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Mammals

Nearly half the animals on the site are mammals. As well as the obvious ones, the list includes a few that catch people out in the game: whales, dolphins and seals (mammals that live in the sea), bats (mammals that fly), and the platypus and echidna (mammals that lay eggs).

Humans are here too. Yes, you count.

211 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AardvarkA burrowing, nocturnal African mammal that digs out ants and termites with powerful claws and collects them with a long, sticky tongue.
• 🐕African wild dogThe largest wild canine in Africa, with a patchy brown, black and white coat.
• 🐾AgoutiRodents related to guinea pigs but larger and longer-legged, living in forests and wooded areas of Central and South America.
• 🦙AlpacaA domesticated South American camelid bred for its highly valued fibre, descended from the wild vicuña at least 5,000–6,000 years ago.
• 🐜AnteaterFour species of toothless mammals that eat ants and termites, related to sloths: the giant anteater, the silky anteater and two tamanduas.
• 🐾AntelopeNot a single group but 91 species of horned, hoofed bovids, most of them native to Africa.
• 🐾ApeThe tailless primates of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: the gibbons, or lesser apes, and the great apes, which are the orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and, scientifically, humans.
• 🦊Arctic foxA small fox of the Arctic tundra with thick fur and a big, fluffy tail.
• 🦫ArmadilloTwenty-one species of American mammals with a leathery, armoured shell and long digging claws.
• 🐾Aye-ayeA lemur of Madagascar and the world’s largest nocturnal primate, with rodent-like teeth that never stop growing and a thin, bony middle finger.
• 🐾BabirusaWild pigs of Sulawesi and nearby Indonesian islands, also called deer-pigs.
• 🐒BaboonSix species of large, ground-dwelling monkeys with long, dog-like muzzles and powerful jaws.
• 🦡BadgerStocky, short-legged omnivores of the weasel and skunk families.
• 🐾BandicootMore than 20 species of small, mostly nocturnal marsupials from Australia and New Guinea, with long pointed snouts, large ears and strong hind legs.
• 🦇BatThe only mammals capable of true, sustained flight, on wings of skin stretched over long fingers.
• 🦊Bat-eared foxA small fox of the African savanna named for its huge ears, which help it keep cool and hear its prey.
• 🦫BeaverLarge semiaquatic rodents, the second-largest living rodents after capybaras.
• 🐾BelugaAn all-white whale of the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the narwhal’s closest relative.
• 🐏Bighorn sheepA wild sheep of western North America named for its large horns.
• 🐾BilbyThe greater bilby: a long-eared, rabbit-sized marsupial of Australia that lives in burrows and comes out at night.
• 🐾BinturongA tree-dwelling viverrid of South and Southeast Asia, also called the bearcat, with long, thick, mostly dark hair.
• 🦬BisonTwo species of huge, shaggy wild cattle: the American bison, often called buffalo, and the European bison, or wisent.
• 🐻Black bearThe smallest and most widespread bear in North America, mostly living in forests.
• 🐆Black pantherNot a species: a black panther is a black (melanistic) leopard or jaguar.
• 🐋Blue whaleA baleen whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed: up to 30 m long and 200 tonnes.
• 🐆BobcatA medium-sized North American wild cat with tufted ears and the short, "bobbed" tail that gives it its name.
• 🐾BongoA large, mostly nocturnal forest antelope of sub-Saharan Africa with a chestnut coat, 10–15 thin white stripes and heavy spiral horns on both sexes.
• 🐒BonoboAlong with the chimpanzee, our closest living relative.
• 🐻Brown bearA huge, mostly plant-eating bear of northern forests, mountains and tundra, and one of the largest land carnivores alive.
• 🐃BuffaloA large, heavily built wild cow of sub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐂BullAn adult male of cattle that has not been castrated.
• 🐾BushbabySmall nocturnal primates of sub-Saharan Africa, with big eyes, sharp hearing, bat-like ears and long tails for balance.
• 🐫CamelThree living species of humped desert animals: the one-humped dromedary (94% of the world’s camels), the two-humped Bactrian camel, and the endangered wild Bactrian camel.
• 🐒Capuchin monkeyClever New World monkeys famous for their foraging skills, including using stones to crack open nuts.
• 🐾CapybaraThe largest living rodent, a semiaquatic grazer found in every South American country except Chile.
• 🐆CaracalA slender, long-legged wild cat with a reddish-tan coat and long black ear tufts; its name comes from the Turkish for "black ear".
• 🐾ChamoisA small, nimble goat-antelope of the rugged mountains of Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus.
• 🐆CheetahThe fastest land animal: a lightweight, long-legged cat built for short sprints across open ground.
• 🐒ChimpanzeeA great ape of the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa and, with the bonobo, humanity’s closest living relative.
• 🐾ChinchillaTwo species of crepuscular rodents from the high Andes, living in colonies up to 4,270 m.
• 🐿️ChipmunkSmall, striped burrowing squirrels of North America, plus the Siberian chipmunk of Asia.
• 🐾CivetOver a dozen species of small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammals of tropical Asia and Africa, most in the family Viverridae.
• 🐆Clouded leopardA medium-sized wild cat of Asian forests, named for the large cloud-like blotches on its grey or ochre coat.
• 🐾CoatiLong-nosed members of the raccoon family from the Americas.
• 🐈CougarA large, plain-coated cat of the Americas, also called puma, mountain lion and panther.
• 🐮CowLarge domesticated grazers, first tamed from the wild aurochs about 10,500 years ago.
• 🐺CoyoteA North American wild dog, smaller than its close relative the grey wolf.
• 🦌DeerHoofed plant-eaters whose males, in almost every species, grow and shed a new set of bony antlers every year.
• 🐾DholeA wild dog of South, East and Southeast Asia and the only member of its genus.
• 🐾Dik-dikFour species of tiny antelope living in the bushlands of eastern and south-western Africa.
• 🐕DingoA lean, hardy wild dog of Australia, ginger, black-and-tan or creamy white.
• 🐶DogThe first animal people domesticated, bred from wolves by hunter-gatherers more than 14,000 years ago, before farming began.
• 🐬DolphinAround 40 species of toothed whale, from the 1.7 m Maui’s dolphin to the orca, the largest at 9.5 m.
• 🐱Domestic catThe only domesticated member of the cat family.
• 🫏DonkeyA domesticated member of the horse family, bred from the African wild ass some 5,000–7,000 years ago and used mainly as a working animal ever since.
• 🐾DormouseAbout 28 species of small, nocturnal, tree-climbing rodents from Africa, Asia and Europe.
• 🐪DromedaryThe one-humped camel, and the tallest of the three camel species.
• 🐾DugongA seagrass-eating marine mammal of the Indo-West Pacific, the manatee’s relative and the only living member of its family.
• 🐾EchidnaFour species of spiny, egg-laying mammals from Australia and New Guinea, also called spiny anteaters.
• 🐾ElandThe common eland, a huge spiral-horned antelope of the plains and open woodland of East and southern Africa.
• 🐘ElephantThree living species, the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant, and the largest land animals alive.
• 🦌ElkThe second-largest deer after the moose, native to North America and Central and East Asia.
• 🦊Fennec foxThe smallest fox, from the deserts of North Africa.
• 🦡FerretA small domesticated member of the weasel family, most likely bred from the European polecat about 2,500 years ago.
• 🐿️Flying squirrelAbout 50 species of squirrels that glide between trees on a furred membrane stretching from wrist to ankle, steering with their limbs and tail.
• 🐾FossaThe largest mammalian carnivore on Madagascar: a slender, cat-like hunter with a tail nearly as long as its body.
• 🦇Fruit batAbout 197 species of megabats, including the flying foxes, the family with the largest bats.
• 🐾GazelleSmall, fast antelopes, mostly fawn-coloured, living in herds in the deserts, grasslands and savannas of Africa and in south-west and central Asia and India.
