Commonly, "animals" means "all animals, except humans". So is there a single word for "animals, including humans"?
Particularly, if you had a list of two choices, animal or human, what would you write as the heading?
Context: I'm building an input form for game designers to fill out about things you can encounter in a fantasy world. And one property of an encounter is whether it's an encounter with humans, animals, and possibly more categories to be determined later (e.g. spirits, monsters, undead?).
Best Answer
This is a tricky one because people differ in what they consider to be an animal. Not only that but a biological dictionary would give a different answer from an everyday dictionary.
Some would say that humans are distinct from animals. (creationists for example)
Some would say that humans are animals. (evolutionists for example)
Some don't include lizards as animals. Others don't include insects.
It depends whether you want a technical answer or not.
Some suggestions
Technical
chordates
animalia
eukaryotes
Non-technical
beings
creatures
etc.