What "Earth-Origin" animals exist in the canon Star Wars universe?

Question

When I was a young teen, I really got into reading the few Star Wars novels that existed at that time. After I exhausted the then current run of books (there were only about 5 or 6 of them), I decided to read the novelizations of the original trilogy.

I no longer own those novels so I can't look up the reference, but I recall that during the beginning of A New Hope, when Luke and Obi-Wan rode into Mos Eisley on Luke's land speeder, Lucas mentioned something of there being a "dog barking".

This always struck me as odd because this was a reference to an animal from Earth in a universe where clearly most creatures were completely unique.

After noticing the reference to a dog I then noticed on my next viewing of ESB that there was a snake on Dagobah.

This has made me curious for years. What other Earth-based creatures have made their way into the "official" Star Wars universe and where do they appear?

A snake on Dagobah was more likely to have been a result of convergent evolution than "Earth based" — DVK-on-Ahch-To, Mar 26 '12 at 22:40

DVK-on-Ahch-To · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-22T16:49:32.557

There are ducks on Naboo in the movies.
Also, in the scripting for Star Wars Obi-Wan said to Luke - "Still even a duck must be taught to swim." to which Luke said "what's a duck."
Page 18 of ANH novelization ("STAR WARS: From the adventures of Luke Skywalker") :

Sandflies buzzed lazily in the cracked eaves of pourstone buildings. A dog barked in the distance...
In the made-for-TV Ewoks movies ("Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure" etc...), there are Earth horses

There are also other Earth animals on Endor as well from the same sources: Llama's, Ponies, etc...
In ESB, there are Earth snakes and monitor lizards on Dagobah.
Presumably, Falcons exist in TGFFA :)

All in all, I don't see how you find that surprising when the premise is that the dominant race in the Galaxy far far away are 100% human looking and are called "Humans".

Also, it's not impossible for convergent evolution to produce similar designs for similar environmental conditions.

I was thinking, "Made-for-TV? I'm sure I saw it in the cinema!" Turns out we're both right... — Adeptus, Jan 08 '16 at 05:36

Rogue Jedi · Answer 2 · 2016-08-25T21:12:33.537

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In light of recent developments in the Star Wars canon, I'll add an updated answer.

Humans:

Snakes:

Lizards:

In the canon novel Lords of the Sith, Sidious uses the "like rats from a sinking ship" simile. They are also shown in Return of the Jedi and are mentioned in other works.

Alderaanian wolf-cats and Endor Boar-Wolves exist, implying that wolves, cats and boars exist.
Rabbits.
Bats.
Dogs.
Fish.
Fireflies:

Frogs.

edited Aug 25 '16 at 21:12

answered Apr 15 '16 at 14:25

Rogue Jedi

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Wookies come from the Pacific Northwest, under different names, of course. And I'm pretty sure that Ewoks come from Build-A-Bear. – JohnHunt Jan 04 '22 at 22:54

score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

I looked through my Kindle editions of all the canonical books I own, and found the following words; I have taken the liberty of providing links for the few entries on the list that might be unfamiliar to some people:

Tarkin:

Birds; vultures
Fish
Rodents
Insects; ants; stinging ants
Felines
Crustaceans
Canines
Reptiles; serpents (which "rattle... in forewarning" - i.e., rattlesnakes); vipers

Aftermath:

Dogs
Cats
Rats
Pigs
Birds; hawks; chickens; peacocks
Fish
Snakes; vine snakes; venomous snakes; adders; vipers
Moths
Butterflies
Monkeys
Ants
Wasps
Spiders; Assassin spiders
Bulls
Lizards (in reference to monkey-lizards)
Amphibians

So You Want to Be a Jedi?:

Snakes
Dogs
Cats
Lizards (although this refers to Tauntauns)
Birds; chickens Fish; silver-fish; sharks
Frogs (mentioned several times, all but once referring to Yoda :) )
Mice
Tigers
Rabbits
Cows
Toads
Flies
Sheep
Bats (Mynocks have "batlike" faces)
Spiders
Gorillas (The Wampa is compared to one)
Polar Bears (The Wampa is compared to one)

A New Dawn:

Rodents
Fish
Insects; bugs
Monkeys
Slugs (albeit space slugs)

Heir to the Jedi:

Dogs
Cats
Birds; carrion birds
Amphibians
Insects
Fish
Slugs
Snakes
Scorpions
Spiders
Mammals
Eels

Smugglers Run

Birds; birds of prey; shrikes
Insects
Fish

The Weapon of a Jedi:

Birds
Insects; bugs

Good answer, but I'd quibble with the inclusion of the New Hope novelization--novelizations prior to The Force Awakens are not considered canonical when they present any new information that wasn't shown in the movie. — Hypnosifl, Apr 15 '16 at 16:20
Maybe animals mentioned by the narrator shouldn't count? Animals mentioned in comparisons and figurative language may simply be for our consideration. — Rogue Jedi, Apr 15 '16 at 16:26
@RogueJedi - That is for the OP to decide. I answered the question as it was asked. In some of these books, the narrator is one of the characters. In any case, I worded my answer in such a way that it is clear that these words are mentioned. I don't say "we see an elephant" or whatever. — Wad Cheber, Apr 15 '16 at 16:28

AntarcticGroundEagles · Answer 4 · 2022-01-04T22:43:59.877

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Ducks: in The Phantom Menace "We will be sitting ducks out here"

A bee seen in Attack of the Clones on Naboo

Dogs: "Die Jedi-dogs", C-3PO in Attack of the Clones

Names of droids: Vulture Droid, Hyena Droid, Spider Droid, Crab Droid, Scarab Droid.

Hawkeye: name of a clone trooper.

Falcon: Millennium Falcon

Given the precedent for animals to be referenced in conversation. (Nerf herder, Bantha podo, kiss a wookie, rip the ears of a gundark, Moof) I would assume that these were left in knowingly.

edited Jan 04 '22 at 22:43

answered Jan 04 '22 at 21:30

AntarcticGroundEagles

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As noted in a comment on a previous answer, names and words in speech may simply be translation convention without those animals actually being present in the Star Wars universe. – DavidW Jan 04 '22 at 21:45

What "Earth-Origin" animals exist in the canon Star Wars universe?

4 Answers4

Star Wars: A New Hope novelization: