Animals That Start With A: 25 Animals From Aardvark to Axolotl

Aardvark

The aardvark is a burrowing mammal found across much of Africa south of the Sahara. Its name comes from Afrikaans and means “earth pig”. It feeds at night on ants and termites, licking them up with a sticky tongue up to 30 cm (12 in) long, and is one of the stars of our list of nocturnal animals.

Aardwolf

Despite its name, the aardwolf is not a wolf but a small, shy member of the hyena family from eastern and southern Africa. It feeds almost entirely on termites and can lap up many thousands in a single night. Its cheek teeth are tiny pegs, since it hardly needs to chew.

Addax

The addax is a pale desert antelope with long, spiraling horns, superbly adapted to the Sahara and able to go for long periods without drinking. Hunting and disturbance have wiped it out from most of its former range. It is Critically Endangered, with only small numbers left in the wild, mainly in Niger and Chad.

Adder

The common European adder (Vipera berus) is Britain’s only venomous snake and is found farther north than any other snake, beyond the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. It is shy and bites only when stepped on or handled. Bites are painful but rarely fatal; anyone bitten should seek emergency medical help immediately (call 112 in the EU or 999 in the UK).

Adélie penguin

Adélie penguins live along the entire coast of Antarctica and, together with the emperor penguin, are the most southerly of all penguins. They measure about 70 cm (28 in) from bill to tail, eat mainly krill and fish, and build their nests from small stones.

African elephant

Africa has two elephant species. The African bush (savanna) elephant is the largest land animal on Earth, with bulls weighing around 5–7 tonnes, and is listed as Endangered. The smaller African forest elephant of Central and West Africa is Critically Endangered.

African wild dog

Also called the painted dog for its patchy coat, the African wild dog lives in packs that hunt cooperatively and share food with pups and injured members. Researchers in Botswana found that packs “vote” on when to set off hunting by sneezing. Only around 6,600 adults are thought to survive, and the species is Endangered.

Albatross

Albatrosses are large seabirds that spend most of their lives gliding over the open ocean. The wandering albatross of the Southern Ocean has the largest wingspan of any living bird, typically about 3 m (10 ft) and up to about 3.7 m (12 ft), and can glide for hours without flapping.

Alligator

There are two alligator species: the American alligator of the southeastern United States and the much smaller, Critically Endangered Chinese alligator of the lower Yangtze River. The American alligator was once listed as endangered but recovered so well that it was removed from the endangered list in 1987. Alligators have broad, U-shaped snouts, unlike the pointed snouts of most crocodiles; read how long alligators live.

Alpaca

The alpaca is a domesticated relative of the camel, bred from the wild vicuña in the Andes of South America at least 5,000–6,000 years ago. It is smaller than its cousin the llama and is raised mainly for its soft, warm fleece, which is used much like sheep’s wool.

Alpine ibex

This wild goat lives on the steep cliffs and meadows of the Alps, up to about 3,300 m (10,800 ft). By the 19th century, hunting had reduced it to fewer than 100 animals in what is now Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy, but reintroductions have brought it back across the Alps. Female ibexes and their young have even been seen climbing the steep wall of an Italian dam to lick salt from the stones.

Amazon river dolphin

Also known as the boto or pink river dolphin, this is the largest river dolphin, with males reaching about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and 185 kg (408 lb). It lives in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of South America. Unlike ocean dolphins, its neck bones are not fused, so it can turn its head to weave through flooded forests. It is classified as Endangered.

Anaconda

The green anaconda of South America is the heaviest snake in the world. Females are much larger than males and can exceed 5 m (16 ft), with typical adult weights of around 30–80 kg (66–176 lb). Anacondas are not venomous: they live in swamps and slow rivers and kill prey by constriction. See how they compare in our largest snakes list.

Andean condor

The Andean condor soars over the mountains and Pacific coast of western South America. With a wingspan of up to 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) and a weight of up to 15 kg (33 lb), it is one of the largest flying birds in the world. It feeds mainly on carrion and is listed as Vulnerable.

Anglerfish

Anglerfish are fish that “fish” for their food, using a modified spine on the head as a fishing rod with a lure at the tip. In many deep-sea species the lure glows, thanks to light-producing bacteria. In some deep-sea anglerfish, the tiny males fuse permanently to the much larger females.

Ant

Ants are social insects that live in colonies ranging from a few dozen to millions of individuals, ruled by one or more egg-laying queens. More than 13,800 species have been described. A 2022 study estimated that roughly 20 quadrillion ants live on Earth.

Anteater

The giant anteater of Central and South America has no teeth at all. Instead it rips open ant and termite nests with long front claws and collects the insects with a sticky tongue up to 60 cm (2 ft) long, flicking it in and out up to about 160 times a minute. It is listed as Vulnerable.

Arctic fox

The Arctic fox lives on the tundra and sea ice around the North Pole. Its fur provides better insulation than that of any other mammal, and in most populations the coat turns from brown in summer to pure white in winter. Lemmings are its main food; see what do foxes eat? for more.

Arctic tern

The Arctic tern makes the longest known migration of any animal, flying from Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctic waters and back each year and enjoying two summers. Birds tracked from Iceland and Greenland averaged about 70,900 km (44,000 mi) a year, and one bird from England’s Farne Islands covered about 96,000 km (60,000 mi) in ten months.

Armadillo

Armadillos are armored mammals; their Spanish name means “little armored one”. All 21 living species are native to the Americas. The long-nosed armadillos, including the species that has spread across the southern United States, usually give birth to four identical young that all develop from a single fertilized egg.

Asian elephant

The Asian elephant lives in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It is smaller than the African elephants, with smaller ears and a single finger-like tip on its trunk, and only some males grow large tusks. It is Endangered, mainly because of habitat loss and conflict with people.

Atlantic puffin

With its black-and-white plumage and boldly striped, colorful bill, the Atlantic puffin is one of the most recognizable seabirds of the North Atlantic. It nests in burrows on cliff-top islands, dives for small fish and can carry several fish crosswise in its bill at once. Iceland holds the largest colonies. It is listed as Vulnerable.

Atlas moth

The Atlas moth of the forests of South and Southeast Asia is one of the largest moths in the world, with a wingspan often reaching 25–30 cm (10–12 in). The tips of its forewings look a little like snake heads. Adults have no working mouthparts, so they cannot eat and live for only a few days.

Avocet

The pied avocet is an elegant black-and-white wading bird with a long, upturned bill that it sweeps from side to side through shallow water to catch small invertebrates. It disappeared as a breeding bird from Britain in the 19th century and returned in 1947, becoming the emblem of the RSPB. The related American avocet lives in North America.

Axolotl

The axolotl is a salamander from the lakes and canals of the Mexico City area that keeps its feathery gills and stays in the water its whole life. It can regrow lost limbs and even parts of its eyes and brain, which makes it important in medical research. In the wild it now survives mainly in the canals of Xochimilco and is Critically Endangered, even though it is common in laboratories.