I currently want to be a zookeeper, and I have spent four years of my life working with animals, so I wanted to write this piece in honor of my future career.

My apologies for the horse pun in the title. Shetland Ponies are a type of miniature horse that reaches full maturity at around age eight and stay at their 30-44 inches the rest of their lives. At that point, despite their small stature, they aren’t ponies anymore.

2. Blue-Eyed Black Lemurs:

This species is adorable, but sexually dimorphic, meaning that the males have a different appearance from the females. In this case the genders are different colors. The males are black, the females are beige, but both have blue eyes, so half a point to science.

3. Mountain Chicken:

This one is kind of cheating because only locals call it the mountain chicken due to it being a large amphibian. To the rest of us, it's known as a giant ditch frog. It is native to the Caribbean and is critically endangered due to the combination of a rapidly spreading fungal infection and its position on the local menu.

4. African Pygmy Goose:

This poor creature is actually the world’s smallest duck. The misnomer came from their beak shape, which is thought to me more goose-like than duck-like, but they use it to eat water plants and seeds.

5. Red Panda:

Red Pandas are not pandas, but are relatives of raccoons and skunks. Although they are in the family Carnivora, implying that they are meat eaters, they are actually herbivores and eat lots of bamboo, which is another reason they were thought to be pandas.

6. Sperm Whale:

These mammals got their name from a white substance in their heads called spermaceti, which whalers thought was sperm, but actually changes consistency at different temperatures from a liquid to a waxy solid. They are highly social animals and like to travel in groups.

7. Guinea Pigs:

These guys aren't from Guinea and they aren't relatives of the pig. They originated in the Andes, but they have been domesticated for so long that there are almost none found in the wild. It's possible the word "pig" comes from the squeaking sound they make, which sounds similar to oinking.

8. Flying Squirrel:

In every animal group there are things that “fly,” but true flight is usually only exhibited by things that have wings. Flying snakes exist, as well as flying frogs, but it’s really just falling with style. I picked the squirrel because of its cuteness factor.

9. Giant Elephant Shrew:

This adorable creature is not a shrew. In fact, it is more closely related to the elephant than a shrew. The elephant part comes from the long nose similar to an elephant's and the term "giant" also referring to their noses and certainly not their six-inch stature. Altogether, this African animal's name is a fail.

10. False Water Cobra:

I had to throw in a reptile on this list because I included the amphibian. Firstly, naming any animal with a false name is just rude. Mimicry happens in the animal kingdom all the time. It's a good defense mechanism. Secondly these creatures are not cobras. They have neck panels that flex outward similar to a cobra's hood.