Wetlands

The African buffalo is a heavy wild ox of sub-Saharan Africa that lives in herds of dozens to thousands and must drink every day.

The African bullfrog spends dry periods buried underground and becomes active with rain.

The African bush elephant is the largest land animal alive.

The African forest elephant moves through the rainforests of western and central Africa.

The alligator gar is a large North American fish with a broad, tooth-filled snout.

The American alligator is a freshwater crocodilian of the southeastern United States.

The American black bear is the smallest and most widespread bear in North America, at home in forest from Alaska to Mexico.

The American toad is a stout amphibian of North America.

Anteaters are insect-eating mammals with elongated snouts.

Arapaimas are large South American freshwater fishes.

The aurochs was the wild ox of Europe, North Africa and much of Asia, and the ancestor of domestic cattle.

Avocets are long-legged wading birds with upward-curving bills.

The axolotl is a salamander that never grows up.

The barn owl is a pale nocturnal hunter with a heart-shaped face.

The barn swallow is the most widespread swallow on earth, with a steel blue back and a deeply forked tail.

The barred owl is a large brown owl of North American woodland, with dark eyes, a round head and no ear tufts.

Beavers are semiaquatic rodents that alter waterways.

The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world, at about 2.28 grams.

Betta splendens is a small Southeast Asian freshwater fish.

The black kite is a medium-sized raptor with angled wings and a forked tail.

The black swan is a large Australian waterbird with black plumage, white flight feathers and a bright red bill.

The black vulture is a glossy black scavenger of the Americas, with a bare grey head and white patches at the wingtips.

The bobcat is a medium-sized lynx with a short black-tipped tail, found from southern Canada to southern Mexico.

The bonobo is a great ape of the Congo Basin.

Box turtles are land-dwelling North American turtles.

The brown rat is a large, burrowing rodent that lives wherever people live.

The American bullfrog is a large frog that waits near water for passing prey.

The Burmese python is a large Asian constrictor with dark blotches.

Caimans are crocodilians of the Americas.

The Canada goose is a large black-necked goose with a white chinstrap, native to North America and now settled on four continents.

The capybara is the largest rodent in the world.

The Carolina parakeet was the only parrot native to the eastern United States.

Carp is a broad familiar name for related freshwater fishes.

The common frog is a widespread European amphibian that also occurs in northwestern Asia.

The common kingfisher is a small blue and orange bird of clear, slow rivers across Europe, Asia and North Africa.

The common pheasant is a long-tailed gamebird from Asia that people have released across the world.

The common raccoon dog is a stocky, fox-like canid of East Asia with a black face mask like a raccoon's.

The common starling is a glossy black songbird of Europe and Asia, spangled with white spots in winter.

The common swift is a blackish-brown bird with narrow curved wings that catches every meal in the air.

The southern copperhead is a venomous North American pit viper.

Coral snakes include many species of venomous elapids.

The cottonmouth is a venomous, semiaquatic pit viper of the southeastern United States.

True crabs include many forms.

Cranes are long-legged birds of open country and wetlands.

Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans.

Cuckoos form a varied bird family.

Dragonflies hunt both underwater and in the air.

Ducks are waterbirds with many different feeding habits.

Egrets are herons known for pale plumage in several species.

The Egyptian goose is a pale brown waterbird of African rivers, lakes and grassland, marked by a dark ring around each eye.

The electric eel is a South American freshwater fish that generates electrical signals.

The European polecat is a dark, stocky mustelid with a pale face mask that hunts frogs, voles and rabbits by night.

Flamingos are long-legged waterbirds with curved filtering bills.

Flying foxes are fruit bats with large eyes and fox-like faces.

Garter snakes are adaptable North American snakes.

The golden jackal is a small wolf-like canid of Europe and southern Asia that lives in lifelong pairs and eats anything from voles to fruit.

Geese are grazing waterbirds.

The great blue heron is the biggest of the North American herons and a patient hunter of shallow water.

The great egret is a tall white heron that hunts fish in shallow water on six continents.

The greater flamingo is the largest and most widespread flamingo.