Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual Top Ten Review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2016 as we know it.
T
he many creatures we share this planet with have remained a constant source of entertainment on the web. In today's internet meme landscape, animals provide some of the best online content, from viral videos to adorable photos, and are even some of our biggest celebrities on social media.
In anthropomorphic animals, the unicycle-riding frog Dat Boi briefly became a ubiquitous internet joke, before quickly wearing out its welcome. Pepe the Frog had perhaps his biggest year yet, becoming a national news story following a well organized campaign to brand the character a "hate symbol." Most recently, the character Biggie Cheese from the 2006 animated comedy film Barnyard saw a resurgence online after screenshots of a bizarre erotic chat conversation about the rapping mouse circulated across the web.
In reptile memes, a picture of a blue-tongued skink preparing to drinnk a beer was dubbed Friday Lizard on Australian Twitter. The muppet Kermit the Frog became known as Tea Lizard thanks to Twitter troll @Triballins. Meanwhile, a Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur costume became the new horse head mask on YouTube, with people donning the outfit to perform various pranks and stunts.
Let's look back on the year's top 10 animal memes to grace the web, listed in no particular order.
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Species: Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)
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Debut: May 1999
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Breakout: #DicksOutForHarambe
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Profile: Western lowland silverback gorilla who was tragically shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child fell into his enclosure in May. Following a long mourning period, Harambe transitioned into an ironic internet meme with the hashtag #DicksOutForHarambe.
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Primary Habitat: Facebook
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Highlights: Clinton Did Harambe | Baby Costume | Tell Me About 2016
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Species: Eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)
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Debut: June 2016
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Breakout: ""Man Punches Kangaroo in the Face":https://knowyourmeme.com/videos/159117-kangaroo-punch-video
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Profile: A eastern grey kangaroo who latched on to a hunting dog and was then punched in the face in an effort to rescue to the canine.
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Primary Habitat: YouTube
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Highlights: Ozzy Man Reviews | Best Anime Fight of 2016 | Movie Trailer Parody
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Species: Dog (Canis familiaris_), white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth_), human (Homo sapiens)
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Debut: Super Bowl 50
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Breakout: Mountain Dew Kickstart Commercial
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Profile: A dog-monkey-human hybrid from a Mountain Dew commercial broadcast during Super Bowl 50. The fictional creature was reviled online for its disturbing appearance.
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Primary Habitat: YouTube
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Highlights: Patton Oswalt Tweets | Cosplay | Illustration
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Species: Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
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Debut: November 2016
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Breakout: Planet Earth 2 "Jungles" episode
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Profile: A stunned-looking capybara rodent witnessing a jaguar visciously hunt a caiman in South America.
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Primary Habitat: Twitter
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Highlights: Mother of God | Have I Just Seen That? | Gobsmacked
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Species: Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
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Debut: November 2016
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Breakout: Planet Earth 2 "Islands" episode
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Profile: A baby marine iguana who sprints through a guantlet of ravenous snakes across the rocky coast of Galapagos.
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Primary Habitat: YouTube
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Highlights: Run Boy Run Remix | Benny Hill Remix | Ozzy Man Reviews
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