Line #185 Main/SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oldelephant.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/BlackEyedPeas Lots of junk in that trunk]].[[note]]"Elephas", by Jacob van Maerlant (mid-1300s)[[/note]]]]
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8	->'''Dr. Meridian:''' Well, let's just say that I could write a hell of a paper on a grown man who dresses like a flying rodent.\
9	'''Batman:''' Bats aren't rodents, Dr. Meridian.
10	-->-- ''Film/BatmanForever''
11
12	[[MostWritersAreHuman Most writers are mammals]], yet we still get some things wrong about mammals.
13
14	One of the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples is mistaking cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) for fish. Then there's the way that just about any small mammal is mistaken for a rodent, including rabbits, hares, and pikas (lagomorphs)[[note]]While lagomorphs are no longer considered rodents, they are the closest to them biologically, being part of the clade Glires[[/note]]; shrews, hedgehogs, and moles (eulipotyphlans, lipotyphlans or "insectivorans"); bats (chiropterans); and weasels (mustelid carnivorans).
15
16	Another example is referring to saber-toothed cats, mammoths, and other Pleistocene megafauna as dinosaurs just because they are fierce and extinct, and/or [[AnachronismStew portraying them as being around during the Mesozoic era]]. They are extinct like the non-avian dinosaurs, yes, but they went extinct within the last 12,000 years, while dinos did so 66 million years ago. The orders which saber-toothed cats and mammoths (Carnivora and Proboscidea, respectively) are part of didn't even exist yet when the dinos kicked the bucket. The key word here is Pleistocene, the ''sixth'' epoch of the Cenozoic ("Age of Mammals") era, which follows the Mesozoic. Yet another egregious example is when woolly mammoths are portrayed in a tropical or dry environment, despite the long fur being meant for insulation against cold temperature. Extinct proboscideans native to such habitats were as bald as modern elephants are.
17
18	People also draw male kangaroos with pouches, [[AnimalGenderBender which only the females possess]]; elephants drinking with their trunks instead of sucking up the liquid with their trunks and then squirting it into their mouths, like real elephants; gorillas [[PrimalChestPound beating their chests]] with clenched fists, rather than open or cupped hands like real gorillas; rabbits with paw pads and button noses like a cat or a dog, as opposed to the fur-covered paws and "V"-shaped noses real rabbits have; mice being caught by the tail in snaptraps instead of being killed by the snaptrap; rodents with canine teeth; and on and on.
19
20	Nothing to do with breasts. Yes, all mammals have mammary glands for, well, obvious reasons, but it's not the focus here. For that issue, see NonMammalMammaries.
21
22	Subtrope of ArtisticLicenseBiology and InformedSpecies. See also FunnyAnimalAnatomy and MisplacedWildlife.
23
24	!! Subtropes:
25	[[index]]
26	* AardvarkTrunks
27	* AlphaAndBetaWolves: Now accepted to be a misconception from observing captive wolves. DNA studies of wild wolfpacks have shown that they're in fact families led by the other wolves' parents.
28	* BlindBats: Being nocturnal, bats were popularly assumed to be blind. They're not, and while many bats do forage and navigate primarily by echolocation, many others, particularly fruit bats, have very good eyesight.
29	* BlownUpwardByABlowhole
30	* CanineConfusion
31	* ConstantlyLactatingCow: Female cattle, like other mammals, lactate when they have calves to feed.
32	* HuggyHuggyHippos: Hippopotami may be cute, but they are in fact some of most dangerous and ill-tempered herbivores on the planet. Even top predators like lions avoid them.
33	* KangarooPouchRide
34	* KillerGorilla: Gorillas are certainly strong, but they're herbivores and not prone to violence. Most other great apes are similar, chimpanzees being a notable exception.
35	* LactatingMale
36	* MessyPig
37	* SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying: Artistic license for horses and their kin in particular.
38	* SuicidalLemmings
39	* WhiteTailedReindeer
40	* WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon: Wolves howl to communicate with other wolves; they don't particularly care about the Moon.
41	[[/index]]
42	----
43	!!Examples:
44	[[foldercontrol]]
45
46	[[folder:Advertising]]
47	* In an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMoRw8IKcvk H2OH commercial]], the narrator voice comments how cool it is that nature gave spikes to the hedgehog, instead of you (human). In the video, though, the guy ''shoots'' spikes all around. It's said that porcupines can shoot their quills -- porcupines are not hedgehogs, however, and the popular belief is in fact false. Porcupines may have their spines dislodged while swinging their tails around because the spines are very loosely attached to the porcupine so that they'll come out once they've been lodged in another creature's skin; however, they don't deliberately shoot their quills at a target. They're much more likely to reverse into your leg and fill it with hooked barbs.
48	* An ad for Napa auto parts features a hunter crouched in the marsh with his gun and, instead of a regular hunting dog, he has a fluffy white Poodle with a pink bow in its hair. The tag line is: "Having the wrong auto part makes even less sense." This is absolutely hilarious to anyone who knows that ''Poodles were bred to be wetland hunting dogs'', and the dog doesn't care if it's white, fluffy, and wearing a ribbon: when there's a bird to be retrieved, ''it will be retrieved'', no matter the amount of mud involved. Also, those ribbons and poofs and whatnot that look so fancy are ''all'' relics of their hunting days -- the ribbons were color-coded to their owners, and those poofs were ''originally'' for the purpose of keeping the dog's hair out of its eyes. Also, the poodle cut, now known for being the prissiest hairstyle one can give their dog, was actually designed to make it easier for the dogs to move through the wetlands, while still protecting vulnerable areas of the body like joints and their chest, which were essential to keep warmer and more protected. In the past, the poodle cut was the sign of a hardworking hunting dog, not a prissy lap pet.
49	* Blue Buffalo's advertising for dog and cat foods like comparing pets to their wild relatives. Their dog food ads are passable because dogs are a sub-species of gray wolf, but their cat food ads compare domestic cats to their ''distant'' relatives, such as mountain lions, rather than their closer relatives, such as the African wildcat.
50	* A Christmas commercial for Amazon Creator/PrimeVideo, titled "[[https://youtu.be/rpMsQLkfUYU An Unlikely Friendship]]", shows a zookeeper befriending a spotted hyena, and after its clan turns against it, deciding to adopt it as a pet. The commercial makes the common mistake of treating the spotted hyena's "laugh" as actual laughter (in response to watching funny scenes on TV), and not always using a realistic hyena laugh sound. At one point, the hyena growls at the man after he takes the last kernel of popcorn... then smiles and laughs to reassure him that it's alright. For a hyena, laughter ''is'' the sound they use during food disputes. It also [[AllAnimalsAreDogs has the hyena acting like a large dog]], happily living in a small house, eating dog food, and wagging its tail when it's happy.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
54	* ''Manga/SaberTiger'' by Hoshino Yukinobu:
55	** The narrator says "despite its name, the saber-toothed tiger was actually the ancestor of the lion," and not tigers. Lions and tigers, and by extension, leopards, jaguars and house cats, are more closely related to each other than any of them are to saber-tooths, what with the saber-tooths being on one branch of Felidae, and all living cats being on another branch.
56	** Time travelers pontificate about how the mammoths are/were doomed because there was an evolutionary trend for the tusk tips to overlap. There were already two rather successful species of mammoths (the Columbian and Imperial) in North America with tusks that had overlapping tips.
57	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/SetonAcademyJoinThePack'' when lone Spotted Hyena Yena is picking a fight with a band of lion brothers. The narrator states that hyenas can take down a lion when in a pack... but gets interrupted when Yena [[CurbStompBattle defeats all of them]].
58	* ''Anime/WolfsRain'': Hige, Toboe, and most of the minor character wolves are more brown then any real wolf, and every wolf that has markings is over simplified--although realistic ones would be hard to animate. The only visually realistically wolves are the pure white Kiba and [[spoiler:pure black Blue.]] The [[spoiler:pure black Darcia]] would count too, if not for [[spoiler:his eyes being different colors.]]
