Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis

  

  This dark seabird lives around the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It dives below the surface to find food.

• Rock Cavy Kerodon rupestris

  

  This cavy relative lives among rocky outcrops in the dry landscapes of northeastern Brazil. It has a very short tail and feeds on plants.

• Andean Ibis Theristicus branickii

  

  The head is rufous, paling toward the neck, and the back is blue-grey. It has a long, downcurved bill and occurs in flocks in highland wetlands and open grassland.

• Giant Ground Pangolin Smutsia gigantea

  

  The giant pangolin is the largest pangolin in Africa. It is nocturnal, terrestrial and associated with moist areas near water.

• White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata

  

  The white-rumped munia is a small bird marked by its white rump. Wild birds eat grass seeds and form flocks near grassland and farmland.

• Common Brown Four-eyed Opossum Metachirus myosuros

  

  This opossum occurs in forests from Central America into central South America. It has brown fur, small pale eye spots and a long, nearly naked tail. It is nocturnal, solitary and mainly terrestrial.

• Forty-spotted Pardalote Pardalotus quadragintus

  A small bird found only in Tasmania and closely tied to forests containing white gum (Eucalyptus viminalis).

• Little Chinese Jird Meriones (Pallasiomys) meridianus

  The Little Chinese Jird lives in deserts and grasslands, and the color of its back varies.

• Hume's Treecreeper Certhia manipurensis

  Hume’s Treecreeper has a brown back with pale streaks and spots and an orange-brown rump. In Yunnan, the shanensis form occurs in forest and searches bark for small prey.

• Madras Tree Shrew Anathana ellioti

  The Madras tree shrew is a small Indian mammal with a mottled back, pale belly, and pale shoulder stripe. It is reported to spend more time on the ground than in trees.

• Black-backed Bittern Botaurus dubius

  A small Australian heron that hides in reedbeds and rushes, waiting for prey in the water.

• Palau Flying Fox Pteropus pelewensis

  The Palau Flying Fox has been studied on the Palau Islands. Field work there reported bats roosting in forest and leaving after sunset to feed on fruits, flowers, and other plant foods.

• Green-and-white Hummingbird Elliotomyia viridicauda

  This hummingbird lives in forest on Peru’s eastern Andes. It has green upperparts, white underparts and a gray tail, with records from about 1,000 to 2,750 m.

• Camas pocket gopher Megascapheus bulbivorus

  This pocket gopher lives underground in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Its coat ranges from dark brown to reddish brown, and some individuals have a white throat patch.

• White-bellied Seedsnipe Attagis malouinus

  This ground-dwelling bird has a white belly and fine barring above. It uses rocky slopes and wetlands above treeline and may descend in winter.

• Yellow Mongoose Cynictis penicillata

  A mongoose of open, semi-arid habitats in southern Africa that forages for insects and other small prey.

• Desert Sparrow Passer simplex

  The Desert Sparrow is a small, sandy-colored sparrow. Males have a black bib and black lores, and the species occurs in desert scrub and around oases.

• Indomalayan Bamboo Rat Rhizomys sumatrensis

  This is a large, stocky bamboo rat that makes burrows. In Malaysia it emerges in the early evening to feed on fallen fruit and other plant matter.

• Blyth's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus reguloides

  A small leaf warbler that searches forests for insects. It uses higher-elevation forest in the breeding season and is known to move to lower ground in winter.

• Fea's Muntjac Muntiacus feae

  Fea’s muntjac is a small deer of forests in Thailand and southernmost Myanmar that is active alone at night.

• Fawn-colored Lark Calendulauda africanoides

  The Fawn-colored Lark is about 14–16 cm long. It lives on the ground in dry scrub and grassland across southern Africa.

• Hope Porcupine Coendou speratus

  This small, long-tailed porcupine was described from Atlantic Forest on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Its back appears fully spiny because it lacks long dorsal fur, and the quill tips are reddish brown against a dark background.

• Collared Crescentchest Melanopareia torquata

  This ground-dwelling bird has been studied in the Cerrado of southeastern Brazil. Individuals vary, including in the size of a white patch on the back.

• Visayan Warty Pig Sus cebifrons

  It has mane-like hair that can fall across the face. The range entry is limited to the living population on Negros and Panay.