Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Giant Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ingens

  

  This rodent has large hind feet and cheek pouches, with a long tail that helps it balance. It lives in dry grassland burrows and gathers seeds.

• Banded Kingfisher Lacedo pulchella

  Males are blue, while females show orange-and-black barring, making the sexes look quite different. It perches and waits for prey in lowland and hill forests.

• Bushveld Elephant Shrew Elephantulus intufi

  A small mammal with a narrow, elongated snout and long hind legs. It lives in dry scrublands of southern Africa and mainly eats ants and termites.

• Western Yellow Robin Eopsaltria griseogularis

  The Western Yellow Robin lives in woodland and forest in southwestern Australia. It is gray with a white throat and yellow rump, and drops from low branches to the ground to catch invertebrates.

• Black-and-white ruffed lemur Varecia variegata

  A mainly fruit-eating lemur of eastern Madagascar’s rainforests.

• Madagascar Forest Rail Mentocrex kioloides

  This secretive, ground-dwelling forest rail is endemic to Madagascar. The paper records one subspecies in eastern humid forest and another in the northwestern transition between humid and dry deciduous forest, with regional plumage differences.

• Marine Otter Lontra felina

  The marine otter lives among rocky shores along the Pacific coast of South America. It has dark brown fur and feeds on fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

• Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii

  A sandgrouse of dry country, with plumage that blends into rocks and gravel. It may shelter in shade during the day.

• Sunda Stink Badger Mydaus javanensis

  The Sunda stink badger digs with its strong forefeet and long snout to find insects and worms. It rests underground by day and is active at night.

• Grey Tit Melaniparus afer

  The Grey Tit lives in dry scrub and rocky places in southern Africa. It moves through branches and bark crevices while searching mainly for insects.

• Crabeater Seal Lobodon carcinophaga

  This seal is widespread in pack ice around Antarctica. It feeds mainly on krill; despite its name, crabs are not its principal food.

• Malia Malia grata

  Malia is endemic to Sulawesi. It is olive above and greenish yellow below and associated with montane forest.

• Domestic yak Bos grunniens

  A domestic yak kept on the Tibetan Plateau and elsewhere. Its long shaggy coat protects it from the cold.

• Nazca Booby Sula granti

  The Nazca Booby is an eastern Pacific seabird with a white body and black tail. It plunges into the sea to catch fish.

• Visayan Warty Pig Sus cebifrons

  It has mane-like hair that can fall across the face. The range entry is limited to the living population on Negros and Panay.

• Pacific Diver Gavia pacifica

  The Pacific Diver breeds on Arctic lakes and moves to Pacific coastal waters for winter; it is an accomplished diver.

• Brazilian Porcupine Coendou prehensilis

  The Brazilian porcupine occurs in the northern Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. Adults have three-banded quills along the back, giving a pale yellowish appearance with dark brown markings. In Pernambuco, a specimen was collected in lowland evergreen rainforest surrounded by sugar-cane fields.

• Peruvian Pelican Pelecanus thagus

  The Peruvian Pelican is a large pelican of the Pacific coast along the Humboldt Current. It catches fish near the surface and also uses areas around fishing ports.

• South American coati Nasua nasua

  A coati of South American forests, with an elongated flexible snout and a long ringed tail.

• Double-striped Thick-knee Burhinus bistriatus

  This plover blends into dry grassland with pale brown plumage. Two dark head stripes and a white face pattern help identify it.

• Tufted capuchin Sapajus apella

  A monkey that spends much of its time in trees but also comes down to forage on the ground.

• Stripe-backed Bittern Botaurus involucris

  The Stripe-backed Bittern is a heron relative whose streaked back helps it blend into wetland vegetation. It moves alone and slowly through dense reeds in lowland freshwater wetlands, feeding on small invertebrates.

• 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.

• Two-banded Puffbird Hypnelus bicinctus

  This large-headed puffbird occurs in Colombia and Venezuela. A white eye mask extends onto the neck, and two dark bands cross the chest.