2026-09-29 13:00:09

Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear – a lot of The Muppets characters have their species in their names.

But there’s one that doesn’t, and that’s Gonzo.

If you’re a fan of The Muppets, you may well have wondered over the years exactly what animal Gonzo is meant to be, and now a team of biologists have had their say.

Darren Naish, who studies the anatomy of extinct backboned animals, analysed Gonzo’s beak-like snout, four limbs and backbone, and no teeth – as well as the tufts on his head which have been referred to as “feathers” at various points in the show.

He also took into account the fact that Gonzo is fuzzy, suggesting he’s warm-blooded, and mused in a chat with Popsci: “If you add all those things together, there isn’t anything else he can be.

“He can’t be anything other than a bird.”

Narrowing things down further, Naish said that Gonzo’s snout is reminiscent of a Jamaican ibis, which have been extinct for around 10,000 years.

Noting Gonzo’s three fingers, he referenced the fact the the ibises had wings so heavy that their hand bones ended up swelling into a club-shape.

He added: “Could be that he might be a highly derived, a very evolutionarily modified ibis?”

However, University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz is more inclined to believe that Gonzo is a form of dinosaur – citing his three working fingers on each hand, and down-like fuzz, which he said is reminiscent of early carnivorous dinosaurs.

In addition, the other birds in the show – namely Big Bird and Gonzo’s chicken girlfriend Camilla – have feathers and more obviously bird-like beaks.

He said: “This suggests that if he is a bird or bird relative, Gonzo is from a group that evolved prior to the evolution of modern feathers.”

Meanwhile, The University of Geneva’s Michel Milinkovitch was more interested in exactly what Gonzo’s tuft is made from, as he believes that could be the answer to whether or not Gonzo is a mammal, dinosaur or bird.

He noted: “If Gonzo’s fur is made of real hair, he must be a mammal, because hair is a distinguishing character for mammals.”

But if the tuft is feathers, he’s most likely to be a bird.

In conclusion, the likelihood is that Gonzo is “some kind of funny-looking bird” – but it seems only The Muppets creators can confirm once and for all.

Visit Bang Bizarre (main website)