Meet the world’s animals.
Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540
- Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
Photo: caroline legg · CC BY 2.0 A long-necked waterbird known for its showy breeding feathers.
- Plotocnide borealis
This animal has a swimming medusa and a minute mud-dwelling polyp. DNA research connected forms that had been treated as separate species.
- Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster
This waterbird swims with its long neck above the surface and spears fish underwater with its bill. After leaving the water, it perches on rocks or other supports and spreads its wings to dry.
- European Roe Capreolus capreolus
In Britain, this small deer is found in woodlands and along their edges. Its coat is reddish brown in summer and greyer in winter, with a noticeable white rump.
- Zora silvestris
A small spider with dark bands on the front part of its body, recorded from Europe, the Caucasus and Turkmenistan.
- Hermann's Tortoise Testudo hermanni
Hermann’s tortoise is a terrestrial turtle found in southern Europe. Its rounded carapace is domed and can range from yellow, olive, or orange to dark brown.
- Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus
A bird arriving in Japan in late spring, when males give the familiar cuckoo call.
- Common earthworm Lumbricus terrestris
An earthworm that makes deep burrows, feeding on leaf litter at the surface and sometimes pulling it underground. It connects life above and below the soil.
- Choirboys Pycnoclavella narcissus
A colonial sea squirt described from Algoa Bay, South Africa, with swollen tips on branching stalks.
- American black bear Ursus americanus
A bear of North American forests. Many are black, while western populations also include brown and paler individuals.
- Tri-spine horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus
A coastal animal of East and Southeast Asia with a hard shell and long tail. It lays eggs on sandy shores, and young animals grow on tidal flats.
- Pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis
The pygmy hippopotamus is a small forest hippo from West Africa that usually lives alone.
- Wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo
A large bird native to North America. Wild males have dark iridescent plumage; females are smaller and duller.
- Venus flytrap sea anemone Actinoscyphia aurelia
A deep-sea anemone observed on sandy and muddy seafloors during a Gulf of Alaska survey.
- Japanese fire-bellied newt Cynops pyrrhogaster
A newt of rice fields and ponds on Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, with a dark back and a red belly patterned in black.
- 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.
- Roman Snail Helix pomatia
Helix pomatia has a large rounded shell, cream-colored with faint brown bands. Its native range is in central and southeastern Europe, and it lives in woods, hedgerows, and tall vegetation.
- Common Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis
The common cuttlefish has a broad oval body with fins along its sides. It lives in shallow seas and offshore waters, with records from the North Sea region to southeastern Africa.
- Common Swift Apus apus
A summer visitor to the UK, the Common Swift spends almost all its life on the wing, catching small insects and spiders in the air.
- Inambari Gnatcatcher Polioptila attenboroughi
This gnatcatcher is documented in the canopy of western Amazonian forest. Its original description reported specimens and recordings from a small number of sites in Amazonas, Brazil.
- Troglohyphantes pedemontanus
A small spider of caves in north-western Italy, known from three caves in Piemonte.
- Walrus Odobenus rosmarus
A northern marine mammal recognized by long tusks and sturdy whiskers around its muzzle.
- Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta
A genome study reported about 2.13 billion base pairs in the loggerhead sea turtle assembly.
- Borneo Short-tailed Porcupine Hystrix (Thecurus) crassispinis
This porcupine lives in forests and cultivated areas on Borneo. Its dark brown quills, with pale tips and bases, help identify it.
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