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Animals of North America

North America runs from the Arctic to the deserts of Mexico, so this list has muskox and lemmings alongside roadrunners, rattlesnakes and alligators, with bison, moose, grizzlies and raccoons in between.

Central America has its own list. Animals marked as living across the whole of the Americas appear on all three.

87 animals, A to Z.

• 🐊AlligatorSwamps, marshes, rivers and lakes of the south-eastern US; the Chinese alligator survives only in the Yangtze River valley.
• 🦫ArmadilloThe Americas.
• 🦎AxolotlWild only in lakes of the Mexican highlands, most now covered by Mexico City.
• 🦡BadgerStocky, short-legged omnivores of the weasel and skunk families.
• 🦎Basilisk lizardSouthern Mexico to Ecuador and Venezuela; the brown basilisk has been introduced to Florida.
• 🐟BassNative to the eastern and central US, south-eastern Canada and northern Mexico. Introduced widely, including Japan, Namibia, Cuba, Guatemala and the Iberian Peninsula.
• 🦫BeaverNorth American beaver: most of the US and Canada, into northern Mexico. Eurasian beaver: much of Europe and western Russia, with small native groups in Mongolia and China.
• 🐏Bighorn sheepWestern North America, from southwestern Canada to Mexico.
• 🦬BisonNorth America (American bison) and Europe (European bison).
• 🐻Black bearNorth America.
• 🕷️Black widowWorldwide: North America, Europe, Australia (redback), New Zealand (katipō), southern Africa and South America.
• 🐆BobcatFrom southern Canada through most of the United States to Oaxaca in Mexico.
• 🐻Brown bearNorthern North America, Europe and Asia. It lives in a wider range of habitats than any other bear, with small, fragmented populations left in western Europe.
• 🐸BullfrogNative to eastern North America; introduced to the western US, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Asia.
• 🐝BumblebeeMostly the Northern Hemisphere, north to Greenland; also South America and North Africa; introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania.
• 🐊CaimanCentral and South America; the spectacled caiman has been introduced to Florida, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• 🐿️ChipmunkNorth America; the Siberian chipmunk in Asia.
• 🐾CoatiSouth America, Central America, Mexico and the southwestern United States.
• 🦅CondorThe Andes and Pacific coast of western South America; the mountains of California, Arizona and northern Mexico.
• 🐍CopperheadEastern United States, west to Kansas and Texas, and Chihuahua and Coahuila in northern Mexico.
• 🐈CougarThe widest range of any wild land animal in the Americas, from the Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes.
• 🐺CoyoteNorth America, south into Central America as far as Panama.
• 🐾CraneEvery continent except Antarctica and South America.
• 🐊CrocodileTropical rivers, lakes and swamps, and for the saltwater crocodile the coast, in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Unlike alligators, all crocodiles are sensitive to cold.
• 🦌ElkNorth America and Central, East and North Asia; introduced to Argentina and New Zealand.
• 🦩FlamingoThe Americas and the Caribbean (four species), and Africa, Europe and Asia (two species).
• 🐿️Flying squirrelNorth America and Asia; the Siberian flying squirrel reaches northeast Europe (Russia, