Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• Merlin Falco columbarius

  

  A small falcon that visits Japanese coasts and farmland in winter and pursues small birds.

• Camas pocket gopher Megascapheus bulbivorus

  This pocket gopher lives underground in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Its coat ranges from dark brown to reddish brown, and some individuals have a white throat patch.

• Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus

  The Hair-crested Drongo has black plumage, red irises and a forked tail.

• Western Jumping Mouse Zapus princeps

  The western jumping mouse lives in western North America and hops on large hind feet. Its active season is short, and it hibernates through winter.

• Hairy Woodpecker Leuconotopicus villosus

  The Hairy Woodpecker is a North American woodpecker that searches for insects while moving along tree trunks.

• Lesser Naked-backed Fruit Bat Dobsonia minor

  The lesser naked-backed fruit bat is a fruit bat recorded on New Guinea and nearby islands. Its wing membranes are visible across the back; the treatment considers a Sulawesi record uncertain.

• Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides

  The Southern Shrikebill occurs in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, using moist tropical forest, including heavily altered forest. It searches vegetation and bushes for invertebrates.

• Central American Rufous Tree-rat Diplomys labilis

  An arboreal spiny rat recorded in Central America. It is active at night and uses tree cavities as resting places.

• Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki

  The Red-throated Bee-eater nests in earthen banks near rivers and catches flying insects in social groups.

• Sand cat Felis margarita

  A desert cat with pale sandy fur, large ears, and fur-covered foot pads.

• Olive Ibis Bostrychia olivacea

  An African ibis of forest and river landscapes. In southeastern Nigeria, pairs and small groups move along streams and rivers in lowland forest and mangroves.

• Mediterranean Water Shrew Neomys anomalus

  The Mediterranean water shrew is a small shrew associated with water. Its dark back and white underside stand out, while its close relative can look almost identical.

• Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus

  The Chalk-browed Mockingbird ranges across eastern and southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. It has a grey body, pale eyebrow, and white tail tips, and forages on the ground or in low bushes.

• Stoliczka's Asian Trident Bat Aselliscus stoliczkanus

  Stoliczka's trident bat has a three-pointed noseleaf and has been recorded roosting in caves in Yunnan.

• Broad-billed Motmot Electron platyrhynchum

  This forest bird ranges from Central America into northwestern South America and catches insects and small animals.

• Red-legged Pademelon Thylogale stigmatica

  The red-legged pademelon is a small kangaroo relative that feeds within forests and along their edges.

• Collared Trogon Trogon collaris

  The Collared Trogon lives in humid forests of Central and South America and eats insects and fruit. It may excavate a nest cavity in decayed wood.

• Nelson's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys nelsoni

  Records from northern Mexico include juniper woodland and places with salt-tolerant plants.

• Agulhas Long-billed Lark Certhilauda brevirostris

  This lark is restricted to South Africa's Agulhas Plain. It is a drab brown bird, but has a longer bill than other larks. It nests on the ground, mainly in Renosterveld vegetation.

• Shock-headed Capuchin Cebus cuscinus

  This capuchin has a conspicuous dark cap of hair. It lives in forest groups and ranges farther to find food when fruit is scarce.

• Madagascar Jacana Actophilornis albinucha

  The Madagascar Jacana inhabits wetlands in western Madagascar. A 2016 survey found it at 22 of the 54 lakes examined.

• Common Brown Four-eyed Opossum Metachirus myosuros

  This opossum occurs in forests from Central America into central South America. It has brown fur, small pale eye spots and a long, nearly naked tail. It is nocturnal, solitary and mainly terrestrial.

• White-backed Mousebird Colius colius

  In southern Africa it feeds in sparse woodland and riverside vegetation. Groups may feed and roost together.

• Australian Sea Lion Neophoca cinerea

  The Australian sea lion has breeding colonies in southern and western Australia. It forages near the sea floor, and females return to their birth colony to breed.