HideShark

Mountains

Mountain habitats stack many climates into a short vertical distance. Species here cope with low oxygen, strong UV, and terrain that shifts from forest to bare rock and permanent snow.

425 animals in this habitat

Birds NE Hummingbird Trochilidae A hummingbird is the smallest of all birds, able to hover, fly backwards, and beat its wings up to 80 times a second, running an engine so hot it must shut down into torpor most nights to survive. Read the guide →
Mammals NE Squirrel Sciuridae A squirrel belongs to the rodent family Sciuridae — tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, flying squirrels — and a nut-hoarder plants forests by forgetting where it buried them. Read the guide →
Fish NE Trout Salmo, Oncorhynchus, and Salvelinus A trout is a cold-water fish of the salmon family, prized by anglers, farmed worldwide, and so widely stocked outside its home range that it now ranks among the most damaging of introduced fish. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Giant Salamander Cryptobranchidae A giant salamander is the largest amphibian alive, a wrinkled, flat-headed river dweller that breathes mostly through folds of loose skin and can pass a century in the same cold stream. Read the guide →
Birds NE Eagle Accipitridae An eagle is a large bird of prey with eyesight several times sharper than a human's, a grip that can exceed its own body weight, and a build made for killing animals as big as itself. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Northern Corroboree Frog Pseudophryne pengilleyi The northern corroboree frog is a tiny yellow-and-black striped frog of Australian mountain bogs, one of the few animals that makes its own poison and one of the most endangered amphibians alive. Read the guide →
Fish LC Grayling Thymallus thymallus The grayling is a silver, thyme-scented river fish with an enormous sail-like fin, a member of the salmon family that lives only in cold, clean, fast water and is prized by winter fly-anglers. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara The viviparous lizard is the most widespread lizard on Earth, ranging from Ireland to the Pacific and into the Arctic, and most populations give birth to live young rather than laying eggs. Read the guide →
Fish LC Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis The brook trout is a marbled, red-spotted fish of cold, clean streams in eastern North America that is really a char, an emblem of unspoilt water that vanishes when its streams warm or silt up. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Elk Cervus canadensis The elk, or wapiti, is one of the largest deer in the world, a North American and Central Asian herd animal whose bulls grow sweeping antlers each year and bugle through the autumn rut. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC European Adder Vipera berus The European adder is the most widespread snake in the world and the only venomous snake native to Britain, a zigzag-backed viper ranging from Western Europe to the Pacific. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Rubber Boa Charina bottae The rubber boa is a small, blunt-tailed North American boa with loose, wrinkled skin that looks and feels like rubber, one of the gentlest snakes alive and among the most cold-tolerant. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Seal Salamander Desmognathus monticola A stout Appalachian brook salamander, the seal salamander guards a burrow at the water's edge, lunging out to snatch passing insects, and breathes entirely through its moist skin. Read the guide →
Birds LC Western Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus The western capercaillie is the largest grouse, a turkey-sized bird of old conifer forest whose displaying male fans his tail and pours out a clicking, cork-popping song. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Shovel-nosed Salamander Desmognathus marmoratus The shovel-nosed salamander never leaves the water, living its whole life wedged under stones in cold Appalachian torrents and digging through the gravel with a flattened, spade-like snout. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Tailed Frog Ascaphus truei The tailed frog is one of the most primitive frogs alive and the only North American frog with internal fertilisation, and its tadpoles grip rocks in freezing torrents with a sucker mouth. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Alpine Marmot Marmota marmota The alpine marmot lives in family groups on the Alps' high meadows, posts sentinels that whistle at danger, and hibernates huddled together through the winter. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus The Asiatic black bear, or moon bear, is a Vulnerable Asian forest bear with a pale crescent on its chest that climbs trees to feed and is hunted for its parts across much of its range. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Asp Viper Vipera aspis The asp viper is a small, variable venomous snake of sunny rocky slopes in western Europe, with a slightly upturned snout and a zigzag pattern, found from the Pyrenees to the Alps. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Black-bellied Salamander Desmognathus quadramaculatus The black-bellied salamander is the biggest Appalachian stream salamander, a heavy, aggressive lungless hunter that takes insects, crayfish, and even other salamanders in fast mountain water. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Broad-headed Snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides The broad-headed snake is a rare, venomous Australian snake restricted to the sandstone country around Sydney, sheltering under rock slabs in winter and in tree hollows in summer. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Bushy-tailed Woodrat Neotoma cinerea The bushy-tailed woodrat, or packrat, hoards sticks and objects in nests whose layered ancient remains let scientists reconstruct past climates and plant communities. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Cao Vit Gibbon Nomascus nasutus The Cao Vit gibbon is a Critically Endangered ape of limestone forest on the Vietnam-China border, rediscovered in 2002 after being feared extinct, with only about a hundred animals left. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Columbian Ground Squirrel Urocitellus columbianus The Columbian ground squirrel is a social meadow squirrel of the northern Rockies region that spends most of the year hibernating and is a key meal for badgers, eagles, and bears. Read the guide →
Mammals LC European Wildcat Felis silvestris The European wildcat looks like a stocky, thick-furred tabby with a blunt, black-ringed tail, a genuinely wild species that is threatened mainly by interbreeding with domestic cats. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Francois' Langur Trachypithecus francoisi Francois' langur is an Endangered black-and-white monkey of limestone karst in southern China and northern Vietnam that sleeps in caves and ledges, and whose babies are born bright orange. Read the guide →
Invertebrates CR Franklin's Bumblebee Bombus franklini Franklin's bumblebee is a Critically Endangered bumblebee with one of the smallest ranges of any bee, in southern Oregon and northern California, and has not been seen since 2006. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel Callospermophilus lateralis The golden-mantled ground squirrel looks like an oversized chipmunk with a copper-gold head and shoulders, a bold mountain scrounger that lacks stripes on its face. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii The golden-ringed dragonfly is a huge black dragonfly with yellow rings and green eyes, whose female stabs her eggs into the mud of upland streams with a long ovipositor. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Greater Long-nosed Bat Leptonycteris nivalis The greater long-nosed bat is an Endangered nectar bat that migrates north from Mexico following blooming agaves, pollinating the desert plants that give us tequila and mezcal. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Hoary Marmot Marmota caligata The hoary marmot is a large, silvery-shouldered alpine marmot of northwestern North America whose shrill alarm whistle gave Whistler, British Columbia, its name. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Kiang Equus kiang The kiang is the largest wild ass, a chestnut-coated grazer of the high Tibetan Plateau that gallops across open plains at altitudes of more than 4,000 metres. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Livingstone's Fruit Bat Pteropus livingstonii Livingstone's fruit bat is a Critically Endangered flying fox found only on two Comoro Islands, a large, fruit-eating bat that is unusually active in daylight. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Mountain Pygmy Possum Burramys parvus The mountain pygmy possum is the only Australian marsupial that hibernates, a mouse-sized alpine animal known from fossils before a living one was found, now endangered as its moth food fails. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque The mountain tapir is the smallest and woolliest tapir, an Endangered browser of the high Andes that lives in cloud forest and paramo up to about 4,000 metres above sea level. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Mountain Zebra Equus zebra The mountain zebra is a Vulnerable zebra of the rocky highlands of southern Africa, with a dewlap under its chin and a grid-iron stripe pattern on its rump, and was once down to a few dozen animals. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Norway Lemming Lemmus lemmus The Norway lemming is a bold black-and-tawny tundra rodent whose populations boom and crash in cycles, and whose famous mass suicide is a myth. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Nose-horned Viper Vipera ammodytes The nose-horned viper is a zigzag-backed European viper with a soft horn on its snout, widely regarded as the most dangerous snake in Europe, found on rocky slopes across the Balkans. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Olive Python Liasis olivaceus The olive python is a large, glossy, olive-brown constrictor of northern Australia that shelters among rocky gorges and waterholes and hunts mammals, birds, and reptiles by ambush. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Parti-coloured Bat Vespertilio murinus The parti-coloured bat is a frosted-looking migratory bat of Eurasia whose males sing from cliffs and tall buildings in autumn to attract mates. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Rinkhals Hemachatus haemachatus The rinkhals is a southern African spitting snake that is not a true cobra, with a hood, white throat bands, live young, and a habit of playing dead when threatened. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Tapanuli Orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis The Tapanuli orangutan was described as a new species in 2017, the rarest great ape, with fewer than a thousand animals in a small block of forest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus avunculus The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is a Critically Endangered black-and-white monkey with an upturned nose, found only in a few small patches of limestone forest in northern Vietnam. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Western Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii The western long-beaked echidna is a Critically Endangered egg-laying mammal of New Guinea's mountain forests, with a long curved snout and a spiny tongue for catching earthworms. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Western Mastiff Bat Eumops perotis The western mastiff bat is the largest bat in North America, a fast, high-flying insect hunter whose low-pitched calls are loud enough for people to hear. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Yellow-bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris The yellow-bellied marmot sunbathes on rocky slopes of western North America, whistles an alarm at danger, and hibernates for most of the year in a mountain burrow. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey Lagothrix flavicauda The yellow-tailed woolly monkey is a rare, shaggy-coated monkey found only in the cloud forests of the Peruvian Andes, rediscovered in the 1970s and now Critically Endangered. Read the guide →
Reptiles CR Big-headed Turtle Platysternon megacephalum The big-headed turtle of Asian mountain streams has a head too big to pull into its shell, so it is armoured instead, and the turtle climbs rocks and trees using its long tail as a brace. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Pygmy Salamander Desmognathus wrighti The pygmy salamander is one of the world's smallest salamanders, a lungless sprite of high Appalachian spruce forest that climbs trees at night and has no aquatic larval stage. Read the guide →
Birds LC Clark's Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana Clark's nutcracker is a mountain crow that buries tens of thousands of pine seeds each autumn and remembers where, and the whitebark pine now depends on it to plant the next forest. Read the guide →
Birds LC American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus The American dipper is the only songbird in North America that swims, walking along the beds of fast mountain streams and diving underwater to hunt insect larvae year-round. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Spectacled Bear Tremarctos ornatus The spectacled bear is South America's only bear species, named for the pale, mask-like markings around its eyes that vary uniquely from one individual to the next. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Sumatran Striped Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri The Sumatran striped rabbit is one of the rarest and least-studied mammals on Earth, a dark-striped rabbit so elusive it has been photographed in the wild only a handful of times. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Volcano Rabbit Romerolagus diazi The volcano rabbit survives only on the slopes of a handful of volcanoes near Mexico City, one of the smallest rabbit species in the world and among the most geographically restricted. Read the guide →
