Name a mammal smaller than a house cat - Krillion Answers 2026-10-20

6,515 recorded names on October 20, 2026, 6,298 at 85 or higher. The highest recorded score on this question is 100.

Aim for species-level names from the groups that pack the most tiny bodies per genus — the further you go down a field-guide index, the better the payoff. Any living mammal species whose adult body mass typically stays well under that of a domestic cat counts; single-word catch-all labels for whole groups score far less than a proper species name.

Recorded answers

6,515 recorded answers

How to approach it

Work from size classes instead of from memory of famous animals. Sketch the handful of mammalian orders in which adults commonly weigh under a few hundred grams, then walk each order's family list and pull one or two names per family. Field-guide indexes, national species checklists and museum collection catalogues are the richest sources, because they supply the long descriptive names that casual players never reach. Build a long list rather than a short one: quantity matters here, so aim for twenty or thirty candidates before you start judging them. Where a species has several common names, submit the most formal one. Finally, keep an eye on spelling, since hyphenated and transliterated forms are usually accepted.

Get a hint

Start from body mass rather than from familiarity: list the mammalian orders in which adults routinely weigh less than a few hundred grams, then work downward through them.

A little more

Harvest names from regional mammal checklists and museum species lists; long compound common names built from a place plus a body feature are a strong signal of a valid, rarely given entry.

One step further

Chase the oddities too: species known from a single mountain range, a cave survey or a recent taxonomic revision often carry the highest value, and hyphenated or transliterated forms are accepted.

Reveal answers 6,515

Common Black Mastiff BatDeep Cut85points
Common Black MyotisDeep Cut85points
Common Brown Four-eyed OpossumDeep Cut85points
Common Brush-tailed PhascogaleDeep Cut85points
Common Butterfly BatDeep Cut85points
Common Cerrado MouseDeep Cut85points
Common Crab-eating RatDeep Cut85points
Common CusimanseDeep Cut85points
Common Dayak Fruit BatDeep Cut85points
Common Defua RatDeep Cut85points
Common DunnartDeep Cut85points
Common Dusky Roundleaf BatDeep Cut85points
Common Dwarf Bonneted BatDeep Cut85points
Common Fat MouseDeep Cut85points
Common Fat-tailed OpossumDeep Cut85points
Common Four-eyed OpossumDeep Cut85points
Common Fringe-lipped BatDeep Cut85points
Common GundiDeep Cut85points
Common Hill RatDeep Cut85points
Common Lowland Mosaic-tailed RatDeep Cut85points
Common Mole-ratDeep Cut85points
Common Mountain ViscachaDeep Cut85points
Common NoctuleDeep Cut85points
Common PericoteDeep Cut85points
Common Pine VoleDeep Cut85points
Common PlanigaleDeep Cut85points
Common Pygmy Fruit BatDeep Cut85points
Common Pygmy Rock MouseDeep Cut85points
Common Rat-like HamsterDeep Cut85points
Common Red-nosed MouseDeep Cut85points
Common Red-rumped AgoutiDeep Cut85points
Common Rock SquirrelDeep Cut85points
Common Rufous-nosed RatDeep Cut85points
Common Samoan Flying FoxDeep Cut85points
Common Shaggy BatDeep Cut85points
Common Sheath-tailed BatDeep Cut85points
Common Silky AnteaterDeep Cut85points
Common Soft-furred RatDeep Cut85points
Common Spiny BandicootDeep Cut85points
Common Spotted CuscusDeep Cut85points
Common Swamp RatDeep Cut85points
Common Swift Fruit BatDeep Cut85points
Common Sword-nosed BatDeep Cut85points
Common TapetiDeep Cut85points
Common tenrecDeep Cut85points
Common Tent-making BatDeep Cut85points
Common Thick-thumbed BatDeep Cut85points
Common TreeshrewDeep Cut85points
Common Tube-nosed Fruit BatDeep Cut85points
Common Viscacha RatDeep Cut85points

Why these answers count

Almost every entry in the reveal lands in the same high band, which tells you the puzzle rewards reach rather than precision: 6,485 of the 6,514 recorded answers cleared sixty points, and 6,295 of those sat at eighty-five. That middle tier is where competent, well-read answers live — the long descriptive species names that fill a museum checklist, such as Abert's Squirrel or Aba Horseshoe Bat, both worth eighty-five. The hundred-point pair sit apart because they are nearly impossible to arrive at by brainstorming: a single-species family described from a very limited range, and a small animal whose spine is famously reinforced, each rewarding whoever had read up on a taxonomic curiosity. Only 188 answers fell to sixty, presumably the everyday small mammals most players produce first. The lesson is that obscurity, not correctness, moves the score: a household name is valid but cheap, while a name almost nobody else can recall pays the maximum.