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As a speaker of any language, you know the names of many living things. This lesson will serve as the basis for learning those names in Japanese. 

Living Things 生物

All life, including mankind on the planet Earth is thought to have a common ancestor. This primitive life form is thought to have arisen at the same time if not shortly before the emergence of Earth's oceans. From then, it would take nearly two billion years after the emergence of the oceans for single-cellular life to evolve into multi-cellular life. 

Even without being fully versed in biology, a trip to your local zoo, aquarium, or even a botanical garden will expose you to many of the taxonomical classifications used to classify life. 

You may also be familiar with what is called a phylogenetic tree (系統樹) that connects all life together into a single diagram based on these classifications. 

Even with little knowledge of biology, most speakers of Japanese have a fairly good understanding of the broad terms that can be taken from taxonomy. For instance, people know most of the kingdoms of life (plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, etc.), and people generally know a large handful of classes (fishes, amphibians, etc.) and orders (rodentia = rodents) of animals. 

■Understanding "Clades" between English and Japanese:

It may seem tempting to equate ～類 with ～綱, but remember that because ～類 equates to "clade" and "clade" is as big as is relevant so long as everything is related, what～類 relates to is entirely contextual. Sometimes, this is problematic when English and Japanese speakers don't see eye-to-eye. For instance, in Japanese イヌ科 means "Canidae" which is the family of animals that includes dogs, wolves, foxes, etc. However, the word イヌ itself historically only refers to "dogs" with wolves occasionally being referred to as ヤマイヌ. And so, when イヌ類 was coined, the clade of "canines" it referred to didn't include other related animals in the same genus such as coyotes, foxes, or even tanuki, essentially being synonymous with just "dogs" but lumping domestic and wild ones together. As all dogs do share a common ancestor, this "clade" is just as valid, but it isn't the same "clade" as is meant by the English word "canine." Instead, "canine" and "Canis" are both translated into Japanese as イヌ属. Contrastingly to this, "feline" and "Felidae" do happen to correspond neatly with ネコ類 and ネコ科 respectively. As for イヌ科, it includes various other genera which have since gone extinct. 

This logic also applies to how the word 人類 is understood. People for religious beliefs may only apply this word our species Homo Sapiens, but in science, it is equivalent to ヒト属, the genus that includes all 'human' species. 

What say about terms such as "arthropod" which relates to a phylum, which is much larger than the order of "insects"? In such a scenario, 昆虫類 has already come to be equivalent to 昆虫綱, so it cannot be misconstrued as something higher up on the tree. Conjecturally, both 哺乳類 (mammals) and 霊長類 (primates) exist despite being related, but this further shows how the use of ～類 boils down to natural and meaningful associations that people immediately recognize. Plus, once something is as large as a "phylum," it becomes more logical to simply refer to them as 〇〇動物/〇〇植物.

※類人猿 is not a proper term in taxonomy and is instead replaced by ヒト科 (Hominidae).

■Categorizing Things By What They Eat

Although such categorization is not helpful when talking about living things which are not animals, the terms "carnivore," "omnivore," and "herbivore" are wildly used, which in Japanese are 肉食動物, 雑食動物, and 草食動物 respectively. 

Spelling plants, animals, etc. is notably difficult even for native speakers. Given that Kanji represent individual Chinese morphemes (units of meaning), it is only natural that most plants and animals have their own separate or pair of Kanji. 

Certain Kanji such as 犬 (dog), 猫 (cat), 鳥 (bird), etc. should already be recognizable to you, but others such as 熊 (bear), 鯨 (whale), 蛇 (snake), etc. are likely out of reach at least at the intermediate level. Even well-versed, native readers struggle to always recognize high-level spellings. For example, 山梔子 is the flowering plant "gardenia" and is read as くちなし, which is not readily apparent even if the reader were to know each Kanji individually. 

The first thing to keep in mind is that not all plants and animals are found natively in Japan, or China for that matter. As obvious as this might seem, this fact is crucial to guessing whether something will have a Kanji spelling in Japanese in the first place or not. If the organism is not native to Japan, it likely has no native word for it, and in that case, it is less likely for that word to have been borrowed into the language soon enough for it to have a Kanji spelling. 

Chinese, on the other hand, as you may know is solely written in Kanji, and in many instances, translations as well as Ateji spellings unique to Chinese have been coined for non-native things to them. Some of those inspirations have been since carried over into Japanese in recent years, so much so that Japanese writers may choose to use said Chinese spellings verbatim in Japanese. 

