Aardvark's Weird Zoology
Aardvark's Weird Zoology lets players keep, study and breed more than 60 species of animals, many of them unusual or extinct, on a Forge world for 1.20.1.
What it does
Players explore the world to find creatures, study their biology and animations, clone them from DNA recovered by excavating fossils, and raise them in a zoo. Several machines turn nearby animals into joy, a resource that can be spent on expanding exhibits and building new blocks, and the mod's documentation lists which resources and blocks raise an animal's joy. The mod also adds a few creatures that feed other parts of the world, such as cuttlefish that pollinate plants, hoverflies that work the same way, and kudzu farms that players can build.
The mod needs Geckolib to run, and Configured and Just Enough Items (JEI) are optional. Installation covers the server and each player's game. Files are published for Forge only, and the latest build is 1.10.4 for 1.20.1, released on 2024-06-28. The code is under the Apache License 2.0, and the project is not open source.
Key features
Animal collection
Among the more than 60 species in the mod are the Tully Monster, the Mouse Lemur, the Goblin Shark, the Parasitic Jaeger and the Winghead Shark, and players can locate and keep them.
Zoo building
Exhibits earn rewards as the player builds them up, giving a reason to design a zoo around each animal.
Joy-based machines
Machines convert the joy of nearby animals into resources that the player can use to expand exhibits.
Fossil cloning
DNA is recovered from fossils found in the ground, and it can be used to clone extinct animals.
Configurable spawning
The mod's config file controls the chances of finding fossils and other features, and whether extinct animals spawn naturally.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Optional 2
Use cases
Skyblock play
The mod suits skyblock worlds, where the animal and resource loop gives players a clear set of goals.
Who it’s for: Players who want an animal mod with unusual species and their own gameplay, rather than a few decorative creatures, and server owners who want fossil and zoo features to be adjustable.
Questions
Does Aardvark's Weird Zoology need Geckolib?
Does the server need the mod?
Can extinct animals spawn in the world without cloning?
Does Just Enough Items need to be installed?
In the catalog
Aardvark's Weird Zoology is one of 11,058 Mobs mods on ModsFinder, and one of 6,527 Mobs mods for Forge. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
Similar mods
What the author says
With 60+ unique creatures, Aardvarks Weird Zoology is not your standard animal mod. Rather than add in a few mostly decorative animals that other mods have done, I wanted to reimagine what an animal mod could be. Each animal added in is a weird animal from our own world. And each one comes with it's own unique…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/aardvarks-weird-zoology
- Owner
- SpaceAardvark42
- Published
- 2024-03-11
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-06-28
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15