59	* An aversion occurs in ''Anime/WolfChildren'' when it's explained that traditional werewolf lore as transforming by the full moon and eating people are actually false, alluding to the fact that wolves don't actually howl at the moon and they ''very'' rarely prey on humans.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Art]]
63	* Before ''The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand'' was painted between 1879-80, artists drew horses with highly unrealistic gaits. Horses in gallop were depicted with all four limbs extended off the ground. Once the earliest cameras were invented, people discovered that there was a moment in the horse's gallop where all four limbs were off the ground... but they're tucked under the body rather than extended outwards.
64	* One very early European artistic depiction of Mauritius (by an artist who had never been there) shows a fruit bat perched in a tree, hanging BY ITS THUMBS. And no, it wasn't shown relieving itself, which is the only time you will see one holding itself in such a position. Otherwise, they either hang by their feet like any other self-respecting bat, or use both their feet and their thumbs, monkey-style. Even worse, the particular species depicted is so large and heavy that it spends much of its time on the ground.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Comic Books]]
68	* Gorilla Grodd, a supervillain from the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] who is a, shock, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin gorilla]], is frequently shown eating people, especially when Creator/GrantMorrison is writing him. Gorillas, presumably even super-intelligent telepathic gorillas mutated by aliens, are actually herbivores. But Grodd's certainly the sort to eat someone ForTheEvulz even if he'd have trouble digesting them.
69	** Creator/GeoffJohns repeatedly portrays Grodd as more sadistic than Flash's other rogues because, despite his intelligence, he's "a wild animal" and therefore inherently savage. Past writers have, more accurately, portrayed regular gorillas as {{Gentle Giant}}s and that, if anything, Grodd's intelligence allows him to ''subvert'' that nature.
70	* Bats are not rodents, something that most Franchise/{{Batman}} writers apparently don't know. It's {{lampshaded}} sometimes.
71	** Usually it's just for humor, especially when a character curses or just disses Batman.
72	*** [[Film/BatmanForever "I could write a hell of a paper on a man who dresses like a flying rodent."]]
73	*** [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries "You couldn't even handle one man dressed up like a flying mouse?!"]]
74	* ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'': Anteaters are drawn with ''two mouths''; one at the tip of the snout and another at the base. They also have large ears similar to an aardvark's.
75	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':
76	** Calvin's mother once told him not to take Hobbes into a lake the family was camping by because "tigers don't swim very well". CatsHateWater doesn't apply to tigers.
77	--->'''Hobbes:''' [[LampshadeHanging Frankly, I'm not sure your mom knows so much about tigers.]]
78	** Another strip has Calvin describing bats as bugs, simply because [[InsaneTrollLogic they fly and they're ugly and hairy]]. Typically, everyone calls him out on it.
79	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' tries to avoid CarnivoreConfusion in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals by making everyone vegetarian. The problem is that some of the animals, including Sonic himself, are actually [[VegetarianCarnivore carnivorous]].
80	* In one ''ComicBook/RulahJungleGoddess'' story, the writer seems to think that chimpanzees are baby gorillas! (Earlier, a character identifies a chimpanzee as an orangutan--a species not native to Africa--but as the character is a KnowNothingKnowItAll, this mis-identification may have been intentional.)
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Fan Works]]
84	* In ''Fanfic/NalaMyFathersMadness'', Nala is a young lioness who singlehandedly kills a wildebeest on her first hunt. It's an older, weaker wildebeest but that's still an extremely rare feat.
85	* ''Fanfic/HumbleBeginnings'' is a ''RWBY'' oneshot about Zwei but it's off when it comes to dog development. Zwei can [[NoInfantileAmnesia remember things from when he was a day old]], opens his eyes within a week of birth, and is weaned in under a month [[MissingMom without his mother around]] to wean him.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
89	* Bartok the bat, from ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', is depicted with short fingers and wings more like a flying squirrel’s than a bat’s.
90	* Fidget, a bat from ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', has fingers attached to his elbows and armpits rather than his palms (an unusually common mistake in fictional bat anatomy).
91	* Monstro from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' is a sperm whale with upper teeth and lines on his belly. Real sperm whales only have lower teeth and do not have lines on their belly. Belly lines only appear on baleen whales, and sperm whales are toothed whales. Not to mention his head is much too wide and his mouth is cavernous; real sperm whales have laterally-flattened heads with a skinny lower jaw.
92	* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'':
93	** There is a creature which is identified as an aardvark, but though it has the ears of an aardvark, it has the bushy tail of a giant anteater, and its snout is weirdly elongated to be reminiscent of an anteater (not an aardvark), but that animal would have a tiny mouth at the tip of its snout, whereas the cartoon critter has its mouth at the base.
94	** The series also has a habit of [[MisplacedWildlife playing very loose with geography]]. There are several species mixed in that are South American.
95	** The glyptodonts in the series are depicted with armor plating on their bellies and the ability to retract into their shells just like turtles. The EasterSpecial makes an implication that they lay eggs, despite being related to ''armadillos''.
96	** Sid and the other sloths walk perpetually upright and flat on their feet (sloths walk on all fours and on the sides of their feet, not unlike an anteater), their noses look more like koala noses, and their eyes are placed on the side of their heads like a ''hammerhead''.
97	** Diego and the other ''Smilodon'' are depicted as fast runners and hunting by pursuit, which are not possible for cats with muscular builds and short tails. Also, Lenny the ''Homotherium'' or scimitar cat is shown as more heavily-built than the ''Smilodon'', when it was the other way around.
98	** As usual, opossums are referred as "possums" and sleep by hanging from their tails.
99	** Fast Tony is an armadillo that has a beak and retracts into his shell like a turtle.
100	** Elks and gazelles are both depicted having a nose horn, and they share traits with each other despite deer and antelopes being from separate families. Concept art suggests they were originally going to be ''Synthetoceras'', an antelope-like ungulate known for having a nose horn. This may be a case of CallASmeerpARabbit, where they are called elk and gazelles for convenience, much like how ''Smilodon'' are sometimes simply referred to as "tigers".
101	** Similarly, the beavers have a horn on their forehead. While prehistoric rodents with horns did exist, beavers were not one of them. This may have been a mix-up with ''Ceratogaulus'', the horned '''gopher.'''
102	** The later films show the mammoths galloping, which is jarring since the first three films accurately depicted their running as simply faster walking.
103	** Gutt is a ''Gigantopithecus'' who, despite being a great ape, has claws instead of nails.
104	** Hyraxes are depicted with rodent-like incisors. Being related to elephants, hyraxes have tusks, which resemble CuteLittleFangs.
105	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'', dolphins can jump as high as Titanic decks and even fly for a short amount of time by flapping their fins. It should be obvious to anyone with any grasp of biology -- or hell, ''logic'' -- why this doesn't work.
106	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ferngully}}'': Batty's wings keep changing from one free claw with four fingers supporting the wings, to one free claw with one finger holding the wing, to three or four free claws with one finger holding the wing. Most obvious in the rap.
107	* Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book\|1967}}'' and ''Goliath II'' have elephant herds led by a male. In real life, female elephants lead herds while males are solitary.
108	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'':
109	** A family of hyenas is briefly shown laughing. Said hyenas are shown to be striped hyenas, which do not make the "laughing" sounds like their spotted cousins.
110	** During "Baby Mine", hippos are seen sleeping underwater. While this is something hippos can actually do, it's because they can hold their breath for up to five minutes and have a reflex that allows them to surface while remaining asleep. They don't stay submerged for hours and they certainly don't breathe water as shown in the film - like any other mammal, they would drown.
111	* ''[[WesternAnimation/PeterAndTheWolf2006 Peter & the Wolf]]'': At one point in this 2006 animated adaption, the wolf slashes Peter across the face with its claws. While this is not technically ''impossible,'' it is still odd for a wolf. Wolf claws are dull because they are used for traction while running and cannot be retracted. Swatting with a paw is a very cat-like action, and not something canines tend to do because they rely mainly on their jaws for fighting. Also, wolves and other canines would have difficulty slashing like that because their shoulders don't easily allow for that kind of motion.
