Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,768 · Stories: 19,540

• 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.

• Cuckoo Roller Leptosomus discolor

  It lives in woodland and forest in Madagascar and the Comoros. Males have iridescent green upperparts, while females are brown above.

• Bridled House Gecko Hemidactylus frenatus

  A gecko found on Mo’orea.

• 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.

• Rio Negro Silky Anteater Cyclopes ida

  Cyclopes ida is a silky anteater of the Amazon basin. Its specialist-group account says it is common in seasonally flooded blackwater forest and along small tributaries, and that ants make up almost all of its diet.

• Timor Stubtail Urosphena subulata

  The Timor Stubtail was recorded in forest on Timor, where its short tail was barely visible. A 1991 field report described chestnut upperparts and a pale eyebrow and noted that the bird was difficult to see in the undergrowth.

• Guinea pig Cavia porcellus

  A domesticated rodent originating in South America and now kept worldwide. It has a compact body and stays close to companions.

• Greensnake Opheodrys aestivus

  This snake sometimes moves around alligator nests.

• Malayan Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus malayanus

  The Malayan horseshoe bat is a small horseshoe bat. Its back ranges from brown to reddish brown, and studies report geographic variation in the frequency of its echolocation calls.

• Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius

  A woodland bird with a conspicuous white rump in flight. In Britain it is found widely except in northern Scotland.

• Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge Dendrortyx leucophrys

  This ground-dwelling partridge has a long tail and short crest. It walks through undergrowth in moist mountain forest and secondary growth in Costa Rica.

• Louisiana Alligator Alligator mississippiensis

  Other animals sometimes visit the area around its nests.

• Amazon river dolphin Inia geoffrensis

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

• Mexican Common Mustached Bat Pteronotus (Phyllodia) mexicanus

  Pteronotus mexicanus is an insect-eating bat from Mexico's Pacific slope. A 2024 paper treats it as a distinct species from the P. parnellii group and lists habitats ranging from forest to dry shrubland.

• Sapayoa Sapayoa aenigma

  A greenish bird of lowland forest from Panama to northwestern Ecuador. It has a broad, subtly hooked bill and lives in the forest understory.

• Osprey Pandion haliaetus

  A fish-catching raptor with a white head crossed by a dark eye stripe. On Hachijojima it is seen near the coast in winter.

• Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis

  Males of this lizard can extend skin under the throat.

• Amazon manatee Trichechus inunguis

  A manatee restricted to the fresh waters of the Amazon River system, with thick dark-gray skin and a pale belly patch.

• Nine-banded Armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus

  An armadillo active around dusk and at night that searches leaf litter for insects. It also occurs in parts of the United States east and north of Texas.

• Sunbittern Eurypyga helias

  The Sunbittern is reported in watery habitats in Guatemala and northern Brazil. When frightened, it spreads its wings and tail to reveal hidden orange and chestnut patches.

• Hermann's Tortoise Testudo hermanni

  Hermann’s tortoise is a terrestrial turtle found in southern Europe. Its rounded carapace is domed and can range from yellow, olive, or orange to dark brown.

• Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

  A long-necked swimmer that dives to catch fish.

• Brazilian Long-nosed Bat Rhynchonycteris naso

  This small bat has an elongated muzzle and pale stripes on its back. It roosts in lines on tree trunks and roots near water, then flies out at night to eat insects.

• Cinnamon Bracken Warbler Bradypterus cinnamomeus

  This bird occurs in damp scrub and thickets along forest edges in the East African highlands. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a pale eyebrow and a cinnamon-colored breast band.