Fish EN White Cloud Mountain Minnow Tanichthys albonubes The white cloud mountain minnow was feared extinct in the wild for decades after its single known stream was developed, surviving mainly through aquarium populations. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Blanford's Fox Vulpes cana Blanford's fox is an exceptionally agile climber among canids, scaling steep, rocky desert cliffs with cat-like ease using semi-retractable claws and a long balancing tail. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Speckled Rattlesnake Crotalus mitchellii The speckled rattlesnake often closely matches the exact rock color of the ground it rests on, with populations ranging from pale gray to pink and reddish depending on local terrain. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Andean Mountain Cat Leopardus jacobita The Andean mountain cat is one of the rarest wild cats on Earth, hunting mountain vizcachas across the thin air of the high Andes above 4,000 metres. Read the guide →
Birds LC Band-winged Nightjar Systellura longirostris The band-winged nightjar hunts insects at dusk across high Andean grassland, identified in flight by a pale band crossing each wing. Read the guide →
Birds VU Bare-necked Umbrellabird Cephalopterus glabricollis The bare-necked umbrellabird carries a crest that overhangs its bill like an umbrella, along with an inflatable bare throat wattle used in display. Read the guide →
Birds EN Black-and-chestnut Eagle Spizaetus isidori The black-and-chestnut eagle hunts through Andean cloud forest, one of the rarest and least-studied eagles in the Americas, requiring vast, undisturbed territories to survive. Read the guide →
Birds LC Carunculated Caracara Phalcoboenus carunculatus The carunculated caracara is identified by fleshy orange-red facial caruncles, foraging across high Andean grassland further north than its Patagonian relatives. Read the guide →
Birds LC Flame-faced Tanager Tangara parzudakii The flame-faced tanager shows a blazing orange-red facial patch against green and black plumage, a striking resident of Andean cloud forest. Read the guide →
Birds LC Giant Coot Fulica gigantea The giant coot builds nest mounds of piled vegetation so large they can weigh over a tonne, anchored to the floor of high Andean lakes. Read the guide →
Birds LC Great Dusky Swift Cypseloides senex The great dusky swift flies directly through the falling curtain of a waterfall to reach nests hidden behind the water, one of the most extreme nesting strategies of any bird. Read the guide →
Birds LC Green-crowned Brilliant Heliodoxa jacula The green-crowned brilliant is a relatively large hummingbird of Central American and Andean cloud forest, females identified by a distinctive white stripe below the eye. Read the guide →
Birds CR Hooded Grebe Podiceps gallardoi The hooded grebe performs an elaborate synchronized courtship dance on remote Patagonian plateau lakes, a ritual now threatened by introduced predators. Read the guide →
Birds LC Long-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus kingii The long-tailed sylph trails an iridescent blue-green forked tail often longer than its entire body, one of the most elegant hummingbirds in flight across Andean cloud forest. Read the guide →
Birds LC Masked Trogon Trogon personatus The masked trogon lives at higher elevations than most of its relatives, males identified by a black mask surrounding the eyes against vivid green plumage. Read the guide →
Birds LC Mountain Caracara Phalcoboenus megalopterus The mountain caracara patrols high Andean grassland on foot as often as in flight, hunting small prey and scavenging carrion at altitudes most birds avoid. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Short-tailed Chinchilla Chinchilla chinchilla The short-tailed chinchilla once ranged across the high Andes but was hunted to the brink of extinction for its fur, surviving now in only a few remote Chilean sites. Read the guide →
Birds LC Sparkling Violetear Colibri coruscans The sparkling violetear flares iridescent violet patches on the sides of its head during territorial disputes, one of the most common and aggressive hummingbirds across the Andes. Read the guide →
Birds VU Three-wattled Bellbird Procnias tricarunculatus The three-wattled bellbird produces one of the loudest calls of any bird on Earth, males displaying three long fleshy wattles that dangle from the base of the bill. Read the guide →
Birds LC Variable Hawk Geranoaetus polyosoma The variable hawk earns its name from an extraordinary range of plumage patterns across individuals, making it one of the most difficult South American raptors to identify with confidence. Read the guide →
Birds LC White-capped Pionus Pionus seniloides The white-capped pionus shows pale feathers on the forehead that give it a prematurely aged appearance, a lesser-known parrot of Andean cloud forest. Read the guide →
Birds LC White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris The white-collared swift is one of the largest swift species, identified by a bright white band around the neck, roosting in caves and behind waterfalls across the Americas. Read the guide →
Birds LC Dark-bellied Cinclodes Cinclodes patagonicus The dark-bellied cinclodes forages by walking along the water's edge rather than flying, a ground-based hunting style shared with other cinclodes species of Patagonian streams and shorelines. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus The huemul appears on Chile's national coat of arms alongside the condor, yet survives today in only a fraction of its historical range across the southern Andes. Read the guide →
Birds LC Mourning Sierra-finch Phrygilus fruticeti The mourning sierra-finch is marked by dark grey plumage and chestnut flanks, a distinctively patterned finch found across Andean and Patagonian scrub. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Pampas Cat Leopardus colocola The pampas cat shows an unusually variable coat pattern across its enormous range, so different from one region to another that populations were once mistaken for separate species. Read the guide →
Birds LC Tufted Tit-tyrant Anairetes parulus The tufted tit-tyrant sports a spiky, forward-curling crest and constantly flicks its tail, one of the most common and recognisable small birds across Andean and Patagonian scrub. Read the guide →
Birds VU Andean Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus The Andean flamingo is the rarest flamingo species in the world, breeding on remote high-altitude salt flats where thin air and freezing nights make survival a genuine challenge. Read the guide →
Birds LC Andean Flicker Colaptes rupicola The Andean flicker is a ground-foraging woodpecker of the high Andes, digging nest burrows into earthen banks rather than excavating cavities in wood like most of its relatives. Read the guide →
Birds LC Andean Goose Chloephaga melanoptera The Andean goose lives at higher altitude than any of its Patagonian relatives, grazing the edges of high-Andean lakes and bogs thousands of metres above sea level. Read the guide →
Birds LC Andean Hillstar Oreotrochilus estella The Andean hillstar forages at extreme altitude where the air holds far less oxygen, entering a state of deep torpor overnight to survive freezing temperatures no other hummingbird could withstand. Read the guide →
Birds LC Andean Lapwing Vanellus resplendens The Andean lapwing lives at extreme high altitude across the Andes, its pale grey plumage offering camouflage against the rocky terrain of its cold mountain habitat. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Andean Toad Rhinella spinulosa The Andean toad tolerates some of the highest elevations of any toad species in the world, ranging across a vast stretch of the Andes from Peru down into Patagonia. Read the guide →
Birds LC Austral Parakeet Enicognathus ferrugineus The austral parakeet is the southernmost parrot species in the world, surviving in the cold southern beech forests of Tierra del Fuego far beyond the range of any other parrot on Earth. Read the guide →
Birds LC Band-tailed Sierra-finch Phrygilus alaudinus The band-tailed sierra-finch ranges across a far broader stretch of the Andes than its Patagonian relative, identified by a distinctive pale band crossing its tail feathers. Read the guide →
Birds LC Black-chested Buzzard-eagle Geranoaetus melanoleucus The black-chested buzzard-eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in South America, soaring over open Andean and Patagonian terrain in search of rabbits, rodents, and other mammals. Read the guide →
Birds LC Black-faced Ibis Theristicus melanopis The black-faced ibis forages across high-altitude Andean grassland and lowland Patagonian pasture alike, probing soil for worms and insects with the same curved bill as its close relative. Read the guide →
Birds LC Crested Duck Lophonetta specularioides The crested duck sports a shaggy tuft of feathers on the back of its head, ranging from lowland Patagonian coastlines to high-altitude Andean lakes across a remarkably wide range of elevations. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Culpeo Fox Lycalopex culpaeo The culpeo fox is the second-largest wild canid in South America, ranging from lowland Patagonian steppe to high Andean peaks and preying heavily on guanaco young alongside a varied omnivorous diet. Read the guide →
Birds NT Darwin's Rhea Rhea pennata Darwin's rhea is the smaller of the two rhea species, adapted to the cold, windswept grassland of Patagonia and the high Andean puna rather than the warmer plains of its larger relative. Read the guide →
Birds LC Giant Hummingbird Patagona gigas The giant hummingbird is the largest hummingbird species in the world, so much bigger than its relatives that its wingbeats are visible to the naked eye rather than blurring into a hum. Read the guide →
Birds LC Green-backed Firecrown Sephanoides sephaniodes The green-backed firecrown is the southernmost breeding hummingbird species in the world, tolerating cold temperate forest conditions far removed from the tropical climate most hummingbirds prefer. Read the guide →
Birds LC Grey-breasted Seedsnipe Thinocorus orbignyianus The grey-breasted seedsnipe looks and acts like a cross between a quail and a sandpiper, though it belongs to the shorebird family despite feeding entirely on plants. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Guanaco Lama guanicoe The guanaco is the wild ancestor of the domestic llama, roaming Patagonian grassland and high Andean terrain in herds while serving as the main prey of the puma across much of its range. Read the guide →
Birds NT James's Flamingo Phoenicoparrus jamesi James's flamingo was believed extinct for decades before a breeding colony was rediscovered on a remote high-Andean salt lake, and it remains the smallest of the world's flamingo species. Read the guide →
Birds LC Magellanic Horned Owl Bubo magellanicus The Magellanic horned owl is a smaller relative of the great horned owl, hunting across open Patagonian and Andean terrain rather than the forested habitat favoured by many large owls. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Magellanic Lizard Liolaemus magellanicus The Magellanic lizard is the southernmost-ranging lizard species in the world, giving birth to live young rather than laying eggs to survive the cold of Tierra del Fuego. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk Conepatus chinga Molina's hog-nosed skunk ranges across a far broader stretch of South America than its more southerly Patagonian relative, using an elongated snout to root out food from the soil. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Mountain Vizcacha Lagidium viscacia The mountain vizcacha is a rabbit-like rodent of the high Andes, basking on sun-warmed rocks between short bursts of grazing on the sparse vegetation of its cold, thin-aired habitat. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Mountain Yellow-legged Frog Rana muscosa Once the most abundant amphibian in California's high Sierra, the mountain yellow-legged frog was driven to the brink by stocked trout and a fungal disease, then partly rescued by removing the fish. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Patagonia Frog Atelognathus patagonicus The Patagonia frog spends almost its entire life in a handful of cold Andean lakes, its restricted range now threatened by introduced trout that prey heavily on its tadpoles. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Patagonian Hog-nosed Skunk Conepatus humboldtii The Patagonian hog-nosed skunk uses a long, flexible snout to root out insects and grubs from the soil, defending itself with the same powerful spray common to all skunk species. Read the guide →
Birds LC Patagonian Sierra-finch Phrygilus patagonicus The Patagonian sierra-finch is a small songbird of southern beech forest edges, favouring cooler, more forested habitat than several of its more open-country sierra-finch relatives. Read the guide →
Birds LC Puna Ibis Plegadis ridgwayi The puna ibis breeds on high-altitude Andean wetlands, its glossy dark plumage catching an iridescent sheen as it wades through shallow water probing for invertebrates. Read the guide →
Mammals LC South American Gray Fox Lycalopex griseus The South American gray fox, known locally as the chilla, is the most common wild fox across Patagonia, once hunted extensively for a fur trade that has since sharply declined. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Southern Mountain Cavy Microcavia australis The southern mountain cavy is a small, highly social relative of the guinea pig, living in burrow colonies across the arid scrubland and desert of Patagonia and central Argentina. Read the guide →
