Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Coucha Rat Mastomys natalensis

  

  This rodent is recorded across much of sub-Saharan Africa. A study in semi-arid Tanzania found it eating plant material and seeds.

• Straw-tailed Whydah Vidua fischeri

  

  The male Straw-tailed Whydah grows a very long tail in breeding plumage and shows bold black-and-pale markings. It feeds on seeds on the ground in dry savanna.

• Brown Agouti Dasyprocta variegata

  

  This agouti is listed from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina. An Argentine biodiversity profile describes reddish-brown fur flecked with black and records in forest, savanna and cultivated areas near water.

• Water Dikkop Burhinus vermiculatus

  

  The Water Thick-knee is a large shorebird that is active at night along rivers and lakes. Its mottled gray-brown plumage helps it blend into grass and waterside cover.

• Brazilian Bristle-spined Porcupine Chaetomys subspinosus

  

  This porcupine climbs trees in Brazilian forests. Most of its body has bristly hair, with stiffer spines around the head and forelegs.

• Black-faced Cotinga Conioptilon mcilhennyi

  

  A cotinga of southwestern Amazonian floodplain forest. Its dingy-white body contrasts with black wings, tail, mask, and throat.

• Cape Dune Blesmol Bathyergus suillus

  The Cape dune blesmol is a stocky rodent that digs tunnels below sandy ground with its strong forefeet. It lives alone along the southwest coast of South Africa.

• Great Iora Aegithina lafresnayei

  The Great Iora is a small bird with a yellow face and underparts and a black-edged yellow forecrown. It lives in lowland evergreen and semi-deciduous forests.

• Tail-less Tenrec Tenrec ecaudatus

  The tailless tenrec is an omnivorous mammal native to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. It searches for food around water and undergrowth.

• White-backed Swallow Cheramoeca leucosterna

  This swallow inhabits arid and semi-arid parts of southern and central Australia. It breeds in open country where sandy banks or earth cliffs are available.

• Cape Porcupine Hystrix (Hystrix) africaeaustralis

  A porcupine covered in long, stiff quills, native to central and southern Africa.

• Montezuma Oropendola Psarocolius montezuma

  This oropendola ranges through lowlands from Mexico into Central America. Males are about 50 cm and females about 37.5 cm; birds breed in colonies that suspend long, pouch-like nests from branches.

• Rufous Dog-faced Bat Molossops neglectus

  This bat has reddish dark-brown fur and feeds on flying insects. Its records are separated between northern and southeastern South America, and southern specimens have tended to be smaller than northern ones.

• Northern Crombec Sylvietta brachyura

  This small warbler occurs in West Africa and forages for insects in dry savanna and scrub. The account places it in the canopy and bushes.

• Mottle-faced Tamarin Tamarinus inustus

  This tamarin was recorded in flooded forest during fieldwork in Brazil’s Amanã Reserve. The survey reported 11 new localities.

• Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen

  The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black-and-white bird found across Australia. Its back pattern varies by sex and region.

• Brush-tailed Bettong Bettongia penicillata

  The surviving subspecies has native populations in Western Australia and translocated populations elsewhere. Its gray-to-reddish-brown coat and black tail-tip brush are distinctive.

• White-capped Dipper Cinclus leucocephalus

  This bird lives along mountain streams in the Andes. Its pale head and throat contrast with a dark back and belly, and it feeds on small animals near water.

• Veldkamp's Epauletted Fruit Bat Nanonycteris veldkampii

  This small fruit bat lives across West African forest and savanna zones. Records show seasonal movements north and south as the rains change.

• Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax

  The Little Bustard lives in dry grassland and pasture. During the breeding season, a male courts a female with stamping and leaps.

• Pileated Gibbon Hylobates pileatus

  The pileated gibbon occurs in forests of Thailand, Cambodia and southwestern Laos. Adult males and females have markedly different coat colors.

• Stripe-headed Tanager Spindalis zena

  The Stripe-headed Tanager occurs on Caribbean islands and nearby regions, and males and females differ in plumage.

• Clear-winged Woolly Bat Kerivoula pellucida

  The clear-winged woolly bat is a small bat with pale fur and nearly translucent wing membranes. It occurs on islands in Southeast Asia, with records of roosting in dead leaves.

• White-eared Tailorbird Orthotomus cinereiceps

  This resident bird occurs in the Philippines. BirdLife lists moist lowland forest as its main habitat and records it up to 1,000 m.