• 🐾GenetSeventeen species of slender, cat-like carnivores with spotted fur, a dark stripe down the spine and a ringed tail almost as long as the body.
• 🐾GerbilAbout 110 species of small desert rodents from Africa, India and Asia, including jirds and sand rats.
• 🦧GibbonThe lesser apes: about 20 species of tailless apes of Asian forests.
• 🦒GiraffeThe tallest living land animal, browsing leaves from treetops across African savanna.
• 🐐GoatOne of the first animals ever domesticated, from the wild goat in Iran about 10,000 years ago.
• 🐾GopherAbout 41 species of pocket gophers, burrowing rodents of North and Central America named for their fur-lined cheek pouches.
• 🦍GorillaThe largest living primates: great apes of the tropical forests of equatorial Africa, living in troops led by a silverback male.
• 🐻Grizzly bearThe North American brown bear, a population or subspecies of the brown bear.
• 🐾GroundhogA large ground squirrel, also called the woodchuck, and the only lowland marmot.
• 🐾GuanacoA wild camelid of South America and the ancestor of the domestic llama.
• 🐹Guinea pigA domesticated rodent first bred for meat in the Andes as early as 5000 BC, and now a popular pet.
• 🐹HamsterStout-bodied rodents with cheek pouches that stretch to their shoulders, used to carry food home.
• 🐇HareLong-legged relatives of rabbits that live above ground and rely on speed, not burrows, to escape.
• 🐾HartebeestA large African antelope with a long face, oddly bent horns on both sexes, long legs and a back that slopes down from a hump over the shoulders.
• 🦔HedgehogSmall, spiny insect-eaters of Europe, Asia and Africa that roll into a tight ball when threatened.
• 🦛HippopotamusA huge, semi-aquatic grazer that spends its days in African rivers and lakes and comes out at night to feed.
• 🐴HorseA one-toed, hoofed grazer, domesticated on the steppes of western Eurasia.
• 🐒Howler monkeyFifteen species of large New World monkeys, the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics.
• 🧍HumanThe most abundant and widespread primate: an upright-walking ape with little body hair and a large, complex brain that allows technology, culture and language.
• 🐋Humpback whaleA baleen whale with very long flippers and knobbly bumps on its head, famous for breaching and for the long, complex songs males sing.
• 🐺HyenaFour species of dog-like carnivores, including the spotted, brown and striped hyenas.
• 🐾IbexSeveral species of wild goat whose males carry large curved horns, ridged across the front.
• 🐾ImpalaA medium-sized antelope of eastern and southern Africa with a glossy reddish-brown coat.
• 🐾IndriOne of the two largest living lemurs, black and white with a stump of a tail, found only in the forests of eastern Madagascar.
• 🐺JackalWild dogs of Africa and Eurasia: the black-backed and side-striped jackals of Africa and the golden jackal of south-central Europe and Asia.
• 🐆JaguarThe biggest cat in the Americas and the only one of the roaring big cats native there.
• 🐾JerboaSmall, nocturnal hopping rodents of the hot deserts of North Africa and Asia, with very long back legs, a tuft-tipped tail longer than the body, and often huge ears.
• 🦘KangarooThe largest marsupials, and the only large mammals that get around mainly by hopping on two legs.
• 🐾KinkajouA tree-dwelling relative of raccoons and coatis from the rainforests of Mexico and Central and South America.
• 🐨KoalaA tree-dwelling marsupial of eastern and southern Australia, and not a bear.
• 🐾KuduThe greater kudu, a tall woodland antelope of eastern and southern Africa with 4–12 thin white stripes on its sides.
• 🐾LemmingSmall, round, short-tailed rodents of the Arctic tundra and the main prey of most Arctic predators.
• 🦧LemurThe ring-tailed lemur is the best-known lemur, with a long black-and-white ringed tail.
• 🐆LeopardThe most widespread wild cat, a spotted, secretive hunter that survives almost anywhere with cover: rainforest, savanna, mountains and semi-desert across Africa and Asia.
