History Main / FantasticFaunaCounterpart

** The Dimetrodon are heavily modelled off alligators in the sense that they are large, powerful, semi-aquatic predators with powerful crushing bites who build large nest mounds out of rotting vegetation. Like Komodo dragons, they are venomous and have arboreal juveniles and have mating displays modelled on anole lizards (with a sail replacing the dewlap). This was deliberate as [[WordOfGod one of the authors]] states that he dislikes excessively mammalian portrayals of basal synapsids.

** Being swamp-dwelling, mostly carrion-eaters who are [[PiranhaProblem prone to swarming]], the Crassygrinus are basically human-sized temnyspondyl equivalents of piranhas.

** Large ceratopsids live in large herds consisting of a core group of related females, accompanied by multiple males with a linear dominance hierarchy, who use their horns in fighting for dominance, like buffalo. Conversely, smaller ceratopsians are cantankerous, digging omnivores, similar to warthogs.

** Ceratosaurids - living in female-dominated, competitive groups - are based on spotted hyenas.

** Being swamp-dwelling mostly carrion-eaters who are [[PiranhaProblem prone to swarming]], the Crassygrinus are basically human-sized temnyspondyl equivalents of piranhas.

** Dromaeosaurids display a mixture of behavioural traits from canids and birds of prey, with (roughly) larger species being more social than smaller ones.
*** The dromaeosaurus, being pack hunters that live in a nuclear family structure consisting of a single breeding pair and their offspring, are modelled off wolves.

** Troodontids, meanwhile, are the counterparts to foxes and other small canids, being smaller, less social and less predatory than the dromaeosaurs.

** The Dimetrodon are heavily modelled off alligators in the sense that they are large, powerful, semi-aquatic predators with powerful crushing bites who build large nest mounds out of rotting vegetation. Like Komodo dragons, they are venomous and have arboreal juveniles and have mating displays modelled on anole lizards (with a sail replacing the dewlap). This was deliberate as [[WordOfGod one of the authors]]] states that he dislikes excessively mammalian portrayals of basal synapsids.

** ''Titanicthys'', conversely, behave rather like basking sharks and baleen whales, being large, fairly placid filter-feeders. The anomalocariids they feed on, being small crustacean-like creatures that gather in great shoals, are equivalents fo shrimp and krill.

** Being swamp-dwelling mostly carrion-eaters who are [[PirahnaProblem prone to swarming]], the Crassygrinus are basically human-sized temnyspondyl equivalents of piranhas.

** Large ceratopsids live in large herds consisting of a core group of related females, accompanied by multiple males with a linear dominance hierarchy, who use their horns in fighting, like buffalo. Conversely, smaller ceratopsians are cantankerous, digging omnivores, similar to warthogs.
** Edmontosaurs form multigenerafional herds led by a matriarch and consisting of a group of related females and their offspring of both sexes, with males either being solitary or forming small bachelor herds, like elephants.

** Troodontids, meanwhile, are the counterparts to foxes and other small canids, being smaller, more secretive, less social and less predatory than the dromaeosaurs.

** The more terrestrial sphenacodonts, conversely, are modelled behaviour-wise on monitor lizards, such as Komodo dragons - lampshaded by Jack in "South of Heaven".
** Being swamp-dwelling mostly carrion-eaters who are [[PirahnaProblem prone to swarming]], the Crassygrinus are basically human-sized temnyspondyl equivalents to piranhas.

** Edmontosaurs form multigenerafional herds led by a matriarch and consisting of a group of related females and their offspring of both sexes, like elephants.

** Dromaeosaurids display a mixture of behavioural traits from canids and birds of prey.

** Troodontids, conversely, are the counterparts to foxes and other small canids, being smaller, more secretive, less social and less predatory than the dromaeosaurs.

** The Dimetrodon are heavily modelled off alligators in the sense that they are large, powerful, semi-aquatic predators with powerful crushing bites who build large nest mounds out of rotting vegetation. Like Komodo dragons, they are venomous and have arboreal juveniles and have mating displays modelled on anole lizards (with a sail replacing the dewlap).

* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined'': Many of the prehistoric animals take on behaviours, environmental roles, and niches similar to many modern day animals with several larger herbivorous dinosaurs taking on roles similar to elephants and rhinos, dromaeosaurs and other raptors behaving similarly to jackals and wolves, the smilodon populator behaving a lot like lions, some prehistoric carnivorous fish like ''Dunkleosteus'' and ''Onychodus'' behaving similarly to sharks and eels, and even temnospondyls and pelycosaurs behaving similarly to crocodilians and monitor lizards.
** Large ceratopsids live in large herds consisting of a core group of related females, accompanied by multiple males with a linear dominance hierarchy, who use their horns in fighting, like buffalo. Conversely, smaller ceratopsians are cantankerous, digging omnivores, similar to warthogs.