112	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'':
113	** Tarzan's often able to win over others' sympathy through his eyes, including the gorillas. In reality, gorillas do not like direct eye contact, perceiving it as a challenge. Locking eyes with one of them is ''demanding'' a fight.
114	** A human walking on his knuckles as Tarzan does would be extremely painful, and cause severe damage to the bones in the hands. Gorillas get away with this due to thicker knuckle bones and arms longer than their legs, unlike humans. As he's spent most of his life walking on all fours, Tarzan's pretty fortunate that his back isn't wrecked as well.
115	** The alpha baboon has the colorful face of a mandrill, something real baboons lack.
116	** The female African elephants in the film are portrayed without tusks. Female Asian elephants have no tusks, but African ones do.
117	** PlayedForLaughs with Tantor's trunk, which he accurately uses as a snorkel like real elephants... and as a periscope, complete with radar noises! [[EyesDoNotBelongThere Does he have eyes inside his trunk]]? Or maybe it's just a visual representation of him sniffing?
118	** Sabor, the leopard that killed Tarzan's family when he was only an infant, is somehow still alive and dangerous when Tarzan is an 18-20 year old adult, despite the fact that leopards don't usually live past their late teens. There are exceptions, but such an elderly cat would definitely ''not'' be so insanely fast and agile. Nor would it likely have retained claim to the same territory for two decades without being displaced by a younger rival.
119	** Sabor is shown to have slitted pupils. Big cats actually have round pupils, while slit-pupils are present only in smaller cats.
120	** Albeit with great difficulty, Tarzan does manage to physically hold Kerchak back to stop him from attacking Jane. Though it is difficult to gauge their strength with any precision, a silverback male gorilla usually tips the scales at about 400 pounds and is ''many'' times strong than any human. A human attempting to take on an angry silverback in real life would literally be crushed in a heartbeat.
121	** Hippos are portrayed as docile and passive creatures, one is even shown letting young Tarzan ride on its snout. Anyone with even a faint familiarity with hippos knows that in Real Life [[HairTriggerTemper they're the]] [[TheBerserker exact opposite]]. Luckily, this is fixed in [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan the TV series]]. Hippos are also shown feeding on water plants in the daytime, something real hippos don't do.
122	** It's easy to miss, but Professor Porter refers to rhinos and baboons as ''Rhinoceros bihornius'' and ''Theropithecus babunious'' respectively, neither of which are the actual scientific names of any real life species of rhinoceros or baboon. ''Rhinoceros bicornis'' (not ''bihornius'') was the actual scientific name of the black rhinoceros during the time period the movie takes place, though (it was renamed to ''Diceros bicornis'' in 1911, with the genus ''Rhinoceros'' kept for the one-horned Asian species). ''Theropithecus'' is a legitimate genus, but it refers to the gelada, a unique baboon species living in the Ethiopian highlands rather than the tropical rainforests where the movie takes place; all other baboons belong to the genus ''Papio''.
123	** On the other hand, this is averted when Kerchak [[PrimalChestPound pounds his chest]]; he does it with open hands like real gorillas, rather than clenched fists like in most cartoons. Unfortunately, the TV series forgets this and has gorillas pound their chests with clenched fists.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound:'' During his battle with Copper, Tod is memorably shown with a very fierce snarl. Foxes can't actually make that face. When they do growl or snarl, their muzzles don't wrinkle like that. Tod's snarl is more like a dog, wolf, or coyote.
125	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'':
126	** Jenna is a red Siberian Husky. While "red" Siberian Huskies do exist, they're more of a brownish tone than a bright red. Jenna's fur invokes a RedheadsAreRavishing more than the actual colour does.
127	** Balto himself is absurdly tame and well-mannered for a feral wolf-dog. The ''real'' Balto was a normal pet dog (either a Husky or Malamute depending on the source), explaining this.
128	** In ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest'', Balto's daughter Aleu is noted as being more wolfish than even her father. Considering that she's a second generation wolf-dog (and her mother is a purebred Husky), this is very unlikely. Her fur color isn't even wolf-looking: she has brown fur and blue eyes.
129	* ''WesternAnimation/LeoTheLion'': What's ''not'' wrong with the animals in this film? Well, here are a few examples:
130	** Leo's pride shows five male lions running the pride, when real-life prides have one or two males in charge. Five male lions in charge is begging for lots of infighting for power.
131	** As lions are obligate carnivores, they can't choose to be vegetarians. Leo's body frame, which the movie tries to say is good because of a vegetarian lifestyle, is less sleek and more emaciated.
132	** Due to the way embryos are formed, it'd be impossible for baby elephants' tails to be connected at birth.
133	** Leo and Uncle Lope the antelope force a female zebra to give milk to the baby animals. She's shown to have nipples on the stomach (more like a dog or a cat) as opposed to having an udder between the legs like real-life zebras and other equines. The same can almost be said for Savannah the elephant, who nurses her calves like a mother dog or cat (her teats would be on the chest, not the stomach).
134	** Leo and Savannah's [[MixAndMatchCritters Mix-and-Match Critter]] babies. That is all.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'':
136	** Bolt is a tiny, tiny White Shepherd. At his adult size he's the same size as a house cat. He's puppy-sized, not adult-sized. Another White Shepherd is shown, and it's the same size, so it isn't just Bolt being unusually small.
137	** Mittens is a [[spoiler:declawed]] stray cat. In real cats, this involves [[spoiler:removing part of their paws]], which often leads to physical pain on top of difficulties hunting.
138	* It seems that the bulls and cows of ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}'' and its spinoff ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' are separate species. Case in point, Otis is a [[AnimalGenderBender male cow]] and one episode has a female bull. In the video game adaptation Otis squirts what the devs probably ''wish'' you thought was [[{{Squick}} milk]].
139	* Marty from ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' is treated as if he's having a HollywoodMidLifeCrisis at age ten. While it's true that wild zebras have a life expectancy of twenty-five, captive zebras have a life expectancy of ''forty''.
140	* Several works by Creator/DingoPictures prominently feature a raccoon, a squirrel, and two gophers that for some reason move like kangaroos! ''Legend of Atlantis'' had dolphins with nostrils on the base of their beaks instead of blowholes on the top of their heads. ''Balto'' had a seal with buckteeth that moves around on land.
141	* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', the HeartbeatSoundtrack at the end of the "Bright Eyes" sequence is from a ''human'' heart, not the much, ''much'' faster one of a rabbit.
142	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'':
143	** A few domesticated-looking {{Funny Animal}}s such as sheep and pigs exist in the world. However, the movie's premise is that humans never existed to produce a domesticated version of this animals. Maybe they domesticated themselves?
144	** Nangi is a female Indian elephant with visible tusks. Most female Asian elephants lack tusks, and they're only visible when the mouth is open in those who do.
145	* In ''WesternAnimation/TomSawyer2000'', Tom's skunk classmate has a clothespin near the tip of his tail, which was pointless as skunk musk actually comes from anal glands.
146	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'' has a wolf that has dew claws on its back feet, which is a trait only found in some dogs; wolves never have dew claws on their back feet. [[IncorrectAnimalNoise It also sounds like a big cat.]]
147	* ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie'': The FramingDevice of the movie starts with a family of porcupines causing the veggies' bus to crash when the mother fires her quills at one of its tires (with one of the baby porcupines nailing Bob the Tomato in the behind with a quill of its own afterward). As noted above, porcupines can't shoot their quills, which are specialized hairs and don't detach until they get stuck in an attacker. The [[InCharacterCommentaries commentary by Larry and Mr. Lunt]] actually acknowledges this, with Larry stating that the in-universe film crew had to use special effects to fire the quills.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
151	* The original ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' films have gorillas as the violent, militaristic apes. But in reality, chimps are known to be much more violent than gorillas. Probably a case of ScienceMarchesOn, as gorillas were often depicted as violent in the past. Also probably why the 2001 version had a chimp as the main antagonist. Also, the orangutans are the leaders of the ape society due to their wise looks and supposed social skills... and it's been proven they often live very far from each other (researchers might spend years seeing the same orangutan over a large area).
