jerboas are small, burrowing rodents that look like miniature kangaroos. Much like kangaroos, jerboas move by saltation (hopping).

Jerboas are found in the hot deserts of North Africa and Asia. These little rodents have several adaptations for living in this open habitat, including a sandy-colored coat for camouflage; large ears and excellent hearing to detect predators; the ability to run at extremely high speeds (up to 24 km/h / 15 mph); and the ability to make rapid changes in direction.

There are around 52 species of jerboa. Together they make up the family Dipodidae.

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Jerusalem Cricket

Jerusalem Cricket
  • Type of animal: Insect
  • Family: Stenopelmatidae
  • Where found: North America, Central America

Also known as “potato bugs”, Jerusalem crickets are large, flightless insects found in North America. Due to their sprawling gait, large abdomens and lack of wings, Jerusalem crickets are often mistaken for spiders.

The 40-odd species of Jerusalem cricket are divided between two genera: Ammopelmatus, which is found in the United States and Mexico, and Stenopelmatus, which is found in Central America.

Despite their name, Jerusalem crickets are not true crickets (which belong to the family Gryllidae). They are, however, in the same order, Orthoptera, as crickets, and have the elongated hind legs characteristic of insects in this group.

Jerusalem crickets have powerful jaws and will deliver a painful bite if threatened.

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Jico Deer Mouse

(No Photo Unavailable)

  • Scientific name: Habromys simulatus
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Cricetidae
  • Where found: North America
  • Conservation status: Critically Endangered

The Jico deer mouse is a critically endangered rodent that is endemic (only found in) Mexico. It lives in lowland rainforests in the Sierra Madre Oriental region – a mountain range in northeastern Mexico.

The Jico deer mouse belongs to the family Cricetidae, which is also home to several familiar rodent groups such as hamsters, voles and lemmings.

Deforestation caused both by logging and by human expansion into the species’ forest habitat have resulted in the Jico deer mouse becoming critically endangered. Only around 50 adult Jico deer mice are thought to remain.

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John Dory

John Dory Fish
  • Scientific name: Zeus faber
  • Type of animal: Fish
  • Family: Zeidae
  • Where found: Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia
  • Conservation status: Data Deficient

The John Dory is a marine fish found off the coasts of Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The dorsal fin of the John Dory has ten long spines. Its body is circular in shape and extremely thin, making the fish difficult to see from the front.

The pale orange body of the John Dory has a large eye-like marking on either side. The fish will turn and flash its eye-marking to startle potential predators or confuse prey.

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Jumping Spider

Jumping Spider
  • Type of animal: Arachnid
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Where found: Worldwide

With over 6,000 recognized species, the jumping spider family Salticidae is the largest spider family. Jumping spiders can be recognized by a row of four, forward-facing eyes at the front of the head, with the inner pair being particularly large. Another four eyes are found elsewhere on the head, making a total of eight eyes.

With all those eyes, it’s not surprising that jumping spiders have extremely good vision.

Jumping spiders can move normally, but–as the name suggests–are also capable of making powerful leaps.

Most jumping spiders rely on their excellent vision and jumping ability to actively hunt their prey; relatively few jumping spiders build a web for this purpose.

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Junco

Dark eyed junco
Dark eyed junco
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Passerellidae
  • Where found: North America

The five junco species make up the genus Junco (a genus is a group of related species within an animal family). The genus Junco is part of the American sparrow family, Passerellidae.

Juncos are small, typically grey-brown in color, and have sturdy, conical bills for eating seeds.

Perhaps the most familiar junco is the dark-eyed junco, which is widespread across the United States, particularly during the winter, when it arrives in large numbers from its breeding grounds in Canada and the northwestern United States.

The species is one of North America’s most common forest birds, and is also a common garden visitor.

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Jungle Cat

Jungle Cat
  • Scientific name: Felis chaus
  • Type of animal: Mammal
  • Family: Felidae
  • Where found: Asia, Middle East
  • Conservation status: Least Concern

The jungle cat is a wild cat species found in the Middle East and across Asia. Around twice the size of a domestic cat, it has a sandy-colored coat speckled with gray on the back. Black bands can be seen on the insides of the forelegs, and the tail is ringed with black bands towards its black tip.

Despite its name, the jungle cat inhabits a wide range of habitats, and in fact is not commonly found in jungle-like rainforests. The species is typically found in wetlands and swamps, and will even live in grasslands and deserts.

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Junglefowl

Red Junglefowl
Red Junglefowl
  • Type of animal: Bird
  • Family: Phasianidae
  • Where found: Asia

The four wild species of junglefowl, together with the domestic chicken, make up the genus Gallus, which is part of the pheasant family, Phasianidae.

Junglefowl are found in the wild in southern Asia, where they inhabit forests and forest edges.

Male junglefowl have a colorful plumage and long tail feathers. Their heads are decorated with a large, red comb (a fleshy growth on top of the head), and wattles (fleshy flaps of skin that hang from the chin near the beak).

The red junglefowl is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic chicken.

The plumage of female junglefowl is relatively drab, allowing them to stay camouflaged while brooding their eggs. The comb and wattles of female junglefowl are smaller and less conspicuous than those of the male.

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Animals That Start With J: Conclusion

We hope that you’ve discovered some interesting animals with names beginning with J on this page.

Discover more animals in our A to Z animals section by clicking on the letters below…

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5 thoughts on “Animals That Start With J, List With Pictures & Facts”

  4. I really like your site. I love how there are pictures, facts and lots of information.
    I love animals and I know a lot about them and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot more from this amazing site

    Reply

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