** Ornithomimids form large creches like ducks and penguins. Unlike those species, females mate promiscuously.

*** The dromaeosaurus, being pack hunters with a family structure consisting of a single breeding pair and their offspring are modelled off wolves.
*** The Velociraptors, conversely, take a lot more behavioural cues from coyotes.

** The Dimetrodon. large, semi-aquatic predators with powerful bites, are heavily modelled off alligators. Like Komodo dragons, they are venomous and have arboreal juveniles and make push-up displays like anole lizards (with a sail replacing the dewlap).
** In "Devils of the Deep", many of the creatures of the Gogo Reef look and behave rather like modern reef animals. In particular, the ''Onychodus'', being an ambush predator that lives in a coral reef, is rather like a moray eel,
** ''Dunkleosteus'' and other large carnivorous placoderms behave rather like great whites and other predatory sharks, with the first even being called "the great white of the Devonian". ''Titanicthys'', conversely, behave rather like basking sharks and baleen whales, being large, fairly placid filter-feeders. The anomalocariids they feed on, being small crustacean-like creatures that gather in great shoals, are equivalents fo shrimp and krill.

** Dromaeosaurids display a mixture of behavioural traits from canids and birds of prey. The dromaeosaurus, being pack hunters with a family structure consisting of a single breeding pair and their offspring are modelled off wolves, while the Velociraptors, conversely, take a lot more behavioural cues from coyotes.

** Dromaeosaurids display a mixture of behavioural traits from canids and birds of prey. The dromaeosaurus, being pack hunters with a family structure consisting of a single breeding pair. The Velociraptors, conversely, take a lot more behavioural cues from coyotes.

** In "Devils of the Deep", many of the creatures of the Gogo Reef behave rather like modern reef animals. In particular, the ''Onychodus'', being an ambush predator that lives in a coral reef, is rather like a moray eel,

** ''Titanicthys'', conversely, behave rather like basking sharks and baleen whales, being large, fairly placid filter-feeders. The anomalocariids they feed on, being small crustacean-like creatures that gather in great shoals, are equivalents fo shrimp and krill.

* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined'': Many of the prehistoric animals take on behaviours, environmental roles, and niches similar to many modern day animals, with several larger herbivorous dinosaurs taking on roles similar to elephants and rhinos, dromaeosaurs and other raptors behaving similarly to jackals and wolves, the smilodon populator behaving a lot like lions, some prehistoric carnivorous fish like ''Dunkleosteus'' and ''Onychodus'' behaving similarly to sharks and eels, and even temnospondyls and pelycosaurs behaving similarly to crocodilians and monitor lizards.

* ''Franchise/SDGundam'' sometimes uses non-humanoid Mobile Weapons as stand-ins for animals, for example [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the Ball]] taking the place of dogs. ''Anime/SuperiorDefenderGundamForce'' features mice based on the Elmeth.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Onward}}'': In this UrbanFantasy story, dragons are the equivalent of [[AllAnimalsAreDogs dogs]], whereas unicorns, out of all things, are [[FantasticVermin garbage-eating, hissing pests]] in the vein of raccoons. There is also a reference to a dish called "griffin nuggets", indicating that griffins are the equivalent of chickens.

** The Orb Vallis on Venus is home to pobbers -- adorable gerbil-like critters that are prey for virminks -- also adorable critters that look like a combination of mustelids and foxes; and sawgaws -- predatory birds that resemble owls. You can also encounter kubrodons -- the bigger, meaner cousins of kubrows that are apex predators of the Vallis filling the role of SavageWolves; and stovers -- massive cave-dwelling "proto-kubrows" that are equivalent to bears.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/DeffSkwadron'': Squigs, ferocious fungal organisms that follow Orks around everywhere, appear in variants resembling various Earth animals such as squigsharks, messenger squigeons (spherical critters with birdlike wings) and squighawks (pteranodon-like avians).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Onward}}'': In this UrbanFantasy story, dragons are the equivalent of [[AllAnimalsAreDogs dogs]], whereas unicorns, out of all things, are garbage-eating, hissing pests in the vein of raccoons. There is also a reference to a dish called "griffin nuggets", indicating that griffins are the equivalent of chickens.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' takes place in a MouseWorld inhabited by FunnyAnimals, but some species, rather than being anthropomorphic, take the place of domestic animals. Roadrunners are the counterparts to [[HorseOfADifferentColor horses]], and javelinas (small wild pigs) are draft beasts filling the role of oxen. Then it becomes weirder when one background character, a blacksmith, is an ''anthropomorphic'' javelina...