152	** It's funny that they make fun of the "apes mistaken for monkeys" thing in the ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'' remake, but played straight in that to make them seem more attractive, the female apes were given eyebrows, something real apes do not have, and human-sized breasts, evident when the female ape is being "sexy" for the Senator Nado.
153	* In ''Film/AceVenturaWhenNatureCalls'', Ace has a phobia of bats (one of the few animals he's not friendly with) and often calls them "rats with wings". However, this is more likely to be a derogatory term rather than an actual fact.
154	* In ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', one of [[ThoseTwoGuys the scientist twins]] who find Gizmo describes him as a rodent. Even though it's not clear ''what'' he is, a biologist examining him would be more likely to think he was some kind of non-simian primate, like a tarsier or bushbaby.
155	* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', Indy identifies the large winged creatures flying overhead as "giant vampire bats". Vampire bats are indigenous to South America, not India; given their size and the fact they're flying in broad daylight, the animals in question are almost certainly harmless fruit-eaters. Possibly Indy was just yanking Willie's chain, since giant vampire bats were real creatures, but they've been extinct for tens of millions of years.
156	* ''Film/{{Wolfen}}'' claims that wolves -- not just its urban superwolves, but ''real'' ones -- have thermographic vision.
157	* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' Rocket is frequently referred to as a rodent, which raccoons aren’t. It's justified in that it's normally said derogatorily, something which Rocket drunkenly makes clear actually hurts him immensely on Knowhere.
158	* An infamous example in ''Film/TheBeastmaster'', with the ''very'' un-ferret-like behavior and vocalizations by Kodo and Podo. Several scenes show the ferrets gnawing through ropes in a manner more typical of movie-hero rodents, and although ferrets ''do'' have vocalizations, they rarely make them outside of play or as an alarm call, and certainly don't make the squeaking sounds they're depicted making in the films. The pair of them are also identical in size, yet are shown to have produced babies at the end; real male ferrets are ''much'' larger than females.
159	* In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', Tim the Enchanter refers to the Killer Rabbit as a "bad-tempered rodent". Rabbits are ''not'' rodents!
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Literature]]
163	* ''Literature/AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture'' has the reedstilt, a hypothetical future mammal with ''seventeen'' neck vertebrae and hunts like a heron. Seven neck vertebrae are a hard limit in mammalian anatomy due to a genetic quirk that causes individuals with aberrant numbers of neck vertebrae to suffer from serious cancers, with only sloths bypassing this limit by repurposing three thoracic vertebrae to have a grand total of ten.
164	* ''Mariel of Redwall'', of the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series, mentions Gabool the Wild having gold replacements for his canine teeth. Sadly, he is a rat, and rats do not have canine teeth to begin with. Judging by the illustrations of Gabool, the author may have meant his incisors ... which would only cause ''more'' problems, as rodent incisors grow constantly from their roots and would push replacements out in a matter of weeks. Nor would gold, a soft metal, be anywhere ''near'' durable enough for a rodent's gnawing needs.
165	* In the books, movie, and Creator/{{PBS}} kids TV show, Franchise/CuriousGeorge is referred to as a monkey even though he resembles a chimpanzee. And yet, George doesn't match a chimpanzee either, standing much too erect. [[WordOfGod According to author H. A. Rey]], George's original design (as Fifi... yes, male... in ''Rafi et les 9 singes'' (Rafi and the 9 Monkeys)) had a tail. Due to art complications -- the long-necked giraffe main character plus nine monkey tails made the art "look like spaghetti" -- the tails were removed, making Fifi (and thus George) a tailless monkey. Rey did the research. He lived by the zoo. But when you're making a picture book, the art wins over accuracy. And even if George ''was'' a chimpanzee, it would still be technically accurate to call him a monkey considering modern taxonomy.
166	* In ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'', Reepicheep the talking mouse has lost his tail in battle, and he argues with Aslan over whether it needs to be regrown. Both of them seem to think a mouse's tail has no practical value, and is of use only as a badge of honor or vanity, but the tails of mice and rats are actually important thermoregulatory structures, without which he'd be quite vulnerable to heat stroke. This is more likely ScienceMarchesOn, rather than a failure on C. S. Lewis's part. Research on thermoregulation in rodents was not common knowledge in 1950-51, when the earliest reference to it was published in 1958. It makes even less sense in Reepicheep's case since wielding a sword would probably be ''much'' easier with a tail to balance with.
167	* The above mentioned tail problem does not seem to be an issue for the narrator in Roald Dahl's ''Literature/TheWitches'' [[spoiler: after he gets turned into a mouse.]] Considering that ''he swings from his tail'', it still invokes this trope. Mice do not have prehensile tails, nor can the tails support the weight of a mouse for more than a couple of seconds.
168	* According to his backstory from ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'', James Henry Trotter's parents were eaten alive by an [[RhinoRampage escaped zoo rhinoceros]]. In real life, rhinos are supposed to be ''herbivores''. Fortunately, the book lampshades this as being very strange behaviour for a rhino, and the film adaptation averts it by changing said rhino from an actual rhinoceros to a large rhinoceros-shaped demon made entirely out of thunderclouds.
169	* Kim Harrison persistently seems to think ferrets are rodents in a couple of her books about The Hollows.
170	* Averted in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Don't call the Librarian a monkey. In fact, don't even say the word, or any combination of words that could sound like "monkey". It makes him displeased. Remember "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, especially simian ones. They aren't that subtle."
171	** Granny Weatherwax once Bowdlerized a summary of Nanny Ogg's favorite song as being about "a rodent that can't be persuaded to be bothered by anything". The actual song title is "The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered at All", and hedgehogs are eulipotyphlans ("insectivorans" of traditional usage), not rodents.
172	** In ''Pyramids'', internal monologue of the camel You Bastard has him decide to start galloping away from a threat. He actually uses the word "gallop" in his train of thought, but camels physically can't do this: they just speed up their usual pacing gait - alternately moving both left or both right legs - if they're in a hurry.
173	* In ''Domain'', a horror novel about giant killer rats, one of these aggressive rodents gets stuck twice -- once by its shoulders, again by its hips -- while squeezing its body through a gnawed hole in a door. Any exterminator, or any rat-fancier who's ever tried in vain to put a collar on one, knows that real rats can fit their entire bodies through any opening large enough for their heads.
174	* Creator/ETAHoffmann describes dolphins as having ''scales'' in ''Literature/TheNutcrackerAndTheMouseKing'' and has them blowing water through their ''nostrils.'' (Dolphins have a single blowhole on the top of their head, and they don't actually blow water out through it.)
175	* The 2015 edition of ''Guinness World Records'' repeatedly calls elephants ungulates, i.e. ''hoofed mammals''. One look at [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Elephant_2012.JPG their feet]] should tell you why this isn't correct. Their closest living relatives are dugongs, manatees and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax hyraxes]], and any relation to actual hoofed mammals is far, far removed.
176	** To make things worse, it cites the African elephant as the largest ungulate. Elephants aren't ungulates, but whales ''are''.
177	* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'': Wormtail's transformation mentions his ''tail'' slipping through one of the manacles he'd been wearing in his human form. Unless he'd been wearing the manacles clamped around his coccyx, his tail had no business being inside one in the first place.
178	* Rick Riordan referred to weasels as rodents in ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus: The House of Hades''.
179	* In ''Literature/ANightInTheLonesomeOctober'', the bat Needle eats three grapes and a plum without his stomach exploding. The largest bat species in Europe is only ''half'' the size of a plum, and it's a bird-eating carnivore.
