Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Eurasian coot Fulica atra

  

  A swimming waterbird of lakes and ponds with a conspicuous white forehead.

• Yellow-bibbed Fruit Dove Ptilinopus solomonensis

  

  A violet crown and yellow breast band make this fruit dove distinctive. It feeds on fruit in trees and lives in forests across islands from the New Guinea region to the Solomon Islands.

• Pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis

  

  The pygmy hippopotamus is a small forest hippo from West Africa that usually lives alone.

• Spinner dolphin Stenella longirostris

  

  A long-beaked dolphin known for spinning as it leaps out of the water.

• Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides

  

  By day it rests on a branch, blending in with the tree; at night it drops to the ground to catch prey.

• Dugong Dugong dugon

  

  A mammal of warm coastal seas that feeds mainly on seagrass and uses shallow sheltered waters.

• Common nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos

  A migratory bird breeding in scrubby woodland. Birds breeding in Britain spend winter in West Africa.

• Chirruping Wedgebill Psophodes cristatus

  This bird lives in inland Australia. Its head is pale brownish-gray with fine streaks, the back is gray-brown, and the pale cream underparts have diffuse gray streaking. Tracked pairs stayed close during and after breeding.

• Swamp Rat Scapteromys tumidus

  This strong swimmer lives in wetlands in Uruguay and southern Brazil. Its partly webbed hind feet help it move around water.

• Guinea pig Cavia porcellus

  A domesticated rodent originating in South America and now kept worldwide. It has a compact body and stays close to companions.

• Ibisbill Ibidorhyncha struthersii

  The Ibisbill searches for food along stony rivers with its long, down-curved red bill. It may feed alone beside highland rivers and streams.

• Lowland paca Cuniculus paca

  A spotted forest rodent that feeds on fallen fruit.

• Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius

  A woodland bird with a conspicuous white rump in flight. In Britain it is found widely except in northern Scotland.

• Yellow-crowned Barbet Psilopogon henricii

  The Yellow-crowned Barbet is green with a yellow crown and blue throat. It eats fruit in forests across Southeast Asia.

• Dassie Rat Petromus typicus

  The dassie rat is a rodent that shelters among rock crevices. It has long whiskers and a yellowish nose, and comes out in the morning and late afternoon to seek flowers, seeds, and fruit.

• Dhole Cuon alpinus

  A wild canid of forests in South and Southeast Asia. Adults have a reddish coat and a dark bushy tail.

• Andean Avocet Recurvirostra andina

  This waterbird has a long, upturned black bill. It is seen in pairs or small groups at lakes and streams in the Andes at 3,000–4,000 m.

• Falanouc Eupleres goudotii

  The falanouc is a Malagasy carnivore with a narrow muzzle and a thick tail. It searches for earthworms and other small prey at night in humid lowland forests.

• Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

  A familiar finch in Britain and Ireland. It searches the ground for seeds and insects, and shows white on its wings in flight.

• Ayres's Hawk-Eagle Hieraaetus ayresii

  Ayres's Hawk-Eagle is a small, stocky eagle with a crest it can raise and lower. It mainly catches birds in flight and hunts over wooded savanna and forest patches in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Little Japanese Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus cornutus

  The subspecies recorded around Yasaka Dam roosts in mountain caves and catches flying insects at night near the river.

• Mediterranean Monk Seal Monachus monachus

  A rare seal found in the Mediterranean and along northwest Africa; it feeds on fish, octopus and other prey.

• Bohemian waxwing Bombycilla garrulus

  A winter visitor to Japan that gathers in flocks to eat berries.

• Lesser Bulldog Bat Noctilio (Dirias) albiventris

  A bat of waterside habitats. Males tend to be bright red and females dull brown, and it searches for insects near the water's surface at night.