• 🐾LigerThe hybrid of a male lion and a female tiger, and the largest living cat.
• 🦁LionAfrica's social big cat.
• 🦙LlamaA domesticated South American camelid, used by Andean cultures for meat and as a pack animal since before Columbus.
• 🐆LynxFour species of medium-sized wild cat, the Canada, Eurasian and Iberian lynx and the bobcat, with black ear tufts, a short tail and big padded paws for walking on snow.
• 🐒MacaqueA genus of 23 species of sturdy, social monkeys.
• 🐾ManateeThree species of large, slow, fully aquatic plant-eating mammals, sometimes called sea cows, with paddle-shaped tails.
• 🐒MandrillA large monkey of west-central African rainforests and one of the most colourful mammals, with red and blue skin on its face and rump.
• 🐾Maned wolfThe largest canine in South America, with a reddish coat and very long, slender legs.
• 🐾MarkhorA large wild goat of the mountains of Central and South Asia.
• 🐒MarmosetTwenty-two species of tiny New World monkeys, most about 20 cm long.
• 🐾MarmotFifteen species of large ground squirrels, the heaviest members of the squirrel family, from Asia, Europe and North America.
• 🦫MeerkatA small, highly social mongoose of southern Africa.
• 🐾MinkThe American mink, a semiaquatic mustelid native to North America.
• 🦡MoleSmall burrowing mammals with velvety fur, tiny eyes and ears, and big, powerful front paws for digging.
• 🐾MongooseSmall carnivores of Africa, Asia and southern Europe, 34 species in two subfamilies.
• 🐵MonkeyPrimates of the Americas, Africa and Asia, split into New World and Old World monkeys.
• 🫎MooseThe tallest, largest and heaviest living deer, known as “elk” in British English.
• 🐐Mountain goatA sure-footed, white-coated climber of the high mountains of western North America, often seen on near-vertical cliffs.
• 🐭MouseSmall rodents best known through the house mouse, which lives alongside people almost everywhere.
• 🐾MuleA hybrid of a male donkey and a female horse, and more common than the hinny, the reverse cross.
• 🦌MuntjacFourteen species of small deer from South and Southeast Asia, also called barking deer.
• 🐾MuskoxA shaggy, heavy-horned Arctic hoofed mammal, closer to sheep and goats than to oxen, named for the musky smell of males in the rut.
• 🐾MuskratA large, semi-aquatic rodent of North American wetlands with thick brown fur and a scaly, flattened tail used as a rudder.
• 🐾Naked mole-ratA hairless, pink-skinned burrowing rodent of the Horn of Africa and Kenya.
• 🐾NarwhalA toothed whale of the Arctic, closely related to the beluga.
• 🐾NumbatA small, striped marsupial and the only marsupial fully active by day.
• 🐾NyalaA shy, spiral-horned antelope of southeast Africa, and the most sexually dimorphic antelope: males are slate grey with a shaggy fringe and horns, while females are small, hornless and rusty brown with white stripes.
• 🐆OcelotA medium-sized spotted wild cat of the Americas and the largest member of its genus.
• 🐾OkapiA forest animal of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with zebra-like stripes on its legs but a close relative of the giraffe.
• 🐀OpossumThe largest group of marsupials in the Americas, 126 species.
• 🦧OrangutanGreat apes that live almost entirely in trees, now found only on Borneo and Sumatra.
• 🐋OrcaThe largest member of the dolphin family, black above and white below with white eye patches.
• 🐾OryxFour species of large, pale antelopes with dark markings on the face and legs and long, nearly straight horns.
• 🦦OtterSemiaquatic members of the weasel family, with long slim bodies, webbed feet and very dense fur that keeps them warm and buoyant.
• 🐼PandaA black-and-white bear found only in the mountains of central China.
• 🦔PangolinScale-covered, ant-eating mammals of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, also called scaly anteaters.
• 🐷PigA domesticated omnivore farmed mainly for pork.
• 🐾PikaSmall, round, tailless relatives of rabbits with short, rounded ears, living on rocky mountain slopes in Asia and North America.
