Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,028 · Stories: 19,472

• Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius

  

  A hippopotamus spends much of the day in water and grazes on land at night. It uses rivers, lakes and nearby grassland.

• Lesser Bulldog Bat Noctilio (Dirias) albiventris

  

  A bat of waterside habitats. Males tend to be bright red and females dull brown, and it searches for insects near the water's surface at night.

• Red-lored Whistler Pachycephala rufogularis

  

  This whistler lives in Australian mallee shrubland. The New South Wales factsheet describes known populations around Round Hill and Nombinnie in central New South Wales.

• Common Crane Grus grus

  

  A large crane that breeds from Europe across northern Asia and winters in southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia and other regions.

• Koala Phascolarctos cinereus

  

  An animal of Australian eucalypt forests. Trees provide both resting places and the leaves it eats.

• Standard-winged Nightjar Caprimulgus longipennis

  

  The Standard-winged Nightjar is an African migrant whose breeding males grow long ornamental wing feathers.

• Narwhal Monodon monoceros

  A whale without a dorsal fin that lives in Arctic seas. Males commonly develop a long tusk from a tooth.

• Musky Rat Kangaroo Hypsiprymnodon moschatus

  The musky rat kangaroo is a small marsupial of northeastern Australian rainforests. It eats mainly insects and searches by turning over debris while sitting on its haunches.

• Helmeted guineafowl Numida meleagris

  A mainly ground-dwelling bird native to Africa. Wild birds have dark grey plumage covered with small white spots.

• Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

  A diving duck distinguished by a tuft at the back of its head and yellow eyes.

• African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis

  The African forest elephant lives in dense tropical forests of western and central Africa.

• Tschudi's Tapaculo Scytalopus acutirostris

  Tschudi's Tapaculo lives in the humid montane understory of the eastern Peruvian Andes. Adults are mostly blackish with rufous on the flanks and forage in bamboo patches.

• Aardvark Orycteropus afer

  An African mammal that searches for ants and termites on the ground at night and uses burrows as shelter.

• Masai giraffe Giraffa tippelskirchi

  The Masai giraffe occurs in Kenya, Tanzania and part of Zambia.

• Rusty-flanked Treecreeper Certhia nipalensis

  The Rusty-flanked Treecreeper is a small bird of high forests from the eastern Himalayas into southwestern China. It is recorded in mixed conifer and broadleaf forest with tall trees.

• Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus

  A stocky black-and-white shorebird with an orange-red bill.

• Muscat Mouse-tailed Bat Rhinopoma muscatellum

  The Muscat Mouse-tailed Bat is a small bat whose tail is longer than its forearm. It feeds over dry, open ground and rests in rocky crevices and caves.

• Greater Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa

  The Greater Sooty Owl is a nocturnal forest owl recorded in eastern Australia and New Guinea. It hunts vertebrate prey in dense forest.

• Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus

  A whale with a large head and a white chin, living in icy northern seas.

• Crowned Sifaka Propithecus coronatus

  A lemur of western Madagascar that moves through trees and feeds on leaves and fruit.

• Chowchilla Orthonyx spaldingii

  This ground-dwelling bird lives in the tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland. Groups of about two to five defend year-round territories and search leaf litter for small animals.

• Barn swallow Hirundo rustica

  A bird with a long, deeply forked tail that catches insects in flight. It nests under building eaves and bridges as well as in other sheltered places.

• Stripe-faced Dunnart Sminthopsis macroura

  The stripe-faced dunnart has a black stripe down its face and pale underparts. It is nocturnal, mainly terrestrial, and catches insects and small vertebrates.

• Common Loon Gavia immer

  A large waterbird that chases fish underwater and changes its plumage noticeably between summer and winter.