Reptiles
Aldabra giant tortoise
Aldabrachelys gigantea
The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the world's largest tortoises, living over 100 years on a remote Seychelles atoll. Size, diet, tortoise turf and status.
Conservation status · 45 species
Vulnerable animals
Species facing a high risk of extinction in the wild, the first of the IUCN Red List's three threatened categories.
Species profiles
Reptiles
American crocodile
Crocodylus acutus
The American crocodile lives in coastal mangroves from south Florida to Peru and Venezuela. Facts on its size, salt tolerance, nesting and Florida recovery.
Birds
Andean condor
Vultur gryphus
The Andean condor is a huge South American vulture with a wingspan near 3 m (10 ft). Facts on its size, soaring flight, diet, breeding, long life and status.
Other Invertebrates
Atlantic horseshoe crab
Limulus polyphemus
The Atlantic horseshoe crab is an ancient arthropod closer to spiders than crabs. Facts on its shell, blue blood, Delaware Bay spawning and Vulnerable status.
Birds
Atlantic puffin
Fratercula arctica
The Atlantic puffin is a small North Atlantic seabird with a bright breeding bill. Facts on its size, burrows, fish diet, chick, lifespan and Vulnerable status.
Fish
Bull shark
Carcharhinus leucas
The bull shark is a stocky coastal shark that can swim far up rivers into fresh water. Its size, diet, river nurseries, risk to people and Vulnerable status.
Reptiles
Burmese python
Python bivittatus
The Burmese python is a giant constrictor of Southeast Asia that can top 5 m. Facts on size, ambush hunting, egg brooding and its invasion of the Everglades.
Mollusks
Chambered nautilus
Nautilus pompilius
The chambered nautilus is a shelled Indo-Pacific cephalopod with up to 90 suckerless tentacles, pinhole eyes and a gas-filled shell. Its size, life and threats.
Reptiles
Eastern box turtle
Terrapene carolina
The eastern box turtle is a small land turtle of eastern US woods that can shut its hinged shell tight and may live 100 years. Size, diet, range and threats.
Amphibians
Fire salamander
Salamandra salamandra
The fire salamander is Europe's black-and-yellow salamander of damp forests: toxic skin, live-born larvae and a long life, now Vulnerable due to Bsal fungus.
Reptiles
Galápagos giant tortoise
Chelonoidis niger
The Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living tortoise and can live over 100 years. Island forms, domed and saddleback shells, size, diet and recovery.
Mammals
Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
The giant anteater is a toothless, ant-eating mammal of Central and South America. Facts on its size, long tongue, huge claws, babies, range and its status.
Mammals
Giant panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
The giant panda is a black-and-white bear from the mountains of China that eats almost nothing but bamboo. Size, diet, cubs, lifespan and conservation status.
Fish
Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
The great white shark is the largest predatory fish, reaching about 6 m (20 ft). Its size, warm body, seal hunting, range, long life and Vulnerable status.
Fish
Greenland shark
Somniosus microcephalus
The Greenland shark is a slow, cold-water giant of the Arctic and North Atlantic that may live for centuries. Its size, diet, eye parasites, range and threats.
Birds
Harpy eagle
Harpia harpyja
The harpy eagle is a huge rainforest eagle of Central and South America that hunts sloths and monkeys. Facts on its size, talons, diet, breeding and status.
Amphibians
Hellbender
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
The hellbender is North America's largest salamander: a flat, wrinkly, fully aquatic amphibian of clean, rocky Appalachian and Ozark streams, now Vulnerable.
Mammals
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius
The hippopotamus is Africa's giant river mammal: up to 1.5 tonnes or more, grazing at night and resting in water by day. Size, behavior, danger and status.
Reptiles
King cobra
Ophiophagus hannah
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, usually 3–4 m long. Facts on its size, hood and growl, snake-eating diet, nests, range and status.
Reptiles
Leatherback sea turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
The leatherback is the largest living turtle, with a leathery shell, a jellyfish diet and dives past 1,000 m. Facts on size, migrations, nesting and threats.
Fish
Lined seahorse
Hippocampus erectus
The lined seahorse is a western Atlantic seahorse found from Nova Scotia to Brazil. Its size, armor, upright swimming, diet, courtship, pregnancy and threats.
Reptiles
Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta caretta
The loggerhead is a big-headed, Vulnerable sea turtle that crushes crabs and whelks with huge jaws. Its size, diet, ocean migrations, nesting and threats.
Reptiles
Marine iguana
Amblyrhynchus cristatus
The marine iguana is the only lizard that feeds in the sea, diving for algae off the Galápagos. Size, salt-sneezing, El Niño famines and Vulnerable status.
Arachnids
Mexican red-knee tarantula
Brachypelma hamorii
The Mexican red-knee tarantula is a burrowing spider of Mexico's Pacific slopes: its orange knees, slow growth, decades-long female lifespan and protection.
Birds
North Island brown kiwi
Apteryx mantelli
The North Island brown kiwi is New Zealand's most common kiwi: a flightless, nocturnal bird with nostrils at its bill tip, a giant egg and Vulnerable status.
Fish
Ocean sunfish
Mola mola
The ocean sunfish is a giant, disc-shaped bony fish with no true tail. Its size, deep dives for jellyfish and other prey, record egg count, range and threats.
Amphibians
Olm
Proteus anguinus
The olm is a blind, pale salamander of flooded caves in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. Facts on its gills, senses, diet, century-long lifespan and conservation.
Mammals
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
The polar bear is the largest land carnivore, a marine mammal that hunts seals from Arctic sea ice. Size, fur and black skin, dens, range, threats and status.
Mammals
Snow leopard
Panthera uncia
The snow leopard is a big cat of the high mountains of Central and South Asia. Facts on its thick fur, long tail, size, prey, voice and Vulnerable status.
Mammals
Sperm whale
Physeter macrocephalus
The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale, with males about 16 m (52 ft) long. Its huge head, record brain, deep squid dives, clicks and Vulnerable status.
Birds
Wandering albatross
Diomedea exulans
The wandering albatross has the longest wings of any living bird, about 3 m (10 ft) across. Facts on its soaring flight, slow breeding, long life and threats.
Mammals
West Indian manatee
Trichechus manatus
The West Indian manatee is a gentle, plant-eating sea cow of Florida and the Caribbean. Size, diet, warm-water needs, breeding, threats and Vulnerable status.