Take a look at the list of animal names that begin with P. You may find a list of the wonderful creatures whose names begin with the letter P on this website, along with pictures and fascinating information about each one.
Animals That Start With P – List of Animals that name Begins With the Letter ‘P’
Pachycephalosaurus
An extinct herbivorous dinosaur named Pachycephalosaurus lived about 76 million years ago. The dinosaur’s largest distinguishing characteristic, the enormous dome of thick bone on its head, is best described by its name, Pachycephalosaurus, which is Greek for “thick-headed lizard.” Pachycephalosaurus is likely to have been linked to ceratopsians and existed in the Late Cretaceous. Pachycephalosaurus was a bipedal herbivorous dinosaur, as opposed to those with four legs. The dinosaur coexisted with numerous other well-known dinosaurs, including Troodon, Tyrannosaurus rex, Ornithomimus, and others.
The name Pachycephalosaurus comes from the Greek words pachys and kephale, which together mean “thick head,” and “saurus,” which means lizard. The longest member of the family that is currently known measured roughly 1. 8 feet in length. The dino’s weight ranged between 820 and 990 kilos. It had small front legs, a stout short neck, large hind legs, and a massive tail.
Pachycephalosaurus was a bipedal dinosaur with a 10-inch-thick bone dome covering its skull. In addition to the dome, it also had small bony spikes that protruded from the muzzle and blunt bony knobs. According to researchers, the Pachycephalosaurus’s dome was built to fend off predators or rivals like musk oxen and bighorn sheep during the breeding season.
Pacific Coast Tick
A species of hard-bodied tick belonging to the Ixodidae family is the Pacific coast tick. Like other ticks, it frequently attaches itself to humans and mostly feeds on the blood of mammals. Except for Australia, all continents are home to the Pacific coast tick. The tick is a carrier of a number of illnesses, including horse piroplasmosis, Pacific coast tick fever, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Ticks from the Pacific coast are also capable of injecting a neurotoxic that paralyses cattle, deer, and horses.
The tick known as the Pacific coast tick belongs to the genus Dermacentor. This arthropod is a hard-bodied species of tick, which means it is a member of the Ixodidae family. Unlike the soft-bodied, pitless forms, this huge genus of ticks (species Ixodida) is distinguished by its stiff shields or fangs (family Argasidae).
With more than 700 species, the hard tick family is more diverse than the soft tick family, which only includes 193 species. About 1 species of the genus Dermacentor have been discovered as of 2019. The most well-known member of this family is the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis.
Pacific Sleeper Shark
Large deep-sea fish called Pacific Sleeper Sharks average.3 metres (1.1 feet) for females and.1 metre (1.1 feet) for males. Some of this species’ largest fish are estimated to grow to be up to 7 metres long! It has bluish-black fins and is dark grey to black in colour. The shark has a cylindrical body and a short, rounded snout. It has two identically sized dorsal fins, with the first one being situated farther from the pectoral fins than the other. Additionally, it has short front fins and an asymmetrical caudal (tail) with a well-developed ventral (lower) lobe.
It is believed that Pacific Sleeper Sharks are both scavengers and predators. They can move their bodies very little through the water, and they produce very little hydrodynamic noise. They are therefore exceptionally effective poachers. They consume food by sucking and biting their prey. The huge mouths of Pacific sleeper sharks allow them to almost completely consume their meal while swimming. With their razor-sharp teeth, they slice off any parts of their meal that are too large for them to consume. They exhibit a distinctive head rotation when eating as well.
Pacific Spaghetti Eel
The long, slender Pacific spaghetti squid is a common species in the temperate Pacific Ocean waters close to Japan and New Zealand. They are a type of garden eel that spends its entire life partially submerged on sand flats close to reef systems. They can be spotted in big colonies waiting on passing zooplankton with their jaws wide while swaying with the ocean current. Despite the fact that this species is relatively new and unstudied, we can draw conclusions about the garden eel family from it. Everything you need to know about the Pacific Spaghetti Eel, including its habitat, diet, and behaviour, is provided here.