180	** [[spoiler: Bubo, being a ''pack'' rat, has no business [[MisplacedWildlife being in England]] or scavenging the Good Doctor's research leavings. Pack rats are North American, and herbivorous.]]
181	* ''People Of The Wolf'': Elephants do not keep harems, and there is no reason to assume mammoths were any different. Living elephants segregate by sex: females live in herds with their immature offspring, and males are mostly solitary, though sometimes they associate with other males. As mammoths are such close kin of Asian elephants (roughly 99 percent genetically identical) there is no reason to depict them living like horses instead of like their living relatives.
182	* Among other inaccuracies and instances of ScienceMarchesOn, ''Literature/MobyDick'' has a substantial section in which the narrator tries to argue that whales ''aren't'' mammals and that anyone who thinks they are is delusional. The extent to which this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek--if at all--is left for the reader to decide.
183	* Jan Brett's children's book ''Honey... Honey... Lion!'' utilizes the apocryphal myth ([[StockAnimalFacts commonly depicted as fact in older sources]]) that honeyguide birds lead honey badgers to bee hives.
184	%%* Holo of ''Literature/SpiceAndWolf'' has completely light brown hair ([[MorphicResonance in both wolf and humanoid form]]), as do the non-magical wolves she associates with.
185	* ''Literature/{{Survivor\|Dogs}}s'':
186	** Realistically, a lot of the dogs should have a tougher time surviving in the wild than depicted. Sweet, for example, is a Greyhound. Due to their low body fat, they're known for getting injured very easily and getting cold very easily. Sweet still fares perfectly well in cold forest environments and is powerful enough to quickly become a Beta [[spoiler:and then later become an Alpha]]. Alfie is also pretty athletic for a British Bulldog. He's never shown any difficulty keeping up with the other dogs. Bulldogs in general are known for only being able to run in spurts due to breathing issues.
187	** Dogs are depicted as monogamous, unlike real dogs. This is accurate for the wolf characters, however dogs aren't monogamous like Grey Wolves are.
188	** Dogs follow the [[AlphaAndBetaWolves outdated pack hierarchy system]]. Alphas are the leaders, betas are the second-in command, omegas are the lowest of the caste, everything is decided with fighting, etc. This system is considered inaccurate to how wolf packs actually work. It's fine for the protagonists as they're unrelated dogs, but Alpha implies ''all'' packs should be like this.
189	** The dogs do not like scavenging on waste left by longpaws, finding it [[ScavengersAreScum demeaning]] and unsuitable for wild dogs. However, real feral dogs ''do'' scavenge a lot (possibly more than they hunt). Real feral and stray dogs are also awfully clumsy hunters compared to wolves, but the dogs in ''Survivors'' are much more effective.
190	** The characters form packs like wolves. Studies have indicated that domestic dogs don't do this. They scavenge (or hunt) smaller prey either individually or in parallel from one another.
191	** [[spoiler:Sweet]] has a lengthy screaming birth. Dog births are usually much easier and less painful than human births.
192	** The Fierce Dogs are vicious but dimwitted dogs. In real life, Dobermanns are a notoriously intelligent breed. They're, in fact, considered one of the ''smartest'' dog breeds. The Fierce Dogs are also naturally blood-thirsty, with even the WhiteSheep Storm being [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior unusually violent for a pup]]. Dobermanns (especially American ones) aren't nearly as dog aggressive as the AngryGuardDog trope makes them seem.
193	** Alfie is a "small" dog that is so fragile he's [[spoiler:killed with one hit of Alpha's (a German Shepherd/wolf hybrid) paw]]. Alfie is a Bulldog, which are on average 18-23 kg (40-50 lb).
194	** Foxes are described as living in "packs" and having "cubs". A group of foxes is actually a "skulk" or "leash" while the most common term for a young fox is a "kit". This could all be chalked up to dogs using their terminology on foxes, except that there's a fox kit named "Cub Fire".
195	* ''Literature/{{Seeker\|Bears}}s'': "She-bear" is not an actual term for female bears. Female bears are called "sows".
196	* ''Literature/{{Bravelands}}'':
197	** Baboons are referred to as having "claws". In reality, baboons have nails like humans.
198	** In the books, baboons have the ability to create rudimentary tools. In real life, chimpanzees have shown this ability, but not baboons.
199	** Zigzagged with the way lions taking over prides is presented. It ''is'' mentioned that lions usually kill the previous cubs of the pride. Titan attempts this but ultimately decides to let Valor live.
200	* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'':
201	** Spayed and neutered cats become chubby and {{lazy\|NeuteredPet}}. It's also shown that tomcats become [[DudeLooksLikeALady almost indistinguishable from females]] after being neutered. In real life, neutering making cats lazy is a myth and cats don't have any issues distinguishing between neutered and intact males.
202	** Due to ScienceMarchesOn, some of the cat's behavior is inaccurate. For example, cats are actually more social than was assumed in the 1980s.
203	* None of the city cats in ''Literature/VarjakPaw'' can hunt for food. Pigeons are too fast for them, so they scavenge off of human scraps instead. This is unlikely for cats. At least some of them should be able to hunt.
204	* In the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' novels, shrews are repeatedly referred to as rodents. At the time the books were written, they were considered members of the now-defunct Insectivore order (they've since been [[ScienceMarchesOn moved to a new order, Eulipotyphla]]).
205	* ''Literature/GuardianCatsAndTheLostBooksOfAlexandria'':
206	** Polo, a ferret, has a SweetTooth. Ferrets are obligate carnivores who can't taste sweetness.
207	** Bait is a purebred Russian Blue who has won several awards at cat shows. His eyes, however, are the wrong colour. He has yellow eyes, which are considered a flaw in show cats. Show Russian Blues ''must'' have green eyes.
208	* In Creator/RoaldDahl's ''The Enormous Crocodile'', the titular crocodile survives a charge from Humpy Rumpy the hippopotamus because "crocodiles are tough that even a hippopotamus couldn't hurt them". In reality, hippopotamuses are much bigger and stronger than Nile crocodiles, their powerful jaws capable of chopping the reptiles in half.
209	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Time Paradox'' mistakenly refers to a gorilla as ''Troglodytes gorilla''. Gorillas ''were'' very briefly put in the genus ''Troglodytes'' (also containing chimpanzees); however, when the novel came out, they had been categorized their own genus, ''Gorilla'', for over 170 years.
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
213	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the episode "[[Recap/AngelS02E21ThroughTheLookingGlass Through the Looking Glass]]", the gang is discussing the picture of a male red deer. Had Wesley simply used the term "hart" or "stag" in the layman fashion (to refer to any male red deer regardless of its age), it might not have been accurate, but it wouldn't have been comment-worthy. Unfortunately, he goes into detail saying a hart is "a male red deer or staggard" indicating the scriptwriters may have attempted to research the proper naming convention that exists for male red deer (that or they thought a "stag" and "staggard" meant the same thing). A staggard is a male red deer in its fourth year of life. A stag is a male red deer in its fifth year of life. A hart is a male red deer over five years old (i.e., in its sixth year of life). The picture itself shows a 10-point deer (5 tines on each antler) which is a "great hart" (a stag over six years old, i.e., seven years old or older with 10-16 tines). By using generalised layman terms, it all could have been handwaved as an ordinary conversation or at least the "hart" being a contraction of "great hart" where the picture itself was concerned. The attempt to be clever by referring to "staggard" simply exposed that the writers had been sloppy about research.
214	* In a few episodes of ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'', Treelo, a lemur, is mistakenly referred to as a monkey (in one case, Treelo refers to his own reflection as a monkey). Lemurs, while looking similar to monkeys, are not a type of monkey and instead belong to a different suborder of primates.
215	* In one episode of ''Series/{{QI}}'', Jimmy Carr claims that all native Australian mammals are marsupials, and Steven "corrects" him that they are therefore not mammals. Both are wrong -- marsupials are indeed a subgroup of mammals, and there are plenty of species from the other two subgroups (monotremes and placental mammals) that are native to Australia.
