History Main / SmallTaxonomyPools

* The order Cypriniformes is the largest truly monophyletic traditional order of fish, but only domestic goldfish and koi are particularly common. Wild carp are best known as a popular recreational fish in Europe and an invasive pest in North America. The only other cypriniforms you can expect to see are generic "minnows". While many cypriniforms, such as the ide, roach, rudd, and tench, are popular sport fish in Europe; don't expect to see them. Nor can you expect to see such things as barbs, shiners, suckers, or loaches.

* The extinct "temnospondyls" and "lepospondyls" get an occasional nod in LostWorld adventure-fiction, but that's about it. On the rare occasion that a specific taxon is mentioned, it'll invariably be ''Eryops''. ''Diplocaulus'' may show up as well thanks to how weird it looks, but it's unlikely to be mentioned by name.

** When people think of crocodilians (order Crocodilia), they're most likely going to picture [[GreenGators a generic green "alligator" or "crocodile"]]. In cartoons, they are not usually depicted as any particular species, and when a specific species is used, it is typically the American alligator, the Nile crocodile, and the saltwater crocodile, depending on the setting. Rarely will you see a gharial or a caiman in non-documentary media.
** Prehistoric pseudosuchians were very diverse, having included everything from relatively standard-looking freshwater forms like phytosaurs; to the fully marine thalattosuchians; to a variety of terrestrial and sometimes even ''warm-blooded'' taxa (such as the armored, herbivorous aetosaurs, the theropod-like poposaurs and "rauisuchians", the small, agile saltoposuchids, and the tusked, pug-snouted, and duck-billed notosuchians) Yet in fiction prehistoric pseudosuchians (in keeping with the common myth that crocodiles have remained unchanged since the Triassic) are essentially just generic oversized versions of living crocodilians, and pretty much the only specific prehistoric genera you can expect to see are ''Sarcosuchus'' and ''Deinosuchus'' (the latter of which is a true crocodilian). The "rauisuchian" ''Postosuchus'' is noted for its appearance in ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''.

* The Tuatara, the only living member of the order Rhynchocephalia, only appears in educational media and New Zealand works.
* The order Squamata is common in fiction.
** The most common lizards you'll see on TV/movies are generic lizards, iguanas, chameleons, geckos, and the occasional frilled lizard (if it's set in Australia). You might see a monitor lizard every now and then, particularly the Komodo dragon. Gila monsters show up occasionally. Note that if an iguana does show up, it will almost always be a palette-swapped chameleon or Gila monster, sporting a projectile tongue, color changing abilities and a taste for bugs and small animals. Herbivorous real world iguanas display none of these traits.

* The vast majority of testudines in fiction are either sea turtles or tortoises. You might see a snapping turtle, red eared slider, or a softshell if you're lucky.

* "Thecodonts" only appear in more educational or scientific works. you might see ''Euparkeria'' due to its now-obsolete historical status as the ancestor of later true archosaurs.

** Prehistoric pseudosuchians were very diverse, and included everything from relatively standard-looking freshwater forms like phytosaurs; to the fully marine thalattosuchians; to a variety of terrestrial and sometimes even ''warm-blooded'' taxa (such as the armored herbivorous aetosaurs, the theropod-like poposaurs, ornithosuchians, and "rauisuchians", to the notosuchians (which included pug-snouted herbivores, tusked carnivores, to semiaquatic forms with ''duck-bills'') Yet in fiction prehistoric crocodylomorphs are essentially just generic oversized versions of living crocodilians, and pretty much the only specific prehistoric genera you can expect to see are ''Sarcosuchus'' and ''Deinosuchus'' (the latter of which is a true crocodilian). The "rauisuchian" ''Postosuchus'' is noted for its appearance in
''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''.

* Temnospondyls (order Temnospondyli) get an occasional nod in LostWorld adventure-fiction, but that's about it. On the rare occasion that a specific taxon is mentioned, it'll invariably be ''Eryops''. ''Diplocaulus'' may show up as well thanks to how weird it looks, but it's unlikely to be mentioned by name.