Birds LC Spot-winged Pigeon Patagioenas maculosa The spot-winged pigeon ranges from lowland Patagonian scrub to high Andean valleys, marked by a distinctive row of white spots across its folded wing feathers. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Timber Rattlesnake Crotalus horridus The timber rattlesnake is a large, mild-mannered pit viper of eastern US forests and the snake of the Gadsden flag, now vanishing in the north where whole populations share one ancient winter den. Read the guide →
Birds LC Torrent Duck Merganetta armata The torrent duck lives permanently on fast-flowing Andean mountain rivers, diving and swimming against powerful currents that would sweep away almost any other waterfowl species. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Vicuna Vicugna vicugna The vicuna produces the finest and most valuable wool of any animal on Earth, a prize that once drove it to near extinction before international protection brought about a remarkable recovery. Read the guide →
Birds LC White-throated Caracara Phalcoboenus albogularis The white-throated caracara is a bold, ground-foraging bird of prey restricted to the southern Andes and Patagonia, scavenging carrion alongside live prey across harsh southern terrain. Read the guide →
Birds LC Yellow-billed Teal Anas flavirostris The yellow-billed teal ranges from high Andean lakes in Colombia all the way south to Tierra del Fuego, one of the broadest latitudinal ranges of any South American duck. Read the guide →
Reptiles CR Pancake Tortoise Malacochersus tornieri The pancake tortoise of East Africa has a flat, thin, flexible shell full of gaps; rather than hide inside it, the tortoise runs for a rock crevice and wedges in where no predator can follow. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Argali Ovis ammon The argali is the largest wild sheep in the world, with males carrying massive curling horns that can weigh nearly as much as the rest of their skeleton combined. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Beira Dorcatragus megalotis The beira is the sole member of its genus, a tiny, large-eared antelope that bounds across the steep, rocky mountains of the Horn of Africa with a build similar to the klipspringer. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Bharal Pseudois nayaur The bharal sits taxonomically between true sheep and goats, a blue-grey Himalayan specialist that ranks as the primary prey of the elusive snow leopard. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra The chamois can leap nearly two metres straight up and sprint down steep alpine slopes at speed, a European mountain goat-antelope whose hide gave chamois leather its name. Read the guide →
Birds LC Emerald Toucanet Aulacorhynchus prasinus The emerald toucanet trades the bold colours of its larger relatives for a green body that blends almost seamlessly into cloud forest foliage. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Goral Naemorhedus goral The goral bounds confidently across near-vertical rocky cliffs, a small, agile Himalayan goat-antelope closely related to the larger, forest-dwelling serow. Read the guide →
Birds LC Great Barbet Psilopogon virens The great barbet is one of the largest barbets in Asia, a blue-headed bird whose loud, repetitive call rings out across Himalayan foothill forest for hours at a stretch. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Grey Rhebok Pelea capreolus The grey rhebok is the only member of its genus, a shy, woolly-coated South African antelope of mountain grassland that bounds away in a stiff, rocking-horse gait when disturbed. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus The klipspringer walks on the very tips of its blunt, cylindrical hooves, a rock-climbing antelope that bounds across cliffs and boulders where few predators can follow. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Mountain Gazelle Gazella gazella The mountain gazelle has lost an estimated four-fifths of its population in recent decades, a rocky-hillside specialist of the Middle East now classified as Endangered. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Mountain Nyala Tragelaphus buxtoni The mountain nyala survives only in a small pocket of Ethiopian highland forest, a spiral-horned antelope found nowhere else on Earth and now classified as Endangered. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Mountain Reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula The mountain reedbuck trades the reedbeds of its lowland relative for rocky hillsides and mountain grassland, a small grey antelope now classified as Endangered after sharp recent declines. Read the guide →
Birds NT Plate-billed Mountain Toucan Andigena laminirostris The plate-billed mountain toucan carries a distinctive ridged plate along the base of its bill, a threatened Andean specialist found at higher elevations than most toucans. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Serow Capricornis sumatraensis The serow marks its steep forest territory with a strong-smelling secretion from glands near its eyes, a solitary Asian goat-antelope built for near-vertical, densely wooded slopes. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Takin Budorcas taxicolor The takin is Bhutan's national animal, a bulky, golden-coated goat-antelope with a large arched nose that helps warm frigid mountain air before it reaches the lungs. Read the guide →
Birds NT Toucan Barbet Semnornis ramphastinus The toucan barbet sits right at the evolutionary crossroads between barbets and toucans, a colourful Andean cloud forest bird whose features blend both groups into a single striking package. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Urial Ovis vignei The urial's males grow a long, shaggy ruff of hair along the throat during the breeding season, a wild sheep of dry hillsides across Central and South Asia. Read the guide →
Birds LC Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara The Barbary partridge wears a distinctive chestnut collar across the upper breast, setting it apart from its barred-flanked North African and southern European Alectoris relatives. Read the guide →
Birds LC Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus The blood pheasant carries splashes of vivid crimson across its chest and face, as though freshly wounded, an unusual colour pattern found at altitudes higher than almost any other pheasant tolerates. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Cape Elephant Shrew Elephantulus edwardii The Cape elephant shrew is found only within a corner of South Africa's fynbos and rocky uplands, patrolling a network of trails through vegetation found nowhere else in the world. Read the guide →
Birds VU Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichii The cheer pheasant announces its territory with loud, distinctive calls at dawn and dusk, a habit that has made this Vulnerable Himalayan bird easier to survey by ear than by sight. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Eastern Rock Sengi Elephantulus myurus The eastern rock sengi patrols a network of cleared trails across rocky outcrops, memorising every twist and turn so it can escape at full speed the instant danger appears. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Giant Mexican Shrew Megasorex gigas The giant Mexican shrew is the largest shrew species found anywhere in the New World, though even at its record-holding size it would still fit comfortably in the palm of a hand. Read the guide →
Birds LC Kalij Pheasant Lophura leucomelanos The kalij pheasant is one of the most variable pheasant species alive, split into subspecies whose plumage ranges from glossy blue-black to pale brown across its Himalayan and South Asian range. Read the guide →
Birds LC Koklass Pheasant Pucrasia macrolopha The koklass pheasant wears a distinctive double-pointed crest unlike any other pheasant, and its harsh, far-carrying call gives the species its onomatopoeic common name. Read the guide →
Birds LC Lady Amherst's Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae Lady Amherst's pheasant trails a tail banded in bold black and white stripes, a striking pattern that sets it apart even among its own famously colourful genus. Read the guide →
Birds LC Mountain Quail Oreortyx pictus The mountain quail is the largest quail species native to North America, and rather than flying south for winter it walks downhill on foot, covering entire mountain slopes step by step. Read the guide →
Mammals LC North African Elephant Shrew Elephantulus rozeti The North African elephant shrew is the only member of its entire order found outside sub-Saharan Africa, holding on in the rocky, arid terrain of the Atlas Mountains and surrounding desert. Read the guide →
Birds NT Rock Partridge Alectoris graeca The rock partridge scrambles across steep alpine slopes of southern Europe, a close relative of the chukar so similar that the two species can and do interbreed where their ranges meet. Read the guide →
Birds NT Satyr Tragopan Tragopan satyra The satyr tragopan shares its dramatic inflatable throat wattle and raised head horns with its western relative, but wears a crimson body dotted with pale spots across a wider Himalayan range. Read the guide →
Birds EN Takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri A stocky flightless rail from New Zealand's alpine tussock grassland, the takahe was declared extinct, rediscovered in 1948, and slowly rebuilt from a few hundred birds by decades of protection. Read the guide →
Birds VU Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus The western tragopan inflates a vivid blue-and-red throat wattle and raises two fleshy blue horns above its head, one of the most dramatic courtship displays found in any pheasant. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Barbary Macaque Macaca sylvanus The Barbary macaque is the only primate living wild in Europe, its Gibraltar population surviving centuries as the sole non-human primate on the continent. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Chacma Baboon Papio ursinus The chacma baboon ranges further south than any other baboon species, its long-studied troops helping researchers understand primate social intelligence. Read the guide →
Birds LC Chestnut-Crowned Antpitta Grallaria ruficapilla Some chestnut-crowned antpittas have been trained to visit feeding stations for worms, offering rare close views of an otherwise painfully shy family. Read the guide →
Birds LC Chukar Partridge Alectoris chukar The chukar partridge has been introduced so successfully to rocky, arid terrain worldwide that hunters in places as far apart as Hawaii and Nevada now consider it a familiar local game bird. Read the guide →
Birds LC Flame-Colored Tanager Piranga bidentata The flame-colored tanager occasionally interbreeds with a closely related species where their mountain forest ranges overlap in Mexico. Read the guide →
Birds VU Giant Antpitta Grallaria gigantea The giant antpitta is one of the rarest and most secretive birds in the Andes, so elusive that even dedicated researchers rarely manage to see one. Read the guide →
Birds LC Golden Pheasant Chrysolophus pictus The golden pheasant is one of the most extravagantly coloured birds on Earth, with males raising a fan-like golden-orange cape around the face during courtship display. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus roxellana The golden snub-nosed monkey lives at higher altitudes than almost any primate besides humans, its nearly bridgeless nose an adaptation against frostbite. Read the guide →
Birds LC Golden Tanager Tangara arthus The golden tanager belongs to Tangara, the most species-rich tanager genus of all, its vivid yellow plumage varying subtly across the Andes. Read the guide →
Birds LC Himalayan Monal Lophophorus impejanus The Himalayan monal shifts through green, purple, copper, and blue as it moves, its iridescent male plumage changing colour with the angle of the light rather than staying fixed. Read the guide →
Birds VU Military Macaw Ara militaris The military macaw wears a mostly green body reminiscent of an old-fashioned military uniform, and unlike most lowland macaws it favours foothill forest at higher elevation. Read the guide →
Birds LC Undulated Antpitta Grallaria squamigera The undulated antpitta is heard far more often than it is seen, its loud call carrying through Andean forest while the bird itself stays hidden on the ground. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Western Black Crested Gibbon Nomascus concolor The western black crested gibbon is one of the rarest primates on Earth, its entire population confined to a handful of isolated mountain forest patches. Read the guide →
