Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,636 · Stories: 19,540

• Southern giraffe Giraffa giraffa

  

  The southern giraffe occurs in southern Africa and includes the Angolan and South African subspecies.

• Salmon-crested cockatoo Cacatua moluccensis

  

  A cockatoo of Indonesia’s Moluccan islands, with a salmon-coloured crest raised when excited or threatened.

• Great Jerboa Allactaga (Allactaga) major

  

  This five-toed jerboa bounds on long hind legs. It digs burrows in open steppe and semi-desert and eats plants and insects.

• Pipipi Mohoua novaeseelandiae

  

  This small bird lives in forest and shrubland on New Zealand's South and Stewart Islands. A chattering flock moving high through the trees is often the first sign of its presence.

• Cape Blesmol Georychus capensis

  

  The Cape blesmol is a thick-furred underground mammal that feeds on roots, tubers and bulbs below ground.

• Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis

  

  On lakes and coasts of western North America, it dives for fish; during courtship, pairs run together across the water.

• Sao Lourenço Punare Thrichomys laurentius

  This rodent occurs in northeastern Brazil. Fecal samples from one Caatinga study site contained mostly plant matter, with more animal fragments in rainy-season collections.

• Black Bustard Afrotis afra

  The Black Bustard is a small bustard of southwestern South Africa that uses low shrubland.

• Desmarest's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys desmarestianus

  Desmarest's spiny pocket mouse has fur-lined pouches beside its mouth. In Costa Rica's wet forests it forages on the ground at night; the Costa Rican diet records focus on palm nuts and other seeds.

• Western Whipbird Psophodes nigrogularis

  This bird searches for insects on the ground and in low vegetation. This entry describes the lashmari subspecies on Kangaroo Island.

• Kivu African Climbing Mouse Dendromus nyasae

  The Kivu African Climbing Mouse is recorded in central and eastern Africa. Some taxonomic treatments recognize the Kivu population as a separate species.

• Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius

  The Golden Nightjar's sandy-golden plumage blends into the Sahel's dry ground. It rests on the ground by day and searches for insects at dusk.

• Dobson's Lesser Mustached Bat Pteronotus (Chilonycteris) psilotis

  This small cave-roosting bat ranges from southern Mexico to Honduras. Species accounts describe dense whisker-like muzzle hairs, grey to dark-brown fur and forward-pointing ears.

• Nepal Cupwing Pnoepyga immaculata

  The Nepal Cupwing is known from records in central Nepal. A 2010 field note reports hearing at least four birds in northern India and later observing one individual.

• Amboro Silky Anteater Cyclopes catellus

  This anteater has yellow-brown fur with more yellowish legs and tail. It is solitary and active in trees at night, and has been observed feeding in vine tangles. Confirmed records are limited to central Bolivia.

• Prong-billed Barbet Semnornis frantzii

  Its warm ochre face and neck and thick silver bill stand out. It occurs in montane forest in Costa Rica and western Panama, foraging from the midstory to the canopy, often in pairs.

• Proserpine Rock Wallaby Petrogale persephone

  The Proserpine rock wallaby has a grey back, pale underside, and black feet. It shelters among rocky outcrops and also uses forest edges.

• Rufous Limestone Babbler Gypsophila calcicola

  This bird occurs on limestone hills in central Thailand. A research paper identifies its rufous belly as a notable feature among related wren-babblers.

• Brown Hyena Parahyaena brunnea

  A hyena of southern Africa's dry regions that is mostly active at night.

• Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster

  This bulbul has a dark head, brown body, and red undertail. In Thailand it is found around towns, plantations, and forest edges, foraging in pairs or small flocks.

• Atlas Gundi Ctenodactylus gundi

  The Atlas gundi is a rodent of rocky, dry places in North Africa. Its compact body, large eyes, and tiny tail are useful clues.

• Painted Buttonquail Turnix varius

  Females are larger and more colorful than males. In forest and woodland, birds scratch the leaf litter in a spinning motion to find seeds, insects, fruit, and leaves.

• Hairy-legged Vampire Bat Diphylla ecaudata

  A tailless, dark brown bat that mainly lives in forests. It roosts in caves and other shelters and is known for feeding on bird blood.

• Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

  A black New World vulture found from North to South America. It feeds on carrion and may share food with relatives.