* Salamanders and newts (order Urodela) are less common than frogs, but when they do appear, they're given any color and pattern. The axolotl, a Mexican salamander with external gills, has gained some popularity in recent years, and will always be leucistic.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphisbaenia Amphisbaenians]] (often considered separate from lizards despite the fact that they are cladistically lizards, which makes their nickname of "worm-lizards" incidentally correct in a way) are rarely mentioned even in documentaries.

* Basal archosaurs (obsolete order Thecodontia) only appear in more educational or scientific works. Besides ''Postosuchus'' in ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', the only one you are likely to see is ''Euparkeria'' due to its historical status as "the ancestor of the later archosaurs".

** Prehistoric crocodylomorphs were very diverse, and included everything from ranging from marine taxa with limbs and tails turned into fins, to freshwater forms, to terrestrial and possibly ''warm-blooded'' crocs such as sphenosuchians and notosuchians of various size and diet (the latter ranged from carnivores to omnivores and possibly even herbivores). Yet in fiction prehistoric crocodylomorphs are always just generic oversized versions of living crocodilians, and pretty much the only specific prehistoric crocodylomorph you can expect to see is ''Deinosuchus'' (which is a true crocodilian). It's possible to find ''Sarcosuchus'' or some other large species in a documentary or two.

[[folder:Monotremes]]

[[folder:Marsupials]]
* Despite having more than 300 species, the amount of Marsupials used in fiction could be counted on a few fingers. Kangaroos and koalas (order Diprotodontia) are obviously the most popular, and instantly come to mind at the word "marsupial". Every now and then, you'll see a wombat, wallaby, or sugar glider (a handful of others show up in Australian works). Don't expect to see fossil members of this order, even the more impressive ones like the giant short-faced walking kangaroo ''Procoptodon'', the rhino-sized wombat-like ''Diprotodon'', and the carnivorous cat-like "marsupial lion" ''Thylacoleo'', outside of documentaries.

* The best-known carnivorous marsupial (order Dasyuromorphia) is the Tasmanian devil -- although, thanks to the cartoons, [[EskimosArentReal most non-Australians apparently believe it isn't real]]. Of course, those cartoons ''do'' inaccurately portray it as bipedal, able to spin in a circle really fast, and capable of muttering semi-intelligible gibberish. The extinct thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) appears in some Australian works. Other dasyuromorphs, such as quolls, dunnarts, planigales, and the kowari are either nonexistent or appear in a small handful of Australian works.

[[folder:Placentals]]
* Living armadillos (order Cingulata, formerly lumped with Pilosa as Xenarthra or Edentata) if not generic, are generally Nine-banded Armadillos, which are associated with the American southwest despite other species being found only in Central and South America. Additionally, all armadillos will be portrayed as being able to roll up, even though only the two species of three-banded armadillos are capable of this. Glyptodonts (now considered to be derived armadillos) are relatively popular for prehistoric mammals. Don't expect to see a pampathere, though.
* The order Pilosa (formerly lumped with Cingulata as Xenarthra or Edentata) is represented by three-toed sloths and the Giant Anteater. Tamanduas (lesser anteaters) and two-toed sloths are very rarely shown, and the Silky Anteater is completely missing. Extinct pilosans will always be ground sloths, usually the giant ''Megatherium'' or occasionally the bear-sized ''Megalonyx''.

* Other than elephants, Tubulidentata (containing only one living species, the Aardvark) is probably the most commonly shown afrotherian order in fiction, with Sirenia (manatees and dugongs) a distant third. The other orders; Macroscelidea (sengis or elephant-shrews), Afrosoricida (tenrecs, otter-shrews and golden moles), and Hyracoidea (hyraxes); are nearly never seen unless the work intentionally features seldom-seen species, and the various fossil groups have zero representation. Note that tenrecs in popular culture outside of the ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'' episode are always the Lowland Streaked.

** The best known members of the (suborder Castorimorpha) are by far the two species of beaver (Eurasian and North American). Gophers (properly known as pocket gophers) are well known as pests in lawns and golf courses, but they are often depicted like ground squirrels (pocket gophers have external cheek pouches, larger claws, smaller eyes, bare tails, and are more fossorial and mole-like overall). Kangaroo rats are sometimes shown in North American desert settings, but the related pocket mice have only appeared once in popular media (a children's song) despite their scientific importance.

