Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Barn swallow Hirundo rustica

  

  A bird with a long, deeply forked tail that catches insects in flight. It nests under building eaves and bridges as well as in other sheltered places.

• Rough-skinned Sea Anemone Actinostola callosa

  A seafloor anemone. A study off eastern Canada found a diverse range of small food items in its digestive cavity.

• Cerro Enmedio moss salamander Nototriton lignicola

  A small salamander known from mountains in Honduras. Its recorded range covers a limited part of that mountainous landscape.

• Eastern gray squirrel Sciurus (Sciurus) carolinensis

  A tree squirrel native to eastern North America. Gray coats are typical, though dark individuals also occur.

• Steel-blue Whydah Vidua hypocherina

  This whydah lives in dry savanna and bushy habitats in eastern Africa. Breeding males grow extremely long central tail feathers and search the ground for grass seeds.

• Manuel's Cellar Spider Pholcus manueli

  Recorded widely in Asia and the United States, females of this spider have slightly more closely spaced eye groups than males.

• Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

  A long-necked swimmer that dives to catch fish.

• Indo-Pacific Crocodile Crocodylus porosus

  Male saltwater crocodiles tracked in northern Australia moved at sea toward their original capture sites after release elsewhere.

• Thumbless Bat Furipterus horrens

  This bat has a very small thumb enclosed by the wing membrane. It roosts in cave colonies and catches moths and other insects at night.

• Amazon river dolphin Inia geoffrensis

  A long-beaked dolphin that lives in freshwater in the Amazon basin.

• Elkhorn coral Acropora palmata

  These branching structures belong to an animal, not a plant. Elkhorn coral grows in shallow Caribbean waters; thickets shelter fish and other creatures.

• Common Midwife Toad Alytes obstetricans

  This frog carries eggs wrapped around the male’s hind legs.

• White stork Ciconia ciconia

  Adults have white bodies, black wing feathers, long legs and a reddish bill. They use open wetlands in Europe and other parts of their range.

• Stitchbird Notiomystis cincta

  This forest bird is endemic to New Zealand. Its naturally surviving population is on Little Barrier Island; managed populations have been translocated elsewhere.

• Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis

  Males of this lizard can extend skin under the throat.

• Cape Hare Lepus capensis

  The Arabian hare is recorded around AlUla in north-western Saudi Arabia. In this region, its grayish coat and black ear tips are noted.

• Chinese Pygmy Dormouse Typhlomys cinereus

  The Chinese Pygmy Dormouse is a small rodent recorded in the mountains of southeastern China. It has small eyes and a tuft at the end of its tail, and uses ultrasonic calls to move in darkness.

• Rhinella mirandaribeiroi

  A toad found in the South American Cerrado, a landscape that includes open grasslands and savanna.

• Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus

  A falcon that catches birds in flight. In North America it is common around coasts and cliffs and may nest on tall buildings.

• Christmas Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi

  The Christmas Frigatebird is a large seabird that breeds on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. During the breeding season, the male inflates a red throat pouch.

• Cone-head Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus

  The veiled chameleon is a large arboreal chameleon with grasping feet and a fully prehensile tail. In an indoor study of nine animals, it used its tail for support when crossing gaps.

• Asian elephant Elephas maximus

  An Asian elephant lives in South and Southeast Asia. It uses its trunk to grasp food and pour water into its mouth.

• Giant Otter Shrew Potamogale velox

  The giant otter shrew is a semi-aquatic mammal of central African rivers and swamps. It swims by moving its laterally flattened tail and forages near water from dusk into the night.

• Common frog Rana temporaria

  A long-legged frog of damp woods and meadows that lays its eggs in water.