Birds LC Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana A male western tanager's red head comes from a rare pigment absorbed through diet rather than made by the bird's own body, unusual among songbirds. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Abert's Squirrel Sciurus aberti Abert's squirrel depends almost entirely on ponderosa pine, feeding on its seeds, bark, and buds so consistently that individual squirrels develop personal feeding trees they revisit again and again. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis The bighorn sheep's massive curled horns can weigh more than all the bones in its body combined, weight males slam together in head-butting contests to establish dominance on steep mountain terrain. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Black-Footed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale lateralis The black-footed rock-wallaby shelters among sun-baked desert boulders, its genetically distinct populations scattered across isolated rocky outcrops of arid Australia. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Black Wallaroo Osphranter bernardus The black wallaroo is confined to a small, rugged stretch of rocky escarpment in Arnhem Land, the smallest and least studied member of the wallaroo group. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Bornean Flat-headed Frog Barbourula kalimantanensis The Bornean flat-headed frog is the only frog known to have no lungs at all. It breathes entirely through its skin, and its flattened body lets it stay pinned to the bed of cold, fast forest streams. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Brush-Tailed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale penicillata The brush-tailed rock-wallaby bounds across near-vertical cliff faces with astonishing agility, using its long, thick tail purely for balance rather than support. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Collared Pika Ochotona collaris The collared pika spends the short alpine summer racing to gather and dry an enormous hay pile of vegetation, storing enough food beneath the rocks to survive winter without ever hibernating at all. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Common Wallaroo Osphranter robustus The common wallaroo, known locally as the euro, survives in some of Australia's harshest, rockiest terrain by sheltering in caves through the heat of the day. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Dall Sheep Ovis dalli The Dall sheep is the only entirely white wild sheep species in the world, a northern mountain specialist whose pale coat provides camouflage against snow across remote alpine North America. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Degu Octodon degus The degu communicates through an unusually large vocabulary of calls and can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, markings on its own fur invisible to human eyes. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Dusky Antechinus Antechinus swainsonii Male dusky antechinus mate frantically for barely two weeks each year, then die en masse from the exhaustion, leaving pregnant females to survive alone. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Edible Dormouse Glis glis The edible dormouse can hibernate for up to eleven months of the year, one of the longest hibernation periods of any mammal, waking for only a brief active season. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Gelada Theropithecus gelada The gelada is the only primate that survives mainly by grazing on grass, living in some of the largest social herds of any primate across Ethiopia's highlands. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Gundi Ctenodactylus gundi The gundi grooms its fur using a built-in comb of stiff bristles on its hind toes, freezing motionless among sun-baked North African rocks rather than fleeing. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Leadbeater's Possum Gymnobelideus leadbeateri Leadbeater's possum was presumed extinct for decades until its rediscovery in 1961, and remains critically endangered in the mountain ash forests it depends on. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Least Chipmunk Tamias minimus The least chipmunk is the smallest chipmunk species in North America, a fast forager at home in dense forest understory and open, rocky mountain slopes across a huge stretch of the continent. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Mountain Beaver Aplodontia rufa Despite its name, the mountain beaver is not related to true beavers at all, and is considered one of the most primitive living rodents still found today. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Mountain Goat Oreamnos americanus The mountain goat navigates near-vertical cliffs most other large mammals could never attempt, using hooves with a soft, grippy centre to balance on ledges barely wider than its own feet. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus The mule deer bounces across rugged terrain using a stiff-legged gait called stotting, launching all four feet off the ground at once, an escape style suited to steep, broken country over open plains. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Ringtail Bassariscus astutus The ringtail can rotate its hind feet nearly 180 degrees, allowing it to descend cliffs and narrow rock crevices head-first, a nocturnal raccoon relative once kept by miners to control camp rodents. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Spotted Bat Euderma maculatum The spotted bat carries ears nearly as long as its own body and calls at a pitch low enough for humans to hear unaided, a rare trait among echolocating bats. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Townsend's Big-Eared Bat Corynorhinus townsendii Townsend's big-eared bat carries ears nearly as long as its body, which it curls up like rams' horns at rest, and abandons roosts readily when disturbed. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Tube-Lipped Nectar Bat Anoura fistulata The tube-lipped nectar bat has the longest tongue relative to body length of any mammal, coiling it into its rib cage between visits to a single flower species. Read the guide →
Mammals LC White-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus townsendii The white-tailed jackrabbit turns almost entirely white for winter across the north, the largest hare in North America, built for open, wind-scoured plains and mountain grassland far colder than most. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Yellow-Footed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale xanthopus The yellow-footed rock-wallaby carries some of the boldest markings of any macropod, banded orange legs and tail standing out against the arid outcrops it calls home. Read the guide →
Fish LC Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus The Arctic grayling carries an enormous, sail-like dorsal fin far larger than almost any other freshwater fish its size, displayed by males during courtship in the cold, clear rivers of the far north. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Canyon Lizard Sceloporus merriami The canyon lizard clings flat against sun-baked rock in desert canyons, its small body and pale colouration blending so well with limestone and rhyolite that it can be nearly invisible. Read the guide →
Fish LC Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii The cutthroat trout takes its name from a bold slash of red or orange under its jaw, a feature distinctive enough to separate the species from other North American trout at a glance. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Golden-striped Salamander Chioglossa lusitanica The golden-striped salamander of northwest Iberia is a slim, fast amphibian with a tail twice its body length that it drops when grabbed, and a long tongue it fires to catch flying insects. Read the guide →
Birds LC Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides The mountain bluebird is a paler sky-blue relative of the eastern and western bluebirds, hovering over open high country to spot insects rather than sallying from a fixed perch. Read the guide →
Birds LC Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli The mountain chickadee caches large numbers of food items each autumn across steep, high-elevation forest, relying on a spatial memory sharp enough to relocate many of them through a long winter. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Northern Pacific Rattlesnake Crotalus oreganus oreganus The northern Pacific rattlesnake ranges farther north and higher than almost any other rattlesnake in North America, staying active in cooler conditions that keep most other rattlesnakes underground. Read the guide →
Birds LC Northern Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium californicum The northern pygmy-owl carries dark false eye markings on the back of its head, a decoy pattern that can make an approaching predator think the tiny owl is watching even while its real eyes face away. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Pygmy Short-Horned Lizard Phrynosoma douglasii The pygmy short-horned lizard tolerates cooler, higher conditions than almost any other horned lizard, and gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs, suited to its short growing season. Read the guide →
Birds LC Red-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis The red-breasted nuthatch daubs sticky conifer resin around its nest entrance and then flies straight in without touching the sides, using the mess to deter predators it has evolved to avoid itself. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake Crotalus willardi The ridge-nosed rattlesnake is the official state reptile of Arizona, a small mountain specialist restricted to a handful of forested sky-island peaks separated by inhospitable desert lowlands. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Spotted Chirping Frog Eleutherodactylus guttilatus The spotted chirping frog skips the tadpole stage entirely, laying eggs on land that hatch directly into froglets, freeing it from any dependence on ponds or streams to complete its life cycle. Read the guide →
Birds LC Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri Steller's jay is the western counterpart to the blue jay, sharing the same bold personality and a prominent crest, yet separated by a divide that keeps the two species from ever really overlapping. Read the guide →
Birds LC Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus The acorn woodpecker drills thousands of holes in one tree and jams an acorn into each, a granary the family guards for generations. It also lives in cooperative groups that nest jointly. Read the guide →
Mammals LC African Crested Rat Lophiomys imhausi The African crested rat is the only mammal known to borrow a poison from a plant. It chews the bark of the arrow-poison tree and licks the toxin into a strip of wick-like hairs along its flanks. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Spectacled Salamander Salamandrina perspicillata The spectacled salamander is a small matte-black Italian amphibian with a pale mask between its eyes. Threatened, it curls its tail up to flash a hidden crimson underside, then plays dead. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Alpine Salamander Salamandra atra The alpine salamander is a jet-black mountain amphibian that never enters water, even to breed, and is pregnant for two to four years before giving birth to fully formed young. Read the guide →
Birds LC Vogelkop Bowerbird Amblyornis inornata The male Vogelkop bowerbird is a plain brown bird that builds a thatched hut up to a metre tall with a mossy front lawn, then decorates it with objects sorted by colour to win a mate. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Hip-pocket Frog Assa darlingtoni The hip-pocket frog is a tiny Australian rainforest frog in which the father carries his tadpoles inside a pair of skin pockets on his hips until they crawl out as fully formed froglets. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Phantasmal Poison Frog Epipedobates anthonyi The phantasmal poison frog is a thumbnail-sized Ecuadorian frog whose skin contains epibatidine, a painkiller about 200 times stronger than morphine that inspired a new class of drug research. Read the guide →
Reptiles CR Pygmy Leaf Chameleon Brookesia nana The pygmy leaf chameleon of northern Madagascar may be the smallest reptile in the world. An adult male measures about 22 millimetres from nose to tail tip and fits on a fingertip. Read the guide →
Birds VU White Bellbird Procnias albus The male white bellbird makes the loudest call ever measured in a bird, around 125 decibels, and aims his loudest, shortest blasts point-blank at a female perched right beside him. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Arizona Toad Anaxyrus microscaphus The Arizona toad depends on clean, flowing desert streams rather than the still ponds most toads favour, making it unusually vulnerable to the damming and diversion projects reshaping the Southwest. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Baja California Ratsnake Bogertophis rosaliae The Baja California ratsnake survives on a peninsula so dry that most rodent-eating snakes could never make a living there, relying on scattered desert oases most other reptiles pass by entirely. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Black Mountain Salamander Desmognathus welteri The black mountain salamander shares its Appalachian range with several similar dusky salamander relatives, making genetics and precise location more reliable for identification than appearance. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Blackbelly Salamander Desmognathus quadramaculatus The blackbelly salamander is the largest member of its genus, a powerful predator of fast Appalachian mountain streams that will readily eat smaller salamanders, including its own close relatives. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Black-Tailed Rattlesnake Crotalus molossus The black-tailed rattlesnake is widely considered one of the calmer rattlesnake species, often choosing to sit quietly and rely on camouflage rather than rattling or striking when approached. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Caddo Mountain Salamander Plethodon caddoensis The Caddo Mountain salamander survives only in a small cluster of mountains in the Ouachita range of Arkansas, one of several extremely narrow-range lungless salamanders found nowhere else on Earth. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Chattahoochee Slimy Salamander Plethodon chattahoochee The Chattahoochee slimy salamander occupies its own corner of the southern Appalachians, one of more than a dozen distinct species revealed when the old slimy salamander complex was split apart. