Giraffe to Gharial: 10 Animals Whose Names Begin With G

Next time a gecko runs across your wall, ask your kid what letter its name starts with. The giraffe, gorilla, gaur, golden langur, gharial, goldfish, gecko, grasshopper, guinea pig and Great Indian Bustard all begin with G. Some live in African grasslands, some in Indian rivers and forests, and a few can be found in or near most homes.

This list groups the ten animals by where they live and gives one surprising fact for each. It ends with a sorting game and a sound check that kids aged 4 to 9 can do at home.

Which animals start with the letter G?

Ten animals that start with G are the giraffe, gorilla, gaur, golden langur, gharial, goldfish, gecko, grasshopper, guinea pig and Great Indian Bustard. The table gives a quick view of each one, in the same way as our list of animals that start with E.

Facts like these often turn up in school quizzes, such as these GK questions for Class 3 kids.

Which G animals live on land in grasslands and forests?

The giraffe, gorilla, gaur and golden langur are large land animals. Two of them live in Africa and two live in India.

Giraffe. The giraffe is the tallest land animal. Its long neck has seven bones, which is the same number a human neck has; each bone is simply much longer. A giraffe also has a dark tongue about 45 cm long. It wraps this tongue around thorny acacia branches to pull off the leaves.

Gorilla. Gorillas live in family groups in the forests of central Africa. An adult male with grey-white hair on his back, called a silverback, leads the group. In spite of their size, gorillas eat mostly leaves, stems and fruit. A gorilla beats its chest to send a signal to other gorillas, and kids who enjoy that fact may also like this guide to animal sounds in English.

Gaur. The gaur, also called the Indian bison, is the largest wild cattle in the world. Visitors to Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka often see herds grazing near the forest roads. Look at its legs: the lower part is white, so the gaur seems to be wearing socks.

Golden langur. The golden langur is a monkey found in a small area of western Assam and Bhutan. Its cream-coloured fur shines gold in the sunlight. It is an endangered animal, so most kids will meet it in books and documentaries rather than in a zoo. Kids who enjoy reading about animals may also like these inspiring animal stories for kids.

Which G animals live in or near water?

The gharial lives in rivers, and the goldfish lives in ponds and home aquariums.

Gharial. The gharial is a crocodilian from Indian rivers such as the Chambal. Its snout is long and narrow, with many sharp teeth, so it is good at snapping up fish but poor at catching large animals. Adult males grow a round lump at the tip of the snout. This lump is called a ghara, after the Hindi word for a clay pot, and it gives the animal its name. Gharials are critically endangered. Why a thin snout suits fish better than a wide one is the kind of question kids work through in live science classes for kids.

Goldfish. The goldfish belongs to the carp family and was first kept as a pet in China hundreds of years ago. Many people say a goldfish forgets everything in three seconds. Studies show the opposite: goldfish can learn their feeding times and remember them for months.

Which G animals can kids spot at home or in a garden?

The gecko, the grasshopper and the guinea pig are small animals that kids can often see without going far from home.

Gecko. The small lizard near the tube light at night is usually a house gecko. It waits there because insects gather around the light. Its toe pads are covered with millions of tiny hairs, and these hairs let it hold on to a smooth wall or even a ceiling. When a predator grabs its tail, a gecko can drop the tail and run away. A new tail grows back later. Watching a gecko hunt near a light after dark is one of many easy science activities for kids that need no equipment.

Grasshopper. A grasshopper has strong back legs that let it jump many times its own body length. Many grasshoppers make their chirping sound by rubbing a back leg against a wing. They also hear in an unusual way, because their ears sit on the sides of the body and not on the head. Small, everyday creatures like this make good starting points for science questions for kids with answers.

Guinea pig. Guinea pigs are rodents, like rats and squirrels. They first came from the Andes mountains of South America, so the name is a puzzle: they are not pigs, and they do not come from Guinea. A happy guinea pig sometimes jumps straight up in the air, and pet owners call this "popcorning".

Which G bird is found in India?

The Great Indian Bustard is a large G bird found in the dry grasslands of Rajasthan and a few nearby states.

It is one of the heaviest birds that can fly. People in Rajasthan call it the godawan, and it is the state bird of Rajasthan. Power lines and the loss of grassland have made it critically endangered, and wildlife groups are working to protect the areas where it breeds.

If your kid wants a G bird that is easier to spot, the goose is a good example. Geese often fly in a V shape, and they are also common on farms. The goose and the guinea pig both appear in this list of pet and farm animal names in English.

How can kids sort the G animals in a simple game?

Write the ten names on small cards and ask your kid to sort them in three different ways.

1. By home: land, water, home and garden, or sky.
2. By body covering: fur, scales, feathers, or a hard outer shell.
3. By size: smaller than a hand, about as big as a cat, or bigger than a grown-up.

Some cards have more than one right answer. A gecko lives in homes, but it also lives in forests. Ask your kid to explain each choice, because the reasons matter more than the piles. Sorting and explaining in this way is one simple method to build vocabulary naturally at home.

Do all G animal names start with the same sound?

No. Most G animal names start with the hard g sound, as in goat, but giraffe and gerbil start with the soft g sound, which sounds like j.

• Hard g: gorilla, gaur, gharial, goldfish, gecko, grasshopper, guinea pig
• Soft g: giraffe, gerbil

Say each name aloud and ask your kid to raise a hand on hearing the j sound. This small check helps early readers notice that one letter can make two sounds. The soft g section in our letter G crafts and games has more practice words.

Start a G Animal Hunt This Week

Pick three animals from this list that your kid has not heard of, such as the gaur, the gharial and the golden langur. Look for them together in a picture book, a documentary or a wildlife centre. Then add the gecko on your wall and the grasshopper in the park. At the end of the week, count how many G animals your kid can name without help. When the G cards are done, the same hunt works for any other letter.

FAQs

What are some animals that start with G?

The giraffe, gorilla, gaur, golden langur, gharial, goldfish, gecko, grasshopper, guinea pig and Great Indian Bustard all start with G. Goat, goose, gerbil and gibbon are other common examples.

Which G animals are found in India?

The gaur, golden langur, gharial, Great Indian Bustard and house gecko are all found in India. Many kinds of grasshopper live in Indian gardens and fields too.

Which G animal is the tallest?

The giraffe is the tallest G animal. It is also the tallest land animal in the world.

Is a guinea pig a pig?

No. A guinea pig is a rodent, related to rats and squirrels. It first came from South America, not from Guinea.

Why is the gharial called a gharial?

Adult male gharials have a round lump at the tip of the snout. It looks like a ghara, the Hindi word for a clay pot, and the animal is named after it.

Want your kid to ask more questions about animals and nature? In Unbox Science live classes at Bambinos.live, kids look at real examples and talk through their own answers in small groups. Book a Demo to see a class.