Beastlypedia

Wild animal profiles. How they live, where they are found, and what makes each one strange. No care sheets, no difficulty ratings, just the animals.

A pangolin walking across dry ground at dusk, its overlapping keratin scales catching the low light

Pangolin

Pholidota

The only mammal covered in scales, and the most trafficked one on Earth.

A fennec fox on pale desert sand at golden hour with its enormous ears held upright

Fennec Fox

Vulpes zerda

The smallest fox alive, built almost entirely around its ears.

A capybara at the edge of a river in soft morning light with reeds behind it

Capybara

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

The largest rodent on Earth, and improbably calm about everything.

A narwhal at the surface among Arctic sea ice with its long spiral tusk clear of the water

Narwhal

Monodon monoceros

An Arctic whale whose tusk is really a tooth grown through its lip.

An aye-aye clinging to a branch at night, its huge orange eyes reflecting the light

Aye-Aye

Daubentonia madagascariensis

A nocturnal lemur that hunts grubs by tapping on wood and listening.

Giraffe

Giraffa camelopardalis

The famous oversized heart is a myth. What is actually going on is stranger.

A slow loris gripping a branch at night in rainforest, its large round eyes reflecting the light

Slow Loris

Nycticebus

The only venomous primate, and the reason is a gland in its elbow.

An African elephant standing on open savanna at golden hour with its ears spread and trunk lowered

African Elephant

Loxodonta africana

Most of an elephant herd’s conversation happens below what you can hear.

A three-toed sloth hanging beneath a branch in rainforest canopy with its long curved claws hooked over the wood

Three-Toed Sloth

Bradypus variegatus

It climbs all the way down once a week to defecate, and it often dies doing it.

A grey wolf standing in snow at the edge of conifer forest, looking directly toward the camera

Gray Wolf

Canis lupus

There is no alpha wolf. The researcher who popularised the idea spent years retracting it.

A male lion lying on open savanna grass at golden hour, mane full, looking into the distance

Lion

Panthera leo

The only cat that lives in a group, and the females run it.

A wild tiger walking through tall grass at the edge of forest, striped flank catching the light

Tiger

Panthera tigris

Every wild tiger left would fit inside one small town.

Rhinoceros

Rhinocerotidae

The horn is not ivory and not bone. It is the same protein as your fingernails.

A wombat standing at the entrance to its burrow on grassy ground, stocky body and broad nose visible

Wombat

Vombatus ursinus

The only animal that produces cube-shaped droppings, and it does it on purpose.

A honey badger walking across dry ground, its black body and broad white back stripe clearly visible

Honey Badger

Mellivora capensis

Loose skin, a bad attitude, and genuine resistance to cobra venom.

A platypus swimming at the surface of a still river, its bill and dense brown fur visible

Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Lays eggs, detects electricity, has venom, and glows under ultraviolet light.

A wolverine moving across deep snow in boreal forest, its dark coat and pale flank stripe visible

Wolverine

Gulo gulo

Thirty pounds of animal that drives bears off kills and crushes frozen bone.

A thorny devil lizard walking across red desert sand, its conical spines catching the low sunlight

Thorny Devil

Moloch horridus

A desert lizard that drinks through its skin.

A male panther chameleon gripping a branch in Madagascan foliage, banded in turquoise and red

Panther Chameleon

Furcifer pardalis

Color that signals mood, not background, in a different palette per valley.

A Gaboon viper resting in rainforest leaf litter, its geometric pattern blending into dead leaves

Gaboon Viper

Bitis gabonica

The longest fangs of any snake, on an animal you will walk straight past.

A green anaconda partly submerged at the edge of a tropical river with only its head above water

Green Anaconda

Eunectes murinus

The heaviest snake alive, and almost helpless out of water.

A glass frog on a backlit green leaf with its translucent underside showing internal organs

Glass Frog

Centrolenidae

You can watch its heart beat through its own skin.

A blue poison dart frog on a wet dark leaf, its cobalt skin marked with black spots

Blue Poison Dart Frog

Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus"

Bright enough to be a warning, and only toxic because of what it eats.

An axolotl in clear freshwater with its feathery external gills fanned out

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

A salamander that never grows up, and regrows almost anything.

Shoebill

Balaeniceps rex

A metre-tall bird that hunts by standing perfectly still for hours.

A Victoria crowned pigeon walking on a rainforest floor showing its blue-grey plumage and lacy crest

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Goura victoria

A turkey-sized pigeon wearing a crown of lace.

An emperor penguin standing on Antarctic sea ice in low light, its orange ear patches and pale bill visible

Emperor Penguin

Aptenodytes forsteri

Penguins do not mate for life, and the huddle is a moving machine.

A crow perched on a bare branch against an overcast sky, its glossy black plumage and heavy bill visible

Crow

Corvus

It remembers your face, holds a grudge, and tells other crows about you.

A giant manta ray gliding through open blue water seen from below with sunlight above

Giant Manta Ray

Mobula birostris

Seven metres across, filter-feeding, and one of the few fish to pass a mirror test.

A leafy sea dragon among kelp with leaf-shaped appendages along its gold and green body

Leafy Sea Dragon

Phycodurus eques

A relative of the seahorse pretending, very convincingly, to be seaweed.

A bottlenose dolphin breaking the surface of open blue water with its beak and melon clear of the waterline

Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

Every dolphin invents a name for itself and answers to it for life.

A clownfish nestled among the tentacles of a sea anemone on a tropical reef

Clownfish

Amphiprion

Every clownfish is born male, and the largest one becomes female.

A tiny transparent immortal jellyfish photographed against dark water, its red stomach visible through the bell

Immortal Jellyfish

Turritopsis dohrnii

It can run its own life cycle backwards, which is not the same as not dying.

A seahorse gripping a strand of seagrass with its tail in clear shallow water

Seahorse

Hippocampus

The male gets pregnant, and it is a real pregnancy, not just carrying eggs.

A shark cruising through open blue water seen from the side, with light rippling across its back

Sharks

Selachimorpha

Older than trees, older than Saturn’s rings, and barely a threat to anyone.

An octopus on a rocky seabed with its arms curled beneath it and skin textured to match the rock

Octopus

Octopus vulgaris

Three hearts, blue blood, and most of its neurons outside its head.

A peacock mantis shrimp at the mouth of its burrow on a reef, its green and orange shell and stalked eyes visible

Mantis Shrimp

Odontodactylus scyllarus

The famous eyes are real. The famous conclusion about them is wrong.

A cuttlefish hovering above sand with its arms held forward and a rippling pattern across its skin

Cuttlefish

Sepia officinalis

It puts on the best colour display in the ocean and probably cannot see colour.

A humpback whale breaching clear of the ocean surface with water streaming from its long pectoral fin

Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

Every male in an ocean sings the same song, and the song changes together.