All being said, spellings can be categorized as following under one of the following three scenarios:

1. The 'basic' native/Sino-Japanese vocabulary for plants/animals are all potentially written in Kanji, and these spellings are easily recognizable by any reader. 
Exs. 馬 (horse) (bird), 鮫 (shark), etc.

2. Obscure spellings coined when Japan was catching up with the rest of the world with its vocabulary to describe non-native things.
Exs. 狩猟豹 (cheetah), 亜米利加豹 (jaguar), etc.

3. Imported spellings from Modern Chinese (coined for the same reason as Scenario 2), by writer's discretion. 

Exs.  小袋鼠 (wallaby), 更格廬 (kangaroo), etc.

To simplify everything in biology settings, all species are written in Katakana. When average people don't know or don't wish to use the Kanji spelling of a particular plant/animal, opting to either Katakana or Hiragana is permissible.

Given everything mentioned thus far, when parsing through the significant amount of information shown in the charts, spellings in bold are of Category 1 from above, but advanced spellings in this category beyond the average collegiate level may not be in bold. However, just because a Kanji spelling is not in bold does not necessarily mean the word is not important. This may also hold true for indigenous animals in Japan being important in Japanese even if the English equivalent term is rare because said thing isn't common or native in the West.

Word Notes: 

1. The Sino-Japanese name for "toucan" is 巨嘴鳥.
2. An alternative name for "pelican" is 伽藍鳥.

3. The alternative names for "penguin," 人鳥（じんちょう） 企鵝（きが）, are typically read as such, but ペンギン may still be applied to them. 
4. The シャモ is a species of chicken brought to Japan from Thailand in the Edo Period. 

21. 祖母に鴨肉を使ったレシピを教えてもらいました。
I had my grandmother teach me a recipe that uses duck meat. 

22. ペンギンはなぜ南半球にしかいないの？
Why are penguins only in the Southern Hemisphere? 

23.  オスの軍鶏を戦わせることは、動物愛護管理法違反で、罰則の対象に成り得る。

Cockfighting with male shamo is a violation of the Animal Protection and Control Act and may be subject to punishment.

24. インコは人間の言葉や会話を必ずしも理解しているわけではない。
It is not necessarily the case that parrots understand human speech or conversations. 

25. 鷹を使って獲物を狩る。
To hunt prey by using hawks.

27. ダチョウ（駝鳥）やエミューが飛べない理由は何ですか。
What is the reason for why ostriches and emus can't fly?

28. セキレイ（鶺鴒）は害虫を食べてくれる益鳥です。
Wagtails are beneficial birds which eat harmful insects.

29. クジャク（孔雀）といえば羽を広げる姿を思い浮かべるが、美しい羽があるのはオスだけだ。
When speaking of peacocks, one thinks of when they spread their wings, but the ones with the beautiful wings are just the males.

Word Notes:
1. In the Japanese-speaking world, the distinction between "lizards" and "skinks" is not well known. 
2. Crocodilians have historically been collectively known as ワニ. Some other complicated Kanji with the same KUN reading are believed to have referred to specific species endemic to China (exs. 鼉 and 鱓). Nowadays, such Kanji in China typically refer to the species 揚子江鰐, which is an alligator species native to the country.

30. 道の真ん中で蛇を踏んだらどうなりますか？
What happens when you step/stomp on a snake in the middle of the road?

31. 小さいトカゲ（蜥蜴）が部屋の壁にくっついていた。
There's a small lizard stuck on the wall inside the room. 

32. カメ（亀）に噛まれた時はどうすればよいでしょうか。
What should you do when you're bitten by a turtle?

33. スッポン（鼈）を捌く時は軍手をしてください。
When preparing a snapping turtle to cook, please wear cotton gloves.

34. なぜカメレオンは色が変わるのですか。
Why do chameleons change color?

35. 蝮は体が小さくて毒の量が少ない。
Vipers are small and have little venom.

Amphibians 両生類 

Word Notes:
1. Although not the name of a species, "tadpole" is an essential word related to amphibians.
2. The words for toad listed are completely interchangeable.

36. カエル（蛙）を轢いたことがあります。
I have run over a frog before.

37. サンショウウオは、古くは、椒魚（はじかみいを）と呼ばれた。
Salamanders were called "pepper-tree fish" in olden times. 

38. ヒキガエルを舐めるな！
Don't lick toads!

Insects 昆虫

Word Notes:
1. In older language, かげろう could also mean "dragonfly," which is why 蜻蛉 can either be read as とんぼ or かげろう. 
2. Bees/wasps go by many names in the English-speaking world as is also the case in the Japanese-speaking world. Due to the heightened danger that bee species pose to humans in Japan, it's best to get your bees-ness in check when in Japan.

