Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,025 · Stories: 19,293

• Sand Gazelle Gazella marica

  

  This gazelle lives in deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. It uses sand dunes and coastal flats and avoids steep, rocky ground. Its coat is pale fawn, and the facial markings are faint.

• Southern hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons

  

  A wombat that digs underground burrows in dry southern Australia.

• Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus

  

  A forest bear of Asia with a pale crescent- or V-shaped chest marking on its dark body.

• Lesser New Zealand Short-tailed Bat Mystacina tuberculata

  

  This short-tailed bat lives in New Zealand. The Department of Conservation describes it searching for food on the forest floor.

• Somali Hedgehog Atelerix sclateri

  

  The Somali hedgehog is known from a small number of sites in northern Somalia. Dark spines on its back contrast with pale belly fur, while details of its life in the wild remain poorly documented.

• West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus

  

  A large aquatic mammal that eats plants, with a rounded body and broad tail.

• Ghost-faced Bat Mormoops megalophylla

  The ghost-faced bat ranges from the southern United States through Central America to northern South America. It roosts in caves by day and emerges in the evening to hunt large moths and insects.

• Short-beaked echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus

  A spiny egg-laying mammal found in many Australian habitats.

• Eurasian red squirrel Sciurus (Sciurus) vulgaris

  A bushy-tailed squirrel of forests in Europe and northern Asia.

• Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus

  The southern brown bandicoot is a ground-dwelling marsupial. This entry follows the source’s account of the eastern subspecies.

• Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus

  An egg-laying mammal that forages in Australian rivers.

• Lowland tapir Tapirus terrestris

  The lowland tapir lives in South American forests and wetlands, preferring sites near water where it swims well.

• African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis

  The African forest elephant lives in dense tropical forests of western and central Africa.

• Himalayan Musk Deer Moschus leucogaster

  The Himalayan musk deer has no antlers; both males and females have elongated upper canines.

• Dromedary camel Camelus dromedarius

  A dromedary is a one-humped domestic camel. People have long kept it for transport in dry regions of North Africa and the Middle East.

• Spectacled African Dormouse Graphiurus (Graphiurus) ocularis

  The spectacled African dormouse has a bushy tail and a striking black-and-white face mask. It lives among rocky areas in southwestern South Africa and uses crevices for shelter.

• Masai giraffe Giraffa tippelskirchi

  The Masai giraffe occurs in Kenya, Tanzania and part of Zambia.

• Greater one-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis

  The greater one-horned rhinoceros lives along rivers in northern India and southern Nepal.

• Sugar glider Petaurus breviceps

  A marsupial that glides between trees in eastern Australian forests.

• Hairy Long-eared Bat Nycteris hispida

  The hairy long-eared bat occurs widely in sub-Saharan Africa. Its ears are longer than its head, and the long tail has a T-shaped tip.

• Gray whale Eschrichtius robustus

  A mottled gray whale of the North Pacific, with a low hump in place of a dorsal fin.

• Gray-bellied Caenolestid Caenolestes caniventer

  The gray-bellied caenolestid is a small marsupial with an elongated face and a grayish belly. It lives in cool, wet Andean habitats of central Ecuador and northwestern Peru.

• Botswanan Mole-rat Fukomys damarensis

  The Damara mole-rat forms underground colonies. A breeding pair is at the center, while other members share tasks such as digging tunnels, gathering food, and caring for young.

• European Mole Talpa europaea

  This stocky mole digs tunnels underground and searches for earthworms and other food in the soil.