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Aardvark
The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) (afer: from Africa) is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is sometimes called "antbear", "anteater", "Cape anteater" (after the Cape of Good Hope), "earth hog" or "earth pig". The name...
Alligator
An Alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The name alligator is an anglicized form of el lagarto the Spanish term for "lizard", the name by which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the...
Alpaca
Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in superficial appearance. Alpacas and llamas differ in that alpacas have straight ears and llamas have banana-shaped ears. Aside from these...
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae (pronounced /fɔrˈmɪsəˌdiː/), and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130...
Anteater
Anteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa. The name "anteater" is also colloquially applied to the unrelated aardvark,...
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species found in the family Bovidae. The term does not refer to a monophyletic group, as not all members of Bovidae are considered antelope. Instead, the term refers to a ‘miscellaneous’ group...
Ape
An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. Due to its ambiguous nature, the term ape is less suitable as a means of describing taxonomic relationships.
Under the current classification system there are two families of hominoids:...
Argali
The argali, or the mountain sheep (species Ovis ammon) is a wild sheep, which roams the highlands of Central Asia (Himalaya, Tibet, Altay). It is also the biggest wild sheep, standing as high as 120 cm (47 in) and weighing as much as 140 kg (310 lb)...
Armadillo
Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is...
Australian Feral Goat
The Australian Feral Goat, a type of feral goat found in Australia, is the result of mixed-origin goats raised in Australia from the beginning of English domination onwards. They resulted from the abandonment of flocks by Australian farmers in...
Baboon
Baboons are African and Asian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill and the Drill are...
Badger
Badgers, occasionally referred to as brocks, are short-legged, heavy-set carnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are some eight species of badger, in three subfamilies (see links in species list below): Melinae (badgers of Europe and Asia...
Barbary Sheep
The Barbary Sheep, Ammotragus lervia, also known as Waddan, is a species of caprid (goat-antelope) native to rocky mountains in North Africa. Six subspecies have been described. Although it is rare in its native North Africa, it has been introduced...
Bat
Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera (pronounced /kaɪˈrɒptərə/). The forelimbs of bats are webbed and developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly,...
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a...
Beaver
The beaver (genus Castor) is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis (native to North America) and Castor fiber (Eurasia). Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges ...
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon...
Beetle
Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are classified in the order Coleoptera (pronounced /ˌkəʊliˈɒptərə/; from Greek κολεός, koleos, "sheath"; and πτερόν, pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing"), which...
Bird
Birds (class Aves) are winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the...
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant species and four extinct species are recognized. The surviving species are the American bison, Bison bison (with two subspecies, the plains bison,...
Black panther
A black panther is a large black cat. Black panthers are (melanistic) color variants of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars (Panthera onca), in Asia and Africa they are black leopards (Panthera...
Boar
Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is a species of pig, including at least 16 subspecies, and part of the biological family Suidae. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises. Wild boar are native across much of...
Budgerigar
The Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), (parakeet, shell parakeet, budgerigah, budgie, or common pet parakeet in US English) is a small parrot and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. A small long-tailed predominantly green and...
Bull
The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar to the Western world in the episode of the idol of the Golden Calf made by Aaron and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus). Marduk is the "bull of...
Butterfly
A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Holometabolis insects, butterflies' life cycle consists of four parts, egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Most species are diurnal. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings...
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.
In the Old World Buzzard can mean:
In the New World Buzzard can mean:
Camel
Camels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty humps on their backs. There are two species: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has two humps. They are native to the dry desert...
Canary
The Canary (Serinus canaria), also called the Island Canary, Atlantic Canary or Common Canary, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Serinus in the finch family, Fringillidae. It is native to the Azores, the Canary Islands, and Madeira....
Capybara
The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ), also known as capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, and capivara in Portuguese, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti,...
Cat
The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests. It...
Chameleon
The family Chamaeleonidae are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly...
Chamois
The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Gran Sasso region of the central Italian Apennines, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans,...
Cheetah
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae) that is unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities. The species is the only living member of the genus Acinonyx. It is the fastest land animal, reaching...
Chicken
The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated fowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other bird. Humans keep...
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:
Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along...
Chinchilla
Chinchillas are crepuscular rodents, slightly larger than ground squirrels, native to the Andes mountains in South America. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they belong to the family Chinchillidae.
The animal (whose name literally means ...
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small squirrel-like rodents of the genus Tamias. They are native to North America and Asia.
Tamias is Greek for "storer," a reference to the animals' habit of collecting and storing food for winter use. The genus includes twenty-five...
Civet
The family Viverridae is made up of 35 species, including all of the genets, the Binturong, most of the civets, and the four linsangs.
Viverrids are native to most of the Old World tropics, nearly all of Africa (bar the area immediately south of the...
Clam
In the USA, the word "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, is as a general term covering all bivalve mollusks. The word can also be used in a more limited sense, to mean bivalves which burrow in sediment, as opposed to ones which attach...
Cobra
A cobra ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a venomous snake, which is a member of the family Elapidae (elapids). The name is short for cobra de capelo (or cobra di capello), which is Portuguese for "snake with hood," or "hood-snake." When disturbed,...
Cockatiel
The Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), also known as the Quarrion and the Weiro, is the smallest and genuinely miniature cockatoo endemic to Australia. They are prized as a household pet and companion parrot throughout the world and are relatively...
Cockroach
Cockroaches (or simply "roaches") are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin name for the insect, Blatta.
There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four...
Colt
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age.
An adult male horse if left intact is called either a "stallion" or a horse (sometimes...
Common Eland
The Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx), also known as the Southern Eland or Eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa.
The Common Eland is considered, alongside the ironically similarly-dimensioned Giant Eland,...
Common Myna
The Common Myna or Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis) also sometimes spelled Mynah, is a member of the starling family. It is a species of bird native to Asia with its initial home range spanning from Iran, India and Kazakhstan to Malaysia and China...
Common Opossum
The Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), Rabipelado (as it is called in Venezuela) or Manicou (so named in the Antilles) is an opossum species living from the south of Mexico to Bolivia. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and...
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.
There is no consistent distinction...
Cow
Cattle (colloquially cows) are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos...
Coyote
The coyote (pronounced /kaɪˈoʊtiː, ˈkaɪ.oʊt/) (Canis latrans), also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canid found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the...
Crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (Greek: βραχύ/brachy = short, ουρά/οura = tail), or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax. Crabs have a soft body...
Crane
Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. There are fifteen species. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Cranes live on all...
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the subfamily Crocodylinae). The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e. the true crocodiles, the...
Crow
The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of...
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. They include for example Moose, Red Deer, Reindeer, Roe and Chital. Animals from related families within the order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates) are often also considered to be deer –...
Dingo
The Dingo (Canis lupus dingo) is a domestic dog which has reverted to a wild state for thousands of years and today lives largely independent from humans in the majority of its distribution.
The name "dingo" mostly refers to populations occurring in...
Dog
The dog (Canis lupus familiaris, pronounced /ˈkeɪ.nɪs ˈluːpəs fʌˈmɪliɛərɪs/) is a domesticated form of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been...
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui's Dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9...
Domestic goat
The domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope...
Domestic sheep
Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species, in everyday usage...
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family, and an odd-toed ungulate. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. Traditionally, the scientific name for the donkey is...
