Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• Verreaux's White-footed Rat Myomyscus verreauxii

  

  This mouse lives in South Africa's Western Cape. It has a buff-brown back, pale underside, large naked ears, white feet, and a long scaly tail.

• Yellow-billed Shrike Lanius corvinus

  The Yellow-billed Shrike lives in shrubby habitats across tropical Africa. It has a long tail and yellow bill, and members of a group may help raise the young.

• Mexican Vole Microtus mexicanus

  This vole lives in mountain meadows surrounded by pine-oak forest and changes its plant foods with the seasons.

• Ultramarine Kingfisher Todiramphus leucopygius

  The Ultramarine Kingfisher is a forest kingfisher of the Solomon Islands region. Males and females differ in back color, so the sexes are not uniformly blue.

• White-tailed Prairie Dog Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) leucurus

  The white-tailed prairie dog lives in dry grasslands and shrublands, where it builds colonies of burrows.

• Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni

  A pratincole that catches insects in flight. It breeds in Eurasia and migrates to Africa.

• Bechstein's Myotis Myotis (Myotis) bechsteinii

  This long-eared bat occurs in Europe. It uses mature deciduous woodland and tree holes, including old woodpecker holes, for breeding roosts.

• Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa

  A dark waterbird that forages among wetland plants; when it searches on land, it flicks its tail and reveals its white undertail.

• Brazilian Big-eyed Bat Chiroderma doriae

  The Brazilian big-eyed bat has distinctive white lines on its face and back. It is recorded in many Brazilian habitats and often feeds on wild figs.

• Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

  A heron with a buff head and neck, black cap, gray back, and deep chestnut shoulder patch. It favors dense plants beside shallow water.

• Mona Monkey Cercopithecus mona

  The mona monkey is an arboreal monkey of West and Central African forests. It searches for food in the middle and upper parts of trees.

• Pacific Golden-Plover Pluvialis fulva

  In breeding plumage, its black face and underparts are edged by a white stripe, with gold-spangled upperparts. It breeds on tundra and searches the ground for insects.

• Natal Red Duiker Cephalophus natalensis

  This small antelope lives in forests and thickets of southeastern Africa. Its upperparts are reddish brown, its underside is paler, and it dives into nearby bushes when alarmed.

• Minahasa Masked Owl Tyto inexspectata

  A forest owl endemic to Sulawesi. Accounts describe a dark-edged facial disc and dark bars across its cinnamon-colored plumage.

• Barbary Lemniscomys Lemniscomys barbarus

  This small mouse has alternating light and dark stripes along its back. In the wild it is active by day and follows runways from grassy nests or burrows to feeding areas.

• Crested Malimbe Malimbus malimbicus

  The Crested Malimbe has a red head and glossy black body and lives in forests of western and central Africa.

• Little Laucha Calomys laucha

  The Little Laucha is a small South American rodent weighing under 20 g. A study in central Argentine farmland reported a diet mainly of green plant material and seeds.

• Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus

  The Galapagos Penguin is a small penguin found only on the Galapagos Islands. It lives and breeds there year-round in the tropics.

• Horse-tailed Squirrel Sundasciurus (Aletesciurus) hippurus

  This diurnal squirrel occurs on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Its back is reddish brown, its head and shoulders are grey, and its tail has alternating dark and grey bands.

• Bullock's Oriole Icterus bullockii

  Bullock’s Oriole occurs in open and riparian woodland in the western United States. It forages in the canopy and weaves hanging nests from branches.

• Tickell's Bat Hesperoptenus (Milithronycteris) tickelli

  This bat draws attention with fur ranging from grayish yellow to golden brown and a broad, swollen muzzle. It is recorded from South Asia into Southeast Asia.

• Red-tailed Vanga Calicalicus madagascariensis

  The Red-tailed Vanga is about 13–14 cm long. By day it uses forest, second growth, and brushland in Madagascar and eats invertebrates.

• Guadeloupe Big-eyed Bat Chiroderma improvisum

  The Guadeloupe big-eyed bat is a large big-eyed bat recorded on islands of the Lesser Antilles. It has white facial and dorsal markings, while detailed natural-history records remain sparse.

• Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea

  A seabird that glides low over the sea on long wings. It breeds on Mediterranean islands; around Malta, birds gather offshore in the evening during the breeding season and return to their colony after dark.