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Cow Knob Salamander Plethodon punctatus The Cow Knob salamander survives only along a single narrow ridgeline on the Virginia-West Virginia border, one of the smallest natural ranges of any salamander species in the Appalachians. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Crevice Salamander Plethodon longicrus The crevice salamander retreats deep into rock crevices during dry periods, a narrow-range southern Appalachian endemic named for the very shelter that lets it survive what would otherwise dry it out. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Crevice Spiny Lizard Sceloporus poinsettii The crevice spiny lizard spends most of its life wedged into rock crevices, retreating so quickly and completely when threatened that it can seem to simply vanish from an open rock face. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Desert Slender Salamander Batrachoseps aridus The desert slender salamander survives in a single spring-fed canyon, making it one of the most range-restricted amphibians on Earth despite living in a landscape almost devoid of moisture. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Fourche Mountain Salamander Plethodon fourchensis The Fourche Mountain salamander survives only on a single ridge in the Ouachita range, sharing the same narrow-range pattern as several other lungless salamanders scattered across those mountains. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Giant Spotted Whiptail Aspidoscelis stictogramma One of the largest whiptail lizards in the United States, the giant spotted whiptail is a fast hunter of rocky desert canyons that digs through leaf litter with real determination. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Hickory Nut Gorge Green Salamander Aneides caryaensis The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander was only recognised as its own species in 2021, split from the widespread green salamander after genetic studies showed it had been evolving separately. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Kern Canyon Slender Salamander Batrachoseps simatus The Kern Canyon slender salamander survives in a narrow band of canyon habitat barely a few kilometres wide, one of the most geographically restricted salamanders in North America. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Kern Plateau Salamander Batrachoseps robustus The Kern Plateau salamander is a stockier, more robust member of a genus best known for extremely slender bodies, surviving at high elevation on one isolated plateau in the southern Sierra Nevada. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Kiamichi Slimy Salamander Plethodon kiamichi The Kiamichi slimy salamander is confined to one small mountain range in Oklahoma, one of more than a dozen genetically distinct species revealed when the old slimy salamander complex was split apart. Read the guide →
Fish LC Mountain Redbelly Dace Chrosomus oreas A breeding male mountain redbelly dace turns a brilliant crimson along its belly and cheeks, one of the most vivid seasonal colour transformations of any small fish in Appalachian streams. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Pigeon Mountain Salamander Plethodon petraeus The Pigeon Mountain salamander is found nowhere on Earth outside a single Georgia mountain, discovered as recently as 1993 and still known almost entirely from the rocky outcrops of that one location. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Rich Mountain Salamander Plethodon ouachitae The Rich Mountain salamander lends its scientific species name to the entire Ouachita Mountains, a lungless amphibian confined to a narrow stretch of ridge straddling the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Sagalla Caecilian Boulengerula niedeni The Sagalla caecilian is a pink, limbless, burrowing amphibian found only on one Kenyan hill. It smells the soil with a pair of head tentacles, and its young eat their mother's skin. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Sagebrush Lizard Sceloporus graciosus The sagebrush lizard occupies higher, cooler terrain than its larger, chunkier relative the western fence lizard, and the two can be genuinely hard to tell apart without a close look. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Scott Bar Salamander Plethodon asupak The Scott Bar salamander was only formally described in 2005, a lungless amphibian known from a single small mountain range in northern California and nowhere else on Earth. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Sequoyah Slimy Salamander Plethodon sequoyah The Sequoyah slimy salamander is named for the Cherokee scholar who devised a writing system for the Cherokee language, occupying a range in the Ozark and Ouachita highlands far from most relatives. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Shasta Salamander Hydromantes shastae The Shasta salamander lives only in limestone habitat near Shasta Lake, and a proposed enlargement of Shasta Dam threatens to permanently flood a significant share of the small range it depends on. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Sonoran Desert Tortoise Gopherus morafkai The Sonoran desert tortoise was only recognised as its own species in 2011, split from the Mojave desert tortoise after genetic studies showed the two had evolved separately for millions of years. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR South China Giant Salamander Andrias sligoi The South China giant salamander is the largest amphibian on Earth, historically nearly two metres long. Overhunting for luxury food has left it all but extinct in the wild. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Southern Appalachian Salamander Plethodon teyahalee The southern Appalachian salamander breathes entirely through its skin, relying on cool, damp mountain forest so completely that it never strays far from moist leaf litter or rotting logs. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Tarahumara Frog Lithobates tarahumarae The Tarahumara frog vanished from the United States by the 1980s, only to be brought back through a deliberate reintroduction program using frogs collected from surviving populations in Mexico. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Tehachapi Slender Salamander Batrachoseps stebbinsi The Tehachapi slender salamander survives in just a handful of isolated canyon sites, a range so small and fragmented that a single local disturbance could threaten an entire population at once. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Two-Tailed Swallowtail Papilio multicaudata The two-tailed swallowtail carries two tail extensions per hindwing rather than the single tail typical of most swallowtails, and its large wingspan makes it one of the biggest butterflies out west. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC White-Spotted Slimy Salamander Plethodon cylindraceus The white-spotted slimy salamander was only recognised as its own species after the slimy salamander complex was split, one of more than a dozen nearly identical species hiding under one old name. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Arizona Treefrog Dryophytes wrightorum The Arizona treefrog waits out most of the year underground, then breeds explosively in temporary rain pools the moment the summer monsoon arrives. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Baird's Rat Snake Pantherophis bairdi Baird's rat snake is confined to the rugged canyon country of the Trans-Pecos region, an excellent climber with a striking orange-to-gray gradient along its body. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC California Mountain Kingsnake Lampropeltis zonata The California mountain kingsnake mimics venomous coral snakes across much of a range where no coral snake actually lives, a mimicry puzzle without an obvious model. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC California Treefrog Pseudacris cadaverina The California treefrog's dull, cadaver-gray coloring, the source of its unflattering scientific name, camouflages it perfectly against the granite boulders of canyon streams. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Cascade Torrent Salamander Rhyacotriton cascadae The Cascade torrent salamander is the last of four species split from a single wide-ranging ancestor, surviving only in the coldest streams of the Washington Cascades. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Cheoah Bald Salamander Plethodon cheoah The Cheoah Bald salamander is confined to a single high-elevation stretch of the southern Appalachians, one of the most narrowly distributed woodland salamanders in North America. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Clark's Spiny Lizard Sceloporus clarkii Clark's spiny lizard is a genuinely capable climber, spending far more time in trees than most of its ground-dwelling spiny lizard relatives. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Columbia Torrent Salamander Rhyacotriton kezeri The Columbia torrent salamander lives only in the splash zone of the coldest, cleanest headwater streams, and its presence signals genuinely undisturbed old-growth forest. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Convergent Lady Beetle Hippodamia convergens The convergent lady beetle gathers by the millions in mountain overwintering sites, a spectacle so reliable that entire aggregations are commercially collected and sold for garden pest control. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Granite Spiny Lizard Sceloporus orcutti The granite spiny lizard's males flash a brilliant iridescent blue-purple sheen while basking on the very rocks that give the species its name. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Italian Stream Frog Rana italica The Italian stream frog lives right along the banks of fast, rocky streams rather than ponds, and escapes danger by diving straight into the current and wedging itself under a submerged rock. Read the guide →
Birds LC Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia The magnolia warbler was named after the tree it was first collected in during migration, even though it breeds almost entirely in young spruce and fir forest far from any magnolia. Read the guide →
Birds NT Olive-Sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi The olive-sided flycatcher sings a whistled "quick-three-beers" from the very top of a dead snag, then flies one of the longest migrations of any North American flycatcher. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Olympic Torrent Salamander Rhyacotriton olympicus The Olympic torrent salamander survives only in the coldest splash zones of Olympic Peninsula streams, unable to tolerate water most other amphibians would find perfectly comfortable. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog Ascaphus montanus The Rocky Mountain tailed frog's "tail" is actually a unique copulatory organ, making it the only North American frog that fertilizes its eggs internally rather than in open water. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Sequoia Slender Salamander Batrachoseps kawia The Sequoia slender salamander lives only in a narrow stretch of the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, breathing entirely through skin thin enough to fit into the tightest of underground crevices. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake Lampropeltis pyromelana The Sonoran mountain kingsnake wears a bold red, black, and white banded pattern that mimics venomous coral snakes, despite being completely harmless. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Southern Torrent Salamander Rhyacotriton variegatus The southern torrent salamander is the southernmost of four cold-water species, unable to tolerate water warmer than the coldest mountain streams of northern California and southwestern Oregon. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Valley and Ridge Salamander Plethodon hoffmani The Valley and Ridge salamander takes its name from the long, parallel mountain-and-valley landscape of the central Appalachians it calls home. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Yarrow's Spiny Lizard Sceloporus jarrovii Yarrow's spiny lizard gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs, an unusual trait for a spiny lizard suited to the cold mountain elevations it calls home. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus The Allegheny Mountain dusky salamander ranges higher up mountain slopes than most of its dusky salamander relatives, often found well away from any stream in damp forest litter. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Archey's Frog Leiopelma archeyi Archey's frog is one of the most ancient frogs alive, barely changed in 150 million years. It has no eardrum, skips the tadpole stage, and the father carries the froglets on his back. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Bumblebee Bombus terrestris The bumblebee is a large, furry bee that shivers to warm up, flies in cold and rain, and shakes pollen loose with a burst of vibration that many crops depend on and honeybees cannot do. Read the guide →
Birds LC Calliope Hummingbird Selasphorus calliope The calliope hummingbird is the smallest breeding bird in North America, yet it migrates thousands of kilometers each year between mountain meadows and Mexican wintering grounds. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Northern Alligator Lizard Elgaria coerulea The northern alligator lizard tolerates cooler temperatures than most lizards, remaining active at elevations and latitudes that would leave many other reptiles too cold to move. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frog Rana sierrae The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog has vanished from the vast majority of its historical high-elevation lakes, largely because trout introduced for sport fishing prey heavily on its tadpoles. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Table Mountain Ghost Frog Heleophryne rosei The Table Mountain ghost frog lives only in a few fast streams above Cape Town. It climbs wet vertical rock on sticky toes, and its tadpoles grip boulders in the torrent with a sucker mouth. Read the guide →
