Animals in the Bible
Wikimedia list article
Over 120 species of animals are mentioned in the Bible, ordered alphabetically in this article by English vernacular name. Animals mentioned in the Old Testament will be listed with their Hebrew name, while those mentioned in the New Testament will be listed with their Greek names. This list includes names of mythical creatures such as the griffin, lamia, siren and unicorn, which have been applied to real animals in some older translations of the Bible due to misunderstandings or educational prejudices of the Greek and Latin translators.
Natural history of the Holy Land
The fauna of the Holy Land (modern-day Israel and Palestine) has significantly changed since Biblical times, with many animals mentioned in the Bible being locally extinct or endangered in modern times. For example, the aurochs (the most likely referent of the Hebrew רְאֵם rəʾēm) is globally extinct, being extinct in the Levant by the time of the Babylonian captivity. Locally extinct species include lions, leopards and bears.
The frequency of references to given animals may be used to date parts of the Bible. For example, recent excavations in the Timna Valley discovered what may be the earliest camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This is seen as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time. However, other scholars argue that camels were already domesticated in Mesopotamia by the early second millennium BCE and that their presence in the patriarchal narratives is not anachronistic.
The Bible mentions animals from varying regions of the Middle East.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Animals in the Bible” is wikimedia list article. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Animals, Bible and Wikimedia, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “wikimedia list article” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6605875. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Animals in the Bible”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Animals in the Bible primary sources, Animals in the Bible archive and Animals research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Animals in the Bible”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Animals in the Bible” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.