216	* The ''Series/SesameStreet'' segment [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=BZSfTwfl0-4 "African Animal Alphabet"]] states that "C is for cheetah running underneath the moon". Cheetahs are diurnal.
217	* An episode of the Animal Planet series ''Pets 101'' claimed that kinkajous are marsupials, when they're actually members of the raccoon family.
218	* The ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S02E10KingDinosaur King Dinosaur]]" has Joel and the 'Bots mistaking a kinkajou for a lemur. Kevin Murphy acknowledges this in ''The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide'':
219	-->The "Joey the Lemur" song is fraught with peril... the lemur in the film isn't a lemur at all, but a kinkajou, a nasty little racoonlike critter from the South American rain forest. Two of our fans were kind enough to write in and gently correct us. Bob and Jane, thank you. We are now filled with deep shame. I hope you're satisfied.
220	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in the ''Series/ModernFamily'' episode "Truth Be Told". To cover up his role in the death of his turtle, Jay tells Manny that a raccoon killed him. Manny counters this by noting aspects of his story that are inconsistent with raccoon biology.
221	* The Creator/AnimalPlanet show ''Series/BreedAllAboutIt'' teaches about different breeds of dogs. Despite this, not all their facts are correct. For example, they mentioned that English Bulldogs were bred so wrinkly to help keep blood out of their eyes during bull-fighting. This is incorrect as Bulldogs in the 1800s were less wrinkly and had longer muzzles.
222	* In the fifth episode of ''Series/ShadowAndBone'', Kaz's "lynx flush" strategy is named so because according to him, lynxes are pack hunters who will clear a path for the prey. In real life, while lynxes sometimes hunt in packs, they are usually solitary animals. It is a cool name, though.
223	[[/folder]]
224
225	[[folder:Music]]
226	* The otherwise, accurate ''Music/TheyMightBeGiants'' song, "Mammal", which explains the common traits of various mammals, as well as lists several different examples... that is until they list koala "bears", which are actually marsupials, not bears.
227	* In "Füchse", the Music/{{Beginner}} and Music/SamyDeluxe compare themselves to a pack of foxes. [[LampshadeHanging The album/video version ends with a caller pointing out that foxes aren't pack animals.]]
228	* In "Gorilla", Music/BrunoMars compares his sexual performance to that of, well, a gorilla. If his partner was more familiar with the animal, she would likely find such claims less than impressive, as a male gorilla's penis is only about [[TeenyWeenie 1.25 inches long]], one of the smallest in the animal kingdom compared to their overall size.
229	[[/folder]]
230
231	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
232	* The ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' darklord Urik von Kharkov, a panther-form shapeshifter, is described as acquiring slitted pupils like a cat's when he loses his temper. But Kharkov's feline form is a leopard, one of the ''big'' cats, and their pupils are oval rather than slitted.
233	[[/folder]]
234
235	[[folder:Toys]]
236	* ''Toys/BeanieBabies'':
237	** A weasel-like Beanie Baby named Runner has Mustelidae officially listed as its species. The "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20041101105508/www.aboutbeanies.com/display.cgi?bn=00576 mean poem]]" that the toy was originally released with all but stated that it was a mongoose, while the replacement poem said that it could be "a ferret, mongoose, weasel or mink." Although the other three species are legitimately mustelids, mongoose are kind of on their own classification-wise, and are actually more closely related to felines and hyenas than anything else.
238	** Seaweed the Otter is depicted with seaweed in her paws, as if she were eating it. Sea otters eat largely eat marine invertebrates and fish. While sea otters do sometimes wrap themselves in seaweed, the purpose is to anchor themselves while they sleep.
239	* ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'': The Barbie Newborn Pups toy has a dog who gives birth to puppies via pushing down on her legs. Except that the puppies are "born" by falling straight down from her abdomen rather than coming out from under her tail, where a dog's vaginal opening actually is.
240	[[/folder]]
241
242	[[folder:Video Games]]
243	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' had inaccurate animations for certain mounts, including horses that run like cheetahs (with legs outstretched in the suspension phase rather than collected), and galloping elephants and mammoths (which, given their huge size and weight, would cripple their kneecaps if they did this in real life). These animations have since been replaced with more accurate ones.
244	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'':
245	** Diddy Kong is often called a chimpanzee (and, in some instances, referred to as Donkey Kong's nephew), even though he has a tail.
246	** In fact, the Kongs themselves. Having the same last name implies they're more or less related, despite them being very different species of apes and monkeys. Cross-species adoption, maybe?
247	** Worse, Cranky Kong is explicitly the original DK from the arcade game. He was a gorilla then. He's currently somewhere between Chimp and Baboon, with a demonstrably different bone structure, body shape, set of limb proportions, and cranial shape. MiniatureSeniorCitizens as applied to non-human primates?
248	** For that matter, they're nearly all colored brown, one color non-human apes DON'T come in.
249	* Clanker from ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' is claimed to be a metal whale [[note]]He has a blowhole.[[/note]] despite the fact that he has gills. His teeth also make him look like a shark.
250	* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape'': Pretty much okay as a title for the game, yet everyone seems to call the titular primates monkeys. This is a case of LostInTranslation, as the original title was "saru getchu"; Saru meaning monkey. Although this becomes a case of AccidentallyCorrectWriting, when you realize apes are technically monkeys or simians.
251	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
252	** Knuckles looks nothing like an echidna. Not even remotely. Few ''Sonic'' characters resemble the animals they are based on, with Tails being the closest to looking like an actual fox (barring the [[HeliCritter two tails]], of course).
253	** The [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Western]] [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM cartoons]] also had Dr. Robotnik derisively call Sonic a "rodent", which hedgehogs are not.
254	** Several countries mistranslated "hedgehog" as "porcupine" (though, ironically, Sonic being a porcupine would make Robotnik's "rodent" assessment accurate).
255	** Sonic's inability to swim was due to Creator/{{Sega}} thinking real hedgehogs couldn't swim, when they actually can.
256	** Sonic's favourite food is chili dogs, which are mentioned in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' as being quite spicy. Humans are the only mammals who willingly eat spicy foods, as spiciness is supposed to be a ''deterrent'' that plants use to stop mammals from eating them. Capsaicin is not an irritant to non-mammals, and birds are known to be fond of peppers.
257	** Sonic's best friend is a fox. In real life, foxes eat hedgehogs.
258	** Even ignoring the biological impossibility of a fox being born with two tails, there is no way, anatomically speaking, that Tails should be able to spin his tails like a propeller to lift himself into the air the way that he does - spinning both tails in the opposite direction, which would just result in them getting twisted together. And even if he did spin them in the same direction, it's very unlikely he'd be able to spin them fast enough to actually provide enough lift to get his body off the ground.
259	** In ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', a RunningGag is Chip offering chocolate to whomever he meets. This includes Tails (a fox) and a phoenix (a giant bird). Chocolate is very bad for animals. Notably, Sonic is also able to consume chocolate, ice cream, and other things that would make a real hedgehog very sick, if not outright kill them.
260	* In ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'', writing "monotreme" gives you a porcupine (not an echidna, an actual porcupine).
261	* ''VideoGame/FarCry3'':
262	** Tapirs can be killed by chasing them into water so they drown (even though real tapirs take to the water to escape predators). Not to mention they are referred to as "Asian tapirs", when they have the coloring of a Baird's tapir (native to South America). Interestingly, the game also has a Malayan tapir, but it's referred to as a "white-bellied tapir" and is regarded as an alternative skin coloring.
263	** White tigers are portrayed with yellow eyes, despite having blue eyes in real life. This mistake is fixed in ''VideoGame/FarCry4''.
264	* In ''Labyrinths of the World: Shattered Soul'' a hedgehog, once fed, curls up and ''rolls away like a soccer ball''.
