Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• Comoro Blue Vanga Cyanolanius comorensis

  

  The Comoro Blue Vanga is a blue bird of woodland in the Comoros. It was formerly grouped with the Madagascar Blue Vanga but is now a separate species. Its current status on Grand Comoro is uncertain.

• Long-legged Myotis Myotis (Pizonyx) volans

  

  Long-legged myotis is a western North American bat with a ridged spur at the ankle and fur on the underside of the wing extending to the line between elbow and knee. It hunts insects over water, beneath tree canopies, and along cliffs.

• Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Merops leschenaulti

  

  The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater has a green body, chestnut head, yellow face and throat, and blue on the rump and lower belly. It catches flying insects in the air.

• Ursine Colobus Colobus vellerosus

  

  The ursine colobus is marked by a white ring around its face, white thighs, and a long pale tail. It moves through West African forests by day and eats leaves and seeds.

• Humboldt penguin Spheniscus humboldti

  

  A South American penguin recognized by a dark stripe across its white front.

• Mexican Long-tongued Bat Choeronycteris mexicana

  

  The Mexican long-tongued bat uses a tongue about one-third of its body length to feed from flowers. It visits night-blooming cactus and agave.

• Mouse-colored Antshrike Thamnophilus murinus

  An antshrike that often forages with mixed-species flocks in the middle levels of Amazonian evergreen forest.

• Zambezi Kudu Strepsiceros zambesiensis

  This is a historical form of kudu described from specimens north of the Zambezi River in 1894. The account records an adult male and female, a juvenile, and a fetus from Leschumo Forest.

• Brown Woodland Warbler Phylloscopus umbrovirens

  The Brown Woodland Warbler has a brown-olive back, pale underside, and searches for insects in trees.

• Northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus

  The northern flying squirrel lives in northern coniferous forests and has white-and-gray belly fur and reddish fur along its back.

• Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli

  This small bird lives in mountains from southwestern Canada into the western United States. Its white eyebrow and black head stand out, and it moves to lower elevations in fall and winter.

• Alai Mole Vole Ellobius (Ellobius) alaicus

  The Alai mole vole is a subterranean rodent of the Alai Mountains. Its back is buff, its flanks and belly are gray, and its forehead is dark brown. Alpine pasture is reported as habitat.

• Taiwan Barbet Psilopogon nuchalis

  The Taiwan Barbet lives in Taiwan’s broadleaf forest, parks, and gardens and mainly eats fruit. A historical account quoted by the museum says it can be hard to see among leaves, while its clear call can reveal it.

• Persian Jird Meriones (Parameriones) persicus

  The Persian jird lives in dry parts of western Asia, using rocky hills and grasslands. A tuft of fur marks the tip of its tail.

• Blue-backed Manakin Chiroxiphia pareola

  The Blue-backed Manakin lives in forests of northern South America. Males have a black body, blue back, and red crown, and perform courtship dances on low perches.

• Oriental Serotine Eptesicus (Cnephaeus) pachyomus

  Its back is dark grayish brown to dark brown with pale hair tips, and its underside is lighter. Records include India, Nepal, and Bhutan; the species account also lists moist forest, dry dipterocarp forest, and human-modified habitats.

• Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia

  A sandpiper that migrates from northern breeding grounds to Australia. In its Australian non-breeding range it forages in coastal and inland wetlands.

• Celebes Crested Macaque Macaca nigra

  A macaque of the humid tropical forests of northeastern Sulawesi and nearby islands in Indonesia.

• Rufous Fieldwren Calamanthus campestris

  This rusty-brown ground bird inhabits arid southern Australia. A 2009 NSW Government determination treated it as a full species separate from the Striated Fieldwren and restricted its NSW range to the far-west arid zone.

• Schmidt's Big-eared Bat Micronycteris (Leuconycteris) schmidtorum

  Schmidt's big-eared bat is a small bat with conspicuous ears and a leaf-like nose feature. It gleans insects from leaves at night and roosts in tree hollows.

• Mantled Hawk Pseudastur polionotus

  The Mantled Hawk is a large hawk with white and slate-grey plumage and a short tail. It lives in humid hilly forest and hunts reptiles, small mammals, and birds.

• Siberian ibex Capra sibirica

  A wild goat of Central Asian mountain ranges, both sexes have horns, but those of males grow especially long and large.

• Lafresnaye's Piculet Picumnus lafresnayi

  This small woodpecker occurs in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. It uses humid lowland forest as well as forest edges, secondary growth, and clearings.

• Mutable Sun Squirrel Heliosciurus mutabilis

  The Mutable Sun Squirrel occurs in forests and savannas of eastern Africa. It is active by day and forages both in trees and on the ground.