Birds LC Virginia's Warbler Leiothlypis virginiae Virginia's warbler nests directly on the ground within dense mountain scrub, a low-lying strategy that leaves its eggs and chicks more exposed than the elevated nests most warblers rely on. Read the guide →
Amphibians EW Kihansi Spray Toad Nectophrynoides asperginis The Kihansi spray toad lived only in the mist of one Tanzanian waterfall until a dam dried its home. Saved by a last-minute airlift to US zoos, it has since been bred and returned to the wild. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Cumberland Plateau Salamander Plethodon kentucki The Cumberland Plateau salamander was only recognized as its own species after researchers found it living alongside a nearly identical relative without the two ever interbreeding. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Lake Patzcuaro Salamander Ambystoma dumerilii The Lake Patzcuaro salamander is a gilled, permanently aquatic axolotl relative from one Mexican highland lake, kept from extinction partly by nuns who have bred it for generations. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Black-Necked Garter Snake Thamnophis cyrtopsis The black-necked garter snake carries a pair of dark blotches just behind its head, and it sticks closer to rocky canyon streams than almost any other garter snake in its range. Read the guide →
Birds LC Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus The canyon wren's cascading, descending song echoes distinctively off canyon walls, a sound so tied to its rocky habitat that the bird itself is often heard long before it's ever seen. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Coeur d'Alene Salamander Plethodon idahoensis The Coeur d'Alene salamander lives in the spray zone of waterfalls and seeps in the northern Rockies, staying pressed against wet rock where the mist never lets the surface fully dry out. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Dunn's Salamander Plethodon dunni Dunn's salamander stays closer to water than most of its lungless relatives, sheltering under rocks and logs right at the edge of Pacific coast streams and seepages. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Gila Spotted Whiptail Aspidoscelis flagellicaudus The Gila spotted whiptail forages with quick, jerky movements across rocky canyon slopes, constantly flicking its tongue to track insect scent trails other lizards would simply overlook. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Imitator Salamander Desmognathus imitator The imitator salamander is a harmless species that mimics the appearance of a genuinely toxic neighbour, borrowing protection it never actually earned through its own chemistry. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Jordan's Salamander Plethodon jordani Jordan's salamander carries genuinely unpalatable skin secretions, a real defence convincing enough that a harmless neighbouring species evolved to look just like it. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Kaiser's Spotted Newt Neurergus kaiseri Kaiser's spotted newt is a black, white and orange salamander from a few mountain streams in western Iran, nearly bought to extinction by collectors through the online pet trade. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Peaks of Otter Salamander Plethodon hubrichti The Peaks of Otter salamander survives only on one small stretch of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, making it one of the most narrowly restricted vertebrate species in North America. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Plateau Striped Whiptail Aspidoscelis velox The plateau striped whiptail is another all-female, parthenogenetic species, laying unfertilized eggs that develop into exact genetic copies of the mother without any need for a male. Read the guide →
Birds LC Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus The prairie falcon nests on desert cliff ledges far from water and hunts ground squirrels across open range, an arid-country specialist among falcons that rarely needs to drink. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Relictual Slender Salamander Batrachoseps relictus The relictual slender salamander survives only in a handful of isolated Sierra Nevada foothill sites, a scattered remnant of a range that was once likely far more continuous. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Rock Rattlesnake Crotalus lepidus The rock rattlesnake's banded pattern shifts in tone to match the exact colour of the local rock it lives among, making an already small, cryptic snake even harder to spot. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Shenandoah Mountain Salamander Plethodon virginia The Shenandoah Mountain salamander survives on a handful of isolated Virginia peaks, squeezed onto dry ridgetops after a more common relative pushed it out of the valleys below. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Short-Horned Lizard Phrynosoma hernandesi The short-horned lizard ranges further north and higher into the mountains than any other horned lizard, surviving the cold by giving live birth instead of laying eggs. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Trans-Pecos Rat Snake Bogertophis subocularis The Trans-Pecos rat snake carries a distinctive H-shaped pattern down its back and large eyes suited to hunting rodents after dark across rugged Chihuahuan Desert canyons. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Twin-Spotted Rattlesnake Crotalus pricei The twin-spotted rattlesnake lives on isolated forested mountaintops surrounded by desert, an unusually cool, high-elevation home for one of the smallest rattlesnake species in the United States. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Two-Striped Garter Snake Thamnophis hammondii The two-striped garter snake has lost most of its southern California stream habitat to drought and development, depending on the same shrinking waterways as other threatened natives. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Van Dyke's Salamander Plethodon vandykei Van Dyke's salamander survives in a narrow strip of Washington state near cold mountain streams and waterfall splash zones, going through life with no aquatic larval stage at all. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Weller's Salamander Plethodon welleri Weller's salamander survives only on a handful of high-elevation peaks in the southern Appalachians, restricted to spruce-fir forest that has been steadily shrinking as the climate warms. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnophis elegans The western terrestrial garter snake ranges higher into the mountains than almost any other North American snake, found active at elevations where snow lingers well into summer. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Blue Ridge Gray-Cheeked Salamander Plethodon amplus The Blue Ridge gray-cheeked salamander is confined to a small stretch of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, told apart from its close relatives mainly by muted cheek colouring. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Blue Ridge Two-Lined Salamander Eurycea wilderae The Blue Ridge two-lined salamander is one of several nearly identical species dividing the eastern United States, distinguished from close relatives mainly by which mountain streams it occupies. Read the guide →
Birds LC Dark-Eyed Junco Junco hyemalis The dark-eyed junco is nicknamed the snowbird for arriving at feeders each winter, and its plumage varies so much by region that several forms were once classed as separate species. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Inyo Mountains Salamander Batrachoseps campi The Inyo Mountains salamander survives in desert canyon seeps within one of the driest mountain ranges in North America, a lungless amphibian clinging to life wherever a spring breaks the surface. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Larch Mountain Salamander Plethodon larselli The Larch Mountain salamander survives within talus slopes scattered across the Columbia River Gorge, so tied to volcanic rock rubble that suitable habitat can end within a few metres. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Limestone Salamander Hydromantes brunus The limestone salamander survives within one small limestone outcrop area in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, among the most geographically restricted amphibians in North America. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Lyre Snake Trimorphodon spp. The lyre snake carries a distinctive V-shaped marking on its head, a mildly venomous rear-fanged specialist that spends much of its life navigating rock crevices in search of sleeping lizards. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Ocoee Salamander Desmognathus ocoee The Ocoee salamander is one of several closely related dusky salamander species that quietly divide the southern Appalachians, distinguished mainly by subtle range and habitat differences. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Oklahoma Salamander Eurycea tynerensis The Oklahoma salamander typically stays fully aquatic for life, keeping its feathery external gills into adulthood instead of metamorphosing onto land. Read the guide →
Birds LC Pipit Anthus spp. The pipit walks rather than hops across open ground, and many species climb high into the air to sing before parachuting back down on stiffened wings. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Santeetlah Dusky Salamander Desmognathus santeetlah The Santeetlah dusky salamander survives only in a small cluster of mountains on the North Carolina and Tennessee border, split from wider relatives by recent taxonomic revision. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Seepage Salamander Desmognathus aeneus The seepage salamander is one of the smallest salamanders in North America, and unlike most of its dusky salamander relatives, it skips the aquatic larval stage entirely. Read the guide →
Birds LC Sword-billed Hummingbird Ensifera ensifera The sword-billed hummingbird is the only bird whose bill is longer than the rest of its body. It reaches nectar no other hummingbird can, but must perch with its head tilted almost straight up. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Wehrle's Salamander Plethodon wehrlei Wehrle's salamander shelters deep within rock crevices and talus slopes, sometimes near cave entrances, going through life with no aquatic larval stage at all. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Yonahlossee Salamander Plethodon yonahlossee The Yonahlossee salamander occupies high-elevation forest in the southern Appalachians, a large, boldly patterned lungless salamander named after the mountain pass where it was first described. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Canyon Treefrog Hyla arenicolor The canyon treefrog matches the colour of the rock it sits on, a desert amphibian so effectively camouflaged against sandstone and granite it can be nearly invisible up close. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Cheat Mountain Salamander Plethodon nettingi The Cheat Mountain salamander survives on a handful of high ridges in West Virginia, a lungless amphibian so narrowly restricted its entire range fits within a few isolated mountaintops. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Chiricahua Leopard Frog Lithobates chiricahuensis The Chiricahua leopard frog survives in isolated pools scattered across southwestern sky-island mountains, a federally threatened species also facing a lethal amphibian fungus. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Cliff Chirping Frog Eleutherodactylus marnockii The cliff chirping frog skips the tadpole stage entirely, hatching from eggs laid in limestone crevices directly into miniature froglets, a genuinely rare life history among North American amphibians. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Del Norte Salamander Plethodon elongatus The Del Norte salamander wedges its unusually long, slender body deep into rocky talus and old-growth forest debris, a lungless specialist confined to a narrow strip of the Pacific Northwest. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog Rana boylii The foothill yellow-legged frog times its breeding to a river's retreating floodwaters, laying eggs directly onto submerged rocks in current strong enough to sweep away lesser amphibians. Read the guide →
Birds LC Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus The gyrfalcon is the largest falcon species alive, an Arctic specialist that hunts ptarmigan and waterfowl across open tundra where few other raptors can survive the winter at all. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Jemez Mountains Salamander Plethodon neomexicanus The Jemez Mountains salamander survives within one volcanic caldera complex in New Mexico, an entire species confined to underground rock fractures formed by ancient eruptions millions of years ago. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Markhor Capra falconeri The markhor is a large wild goat of Central Asia's mountains, males carrying corkscrew horns over 1.5 metres. Poached toward scarcity, it has recovered under community hunting schemes in Pakistan. Read the guide →
