Yoshi (species)

Yoshis are a species featured in the Mario franchise and the spinoff Yoshi franchise. Their most notable member is their namesake character, Yoshi. They first appear in Super Mario World.

Colors
Yoshis come in a variety of colors which has increased as more games are released. In the original Super Mario World, Yoshis came in the colors green, blue, red, and yellow, though the green Yoshi is the most iconic color. With the introduction of the Yoshi's Island series, more colors were instituted. In some video games Yoshis have the ability to change their color; in Super Mario Sunshine, for example, Yoshis will change their color depending on the fruit they consume, while the same goes for the Yoshis in Super Mario Galaxy 2. In Sunshine, a Yoshi, regardless of the color, will revert to a green appearance when submerged in water. Below is a list of known Yoshi colors:

Green Yoshi
 * The most common color of Yoshi. First appeared in Super Mario World. Early screenshots and artwork of Super Mario Sunshine, show Mario riding a green Yoshi, but it does not appear in the final game unless the Yoshi whom Mario is riding runs out of juice.

Blue Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World. In that game, when a blue Yoshi obtains a shell, it gains the ability to fly regardless of its color. Blue Yoshis are a common color of Yoshi and appear as alternate colors for Yoshi in the Super Smash Bros. series (note: there is also a sticker of Blue Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), Mario Super Sluggers, Super Mario 64 DS, and others. They have appeared as playable characters in Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, Yoshi's Island DS and others.

Red Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World. In that game, when a red Yoshi obtains a shell, it gains the ability to expel fire regardless of its color. They appear as an alternate color in the Super Smash Bros. series, Mario Super Sluggers, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and others. In New Super Mario Bros., one of the colors of Yoshi is red. They have appeared as playable characters in Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, Yoshi's Island DS, and others.

Yellow Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World. In that game, when a yellow Yoshi obtains a shell, it gains the ability to generate earthquakes regardless of the shell's color. They appear as alternate colors in the Super Smash Bros. series, Mario Super Sluggers, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Golf, and others. They appear as playable characters in Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's Island DS. In Super Mario Sunshine and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a yellow Yoshi is among the many colored Yoshis that Mario can ride.

Pink Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as a playable character. Would later appear in Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's Island DS as a playable character. A Pink Yoshi was among the many different colored Yoshis that Mario could ride in Super Mario Sunshine. Appears as an alternate color in the Super Smash Bros. series, Mario Super Sluggers, and Super Mario 64 DS. A Pink Yoshi was placed on the cartridge of Yoshi's Story.

Light Blue Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as a playable character. Would later appear in Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's Island DS. Appears in the Super Smash Bros. series, Mario Hoops, and Mario Super Sluggers as an alternate color. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, when a Yoshi eats a specially colored fruit, they'll turn into a light blue Yoshi. Following this they'll puff up like a balloon giving Mario access to higher grounds.

Purple Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as a playable character. Would later appear in Yoshi's Island DS. In Super Mario Sunshine, one of the many colored Yoshis was a purple Yoshi. Purple Yoshis also appeared in Paper Mario, and made a slight cameo appearance in Yoshi's Story.

Brown Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as a playable character. They are among the rarest type of Yoshi. After Yoshi's Island the went on to appear in Paper Mario and made a slight cameo in Yoshi's Story. Some speculate that the orange Yoshi replaced the brown Yoshi due to its more colorful appearance.

Black Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Yoshi's Story. In the game they were hidden in the stages of the game along with the White Yoshi. They have more abilities than the other Yoshis in the game, including explosive eggs and the ability to eat things that other Yoshis can't. Black Yoshis later appeared in Yoshi's Island DS as playable characters on the game's secret levels and before that in Yoshi Touch & Go. They would later appear in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (as a color the kid Yoshi can be) and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

White Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Yoshi's Story. In the game they were hidden in the stages of the game along with the Black Yoshi. They have more abilities than the other Yoshis in the game, including explosive eggs and the ability to eat things that other Yoshis can't. White Yoshis later appeared in Yoshi's Island DS as playable characters in the game's secret levels.

Orange Yoshi
 * Was first introduced in Super Mario Sunshine. Orange Yoshis are the most recent color of Yoshi. In Sunshine, they were among the many colored Yoshis that Mario could ride. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the kid Yoshi had a chance at being an orange Yoshi. In Yoshi's Island DS, the orange Yoshi was a playable character and is speculated to have replaced the brown Yoshi from the original. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, when Yoshi eats a specially colored fruit, he will turn into an orange Yoshi and gain the ability to move very quickly.

Trivia

 * According to the Super Mario World cartoon episode "Mama Luigi," the species' name is short for Yoshisaur.