2a. アシナガバチ and スズメバチ both relate to wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets by English speakers, but the former has long legs as the name suggests. 

2b. クマ（ン）バチ may regionally refer to "yellow jackets," but their English name is more accurately "Japanese carpenter bee," whereas キイロスズメバチ is the native species of "yellow jacket," which happens to be far more dangerous. Given its dangerous nature, it also goes by the regional names カメバチ (瓶蜂), トックリバチ (徳利蜂), and アカバチ (赤蜂). 

2c. "Giant hornets" are referred to as オオスズメバチ (giant hornet)

2d. 花蜂 may refer to any bee which feeds on larvae and spreads pollen. 
2e. 丸花蜂 refers to "bumblebees." 

2f. クロスズメバチ and シダクロスズメバチ are native wasps of Japan known for building their nests in the ground. Other regional names for them include ジバチ (地蜂), ドバチ (土蜂), ハイバチ (灰蜂), ヘボ (used in the 東海地方), or スガレ・スガリ (used throughout 東北). 

39. クモ（蜘蛛）の巣は飛んでいる虫を捕まえる罠です。
A spider web is a trap to catch flying insects. 

40. たまに蚊を手で殺した時に血が付着するけど、あれって僕らの血なの？それとも蚊の血なの？誰か教えてください！
Occasionally blood gets on me when I kill a mosquito with my hand, but is that our blood? Or, is it the mosquito's blood? Someone, please tell me. 

41. アリ（蟻）を殺すと雨が降る。
When you kill an ant, it rains. 

42. 蝶の寿命は長くても数ヶ月程度です。
The lifespan of a butterfly, at most, is around several months. 

43. ハチ（蜂）やスズメバチ（雀蜂）に気をつけましょう！
Be careful of bees and wasps? 

Word Note: "Bee-sting" is 蜂刺され, and as far as the verb for "to be stung" by a bee, you may hear these three verbs: 刺される (to be stung), 噛まれる (to be bitten), 食われる (to be bitten). 

Sea Life 海洋生物

Fish-related Kanji are particularly diverse in number, and many fish have several Kanji associated with them. What's more, there are many fish with regional names as well as fish names that don't refer to the same fish depending on region. Even for the spelling listed above, this is by no means exhaustive as obscure Kanji abound. 

Word Notes:

1. One such word that is very common but difficult to ascertain because it can refer to several kinds of fish is ゴリ.  Written in Kanji as 鮴, it most often refers to freshwater goby, which may also go by the name ヨシノボリ（葦登）. In some regions, though, it may refer to "sculpin" which is generally カジカ（鰍） in Standard Japanese. Yellowfin goby, on the other hand, which is common on sushi menus worldwide, is usually differentiated despite being a kind of gobi. 

2. When flying squid are dried, スルメ（鯣） is used in isolation with the full-phrase スルメイカ（鯣烏賊）reserved for when the creature is alive. 

3. When sea urchin is used in seafood products, it may be spelled as 雲丹, but this spelling is not preferred when referring to the live animal. 
4. Confusingly, the Kanji 鰒 may both refer to abalone (アワビ) and the pufferfish (フグ). Usually, though, it refers to the former as plenty other spellings have been applied to the latter. 

5. Confusingly, the Kanji 鰍 may refer to sculpins (カジカ) as well as loaches (ドジョウ),  but it can also even more confusingly refer to hamachi (young amberjack) in which case it is read as イナダ. Usually, it refers to カジカ with the other fishes being spelled normally as 泥鰌 and イナダ respectively. 

6. To complicated matters, many communities across Japan have developed numerous names to refer to the same fish which refer to different stages of growth of said fish, and these words in turn can also differ from community to community. Such fish are known as 出世魚（しゅっせうお）. Many of these words have become quintessential in marketplaces as well as sushi/Japanese-themed restaurants across the world. The greatest example of this involves the amberjack, known as ブリ（鰤） when fully grown. When not fully grown, its name differs whether you are in East or West Japan, but all of these words can be seen used on sushi menus in Western countries. 

モジャコ may also refer to small fry of another species of amberjack known as the カンパチ（間八）- the "greater amberjack" in English - which also finds itself on sushi menus. It, too, is so important that its younger versions have different names based on the growth stage of the fish. In the Kanto (greater Tokyo area), it goes by: ショッコ(35 cm or below) → シオゴ（汐子）(35-60 cm) → アカハナ (60-80 cm) → カンパチ (80 cm+).