Birds EN Marvelous Spatuletail Loddigesia mirabilis The male marvelous spatuletail has just four tail feathers, two of them bare wires ending in big blue discs he swings around his body in courtship. It lives only in one valley in northern Peru. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Mountain Chorus Frog Pseudacris brachyphona The mountain chorus frog calls from shallow temporary pools tucked into Appalachian hillsides, a small, well-camouflaged frog whose scattered populations have already contracted in parts of its range. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Paddle-Tail Newt Pachytriton spp. The paddle-tail newt spends nearly its entire life submerged in cold mountain streams, propelled by a flattened, paddle-shaped tail built for a lifestyle most newts never fully commit to. Read the guide →
Birds LC Red-Billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax The red-billed chough rides mountain and coastal updrafts with a level of aerobatic skill unusual even among crows, its curved red bill probing turf for insects between astonishing rolls and dives. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Sacramento Mountain Salamander Aneides hardii The Sacramento Mountain salamander survives on isolated sky-island peaks in New Mexico, each mountaintop population separated from the next by desert lowlands no salamander could ever cross. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Shenandoah Salamander Plethodon shenandoah The Shenandoah salamander survives only on a handful of rocky talus slopes atop three mountains in Virginia, squeezed into that narrow habitat by direct competition with a more common relative. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Siskiyou Mountains Salamander Plethodon stormi The Siskiyou Mountains salamander depends on rocky forest talus so specific that logging near its habitat can eliminate a local population without a single tree above ground being disturbed directly. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Western Toad Anaxyrus boreas The western toad climbs higher into the mountains than almost any other North American amphibian, and unlike most toads, its males have no mating call at all — no vocal sac, no chorus, just silence. Read the guide →
Birds LC White-Throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus The white-throated dipper walks straight into fast mountain streams and along the riverbed underwater, the national bird of Norway and one of the only songbirds anywhere that swims for a living. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Alligator Lizard Elgaria An alligator lizard is a long-bodied North American lizard with a stiff, armour-like fold of skin along each side that lets its body expand after a big meal without splitting its scales. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Baboon Papio A baboon is a large, ground-living African monkey with a dog-like muzzle that lives in big troops with complex politics, and it is a bold crop raider that thrives alongside people. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Banded Newt Ommatotriton A banded newt is a small Middle Eastern newt whose breeding male grows a tall, smooth-edged crest and a striking blue-and-white-striped tail, unlike the jagged crest of most other crested newts. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Barking Frog Craugastor augusti The barking frog is a dog-voiced, rock-dwelling amphibian that skips the tadpole stage entirely, laying eggs on land that hatch directly into fully formed froglets. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Black Salamander Aneides flavipunctatus The black salamander is a dark, secretive lungless salamander from the Pacific coast that can climb using a semi-prehensile tail and defends its territory with genuine, sometimes injurious bites. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Bristletail Archaeognatha A bristletail is a wingless jumping insect older in lineage than the silverfish, with a humped back and huge eyes, that flings itself airborne to escape and can survive being washed by the tide. Read the guide →
Birds LC Chickadee Poecile A chickadee is a small, bold North American woodland bird that caches food by the thousand, grows extra brain cells each autumn to remember where, and codes threat detail into its namesake call. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Columbia Spotted Frog Rana luteiventris A Columbia spotted frog is a widespread brown frog of the American Northwest and Rockies, tied to permanent water, more terrestrial than its coastal cousin, and hibernating underwater at springs. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Crocodile Newt Tylototriton A crocodile newt is a warty, ridged Asian amphibian named for a bony head and back structure resembling a miniature crocodile, producing a distasteful skin toxin advertised by bold warning colours. Read the guide →
Birds LC Crossbill Loxia A crossbill is a finch with an unusual bill in which the upper and lower tips cross over each other, a specialised tool for prying seeds out of unopened conifer cones. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Dusky Salamander Desmognathus A dusky salamander is a small streamside salamander of Appalachian forests, one of the most abundant vertebrates in its habitat, that opens its mouth by lifting its skull instead of dropping its jaw. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT European Cave Salamander Hydromantes strinatii The European cave salamander fires a projectile tongue nearly as long as its own body inside limestone caves, a lungless hunter that breathes through skin too delicate to leave its damp home. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Girdled Lizard Cordylidae Girdled lizards are a southern African family of armoured, ring-scaled lizards including species that roll into a spiky ball, live in social rock-crevice colonies, or bear huge defensive spines. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Harlequin Toad Atelopus Harlequin toads are a genus of roughly 100 brilliantly coloured Central and South American amphibians that has suffered one of the worst disease-driven collapses of any animal group on Earth. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Idaho Giant Salamander Dicamptodon aterrimus The Idaho giant salamander lives landlocked in the Rocky Mountains, hundreds of miles from its coastal relatives, a leftover population stranded when its family's continuous range broke apart. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Macaque Macaca A macaque is an Old World monkey, the most widespread primate after humans, ranging from Japanese snow to Asian city streets, and the rhesus macaque is the standard laboratory primate. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Mallorcan Midwife Toad Alytes muletensis The Mallorcan midwife toad was known only from fossils and presumed extinct for millions of years until a living population was discovered surviving in a remote mountain gorge on Mallorca in 1980. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Mount Lyell Salamander Hydromantes platycephalus The Mount Lyell salamander survives at higher elevation than almost any other North American amphibian, sheltering among granite boulders in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Read the guide →
Birds LC Nuthatch Sitta A nuthatch is a small, stout tree bird, the only kind that habitually climbs head-first down trunks, and it wedges nuts into bark and hammers them open, which is how it got its name. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Pyrenean Newt Calotriton asper The Pyrenean newt is a mountain amphibian so adapted to cold, fast-flowing streams that its eggs are laid individually under stones in the current rather than in a still pond. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Red-spotted Toad Anaxyrus punctatus The red-spotted toad is a small desert amphibian covered in warty, red-tipped tubercles rather than the large glands of most toads, and it can breed in rock pools barely large enough to hold water. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Rosy Boa Lichanura trivirgata A rosy boa is a small, slow, gentle desert snake of the American Southwest, one of only two boas native to the United States, and a hardy, long-lived favourite as a first pet snake. Read the guide →
Amphibians VU Sardinian Brook Salamander Speleomantes genei The Sardinian brook salamander is a lungless amphibian found only on Sardinia that catches prey by launching its entire tongue outward like a projectile, a trick shared by few salamanders. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Speckled Tortoise Homopus signatus The speckled tortoise is the smallest tortoise species in the world, small enough to fit in a human hand, and it survives South Africa's dry rocky hillsides by wedging into narrow crevices. Read the guide →
Invertebrates LC Stonefly Plecoptera A stonefly is an ancient, flat-winged aquatic insect that crawls out of the water to moult on rocks and streamside plants, and with mayflies and caddisflies it is a standard measure of clean water. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Torrent Frog Amolops and relatives A torrent frog is any of several unrelated frogs adapted to fast mountain streams, with big sticky toe discs and, in some, a habit of waving a leg to signal because the rushing water drowns out calls. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Torrent Salamander Rhyacotriton A torrent salamander is a tiny Pacific Northwest amphibian needing some of the coldest, cleanest, best-oxygenated water of any salamander, making it a living gauge of old-growth stream health. Read the guide →
Amphibians DD Vampire Flying Frog Rhacophorus vampyrus The vampire flying frog is a Vietnamese tree frog discovered only in 2010 whose tadpoles have hooked black fangs used to scrape food from the walls of the water-filled tree holes where they develop. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Web-toed Salamander Hydromantes A web-toed salamander is a lungless rock-dwelling salamander of California and southern Europe that climbs with its tail as a fifth limb and has one of the fastest tongues of any vertebrate. Read the guide →
Amphibians EN Yosemite Toad Anaxyrus canorus The Yosemite toad is a high-elevation Sierra Nevada specialist whose entire world is a scattering of wet mountain meadows above 6,000 feet, now shrinking under a warming climate. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Zigzag Salamander Plethodon dorsalis The zigzag salamander is a small, lungless woodland salamander named for the jagged stripe running down its back, and it breathes entirely through its moist skin and the lining of its mouth. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Achoque Ambystoma dumerilii An achoque is a Critically Endangered Mexican salamander, a gilled, aquatic cousin of the axolotl that lives in one shrinking lake and is bred by an order of nuns for a traditional cough syrup. Read the guide →
Mammals NE Bear Ursidae A bear is a large, heavily built mammal that walks on the soles of its feet, and most bears are opportunistic omnivores that spend the warm months building fat for a winter of dormancy in a den. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Cascades Frog Rana cascadae A Cascades frog is a mountain frog of the Pacific Northwest that breeds in meltwater pools at the snow line, and it has vanished from the south of its range as stocked trout and disease moved in. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Corroboree Frog Pseudophryne corroboree A corroboree frog is a tiny yellow-and-black amphibian of Australia's alpine bogs, one of the few vertebrates that makes its own poison, and now nearly wiped out by an introduced fungus. Read the guide →
Birds NE Falcon Falconidae A falcon is a fast, pointed-winged bird of prey that kills with a notched beak as well as its feet, is not closely related to hawks, and in the peregrine hits the highest speed of any animal. Read the guide →
Birds NE Finch Fringillidae A finch is a small songbird with a stout conical bill built for cracking seeds, and the true finches include the canary and the crossbill, whose bill tips cross to prise open conifer cones. Read the guide →
Mammals CR Gorilla Gorilla A gorilla is the largest primate, a mostly plant-eating great ape of central African forest that lives in stable family groups led by a silverback male, and both species are Critically Endangered. Read the guide →
Birds NE Grouse Tetraoninae A grouse is a plump ground bird of the cold north, feathered to the toes, that lives out winter on conifer needles and buds, and whose males gather to display at traditional arenas called leks. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Hare Lepus A hare is a large, long-legged relative of the rabbit built for open ground and speed, which digs no burrow and bears fully furred young that can run within an hour of birth. Read the guide →
Birds NE Hawk Accipiter and Buteo A hawk is a medium-sized day-hunting bird of prey in two main styles — short-winged forest hawks that ambush birds, and broad-winged open-country hawks that soar and drop on rodents. Read the guide →
Birds VU Kiwi Apteryx A kiwi is a flightless, nocturnal New Zealand bird that behaves more like a mammal, with nostrils at the bill tip, hair-like feathers, burrows, and an egg up to a quarter of its body weight. Read the guide →
Amphibians NE Lungless Salamander Plethodontidae A lungless salamander has no lungs and breathes through its skin and mouth lining, a trade that ties it to cool damp forest but built the largest and most varied salamander family on Earth. Read the guide →
Amphibians NE Midwife Toad Alytidae A midwife toad is a small European frog whose male wraps the strings of eggs around his own hind legs and carries them for weeks, wetting them at ponds until they are ready to hatch. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Pacific Giant Salamander Dicamptodon A Pacific giant salamander is an amphibian of cold Pacific Northwest streams, one of the few salamanders with a voice, big enough to eat mice and snakes, and often keeping its gills for life. Read the guide →
