Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• 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.

• Black-shouldered Kite Elanus axillaris

  

  A small raptor with a white and grey body and a black shoulder patch. It hovers over open ground while searching for rodents.

• White-faced Spiny Tree-rat Echimys chrysurus

  

  This tree rat lives in lowland forests of the Guianas and eastern Amazonia and spends much of its time in trees.

• Fulvous Wren Cinnycerthia fulva

  

  The Fulvous Wren occurs in the eastern Andes of southeastern Peru and Bolivia. It is olive-rufous, with a pale eyebrow and throat and dark bars on the wings and tail.

• California Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys californicus

  

  The California kangaroo rat has large hind feet for hopping and a long tail. It is active mainly at night and eats seeds and fruit.

• Lovely Fairywren Malurus amabilis

  

  This fairywren is endemic to the wet tropics of northeastern Australia. The male retains bright plumage through the year.

• Bastard big-footed mouse Macrotarsomys bastardi

  The bastard big-footed mouse is a small rodent of southern and western Madagascar's dry habitats. It rests in a burrow by day and searches for plant foods at night.

• Northern Screamer Chauna chavaria

  A large wetland bird of northern Colombia and eastern Venezuela. Its gray body, black neck and white band around the head stand out.

• Tammar wallaby Notamacropus eugenii

  A grass-eating wallaby with large ears and a long tail.

• Masked Finfoot Heliopais personatus

  This grey-brown waterbird has a black mask from face to throat in males. A Bangladesh study documented nests in trees beside narrow waterways in the Sundarbans.

• Dwarf Little Fruit Bat Rhinophylla pumilio

  A small fruit-eating bat widespread in northern South America. It lacks a tail and uses folded leaves as daytime roost tents.

• Short-tailed Antthrush Chamaeza campanisona

  A Short-tailed Antthrush of Bolivia’s humid montane forests. It searches for food on the forest floor by turning leaves with its bill.

• Roman Mole Talpa romana

  The Roman mole digs underground tunnels with broad forefeet shaped for moving soil. It occurs in central and southern Italy and eats earthworms and insect larvae.

• Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus

  This large thrasher has pale eyes and a scaly-looking brown body. Across Caribbean islands it uses forest and coffee-farm habitat and eats fruit, insects, and other small prey.

• 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.

• Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus

  This bird walks across dry plains and fields, feeding on insects on the ground. Its rufous crown and black-and-white lines from bill to neck stand out.

• Greater Glider Petauroides volans

  This nocturnal marsupial lives in forests of eastern Australia. It glides between trees using a membrane between its limbs and eats eucalyptus leaves.

• Grey-winged Trumpeter Psophia crepitans

  The Grey-winged Trumpeter is a forest bird of South America that appears larger when it arches its wings.

• Steller sea lion Eumetopias jubatus

  A large sea lion of the cold North Pacific. It catches fish and other prey at sea and rests ashore.

• Speckled Nightingale-Thrush Catharus maculatus

  An Andean nightingale-thrush of South America. A 2017 study supported treating C. maculatus as a species separate from Central American C. dryas.

• Northern Right Whale Dolphin Lissodelphis borealis

  The northern right whale dolphin has no dorsal fin, a black back and a white underside. It travels in groups in offshore waters of the North Pacific.

• Dubois's Seedeater Sporophila ardesiaca

  This small finch is found in grassland with bushes. The name and taxonomy shown here follow the pool’s current entry.

• African Savanna Hare Lepus victoriae

  This hare ranges from northwestern Africa across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Coat color and habitat vary among populations, including those in mountains.

• Black Scimitarbill Rhinopomastus aterrimus

  The Black Scimitarbill is an African bird with a long curved bill and tail that searches tree trunks and branches for food.