Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus

  

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

• Mountain Trogon Trogon mexicanus

  

  This trogon lives in highlands from Mexico into Central America. The checklist lists pine, pine-oak, and montane evergreen forests as its habitats.

• Andean Porcupine Coendou quichua

  

  This porcupine has a generally brown-looking back with pale quill tips giving it a frosted appearance. In Ecuador, its records are mainly from Andean forests at high elevations.

• Lowland tapir Tapirus terrestris

  

  The lowland tapir lives in South American forests and wetlands, preferring sites near water where it swims well.

• Plains-wanderer Pedionomus torquatus

  

  The Plains-wanderer is a small ground-dwelling bird of scattered grasslands in southeastern Australia. It forages by day for seeds and small ground-dwelling animals.

• Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides

  

  The Indo-Pacific finless porpoise is a distinct species from the narrow-ridged finless porpoise. It has a bumpy back ridge instead of a dorsal fin and feeds in shallow coastal waters.

• Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus

  Often hidden high in trees, this bird has an adult male with a bright yellow body and black wings.

• Asian Emerald Cuckoo Chrysococcyx maculatus

  A cuckoo whose males have glossy green plumage; it forages in the tree canopy for insects such as caterpillars and ants.

• Fraternal Fruit-eating Bat Artibeus (Artibeus) fraterculus

  This fruit-eating bat occurs in western Ecuador and north-central and western Peru. It is especially abundant in dry forests and arid areas, and it also helps disperse seeds.

• Walrus Odobenus rosmarus

  A northern marine mammal recognized by long tusks and sturdy whiskers around its muzzle.

• Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus

  A small sandpiper with a split pale eyebrow. It breeds from northern Europe to Siberia, with the two subspecies wintering in areas including the Middle East, southern and Southeast Asia and Australia.

• Malabar Spiny Dormouse Platacanthomys lasiurus

  Its back has broad, flat, stiff spines mixed through the fur, and the tail is brush-tipped. It climbs in forests of southern India and is thought to be mainly active at night.

• 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.

• Southern Hyliota Hyliota australis

  A small bird of miombo woodland in southern Africa. The male is black, white and yellow, and searches for insects in the canopy.

• Ashy Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros cineraceus

  A small leaf-nosed bat. In records from southern China its back is buff-brown to grey, with a paler underside.

• Nutria Myocastor coypus

  A large, rat-like animal from South America that lives by water. It was brought to Japan for fur and has established in several prefectures.

• Phainopepla Phainopepla nitens

  This bird lives in dry habitats and woodlands of the southwestern United States and nearby areas. Males are glossy black and females gray; it perches high and eats berries and flying insects.

• Pousargues' mongoose Dologale dybowskii

  This small mongoose has a brown body, a gray face, and a bushy tail. It has been recorded in Central Africa, but little is known about its life in the wild.

• Common Quail Coturnix coturnix

  A small pheasant-family bird that visits Britain's lowlands in summer, where open grassland and farmland occur. It is secretive and may be noticed by its call.

• Sapayoa Sapayoa aenigma

  A greenish bird of lowland forest from Panama to northwestern Ecuador. It has a broad, subtly hooked bill and lives in the forest understory.

• Thumbless Bat Furipterus horrens

  This bat has a very small thumb enclosed by the wing membrane. It roosts in cave colonies and catches moths and other insects at night.

• Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus

  A whale with a large head and narrow lower jaw that dives into deep water to find food.

• Green Catbird Ailuroedus crassirostris

  The Green Catbird is an Australian bird with a green, white-spotted body and red eyes. It feeds on fruit and flowers in the forest canopy and gives a cat-like call.

• Herbert River Ring-tailed Possum Pseudochirulus herbertensis

  This marsupial has a black body with white markings on its chest and belly. It is mainly arboreal, active at night, and eats leaves.