Yoshis (referred to as Yoshisaurs in the Super Mario World cartoon) are a sentient species of omnivorous dinosaur that first appeared in Super Mario World. They later starred in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island. The name is derived from the Japanese interjection "yoshi!", meaning "great". Its pluralization has been a topic of some debate, with Nintendo of America has used both "Yoshies" and "Yoshis" in the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance versions of Yoshi's Island, respectively. Because the original Japanese has no plural marker, "Yoshi" is another possibility. The most well-known Yoshi is simply named Yoshi, and is an ally of Mario, often aiding Mario out or being a protagonist of his own adventures.
Yoshis are characterized primarily by their production and use of eggs as offensive tools. Regardless of gender, Yoshis can spontaneously lay hollow eggs after eating other animals or fruit, and then use them as projectile weaponry; other eggs have been shown to hatch into items, and some eggs hatch into baby Yoshis, as would be expected. In the Super Smash Bros. series, Yoshi is able to turn himself into an egg to either protect himself or to roll into others as an attack. Yoshis come in a variety of colors, although green is the most common (and is in fact the color of the Yoshi character). Yoshis are most closely associated with Yoshi's Island, however they are a widespread species, found on a number of other islands, such as Lavalava Island and Isle Delfino, as well as the continental Mushroom Kingdom and the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom.
