Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,813 · Stories: 19,540

• Least Weasel Mustela nivalis

  

  The least weasel is a small, slender mustelid with a short tail. The Missouri account describes it as probably present in the state’s northern counties.

• White-backed Stilt Himantopus melanurus

  A South American wetland stilt. Adults often show a white crown and a white bar across the upper back. A Brazilian study documented nests made with salt-marsh vegetation, mud, and shells.

• Deer Mouse Peromyscus maniculatus

  The deer mouse is a small rodent widespread in North America. Coat color varies by region, and the tail is distinctly darker above than below.

• Garganey Spatula querquedula

  A small duck whose male has a broad white stripe above the eye. It feeds at the water's surface and breeds in small numbers in the UK.

• Madagascar Hoopoe Upupa marginata

  The Madagascar Hoopoe searches for small prey on the ground in dry woodland and other open habitats on the island.

• 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.

• Nine-banded Armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus

  An armadillo active around dusk and at night that searches leaf litter for insects. It also occurs in parts of the United States east and north of Texas.

• Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus

  This small grebe lives in shallow ponds and wetlands and swims underwater in search of food.

• Lesser Epauletted Fruit Bat Epomophorus pusillus

  This fruit bat ranges widely across sub-Saharan Africa. Males have conspicuous white tufts of fur at the shoulders; females do not.

• Short-eared owl Asio flammeus

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

• Long-billed Wren-Babbler Napothera malacoptila

  The Long-billed Wren-Babbler is a small, streaky brown bird with a long, slightly downcurved bill. It searches for invertebrates near the forest floor.

• Franciscana Pontoporia blainvillei

  This small dolphin lives along the southwestern Atlantic coast from southeastern Brazil through Uruguay to Argentina. It uses shallow, turbid coastal water and estuaries, feeding on small fish, squid, and crustaceans.

• Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus

  A whale with a long, slender body and mottled blue-gray skin.

• Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus

  The Masked Shrike migrates to Cyprus in spring to nest in a tree or bush. It has a black band across the eye and may impale prey on a thorn.

• Eastern grey kangaroo Macropus giganteus

  A kangaroo of eastern Australian woodland and grassland that moves by hopping on its hind legs.

• Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus

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

• Horned Screamer Anhima cornuta

  The Horned Screamer is a large bird of freshwater wetlands in northern South America. A long, slender hornlike projection rises from its head.

• Dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima

  The dwarf sperm whale is a small toothed whale found widely in temperate and tropical seas. It is distinct from the pygmy sperm whale.

• Domestic goat Capra hircus

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

• Yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity Neodrepanis hypoxantha

  The Yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity is a small bird of eastern Madagascar's mountain forests. In breeding plumage, the male has a glossy blue-black back, yellow underparts, and bright eye wattles.

• Thomas' Dwarf Lemur Cheirogaleus thomasi

  This lemur is known from littoral forests in southeastern Madagascar. The 2020 IUCN assessment lists forest fragments from the dry forest at Petriky to the wetter forest at Ste Luce.

• Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax

  A heron with red eyes and a black-and-gray back, often active from evening onward.

• Eastern Chat-Tanager Calyptophilus frugivorus

  A chocolate-brown back and bright yellow skin around the eye help identify this bird. In Hispaniola's mountain forests, it searches leaf litter for small animals and seeds.

• Malagasy Civet Fossa fossana

  The Malagasy civet is a small carnivore with rows of spots along its back. At night it searches for small animals on the ground and in low trees.