Birds NT Quetzal Pharomachrus A quetzal is an iridescent green-and-crimson cloud-forest bird of the American tropics, sacred to the Maya and Aztec, the national bird and currency of Guatemala, and said to die if kept in a cage. Read the guide →
Reptiles NE Rattlesnake Crotalus and Sistrurus A rattlesnake is a New World pit viper that grows a warning rattle from hollow segments of shed skin, senses the body heat of prey through facial pits, and strikes from ambush in a split second. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Sierra Newt Taricha sierrae A Sierra newt is a stout newt of the western Sierra Nevada foothills, recently split from the California newt, whose skin holds tetrodotoxin and whose spring migrations cross roads by the thousand. Read the guide →
Birds EN Vulture Cathartidae and Old World vultures A vulture is a large bird that lives almost entirely on carrion, soaring for hours to find it; its bald head and battery-acid gut let it eat rotten meat that would poison almost anything else. Read the guide →
Mammals LC American Pika Ochotona princeps The American pika spends short mountain summers gathering huge haypiles to survive under deep snow. It has no tolerance for heat and can die within hours if trapped in direct summer sun. Read the guide →
Birds LC Andean Cock-of-the-rock Rupicola peruvianus The male Andean cock-of-the-rock is vividly coloured, a blazing orange body topped by a half-moon crest. Males gather at shared display grounds to compete for females with elaborate dances. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Long-toed Salamander Ambystoma macrodactylum The long-toed salamander is named for its elongated fourth toe, and survives a wider range of elevations than almost any other salamander in North America, some breeding under lake ice. Read the guide →
Birds VU Steller's Sea Eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus The Steller's sea eagle is the heaviest eagle in the world, built around a massive orange bill for tearing into salmon along icy Russian coasts. Females can outweigh a bald eagle by nearly double. Read the guide →
Birds EN Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus The Egyptian vulture is one of the very few birds that uses a tool, throwing a stone at an ostrich egg to crack the shell. Its bare yellow face is stained by the dung it eats. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Rock Hyrax Procavia capensis The rock hyrax looks like a fat guinea pig, but its closest living relatives are elephants and manatees. It has tiny tusks and sweaty rubber feet for gripping rock. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Alpine Newt Ichthyosaura alpestris The alpine newt is a small European newt with a plain dark back and a vivid unmarked orange belly. Breeding males turn steel-blue, and some mountain populations never lose their larval gills. Read the guide →
Mammals LC American Black Bear Ursus americanus The American black bear is the most common bear in the world — a shy, adaptable forest omnivore that mostly eats plants, climbs well, and rarely attacks despite living near millions of people. Read the guide →
Birds VU Andean Condor Vultur gryphus The Andean condor has the largest wing area of any land bird — over 3 metres across — and can soar 160 km without a single flap. It is the national bird of four countries and lives up to 70 years. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Armadillo Girdled Lizard Ouroborus cataphractus When threatened, the armadillo girdled lizard bites its own tail and curls into a spiny armoured ring, protecting its soft belly like an armadillo. It is one of few lizards that gives live birth. Read the guide →
Birds NT Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus The bearded vulture lives almost entirely on bone. It carries large bones high into the air and drops them onto rock to shatter them, then swallows the fragments, which its stomach acid dissolves. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Black Rain Frog Breviceps fuscus The black rain frog is a round, perpetually grumpy-looking burrowing frog from South Africa's southern mountains. It cannot hop or swim, and puffs itself into a hard ball when threatened. Read the guide →
Birds CR California Condor Gymnogyps californianus The California condor is the largest flying bird in North America, with a 3-metre wingspan. In 1987 just 22 were left; the wild population is now over 300 after decades of captive breeding. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Chinchilla Chinchilla lanigera The chinchilla has the densest fur of any land mammal — up to 60 hairs per follicle — which nearly caused its extinction. It bathes in volcanic dust and lives on cold, barren Andean slopes. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Chinese Giant Salamander Andrias davidianus The Chinese giant salamander is the largest amphibian on Earth, reaching 1.8 m, and a survivor of a lineage 170 million years old. Farming and hunting have all but wiped it from the wild. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Chuckwalla Sauromalus ater The chuckwalla is a chunky desert lizard that escapes predators by wedging into a rock crack and gulping air until it cannot be pulled out. It is a strict vegetarian that never drinks water. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Common Midwife Toad Alytes obstetricans The male common midwife toad carries the fertilised eggs wound around his hind legs for weeks, keeping them moist and safe, and only visits water to release the tadpoles once they are ready to hatch. Read the guide →
Birds LC Common Raven Corvus corax The common raven is one of the most intelligent animals on Earth — a large black bird that makes tools, plans for the future, holds grudges, plays in the wind, and solves problems that stump apes. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Cougar Puma concolor The cougar goes by more names than any other animal and roams from the Yukon to Patagonia. Learn why it isn't a "big cat", how far it can leap, and why it screams instead of roars. Read the guide →
Amphibians NT Emperor Newt Tylototriton shanjing The emperor newt wears warning colours — a black body ridged with orange bumps that each sit over a poison gland. Threatened, it can swing sharpened ribs out through those bumps to jab an attacker. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx The Eurasian lynx is the largest lynx species and Europe's third-largest predator — a solitary forest cat that hunts roe deer, was wiped out across much of Europe, and is now being brought back. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Fire Salamander Salamandra salamandra The fire salamander wears black-and-yellow warning colours, squirts a nerve toxin from glands behind its eyes, and in some populations gives birth to live young. Learn about this striking amphibian. Read the guide →
Birds LC Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos The golden eagle is one of the largest and most widespread birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere, a mountain hunter that stoops on prey at highway speeds. Learn how it lives and hunts. Read the guide →
Amphibians EX Golden Toad Incilius periglenes The golden toad lived in one patch of Costa Rican cloud forest, the males a fluorescent orange. Found in 1966, last seen in 1989 — an early extinction linked to climate change. Read the guide →
Birds LC Great Grey Owl Strix nebulosa The great grey owl looks like the largest owl in the world but is mostly feathers. It hears voles under half a metre of snow and plunges feet-first through the crust to seize them. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Jackson's Chameleon Trioceros jacksonii The male Jackson's chameleon has three forward-pointing horns like a tiny Triceratops, used to wrestle rivals off branches. A pet-trade release in the 1970s founded a wild population in Hawaii. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Japanese Macaque Macaca fuscata The Japanese macaque is the northernmost primate other than humans, surviving winters of —20 °C by soaking in volcanic hot springs. Its behaviours spread through troops like culture. Read the guide →
Birds EN Kagu Rhynochetos jubatus The kagu is a near-flightless grey forest bird found only in New Caledonia, with a loose crest, red legs, and "nasal corns" no other bird has. It barks at dawn like a dog and had no ground predators. Read the guide →
Birds CR Kakapo Strigops habroptilus The kākāpō is the world's only flightless parrot and the heaviest — a nocturnal, moss-scented New Zealand bird that booms for a mate and came within a few dozen individuals of extinction. Read the guide →
Birds EN Kea Nestor notabilis The kea is the world's only alpine parrot — an olive-green New Zealand bird known for tearing apart cars, solving puzzles in teams, and a "play" call that makes other kea act playful. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Malagasy Rainbow Frog Scaphiophryne gottlebei The Malagasy rainbow frog is a tiny, brightly patterned burrowing frog found only in one canyon system in Madagascar. It climbs sheer rock with spade-tipped toes and inflates itself when threatened. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Marsupial Frog Gastrotheca Female marsupial frogs carry their eggs in a pouch of skin on the back, nourished by a placenta-like membrane. In some species fully formed froglets hop straight out, skipping the tadpole stage. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Pallas's Cat Otocolobus manul Pallas's cat is a small, extraordinarily fluffy wild cat of the Central Asian steppe, built low with flat-set ears for peering over rocks. Its coat is the longest of any cat. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Panamanian Golden Frog Atelopus zeteki The Panamanian golden frog carries a nerve poison stronger than pufferfish toxin, and because rushing streams drown its calls it 'waves' its front legs to signal. It is now extinct in the wild. Read the guide →
Birds LC Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, hitting nearly 390 km/h in a hunting dive. Learn how its body survives that speed and how it came back from near-extinction. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Red Panda Ailurus fulgens The red panda is not a panda and not a raccoon — it is the sole survivor of its own family, a cat-sized bamboo eater with a false thumb. Learn how it lives in the Himalaya and why it is Endangered. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Reindeer Rangifer tarandus Reindeer and caribou are the same species — the only deer in which females also grow antlers, a large mammal that sees ultraviolet light, and the animal behind the longest land migration on Earth. Read the guide →
Birds NT Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno The resplendent quetzal is a shimmering green-and-crimson cloud-forest bird whose breeding males trail metre-long tail plumes. Sacred to the Maya and Aztec, it is Guatemala's national bird. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Snow Leopard Panthera uncia The snow leopard is the elusive big cat of Asia's highest mountains, with a metre-long tail for balance and warmth. Learn how it survives thin cold air — and why it can't roar. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Southern Corroboree Frog Pseudophryne corroboree The southern corroboree frog is a striking yellow-and-black Australian alpine frog that makes its own poison. Fewer than 50 survive in the wild, held from extinction only by captive colonies. Read the guide →
Reptiles DD Spider-tailed Horned Viper Pseudocerastes urarachnoides The tip of this Iranian viper's tail mimics a spider, a bulbous knob fringed with leg-like scales that it twitches to lure insect-eating birds into striking range. Read the guide →
Amphibians CR Titicaca Water Frog Telmatobius culeus The Titicaca water frog lives its whole life underwater in a high Andean lake, breathing through baggy folds of skin. It is Critically Endangered, hit by pollution and a demand for frog "juice". Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus The veiled chameleon has a tall bony helmet that funnels dew into its mouth, letting it live in the dry mountains of Yemen. It is the most commonly kept pet chameleon and one of the hardier ones. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Wolverine Gulo gulo The wolverine is a 15-kilogram member of the weasel family that drives bears off carcasses and hunts prey in deep snow. Learn how it survives the far north and why warm winters threaten it. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Brown Bear Ursus arctos The brown bear is the most widespread bear on Earth, from Spain to Alaska, and includes the grizzly and the giant Kodiak. Learn how it hibernates, what it eats, and how a cub is born mid-sleep. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Gray Wolf Canis lupus The gray wolf is a cooperative pack hunter and the wild ancestor of every domestic dog. Learn how packs work, why wolves howl, and how they reshape whole ecosystems. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Leopard Panthera pardus The leopard is the most adaptable big cat — a solitary, night-hunting climber that hauls its kills into trees. Learn how it survives almost anywhere and why it's still Vulnerable. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Red Fox Vulpes vulpes The red fox is the most widespread wild carnivore on Earth, at home in forests, deserts, and city centres alike. Learn how it hunts by the Earth's magnetic field and why it thrives around people. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Giant Panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca The giant panda is a bear that eats almost nothing but bamboo. Learn how it survives on a low-energy diet, why cubs are so tiny, and how it went from Endangered to Vulnerable. Read the guide →