<Li> The Guru: an unnamed, bearded wise man living like a hermit atop a mountain, whence he dispenses wisdom and sarcasm . </Li> <Ul> <Li> John the Turtle and the Dookie Bird: this prehistoric odd couple are inseparable friends, especially when making their annual trek south for the winter . The Dookie Bird rides on John's back when they travel . </Li> <Li> The Snake: the put - upon, mortal enemy of the Fat Broad (and her club). </Li> <Li> The Anteater: eats ants with a sticky, elastic tongue and a ZOT! sound . Hart actually drew something of a hybrid--with the long ears of an aardvark and the bushy tail of a giant anteater . (This character was the inspiration for Peter the Anteater, the University of California, Irvine team mascot . Also served as the inspiration for the mascot of the now disestablished US Navy fighter squadron VF - 114 the "Aardvarks".) </Li> <Li> Maude: an ant, a nagging wife with a smart - alec son (Johnny) and a quarrelsome, straying husband . </Li> <Li> Jake: ant husband of Maude, who is always threatening to run off with Shirley . </Li> <Li> Queen Ida: the queen ant, an unfeeling and abusive dictator . (Queen Ida is based on Hart's wife Bobby, whose given name is Ida . She's featured every year on her birthday, December 3 .) </Li> <Li> The Dinosaur: big but not too bright--a sort of sauropod with spinal plates like a stegosaurus . Sometimes called Gronk, which is the only sound he makes (although he can talk fluently in recent strips). </Li> <Li> The Clams: talking clams with legs, among other appendages . (Clams are also the preferred unit of currency in B.C.) </Li> <Li> The Apteryx (kiwi): a "wingless bird with hairy feathers," as he invariably introduces himself . </Li> <Li> The Turkey: makes his yearly appearance at Thanksgiving time, eluding the mighty hunters . </Li> <Li> Oynque: the turkey's porcine partner in crime, rarely seen without his trademark mud puddle . </Li> <Li> Wolf: the newest B.C. character August 24, 2009; a blissfully deviant domestication of Precambrian fur . Man's first friend . </Li> <Li> Various incidental ants, including a schoolteacher and her students . </Li> <Li> Raptors: velociraptors that try to eat the other characters . </Li> </Ul> <Li> John the Turtle and the Dookie Bird: this prehistoric odd couple are inseparable friends, especially when making their annual trek south for the winter . The Dookie Bird rides on John's back when they travel . </Li> <Li> The Snake: the put - upon, mortal enemy of the Fat Broad (and her club). </Li>

The world on the turtle's back comic strip