Yes, though the list of animals starting with "X" is quite short in English, since the letter is rarely used at the beginning of words. Here are some genuine examples:
- Xenops – a small, active bird found in Central and South American forests, known for foraging on tree bark for insects.
- Xerus – a genus of African ground squirrels, also called African bush squirrels, found in savanna and rocky habitats.
- Xoloitzcuintli (Xolo) – a hairless breed of dog native to Mexico, one of the oldest known dog breeds, sometimes called the Mexican hairless dog.
- X-ray tetra – a small, silvery freshwater fish popular in aquariums, named for its translucent body that reveals its skeletal structure and internal organs, resembling an X-ray image.
- Xenopus – a genus of aquatic frogs native to sub-Saharan Africa, including the African clawed frog, widely used in scientific research.
- Xantus's hummingbird – a hummingbird species found mainly in Baja California, Mexico.
- Xantus's murrelet (also called Scripps's murrelet) – a small seabird found along the Pacific coast of North America.
- Xerces blue butterfly – an extinct butterfly species once native to San Francisco, notable as one of the first American insect species driven extinct by human activity.
Many of these names come from Greek or Latin roots — for instance, "xeno-" means "strange" or "foreign," which is why several genus names starting with X relate to unusual or distinctive traits (like the Xenops's foraging behavior or Xenopus's fully aquatic lifestyle).
While the total number of "X" animals is small compared to other letters, they span a diverse range of classes, including mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, and insects, showing that even uncommon letters have their representatives in the animal kingdom.