Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• European polecat Mustela putorius

  

  A slender mustelid of freshwater margins and forest edges.

• Hamerkop Scopus umbretta

  The hamerkop is an African wetland bird whose flat crest makes its head look like a hammer. Pairs build a large, domed nest.

• Western long-beaked echidna Zaglossus bruijni

  The western long-beaked echidna is an egg-laying mammal with a long, downward-curving snout. It occurs on New Guinea.

• Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus

  A pigeon-sized hawk with a conspicuous pale eyebrow marking.

• Red-browed Pardalote Pardalotus rubricatus

  This pardalote occurs in Australia. Gould’s early description notes a vivid orange spot before the eye, while a regional account from the southern Carnarvon Basin reports it mainly in eucalypt canopies.

• Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis

  The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest living rhino and survives in Indonesia’s tropical forests.

• European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus

  An animal of European grasslands, hedgerows and gardens. Spines cover its back, and it curls into a ball when threatened.

• Chestnut-capped Flycatcher Erythrocercus mccallii

  This small bird lives at forest edges and in open woodland in west-central Africa. It has chestnut on the crown, rump, and tail, with a buff breast and white belly. It gleans insects from leaves and sometimes sallies after flying insects.

• Wolffsohn's Mountain Viscacha Lagidium wolffsohni

  Wolffsohn's mountain viscacha lives among rocky slopes in southwestern Argentina. It shelters in crevices and feeds on plants during the day.

• Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus

  A bird arriving in Japan in late spring, when males give the familiar cuckoo call.

• Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius

  The Egyptian Plover is marked by a black-and-white face and a blue-gray back and feeds along sandy, gravelly banks of large rivers.

• Narrow-striped Boky Mungotictis decemlineata

  The narrow-striped mongoose is a small mongoose of the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. Its gray-beige coat has dark stripes along the back and flanks. It often rests in tree holes on wet-season nights and in ground burrows in the dry season.

• Walrus Odobenus rosmarus

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

• Chestnut-collared Longspur Calcarius ornatus

  The Chestnut-collared Longspur is a grassland bird whose plumage changes by season. Breeding males show a chestnut nape and black belly, and the birds forage on the ground for insects and seeds.

• Island Mouse Nesomys rufus

  Nesomys rufus is a ground-dwelling rodent reported across humid forests of Madagascar. Its reddish back, white-spotted underside, and white tail tip help distinguish it.

• Black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

  A gull that gathers around watersides and visits Japan mainly in winter.

• Moreno's Ground Dove Metriopelia morenoi

  This small dove is brown overall, with conspicuous yellow-orange bare skin around the eyes. It inhabits rocky shrub steppe in northwestern Argentina and nests on the ground.

• Pied Tamarin Saguinus bicolor

  The pied tamarin is an arboreal monkey from around Manaus in Amazonas, Brazil. It is active by day and has conspicuous white shoulders and chest.

• Domestic goat Capra hircus

  A goat raised by people for milk, fiber and meat. It prefers the company of other goats.

• Black-capped Donacobius Donacobius atricapilla

  This waterside bird has a black head and back and a long tail with white tips. A Peru-focused species account describes pairs and family groups defending territories along lowland Amazon lakes and rivers.

• Korean Hare Lepus coreanus

  The Korean hare has brown or grey-brown fur on its back and paler fur underneath. It uses vegetated areas from plains to mountains and is reported to feed in open places in the late afternoon or evening.

• Short-eared owl Asio flammeus

  An owl with yellow eyes and mottled brown plumage, seen hunting over grasslands and wetlands in Britain.

• Blue-eyed Cockatoo Cacatua ophthalmica

  A large white cockatoo of lowland forest on New Britain.

• Crowned lemur Eulemur coronatus

  A lemur of northern Madagascar, recognized by its orange crown-like forehead marking. It is active mainly by day and lives in groups that travel through trees.