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': Pandora's wildlife has a number of species that have a clear counterpart on Earth. The Na'vi are humans, of course, but the thanator is essentially a giant panther, the titanothere is a rhinoceros, the prolemuris are monkeys, the direhorses are [[HorseOfADifferentColor horses]], etc. The extended cut also features sturmbeest, which for all intents and purposes are buffalo (even being hunted by the Na'vi on horseback to further their resemblance to Native American hunters).
** The sequel, ''Film/AvatarTheWayOfWater'' continues this trend with Pandora's oceans, with clear analogues for dolphins (the ilu, although their body shape is strongly plesiosaur-like), sharks (the akula, the name of which is even Russian for shark), and whales (the tulkuns).

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has quite a few examples, such as banthas (shaggy yak-like creatures) and dewbacks (reptilian dinosaur-like beasts) being the camel-analogues on the desert planet of Tatooine, or the wampa (a [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yeti-like]] furry beast) being the equivalent of a polar bear on the ice planet Hoth. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' also has fathiers, large creatures resembling a cross of llama and jackrabbit that are used as gambling racehorses on the casino-like planet Finn and Rose visit.

** ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'': The European species of ''Iguanodon'' is given zebra stripes, and makes a zebra-like whinny at one point. ''Utahraptor'', a fast and stealthy predator, is given a cheetah-like coloration with black dots on a yellow base, complete with tear stripes - and in the companion book, it's mentioned the females do most of the hunting, similar to lions. ''Anurognathus'' is treated as the Jurassic equivalent of tickbirds, flying on the bodies of sauropods and hunting insects on their skin[[note]][[ScienceMarchesOn Now it's believed to be]] much more like the counterpart of a bat, a small nocturnal flying predator covered in fur-like pycnofibres[[/note]].

** In the Abyss (the realm of demons) there is a species of non-sapient demon called the Abyssal Chicken. As their name implies, they are small, winged bipeds with limited flying capabilities that can be cooked and eaten like regular chickens. [[CallASmeerpARabbit Unlike what their name implies]], they are [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily toothy]], [[EyelessFace eyeless]], featherless and untamed.

** The grox is a 5-meter-long reptile-like animal from planet Solomon whose highly aggressive nature is made up for by its extreme value as livestock (very delicious and nutritious meat, high environmental adaptability, [[ExtremeOmnivore extreme omnivory]]), such that it's very widespread across the myriad worlds of Imperium, taking the role that cattle do in real life.

* While this is common all around Tamriel in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', this trope is exemplified in Vvardenfell in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', where most of the wildlife is some variety of either ArmlessBiped or BigCreepyCrawlies, with Nix-Hounds, Kagouti, and Alit replacing dogs, wolves, and other predators, Nix-Oxen, Guar, Kwama, and Netches replacing livestock, and Silt Striders acting as beasts of burden, similar to elephants.
* ''VideoGame/TheEternalCylinder'': An interesting variant: Trebhum's planet is filled with bizarre StarfishAliens unlike anything seen on Earth, and yet many wildlife behave similarly to Terran wildlife. Examples include the Onkifurt, a LivingGasbag that broods in nests and hunts from the air like a bird of prey; the BellyMouth Omnogrom, a large woodland omnivore similar to a bear; and the insectoid Hophopop that as a small jumping grazer is similar to rabbits and hares.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' uses this to make the setting seem a little bit more magical and strange, with [[MedievalPrehistory woolly rhinos]] wandering around the colder and more northerly parts of the map.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' often uses this trope, with many Pokémon filling niches of real-world animals, though of course AllAnimalsAreDomesticated is in play, with even large powerful creatures being kept as companions by people.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': The bat-nosed egg-laying Kubrows serve as a stand-in for dogs while the long-legged Kavats are the equivalent to cats.

** Later eras add descendants of snails fill a wide array of marine animal niches: swimming sea slugs called pescopods begin taking over fish niches, while one group, the notiluses, develop prehensile tentacles and give rise to six-armed cephalopod-analogues known as skwoids. Other odd gastropods are the asterisks, flat-bodied slugs resembling starfish, and quillnobs, which are sessile like barnacles.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' uses this mostly for comedic effect. There are worms in place of dogs, snails in place of cats (although there is also a breath-holding FunnyAnimal [[AnimalSuperheroes Superhero]] cat named Kenny in one episode), seahorses in place of horses, scallops are birds (they even chirp!), and jellyfish in place of {{bee|Afraid}}s.

* This trope particularly became a major cliche in artistic portrayals of dinosaurs: ''Pteranodon'' was often depicted hanging upside down like a bat, ''Deinonychus'' was usually portrayed hunting large prey in packs similar to modern-day wolves, and sauropods were often represented as essentially being reptilian elephants (or hippos, wallowing in shallow water), to name the most common examples. Many of these artistic tropes have [[ScienceMarchesOn since been debunked by new discoveries]], but many of them still persist in popular culture and the public imagination.

** '''Katara''': The King is throwing a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear.\\