265	* ''VideoGame/TheMagicSchoolBus Explores the World of Animals'':
266	** A springhare is portrayed as a rabbit, despite being correctly described as resembling a cross between a mouse and a kangaroo.
267	** The game states jaguars do not roar, when they do in real life (and are shown doing so in the game). It also states jaguars are preyed on by anacondas, which is somewhat true, but jaguars are just as likely to prey on anacondas in real life.
268	* The in-game databank of ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' erroneously refers to hares as rodents (they're actually lagomorphs).
269	** Amaterasu is clearly a female wolf, yet one joke attack, Golden Fury, has her peeing on her enemies with one raised leg like a male canine.
270	* ''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'':
271	** ''Nintendogs + Cats'' each breed comes in multiple colours, however in real life many of the breeds have very few, if any, varying patterns according to Breed Standards. This means several dogs have fake fur colours, such as Malteses with spots.
272	** You can feed the dogs and cats milk. This would result in diarrhea for actual weaned pets.
273	* The life sim ''VideoGame/WolfDOS'' uses the [[AlphaAndBetaWolves outdated wolf hierarchy system]]. This was known to be outdated even at the time of release.
274	* ''VideoGame/TokyoJungle:''
275	** Omnivores do not exist. All animals are classified as either carnivores or herbivores, including the human JokeCharacter, which is classified as a herbivore [[FridgeLogic (apparently he's a strict vegan even when struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world crawling with dangerous animals?)]] This is [[JustifiedTrope necessary]] for balance reasons, as the game would be less challenging if the player had access to all sources of food, and it would make people even less likely to play as herbivores, which already fall under ScrappyMechanic for a lot of people.
276	** Wolves and hyenas frequently bark and howl. Real wolves ''do'' bark, but only rarely and it's a warning call instead of the aggressive, dog-like way it's portrayed in the game. [[IncorrectAnimalNoise Hyenas do not bark or howl]] as they are not even canines (they belong to their own group, which is slightly more related to cat family compared to the dog family.) These are both common mistakes.
277	** The hyenas are led by males (and you can only play as a male), which is odd because in real-life female hyenas are larger and more aggressive than males, and dominate them to the point female ''cubs'' outrank the highest ranking males. Hyenas are infamous for all this.
278	** The cheetah, while one of the fastest animals in-game, is still nowhere near as fast as its real counterpart, which is by far the fastest land animal. It's difficult to catch up to some of the herbivores in the game. It's speed is intended to be represented stylistically in gameplay by having a very high stamina stat, which can be used to spam the dodge command to get across areas faster, but real cheetahs have very poor stamina. This is all probably also for balance reasons.
279	** The panther is basically just a black cheetah reskin with some minor stat differences. It's portrayed as equally fast as the cheetah with a comparable amount of stamina. Obviously, real panthers (which are black jaguars or leopards) are nowhere near as fast as a cheetah.
280	** Rabbits scream when killed. This is disturbingly enough, [[SubvertedTrope actually]] something [[RealityIsUnrealistic real rabbits sometimes do,]] despite being thought to be always silent.
281	* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'': In [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Atlantica]], there is a dolphin with vertical tail flukes like a fish.
282	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': All Pokémon capable of breeding lay eggs, even those based on mammals. In real life, most mammals bear live young, except for the monotremes. This is likely done to avoid teaching children the truth about mammalian reproduction before they are ready. Nevertheless, many fan works depict these Pokémon bearing live young like most of their real-life counterparts. And considering that things like ''sentient rocks'' and ''possessed dolls'' and ''walking trees'' also hatch from eggs, mammals coming from eggs is one of the ''less'' weird examples.
283	* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' has Zoh Daimaoh, an elephant with a trunk that seemingly serves as his mouth, as no separate mouth is visible on his body.
284	[[/folder]]
285
286	[[folder:Webcomics]]
287	* In ''Webcomic/OffWhite'', a conversation between Othala and Raigho suggests that a female wolf leading a pack is unusual. In reality, wolf packs are a nuclear family structure, and having the eldest female parent lead a pack is not at all unusual.
288	** The pack is shown hunting a bull elk. This is (possible but) unlikely because wolves, like most predators, usually target the sick, the young, the weak and anything else less hard to catch than a healthy adult animal.
289	** There are a blue-eyed and a red-eyed raven, and Iki, a wolf, has blue eyes, mostly[[note]] young wolves have blue eyes, but they change color as they get older[[/note]] unnatural colors for those animals. This is intentional, it indicates the color of their spirits.
290	* ''ComicBook/TheBlackbloodAlliance'':
291	** Most of the wolves have body proportions that look too thin for gray wolves, let alone dire wolves.
292	** Also, a real Saber-toothed cat probably would have broken its sabers off if it tried to use them the way the ones in the comic do.
293	** The Blackbloods being able to survive on bats in an oasis in the desert may qualify as this.
294	[[/folder]]
295
296	[[folder:Web Original]]
297	* The flash clip ''[[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/dugong/ Dugong]]'' begins with words 'Dugong, dugong it's a cow of the se-e-e-a. Dugong, dugong, also known as the manatee'. The problem is that dugong (''Dugong dugong'') and manatees (genus ''Trichechus'') are different animals. Furthermore, the song contains the phrase "Compared to dolphin, its very close cousin...". Dugong and dolphins are water mammals, but hardly 'very close cousins'. Manatees and dugongs (Sirenia) are more closely related to elephants and aardvarks than to dolphins, while cetaceans are closer to hippopotamuses and swine.
298	* The "Dramatic Chipmunk" is actually a prairie dog.
299	** Similarly, the "Dramatic Lemur" is a tarsier, and there are many popular Youtube videos of pet lorises (a concept that is already questionable for unrelated [[http://www.internationalanimalrescue.org/projects/25/Saving+the+slow+loris.html reasons]]) with titles like "cute lemur getting tickled".
300	* ''[[http://notalwaysright.com/somebody-took-an-evolutionary-detour/16854 This customer]]'' from Website/NotAlwaysRight, who believes that chickens are mammals because they "have meat."
301	* The short film ''WebAnimation/DreamComeTrue (A Mule Mom's Story)'' has a "coyote" that is clearly a wolf that just sounds like a coyote. It also has a Golden Pheasant who looks like a chicken.
302	[[/folder]]
303
304	[[folder:Western Animation]]
305	* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'': The first sign of Kipo's nature as a human/mutant hybrid is when she develops vertically slitted pupils. However, he mutant form is a jaguar -- and jaguars, like all big cats, have oval pupils, not slitted ones.
306	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
307	** In one episode, someone pitches ideas for an "inaction figure" based on Perry the Platypus, one of which is "The Mad Marauding Marsupial of Death." Right continent, wrong kind of mammal. The platypus is a monotreme, not a marsupial. Ferb also once stated that the platypus is the only mammal that lays eggs; this is inaccurate, as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna Echidna]] also lays eggs.
308	** In another, Candace calls Perry Phineas's stupid ''rodent'' pet. Rodents have teeth, while platypuses do not -- among innumerable other differences. Granted, this one can probably be chalked up to merely being an insult.
309	** Perry is also occasionally depicted as having a full set of teeth. Baby platypus do have teeth and extinct platypus species had molars, and living adult platypi lack them. This could probably be chalked up to anthropomorphism.
310	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In one episode, when Bobby gets a summer job for a guy who cleans poop off lawns, he and his employer gross out his folks by describing an incident at work: their discovery of deposits of gigantic turds, scattered all over an estate's grounds. Turns out it was alpaca poo, as a neighbor's damaged fence had let a whole herd go trespassing ... and it also turns out that the writers chose the worst possible animal to blame it on, as alpacas produce lots of tiny "beans" of dung, and herds of them do so all in one place. Obscure, but a single phone call to a petting zoo could've rectified this one.
