Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• Black Mastiff Bat Molossus rufus

  

  This large free-tailed bat varies from black to reddish, brown, or yellowish on the back, with paler underparts. It uses forest and savanna habitats and roosts in buildings, tree hollows, rocks, and palms.

• Black-and-yellow Broadbill Eurylaimus ochromalus

  

  The Black-and-yellow Broadbill is a small bird with a bright blue bill and bold black, white, yellow, and pink plumage. It catches insects by sallying from a perch in forest midlevels and canopy.

• Taurus Ground Squirrel Spermophilus taurensis

  

  The Taurus ground squirrel is restricted to the Taurus Mountains of Turkey. It inhabits montane areas above 1,000 m and is active by day.

• Magpie Shrike Lanius melanoleucus

  

  The Magpie Shrike is an African shrike with a long tail and black-and-white plumage. It watches for prey from savanna branches and may breed cooperatively in family groups.

• Mongolian Five-toed Jerboa Allactaga (Orientallactaga) sibirica

  

  This jerboa is recorded in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and other parts of Asia. A specialist mammal account places it in dry steppe, semi-desert, and desert habitats. Coat colors and tail markings vary across its range, and genetic evidence may indicate that the broad current taxon includes more than one unnamed species.

• Spotted Scrubwren Sericornis maculatus

  

  The Spotted Scrubwren lives in south-western Australian forest and searches leaf litter for insects and seeds. The appearance and life details below are limited to the subspecies described in that region.

• Simon's Spiny-rat Proechimys simonsi

  Simon’s spiny-rat is a large rodent with an elongated body, long face and ears, long hind feet, and a long tail. A Peruvian reserve study found only two individuals, both in undisturbed forest.

• Bronze-tailed Starling Lamprotornis chalcurus

  An African starling with glossy green and blue plumage and a bronze-glossed purple tail. It eats insects and fruit.

• Baja California Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus rudinoris

  It has a yellowish gray-brown back, a white underside, and a tail longer than its body. It is active at night and carries seeds in cheek pouches to store in its burrow.

• Golden Bowerbird Prionodura newtoniana

  This bowerbird lives in upland tropical rainforest of northeastern Queensland. A Paluma Range study recorded females building nests, incubating eggs, and feeding young.

• Short-eared Rock Wallaby Petrogale brachyotis

  The short-eared rock wallaby has short ears and a bushy tail. It lives near rocky hills and gorges in northern Australia.

• Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea

  The Pygmy Nuthatch is a small bird of pine forests in western North America. It has a gray back and pale underside and searches tree trunks and branches in flocks.

• Little White-shouldered Bat Ametrida centurio

  This small bat has pale patches on its shoulders. Males are grayer than females and have a swollen area below each eye.

• Jerdon's Babbler Chrysomma altirostre

  It is a babbler with rich brown upperparts, grey and buff underparts, and a long tail. Its feeding and habitat were studied in riverine grasslands of Pakistan.

• Greater Musky Fruit Bat Ptenochirus jagorii

  This fruit-eating bat is endemic to the Philippines. It feeds in forests and was frequently captured in a lowland forest survey on Mount Makiling, Luzon.

• Nullarbor Quail-thrush Cinclosoma alisteri

  The Nullarbor Quail-thrush is a ground-dwelling bird of southern Australia’s Nullarbor Plain. It walks slowly while foraging in low vegetation around limestone outcrops.

• Haviside's Dolphin Cephalorhynchus heavisidii

  This small dolphin lives off southwestern Africa. Its grey body has a dark cape and white markings, and it is observed in shallow coastal and shelf waters, usually in small groups.

• Palm Cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus

  The Palm Cockatoo is a large black parrot of forests in New Guinea and northern Australia; it eats nuts and fruit.

• Appalachian Cottontail Sylvilagus obscurus

  This small cottontail lives in forests and brushy cover at higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains.

• Great Grebe Podiceps major

  The Great Grebe is a large grebe of lakes and wetlands in southern South America. It dives to catch fish, crustaceans, and other prey.

• Beddome's Woolly Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus beddomei

  Beddome's woolly horseshoe bat is known from South Asia, and a 2010 paper added a specimen from Thailand. The Thai record is a single animal and may not represent the usual population there.

• Denham's Bustard Neotis denhami

  A large ground-dwelling bird with black-and-white wing markings. In South Africa and Eswatini, males inflate the neck and display white plumes.

• Caucasian Badger Meles canescens

  The Caucasian badger ranges from the Caucasus through Southwest and Central Asia. Its face has broad dark bands over the eyes and ears, with a white band between them.

• Large-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus macrurus

  The Large-tailed Nightjar is a nocturnal bird with mottled camouflage. It rests motionless on the ground or along a branch by day and catches flying insects at dusk.