• 🐾Pine martenA brown-furred mustelid with a cream to yellow bib on its throat, found across most of Europe.
• 🦆PlatypusA duck-billed, egg-laying mammal of eastern Australia and Tasmania.
• 🐻‍❄️Polar bearThe largest bear and the largest land carnivore, living on Arctic sea ice and hunting seals.
• 🐾PolecatThe European polecat: a dark brown mustelid with a pale belly and a dark mask across its face.
• 🐴PonyA type of small horse, with a thicker coat, mane and tail, shorter legs, heavier bones and a wider body than larger horses.
• 🦔PorcupineLarge rodents covered in sharp quills.
• 🐾PorpoiseEight species of small, dolphin-like toothed whales, more closely related to narwhals and belugas than to dolphins.
• 🐾Prairie dogFive species of burrowing ground squirrels from the grasslands of North America, named for their bark-like warning call.
• 🐒Proboscis monkeyA large, reddish-brown monkey found only on Borneo, named for the male’s huge nose, which can be over 10 cm long and hangs below the mouth.
• 🐾PronghornNot a true antelope but the last survivor of its own North American family, whose closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi.
• 🐾QuokkaA cat-sized relative of kangaroos and wallabies from southwestern Australia.
• 🐾QuollSix species of spotted carnivorous marsupials from Australia and New Guinea, also once called native cats.
• 🐰RabbitEvery pet and farmed rabbit belongs to one species, the European rabbit.
• 🦝RaccoonA North American omnivore with dexterous front paws, a black face mask and a ringed tail.
• 🐾Raccoon dogA heavy-set, fox-like wild dog of East Asia, named for its raccoon-like face.
• 🐀RatMedium-sized rodents, the best known being the brown and black rats that live alongside people.
• 🦊Red foxThe familiar orange fox of the northern hemisphere and the most widespread wild carnivore on Earth.
• 🐾Red pandaA small, reddish-brown tree-climber of the eastern Himalayas and south-western China, with a ringed tail.
• 🦌ReindeerA deer of the Arctic and subarctic, called caribou in North America.
• 🦏RhinocerosFive living species of huge, thick-skinned plant-eaters, two in Africa and three in South and Southeast Asia.
• 🐾SaigaAn antelope of the Central Asian steppes with a swollen, downward-pointing nose.
• 🐈Sand catA small, pale sandy cat of sandy and stony deserts far from water.
• 🦭Sea lionEared seals with external ear flaps, long front flippers and the ability to walk on all fours.
• 🐾Sea otterThe heaviest member of the weasel family, and one of the few mammals that use tools: it cracks shellfish open with rocks.
• 🦭SealFlippered marine mammals: the true seals, the sea lions and fur seals, and the walrus, 34 species in all.
• 🐆ServalA slender, medium-sized African wild cat with a small head, big ears and a golden coat spotted and striped with black.
• 🐑SheepDomesticated ruminants kept for wool, meat and milk, most likely descended from the wild mouflon.
• 🐾ShrewA family of 385 species of tiny, mouse-like mammals that are not rodents at all; their closest relatives are hedgehogs and moles.
• 🦨SkunkBlack-and-white New World mammals famous for spraying a foul-smelling liquid from glands under the tail.
• 🦥SlothSlow-moving tree mammals of Central and South American rainforests, named for their very low metabolism.
• 🐻Sloth bearA shaggy bear of the Indian subcontinent with a mane around its face, a long lower lip and long, sickle-shaped claws.
• 🐾Slow lorisSlow, quiet nocturnal primates of Southeast Asia with big reflective eyes and stubby tails hidden in their fur.
• 🐆Snow leopardA big cat of the high mountains of Central and South Asia, with thick whitish-grey fur and a long, bushy tail.
• 🐻Spectacled bearThe only bear native to South America, living in the Andes, and the last of the short-faced bears.
• 🐋Sperm whaleThe largest toothed whale and the largest toothed predator.
