Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,673 · Stories: 19,540

• Southern African Vlei Rat Otomys irroratus

  

  The southern African vlei rat lives in wetlands and grasslands in South Africa. It grips grass with its forepaws while feeding and makes runways through vegetation.

• Great Slaty Woodpecker Mulleripicus pulverulentus

  Described as the world's largest woodpecker, it is a large bird that moves through the canopy in small family groups.

• Mexican Woodrat Neotoma (Neotoma) mexicana

  The Mexican woodrat has a gray-brown back, a pale underside, and a two-tone tail. It nests in rocky crevices and is solitary and mostly active at night.

• Pilbara Grasswren Amytornis whitei

  This long-tailed bird lives in the Pilbara of Western Australia. It runs among large spinifex clumps in dry, open country.

• Four-striped Ground Squirrel Lariscus hosei

  The Four-striped Ground Squirrel has four black stripes on its back and orange underparts. It lives on Borneo and is active by day on the forest floor.

• White-winged Robin Peneothello sigillata

  The White-winged Robin has velvety black plumage and white patches in the wings. In New Guinea's mountains it forages in the lower forest levels for insects and also takes fruit and seeds.

• South American Hoary Bat Aeorestes villosissimus

  The South American hoary bat is an arboreal bat recorded in Argentina in forests and mountain environments.

• Brown-and-yellow Marshbird Pseudoleistes virescens

  The Argentine biodiversity record lists the Brown-and-yellow Marshbird as native in Argentina. A university field account describes its brown-and-yellow plumage and ground foraging.

• Bontebok Damaliscus pygargus

  An antelope of coastal plains in southwestern South Africa. This entry describes the bontebok subspecies, Damaliscus pygargus pygargus.

• Brown-banded Puffbird Notharchus ordii

  It is black and white, with a dark brown-black band between the white throat and belly. It is patchily distributed in Amazonian lowlands and is described as generally rare in forest on poor soils such as sandy patches.

• Fawn-footed Melomys Melomys cervinipes

  This small rat lives in forests of eastern Australia. Coat color varies with age; it has pale feet and a long, mosaic-patterned tail.

• Dusky Nightjar Antrostomus saturatus

  The Dusky Nightjar is a dark-plumaged highland nightjar. In Costa Rica it nests at forest edges and occurs in high elevations of the Central Volcanic and Talamanca ranges and other highlands.

• Hooper's Deermouse Peromyscus hooperi

  This deer mouse has records from a restricted part of north-central Mexico. It uses grassy foothills and mountain slopes, distinct from nearby desert scrub.

• Variable Pitohui Pitohui kirhocephalus

  The Variable Pitohui lives in forests of New Guinea and nearby islands. The color of its head and throat varies among subspecies, and it eats fruit and insects.

• Spotted Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista elegans

  The spotted giant flying squirrel glides from tree to tree by spreading a membrane between its limbs. Coat color and spotting vary by region.

• Ceylon Bush-Warbler Elaphrornis palliseri

  This bush-warbler lives in the mountains of Sri Lanka. It stays among low vegetation in damp forest and bamboo.

• Big-footed Myotis Myotis (Myotis) macrodactylus

  The big-footed myotis roosts in caves and unused tunnels in Japan. Its back is grayish to blackish brown, with paler fur underneath.

• Little Thornbird Phacellodomus sibilatrix

  This ovenbird is recorded from thorny woods and open woodland in northern Argentina. It has dull olive-brown upperparts, with chestnut on the forehead and part of the wing. An old account describes a large twig-and-thorn nest placed in a tree branch.

• Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica

  A sturdy wild goat of the Iberian mountains, with large horns. Its horns and coat differ by sex and season.

• Bahama Swallow Tachycineta cyaneoviridis

  The Bahama Swallow is most often found on Andros in the Bahamas and uses both open fields and forest.

• Herb Field Mouse Apodemus uralensis

  The herb field mouse is a small mouse recorded from central and eastern Europe east through Russia to western China. Its back is dark brown and its underside is whitish gray.

• Willow Ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus

  A grouse of subarctic and subalpine North America. In many regions its plumage changes with the seasons, and feathered feet help it cope with snow and cold.

• Labrador Collared Lemming Dicrostonyx hudsonius

  This lemming changes coat color with the seasons: white in winter and gray to brown in warmer seasons. It burrows in the tundra of northeastern Canada and eats grasses and shrub buds.

• Heermann's Gull Larus heermanni

  In breeding plumage it has a dark grey body, white head, and red bill. It breeds in Mexico’s Gulf of California and moves north along the Pacific Coast.