Paddlefish
These fish are members of the family Polyodontidae and the Acipenseroforma order, which also includes sturgeons. The only species of paddlefish (spoonfish) that are now known are found in the United States, and their scientific name is Polyodon spathula. Psephurus gladius was the scientific name of the Chinese paddlefish, which was classified as extinct in 2005.
There are six different varieties of paddlefish that have been identified. Only the fossil record allows us to know about four of them; three of these species were found in North America and one in China. The American paddlefish is the sole remaining species after the Chinese paddlefish recently went extinct.
The American paddlefish, P. spathula, is the only species that are still alive. The following sections include more details on this species.
The Chinese oar, P. gladius, was the sole variety of oars that existed in the world until recently. The Yangtze basin’s Chinese paddlefish often referred to as Chinese swordfish and elephant fish was larger than its American counterpart.
Pademelon
The Australian island areas and woods are home to the tiny to medium-sized mammal known as the pademelon. It is an alone, nocturnal creature. Pademelons come in seven different species, but because so many of them are being a poached and losing habitat, animal populations are declining. Pademelons eat berries, herbs, grasses, and leaves when they are awake. An animal that spots a predator would strike the ground with its hind legs to alert other forest animals to the threat.
Thylogale is the scientific name for the pademelon, and the creatures are members of the Macropodidae family. They are members of the Macropodidae subfamily in the order of Mammals. Macropods are defined as animals with huge feet. The pademelon is an example of a marsupial that exhibits this trait. The hind legs of macropods are frequently significantly larger than the front legs. To aid with balance, members of this family frequently have long rear legs and a strong tail.
Painted Turtle
These turtles have black or olive skin and are freshwater turtles. These turtles typically have orange, yellow, or red stripes on their legs, neck, and tail in addition to their primary colour. A painted turtle’s average weight ranges from 11 to 18 ounces. Males of this species often only reach a maximum length of 8 inches, whilst females can reach a maximum length of 12 inches.
One of this turtle’s traits is that its shell is typically wider than it is long, giving it an instantly recognised round form. While some painted turtles have light-coloured edges, others have black shells. Western turtles have dark green plastron-coloured shells with lighter colours at the base.
These turtles inhabit shallow ponds and streams in packs in the wild. They either spend their time relaxing at the pond’s bottom, swimming in the water, or soaking up the sun. The calm and alluring painted turtles are frequently unafraid to come out of the water and engage with people.
Palaeoloxodon namadicus
The Pleistocene saw the spread of the extinct prehistoric elephant known as Palaeoloxodon namadicus throughout Asia. Despite being a distinct species, many scientists think it might be a subspecies of the Palaeoloxodon antiquus, the European straight-tusked elephant. Due to its stiffer skull and less strong bones, P. namadicus differs from its near relative P. namadicus antiquus.
It was hard to estimate the size of this elephant. However, after studying the bone fragments, researchers think it might have been the biggest terrestrial mammal to ever exist. The average height of this elephant was believed to be between 13 and 17 feet. They were the largest mammoth species and averaged about,000 pounds, making them larger than Paraceratherium.
Palaeophis
A kind of extinct sea snake known as Paleophis lived during the Eocene Period, roughly 56 to 33.9 million years ago. It is renowned for the fossils that have been discovered in places like North America, Europe, and Africa. It was a sizable water snake that inhabited coastal areas with shallow waters. Paleophis species varied in height from 0 feet. The length of a school bus is one of the best examples! They most likely consumed fish and other sea creatures, potentially even extinct whales.
Paleophis existed between approximately 56 and 33.9 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch. The climate on Earth was significantly warmer then than it is now.
Paleoparadoxia
Paleoparadoxy most likely consumed algae and related plants as food. This marine mammal’s jaw and teeth resemble a Digger’s spade. Paleoparadoxia was wholly vegetarian and typically consumed all marine plants.
It was extremely adept at swimming and feeding underwater thanks to its huge body, angled teeth, and jaws.
No known animal was chewed or consumed like Paleoparadox. He gritted his teeth and used his powerful neck to root the plants. Then, using the muscles in his throat and the contour of his palate, he absorbed the plants.