Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,584 · Stories: 19,526

• Gray Partridge Perdix perdix

  

  A ground-dwelling bird native to Eurasia. Family groups walk through fields and grasslands, picking seeds from the ground. North American populations were introduced from Europe.

• Southern ground hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

  

  A large black hornbill that walks over the ground searching for small animals.

• Mountain Beaver Aplodontia rufa

  

  The mountain beaver is a rodent distinct from true beavers. It digs burrows in moist forest soils and eats plants.

• Brown rat Rattus norvegicus

  

  A rat widely found around human settlements, using sewers, warehouses, fields and other places with water and food.

• Greater Yellow-headed Vulture Cathartes melambrotus

  

  The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture lives mainly in the Amazon rainforest. It has a yellow head, a dark body, and feeds on animal carcasses.

• Yellow-winged Bat Lavia frons

  

  The yellow-winged bat has a blue-gray body and red-and-yellow wings. It uses open savanna and woodland near water, catching insects that pass its perch.

• Eurasian Jackdaw Coloeus monedula

  A small crow with a pale grey nape and light eyes, seen year-round around towns and farmland in the UK.

• White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus

  The White-throated Needletail is a large swift with long wings and needle-like tail feathers. It catches insects and drinks while flying, and moves seasonally between northeast Asia and eastern Australia.

• Brazilian Lesser Long-nosed Armadillo Dasypus septemcinctus

  The Brazilian lesser long-nosed armadillo is the smallest species in its genus. Its shell has six or seven movable bands.

• Narwhal Monodon monoceros

  A whale without a dorsal fin that lives in Arctic seas. Males commonly develop a long tusk from a tooth.

• Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher Terenotriccus erythrurus

  This small flycatcher ranges from tropical Mexico through Central America and northern South America to central Bolivia. The account describes it as often still in the lower levels of humid forest.

• Naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber

  The naked mole-rat lives in underground tunnels in dry parts of eastern Africa.

• Common Linnet Linaria cannabina

  The Common Linnet is a slim finch that eats small seeds. Breeding males show red foreheads and breasts, and the birds may gather in winter flocks.

• African Hoopoe Upupa africana

  The African Hoopoe uses open woodland, short grass, and places with exposed ground. A southern African species account describes it probing the ground with its long bill to find insects.

• Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo Cabassous centralis

  The northern naked-tailed armadillo has bands of armor on its back but no protective plates on its tail. It digs with large claws and feeds mainly on insects.

• Wild boar Sus scrofa

  A robust wild pig native to Europe and Asia. It uses habitats with water and dense vegetation for cover.

• Gray-breasted Seedsnipe Thinocorus orbignyianus

  The Gray-breasted Seedsnipe lives on the ground in the high Andes. Males are gray, while females have mottled brown plumage.

• Greater bilby Macrotis lagotis

  A nocturnal forager of dry country with long ears and a pointed snout.

• Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata

  A large wader with long legs and a down-curved bill that uses coastal wetlands and grasslands at different times of year.

• Spotted Wood Quail Odontophorus guttatus

  The Spotted Wood Quail lives in forests from southeastern Mexico into Central America. It walks on the ground searching for seeds and insects.

• Pouched Mouse Saccostomus campestris

  The pouched mouse is a burrowing rodent that carries seeds and similar foods in its cheek pouches. It occurs in grassland, sandy country, and cultivated areas.

• Eurasian beaver Castor fiber

  A large rodent that swims in rivers and lakes and feeds on waterside plants.

• White-throated Caracara Phalcoboenus albogularis

  This caracara lives in Andean-Patagonian forests. Its white throat and belly contrast with a dark brown body; it may search for food while soaring alone.

• Bumblebee Bat Craseonycteris thonglongyai

  Kitti’s hog-nosed bat is a tiny bat about the size of a large bumblebee. It roosts in limestone caves and flies out around dusk to catch insects.