• 🐒Spider monkeySeven species of long-limbed New World monkeys that live high in the rainforest canopy.
• 🐾SpringbokA slender, fast antelope of the dry south-west of Africa, with a white face, a dark stripe from eye to mouth and a reddish-brown band along each flank.
• 🐿️SquirrelRodents with slender bodies, long bushy tails and large eyes.
• 🐒Squirrel monkeySmall New World monkeys with short, close fur: black at the shoulders, yellow or orange on the back and limbs, and white on the face.
• 🐾Star-nosed moleA small, semiaquatic mole of wet lowlands in northeastern North America.
• 🐾StoatA small, long-bodied hunter of Eurasia and the northern parts of North America.
• 🐾Sugar gliderA small, nocturnal gliding possum named for its taste for sugary sap and nectar.
• 🐻Sun bearThe smallest bear, from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, named for the orange to cream patch on its chest.
• 🐾TakinA stocky, shaggy goat-antelope of the eastern Himalayas, closest to sheep despite its muskox-like looks.
• 🐒TamarinSquirrel-sized New World monkeys in 22 species, many with moustache-like facial hair.
• 🐾TapirLarge, pig-shaped plant-eaters with a short, flexible trunk.
• 🐾TarsierTiny primates of the islands of Southeast Asia with enormous eyes: each eyeball is about 16 mm across and as big as the whole brain.
• 🐾Tasmanian devilA dog-sized carnivorous marsupial, now found only on Tasmania, and the largest carnivorous marsupial since the thylacine died out in 1936.
• 🐾TenrecA family of 31 species found only on Madagascar.
• 🐯TigerThe biggest of the striped cats and a solitary ambush hunter of forests, from Indian mangroves to snowy Russian taiga.
• 🐾TigonThe hybrid of a male tiger and a lioness.
• 🦇Vampire batThree species of bats from Central and South America, the only mammals that feed only on blood.
• 🐾VaquitaThe smallest of all whales, dolphins and porpoises, found only in the far north of the Gulf of California in Mexico.
• 🐒Vervet monkeyAn African monkey with a black face and grey body hair, living in groups of 10 to 70.
• 🐾VicunaA wild camelid of the high Andes and probably the ancestor of the alpaca.
• 🐾VoleAbout 155 species of small, stout rodents, sometimes called meadow or field mice, related to lemmings and hamsters.
• 🦘WallabySmall and medium-sized relatives of the kangaroo.
• 🦭WalrusA huge Arctic pinniped with long ivory tusks, bristly whiskers and a nearly hairless body.
• 🐗WarthogA wild pig of the grasslands and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, with two pairs of upward-curving tusks.
• 🐾WeaselSmall, fast predators with long, slender bodies and short legs, in the same genus as stoats, polecats and ferrets.
• 🐳WhaleOcean mammals that breathe air and feed their young on milk, including the blue whale, the largest animal that has ever lived.
• 🐗Wild boarThe wild pig of Eurasia and North Africa, now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world after introductions to the Americas and Oceania.
• 🐈WildcatThe European wildcat: bigger and stouter than a house cat, with longer striped fur, a dark stripe along the back and a bushy, black-tipped tail.
• 🐾WildebeestTwo species of antelope from eastern and southern Africa, also called gnus: the blue wildebeest and the black wildebeest.
• 🐺WolfThe largest wild member of the dog family.
• 🐾WolverineThe largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family, a solitary, muscular carnivore of the far north.
• 🐨WombatShort-legged, muscular marsupials of Australia that dig large burrows with rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws.
• 🐂YakLong-haired domesticated cattle of the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau and the mountains of Central Asia, north to Mongolia and Siberia.
• 🦓ZebraThree species of striped wild horse: the plains, Grévy’s and mountain zebras of eastern and southern Africa.
• 🐂ZebuHumped domestic cattle that originated in South Asia, with a fatty hump over the shoulders, a large dewlap and often drooping ears.
• 🐾ZonkeyA zebroid: the hybrid of a zebra and a donkey, also called a zedonk or zebrass.

How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.