311	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron Stoppable has a pet naked mole rat named Rufus that he carries around with him. This would be incredibly difficult in real life as, despite being mammals, naked mole rats are eusocial and cold-blooded, relying on the warmth of their colony or the coolness of their inner dens to regulate body temperature. Rufus is also shown eating cheese, but real naked mole rats eat potatoes and yams (multiple times, as they even eat their own poop to re-digest them).
312	* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' with a RunningGag. On occasion, Salem would mention not having thumbs due to being turned into a cat. Technically, cats have something called a dewclaw, which bears some resemblance to a thumb.
313	* Fu-Fu the bat, from ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'', has three fingers hands where her thumbs should be (in real life, a bat’s wings ''are'' their hands, so Fu-Fu essentially has four hands despite being a normal bat).
314	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSnorks'': One episode has what's clearly a baleen whale referred to as a killer whale, which is also shown trying to eat a baby whale like a killer whale would, despite its lack of teeth.
315	* ''WesternAnimation/ImAnAnimal'': One episode has a black rhino with only one horn and a white rhino that was actually white.
316	* ''WesternAnimation/DinoSquad'': One episode has a baby gorilla with a ''[[InexplicablyTailless tail.]]''
317	* ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'': In the animated series, all the rabbits have pads on the bottoms of their paws.
318	* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'': Episode 7 has a scene with a fox hunting a rabbit. The fox makes noises that are probably stock dog noises, and the rabbit ''squeaks'' like a rodent.
319	* ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'': One episode features a possum making rodent noises.
320	* [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Elmer Fudd]], an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', and [[WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers Mr. Whiskers]] erroneously call rabbits rodents.
321	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOldManOfTheMountain'': The animal at the beginning, which is apparently a mountain lion, has a mane. Unlike lions (which are a different species), mountain lions do not have manes. This may or may not have been intended as a VisualPun.
322	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
323	** Tigers are constantly portrayed as being only orange with black stripes, lacking the white on their muzzles, cheeks, paws, and undersides. "Luca$", however, showed a tiger with realistic colors and patterns.
324	** The koalas in "Eight Misbehavin'" are shown devouring the carcass of an antelope without ill effects, even though koalas can only ingest gum (or eucalyptus) leaves. They are also drawn with only one thumb instead of two, though that may be because everyone has FourFingeredHands.
325	** In "Bonfire of the Manatees", Caleb claims manatees and dugongs are the same animal, when they aren't (though they ''are'' both sirenians aka sea cows). Manatees are also portrayed being able climb onto dry land like seals, whereas they are purely aquatic dwellers.
326	** In the third act of "Treehouse of Horror XI", dolphins have no trouble moving on land (by TailfinWalking) and are not worried about dehydration or sunburn. Plus there's the whole "dolphins used to live on land until humans banished them into the ocean where they suffered for millions of years" thing.[[note]]While ancestors of dolphins and other cetaceans did live on land, they were still hoofed quadrupeds then and they gradually evolved for sealife. By the time the first humans appeared, cetaceans have already become sea creatures.[[/note]] Of course, the Treehouse of Horror episodes [[BizarroEpisode aren't known for realism]] anyways. They did throw in a bit of accuracy by having King Snorky's mouth not sync when he speaks, referencing to the fact dolphins use their blowholes for communication since they cannot breathe through their mouths.
327	** "Simpson Safari" has a rhino hatching from an egg, a giraffe living underground, and a hippo being afraid of water. All of which are PlayedForLaughs and lampshaded by Lisa.
328	** Rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks are frequently drawn with button noses and vaguely human-like faces, though exceptions have occurred.
329	** Bighorn sheep and elks are drawn with noses more like a dog's than in real life.
330	** Beavers are drawn with white incisors, although the one in "D'oh Canada" is more accurately drawn with yellowish incisors.
331	** The guinea pigs in "The War of Art" hardly look like real guinea pigs, which is jarring considering "Brother's Little Helper" showed guinea pigs that looked accurate.
332	** "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" had an Asian elephant with visible tusks referred to as female. Unlike the African elephant, where males ''and'' females will have tusks (though the males' are bigger), in Asian elephants, the males tend to have the iconic tusks while females usually lack them. In the rare cases females ''do'' have tusks, they're called tushes, and are only visible when the female opens her mouth.
333	** In "Bart Gets Hit By a Car", Mr. Burns has a rhinoceros trophy which he describes as "the last Indonesian rhino on Earth". Not only there is no species called an Indonesian rhino in real life, but Indonesia actually has two kinds of rhinos, the Javan rhino and the Sumatran rhino (both still extant, but critically endangered). Also, the trophy looks more an African species of rhino than any of the Indonesian species.
334	** In "Mr. Lisa's Opus", an adult Lisa claims that rhinos are extinct, alluding to the fact that rhinos are (were?) endangered. This is a bit of a stretch considering there are some rhino species which populations have been recently increasing. At least the southern white rhinoceros, the south-western black rhinoceros, and the Indian rhinoceros would still be extant in Lisa's adult years.
335	** "Bart's Comet" has this line:
336	--->'''Selma:''' There are no lady goats! A lady goat is a sheep.
337	** In "Worst Episode Ever", Bart and Milhouse watch a police tape. In the video, Flanders turns in Homer for releasing a radioactive ape into his house. The ape makes an appearance at the end of the episode, and it looks like a baboon (which are monkeys, not apes).
338	** Averted in "Homer's Phobia", which showed reindeer that actually look like reindeer for once.
339	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Sandy Cheeks has a pink cat-like nose and protruding incisors, none of which are real life features of squirrels. She also hibernates during the winter like a ground squirrel, despite being meant to be a tree squirrel.
340	* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' had at least one episode where Yin and/or Yang throw up. However, since Yin and Yang are rabbits, they shouldn't be able to vomit.
341	* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': Lance is able to milk the cow he and he fellow Paladins got from the shopping mall in the far reaches of the universe, despite it [[ConstantlyLactatingCow very likely having no mate or offspring.]]
342	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'': Pajuna the Highland cow provides milk to her customers at her bar [[ConstantlyLactatingCow despite having no husband or children]].
343	* ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale'': The titular chipmunks both have dog-like noses and short deer-like tails, something real chipmunks do not have.
344	* ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle2007'': One episode has a rhinoceros skeleton with the horns still intact as if they were bones. A rhino's horn is made up of keratin, so when the animal dies it would have rotted away with the flesh if not quicker.
345	* ''WesternAnimation/WildAnimalBabyExplorers'': Sammy the skunk often lets loose with a spray when upset about something. This is treated as being a minor thing at most, rather than the big stink it ought to be.
346	* ''WesternAnimation/AnnabellesWish'' depicts reindeer with button noses instead of moose-like snouts that they have in real life.
347	* ''WesternAnimation/YakkityYak'': The titular character is depicted with moose-like antlers rather than the horns real yaks possess.
348	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'' depicts humpback whales with teeth instead of baleens.
349	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'':
350	** Norbert and Daggett hardly resemble actual beavers, which is frequently lampshaded throughout the show. They still have white incisors and actually eat wood stereotypical of cartoon beavers.
351	** "Moby Dopes" has an orca that eats humans, something real orcas don't do.
352	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
353	** The episode "No Meals on Wheels" has a short scene with Stewie tampering with a customer's food by getting a rat drunk, causing it to vomit on the food. The problem is that rats are physically incapable of vomiting.
354	** One CutawayGag perpetrates the myth that spotted hyenas are scavengers, with the one shown in the gag even claiming he's not a capable hunter.
355	** "To Love and Die in Dixie" has Meg refer to raccoons as rodents. They are carnivorans.
356	* ''WesternAnimation/WabbitALooneyTunesProduction'': Parodied in the segment "Bugs Bunny?", where Bugs gets rejected by a colony of more accurate-looking rabbits because he doesn't act or look like them.
357	* In one ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch where Bugs Bunny is going to have a rap battle with Elmer, Daffy informs a rehearsing Bugs that he's next. As a result, Bugs {{Stress Vomit}}s. However, rabbits don't vomit in real life.
358	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying