Mammals
African buffalo
Syncerus caffer
The African buffalo is a huge wild bovine of sub-Saharan Africa, one of the Big Five. Facts on its horns, size, herds, diet, lions, forest buffalo and status.
Diet · 86 species
Herbivores
Animals that eat mainly plants: leaves, grass, fruit, seeds, nectar or wood.
Species profiles
Mammals
African bush elephant
Loxodonta africana
The African bush elephant is the largest land animal, with bulls weighing about 5–7 tonnes. Facts on its size, tusks, herds, diet, calves, range and threats.
Birds
African gray parrot
Psittacus erithacus
The African gray parrot is a gray, red-tailed parrot of Central and West African rainforests, famed for its intelligence and speech. Size, diet and threats.
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.
Mammals
American bison
Bison bison
The American bison is North America's heaviest land animal, a grazing giant of prairies and Yellowstone. Size, hump, herds, diet, near extinction and recovery.
Birds
American goldfinch
Spinus tristis
The American goldfinch is a small North American finch that molts twice a year and eats almost only seeds. Facts on its size, colors, diet, nesting and range.
Mammals
Asian elephant
Elephas maximus
The Asian elephant is Asia's largest land animal, smaller-eared than African elephants and Endangered. Facts on its size, tusks, diet, herds, range and threats.
Insects
Atlas moth
Attacus atlas
The Atlas moth is a giant silk moth of Asian forests with a wingspan of about 25 cm. Its snake-head wingtips, mouthless adults, huge caterpillars and silk.
Mammals
Bactrian camel
Camelus bactrianus
The Bactrian camel is the two-humped camel of Central Asia, built for cold deserts. Its size, humps, winter coat, diet, lifespan and its rare wild relative.
Mammals
Bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis
The bighorn sheep is a wild mountain sheep of western North America, famous for the huge curled horns of its rams. Size, climbing, rut, range and recovery.
Mammals
Black rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
The black rhino is a critically endangered, hook-lipped browsing rhino of eastern and southern Africa. Its size, diet, behavior, poaching and slow recovery.
Mammals
Blue wildebeest
Connochaetes taurinus
The blue wildebeest, or brindled gnu, is a large grazing antelope of East and southern Africa, famed for the Serengeti's Great Migration. Size, diet and calves.
Mammals
Brown-throated sloth
Bradypus variegatus
The brown-throated sloth is the most common three-toed sloth of Central and South America. Facts on its size, leaf diet, green fur, slow life and lifespan.
Birds
Budgerigar
Melopsittacus undulatus
The budgerigar is a small green-and-yellow parrot of Australia's dry interior that roams in nomadic flocks. Wild facts on its size, diet, nests and lifespan.
Insects
Buff-tailed bumblebee
Bombus terrestris
The buff-tailed bumblebee is one of Europe's commonest bumblebees: an early-flying pollinator with a yearly colony, used in greenhouses and invasive abroad.
Birds
Canada goose
Branta canadensis
The Canada goose is a large black-necked goose native to North America and introduced to Europe. Facts on size, migration, diet, nesting, lifespan and status.
Other Invertebrates
Common earthworm
Lumbricus terrestris
The common earthworm, or nightcrawler, is a large European worm that digs burrows up to 2 m deep. Facts on its body, ten hearts, diet, mating and role in soil.
Birds
Common ostrich
Struthio camelus
The common ostrich is the largest living bird, up to 2.75 m tall and 130 kg. Facts on its speed, two-toed feet, giant eggs, shared nests, range and status.
Crustaceans
Common pill bug
Armadillidium vulgare
The common pill bug is a land crustacean, not an insect, that rolls into a ball and eats dead leaves. Facts on its looks, range, diet, breeding and lifespan.
Mammals
Common wombat
Vombatus ursinus
The common wombat is a stocky burrowing marsupial of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, famous for cube-shaped droppings. Size, diet, burrows and lifespan.
Insects
Desert locust
Schistocerca gregaria
The desert locust is a grasshopper that can switch from a shy loner to a swarming plague insect. Facts on its phases, swarms, diet, life cycle and upsurges.
Mammals
Dromedary camel
Camelus dromedarius
The dromedary is the one-humped camel of Arabia and North Africa. Its fat-filled hump, how it survives without water, size, lifespan and domestication.
Mammals
Eastern cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
The eastern cottontail is North America's most common wild rabbit. Facts on its cotton-ball tail, size, diet, grass nests, fast breeding, lifespan and enemies.
Mammals
Eastern gorilla
Gorilla beringei
The eastern gorilla, home of mountain and Grauer's gorillas, is the largest living primate. Facts on its size, diet, family groups, range and Critical status.
Insects
Eastern subterranean termite
Reticulitermes flavipes
The eastern subterranean termite is North America's most widespread termite. Facts on its castes, swarmers, king and queen, colonies and its gut microbes.
Mammals
European bison
Bison bonasus
The European bison, or wisent, is Europe's heaviest land animal. Wiped out in the wild by 1927 and saved from 12 zoo animals, it now roams forests again.
Mammals
European hare
Lepus europaeus
The European or brown hare is a fast, long-eared hare of open farmland. Facts on its size, speed, spring boxing, leverets, diet, lifespan and status.
Mammals
European rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus
The European rabbit is the wild ancestor of every domestic rabbit breed. Facts on its size, warrens, diet, breeding, lifespan and Endangered status in Iberia.
Insects
European stag beetle
Lucanus cervus
The European stag beetle is Europe's largest land beetle. Facts on the males' antler-like jaws, years of larval life in dead wood, brief adult life and decline.
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.
Mollusks
Garden snail
Cornu aspersum
The garden snail is a brown land snail from the Mediterranean and western Europe, now found worldwide. Facts on its shell, diet, slime, mating and lifespan.
Other Invertebrates
Giant African millipede
Archispirostreptus gigas
The giant African millipede is the largest living millipede, up to 33.5 cm long. Its legs, slow detritus diet, curling defense, mites and lifespan explained.
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.
Reptiles
Green iguana
Iguana iguana
The green iguana is a large, plant-eating tree lizard of Central and South America that can top 1.5 m. Size, colors, diet, swimming, nesting and lifespan.
Reptiles
Green sea turtle
Chelonia mydas
The green sea turtle is a large, plant-eating sea turtle of warm seas, named for its green body fat. Its size, seagrass diet, migrations, nesting and status.
Insects
Hercules beetle
Dynastes hercules
The Hercules beetle is the world's longest beetle, with males up to about 17 cm (7 in) including the horn. Facts on its horns, fights, color change and larvae.
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.
Mammals
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
Choloepus hoffmanni
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth is a nocturnal, tree-dwelling sloth of Central and South America. Facts on its size, claws, diet, babies, lifespan and how it lives.
Mammals
Large flying fox
Pteropus vampyrus
The large flying fox is one of the world's biggest bats, with wings up to 1.5 m (5 ft) across. Facts on its fruit and nectar diet, eyesight, roosts and threats.
Insects
Leafcutter ant
Atta cephalotes
The leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes farms fungus on chewed leaves in giant underground nests. Facts on its castes, colonies, range, fungus gardens and role.
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.
Insects
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
The monarch is an orange-and-black milkweed butterfly famous for flying up to 4,800 km to winter in Mexico. Its looks, size, life cycle, toxins and status.
Birds
Mourning dove
Zenaida macroura
The mourning dove is a slender gray-brown North American dove known for its soft, sad cooing and whistling wings. Facts on size, diet, nests and lifespan.
Mammals
North American beaver
Castor canadensis
The North American beaver is the largest rodent in North America, a dam-building wetland engineer. Its size, teeth, lodges, bark diet, family life and comeback.
Mammals
North American porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum
The North American porcupine is a large, tree-climbing rodent covered in about 30,000 barbed quills. Its size, bark diet, salt cravings, predators and range.
Insects
Northern walkingstick
Diapheromera femorata
The northern walkingstick is a wingless stick insect of eastern North American woods. Its twig camouflage, leaf diet, falling eggs, outbreaks and giant kin.
Insects
Painted lady
Vanessa cardui
The painted lady is the most widespread butterfly on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica. Its looks, host plants, life cycle and migration.
Insects
Periodical cicada
Magicicada septendecim
Magicicada septendecim, the 17-year periodical cicada, lives underground for 17 years, then emerges by the millions in the eastern US. Broods, song, life cycle.
Mammals
Plains zebra
Equus quagga
The plains zebra is the most common zebra, a striped wild horse of eastern and southern African grasslands. Size, stripes, herds, migration, diet and status.
Other Invertebrates
Purple sea urchin
Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
The purple sea urchin is a spiny grazer of Pacific kelp forests and tide pools. Facts on its size, teeth, rock burrows, lifespan, predators and urchin barrens.
Mammals
Pygmy hippopotamus
Choeropsis liberiensis
The pygmy hippopotamus is a small, shy forest hippo of West Africa, mainly Liberia. Facts on its size, night life, diet, calves, Endangered status and Moo Deng.
Mammals
Red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus
The red kangaroo is the largest living marsupial, a fast hopper of Australia's dry interior. Size, speed, boxing males, joeys, diet and surviving drought.
Mammals
Red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
The red squirrel is Eurasia's native tree squirrel, with ear tufts and a red to near-black coat. Size, diet, nests, lifespan and why it declined in Britain.
Birds
Rock pigeon
Columba livia
The rock pigeon is the wild cliff bird behind every city pigeon and homing pigeon. Facts on its size, range, nests, crop milk, intelligence and history.
Insects
Sacred scarab
Scarabaeus sacer
The sacred scarab is a black ball-rolling dung beetle of the Mediterranean and North Africa, revered in ancient Egypt. Size, dung balls, larvae and range.
Birds
Scarlet macaw
Ara macao
The scarlet macaw is a large red, yellow and blue parrot of tropical American forests. Facts on its size, diet, clay licks, nesting, lifespan and conservation.
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.
Mammals
Western gorilla
Gorilla gorilla
The western gorilla is a Critically Endangered great ape of Central African rainforests. Facts on its size, diet, silverback-led groups, range and threats.
Insects
Western honey bee
Apis mellifera
The western honey bee is a social bee that lives in colonies of up to 80,000. Facts on its queen, workers and drones, comb, waggle dance, honey and spread.
Mammals
White rhinoceros
Ceratotherium simum
The white rhino is the largest rhino, a 2-tonne grazer with a wide square lip. Facts on its size, herds, poaching and its comeback from near extinction.
Mammals
White-tailed deer
Odocoileus virginianus
The white-tailed deer is the most widespread deer in the Americas, named for the white tail it flashes when alarmed. Size, antlers, fawns, diet, rut and range.