7. The bass (スズキ) is a 出世魚: コッパ (0-10 cm) → セイゴ（鮬）(10-25 cm) → フッコ (25-35 cm) → スズキ (35- 60cm +) → オオタロウ (old fish). 

8. The striped mullet (ボラ) is a 出世魚: オボコ (0-10 cm) → イナッコ (10 cm)・スバシリ (10 cm)  → イナ (10-30 cm) → ボラ (30-50 cm+) → トド (old fish).
9. The sardine (イワシ) is a 出世魚: シラス（白子）(0-1 cm) → カエリ (1-10 cm) → コバ（小羽）(10-15 cm) → チュウバ（中羽）(15-20 cm) → オオバ（大羽）(around 20 cm). 

10. The words 鮫 and 鱶 are not examples of 出世魚. Rather, the latter is an alternative word that exclusively refers to large-sized sharks. The word is popularized in other expressions such as shark fin (鱶鰭). 
11. 海牛 when read as ウミウシ and when read as カイギュウ do not refer to the same animals. The former is "sea slug" and the latter refers to "manatees/dugongs."

12. Just as with other words ending in ～類, 貝類 refers to all "shellfish" as a group of animals. In everyday speech, they may be simply referred to as 貝. 
13. Though snails are not typically viewed as sea-dwelling, there are such thing as sea snails, and snails are actually a kind of mollusk, which is why they are listed along with other mollusks. 

14. 魚 is marked with an asterisk because of how it is the overall word for fish, and thus, wouldn't typically be written in カタカナ. As for the reading うお, this actually derives from the original native word for "fish," which was いを in earlier stages of the language. This can still be seen in many set phrases. 

44. 近い将来、海の魚が絶滅状態になるかもしれない。
In the near future, the fishes of the sea may become extinct. 

46. 東京の葛西臨海水族園に訪れた人たちは勢いよく群れで泳ぐマグロ(鮪)の姿を楽しんでいました。
The people who visited the Kassai Marine Aquarium in Tokyo were enjoying seeing the schools of tuna swimming energetically. 

47. フグ（河豚）を食べる国は日本以外にはどれくらいありますか？
How many other countries are there aside from Japan where people eat puffer fish?

48. 妊娠中にはイカ（烏賊）やタコ（蛸）を食べてはいけない。
You mustn't eat squid or octopus while pregnant. 

49. うなぎ（鰻）釣りの餌は何がいい？
What sort of bait is best for fishing eels? 

50. サメ（鮫）は滅多に人間を襲わない。
Sharks seldom eat people.

Although most people recognize dozens of animal names, plant names are bit harder to recall, but that doesn't devalue the importance the existences of the plants listed in the chart below. Those listed in the chart below are are all well-known plant words to Japanese speakers.

Curriculum Note: Many plant-related terminology involving vegetables, fruits, and other food stuffs such as nuts, berries, etc. are not listed. 

Word Notes:

1. There are several reasons as to why certain plants have multiple Kanji. Some may be most common when used as surnames, whereas the large majority of the diversity is due to the creation of Kanji by Japanese people overtime to write native plant life. Species of oak particularly have the most available Kanji. 

2. Words with an * are shown in ひらがな as opposed to カタカナ because they are not species names but plant-related words that are especially common.

3. 海藻, as well as 藻 (algae), which is not listed, are not all technically plants but they are related to them nonetheless.

4. The "lotus" has various other names: 芙蓉・水芙蓉・不語仙・池見草・水の花.
In Buddhism, it is referred to as the 蓮華.
5. The technical word for "grass" is 草本.

6. The technical word for "tree" is 木本. You will also see the Sino-Japanese 樹木, which is synonymous with 木・樹. 

51. バラ(薔薇)の咲く楽園へようこそ。
Welcome to paradise where roses blossom. 

52. その畑には多くの樹木が並んでいました。
Many trees were lined up by each other in the field. 

53. 庭に竹を植えたいです。
I want to plant bamboo in my yard.  

54. 家の庭に果樹や桜を植えてはいけない。
You can't plant fruit trees or cherry blossom trees in your yard.

It would be remiss to not mention fungi given that they are in our everyday lives in the form of mold and most importantly mushrooms. Many of the fungi mentioned below are endemic to Japan, and both edible and poisonous species are listed. 

Word Notes:

1. Although a very rare Kanji, 醭 specifically refers to mold found on liquids. 

2. The Kanji 菌 originally means "fungus" and was later purposed in words such as 細菌 to mean "bacteria."