** Extinct non-human primates are represented by ''Gigantopithecus'' (closely related to the orangutan and occasionally cited as a possible ancestor of BigfootSasquatchAndYeti) and occasionally generic primitive primates (typically based on adapiforms or plesiadapiforms). Early human-relatives are usually come in two variants, the more primitive [[FrazettaMan ape-man]] that can represent anything from ''Australopithecus'' to ''Homo erectus'', and the [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Neanderthal]]. Don't expect to see megafaunal lemurs like the gorilla-sized Archaeoindris or the strange-looking "koala lemur" Megaladapis in non-educational media, even though both died out less than 2,000 years ago. Even in paleodocumentaries, they seldom appear.

* "Insectivores" (order Eulipotyphla, formerly lumped with Afrosoricida, Macroscelidea, Scandentia, and/or Dermoptera as Insectivorai or Lipotyphla) are represented by generic moles, shrews, and hedgehogs. While hedgehogs are native to the Old World and thus common in folklore and popular culture there, hedgehogs are less prevalent in North American works ([[MisplacedWildlife but still occasionally appear]] in North American forest settings) and [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the most popular hedgehog there is blue]]. Hedgehogs and porcupines, despite being completely different in many ways, are often confused just because they both have quills. Moles tend to look like the common black European or Eastern moles, though star-nosed moles are getting popularity in recent years. Don't expect to see more unusual eulipotyphlans such as moonrats, desmans, or shrew-moles; or the other members of the Insectivora who got booted out (see above).

** Extinct non-human primates are represented by ''Gigantopithecus'' (closely related to the orangutan and occasionally cited as a possible ancestor of BigfootSasquatchAndYeti) and occasionally generic primitive primates (typically based on adapiforms or plesiadapiforms). Early human-relatives are usually come in two variants, the more primitive [[FrazettaMan ape-man]] that can represent anything from ''Australopithecus'' to ''Homo erectus'', and the [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Neanderthal]]. Despite them dying out less than 2,000 years ago, don't expect to see megafaunal lemurs like the gorilla-sized Archaeoindris or the strange-looking "koala lemur" Megaladapis in non-educational media, and even in paleodocumentaries they're rarely featured.

** Extinct non-human primates are represented by ''Gigantopithecus'' (closely related to the orangutan and occasionally cited as a possible ancestor of BigfootSasquatchAndYeti) and occasionally generic primitive primates (typically based on adapiforms or plesiadapiforms). Early human-relatives are usually come in two variants, the more primitive [[FrazettaMan ape-man]] that can represent anything from ''Australopithecus'' to ''Homo erectus'', and the [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Neanderthal]]. Despite them dying out less than 2,000 years ago, don't expect to see megafaunal lemurs like the gorilla-sized Archaeoindris or the strange-looking "koala lemur" Megaladipas in non-educational media, and even in paleodocumentaries they're rarely featured.

** Extinct non-human primates are represented by ''Gigantopithecus'' (closely related to the orangutan and occasionally cited as a possible ancestor of BigfootSasquatchAndYeti) and occasionally generic primitive primates (typically based on adapiforms or plesiadapiforms). Early human-relatives are usually come in two variants, the more primitive [[FrazettaMan ape-man]] that can represent anything from ''Australopithecus'' to ''Homo erectus'', and the [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Neanderthal]].

* Good luck trying to find any non-therian (Theria is the group of mammals that includes placentals and marsupials) mammaliaforms outside of the still-living monotremes. Dinosaurs coexisted with a number of groups over the course of the Mesozoic, including morganucodonts, docodonts, multituberculates, gondwanatheres, eutriconodonts, and the [[https://i.imgur.com/oqNhopg.png large]] herbivorous mesungulatids; and a few of these now-extinct clades became quite successful in the early Cenozoic. Only in a handful of educational works, such as ''Series/DinosaurRevolution'' and ''Western Animation/DinosaurTrain'', are these forms specifically acknowledged.

* Gastropods: one snail, one slug. Most of the time, they are depicted as terrestrial species, nudibranches (sea slugs) are rarely ever shown, as with aquatic snails like whelks and periwinkles, conches are just "seashells", and then there's the venomous cone snail...

* The only notable grebe (order Podicipediformes) is an entirely fictitious species (the "Green-tailed Grebe" in ''WesternAnimation/Arthur)''.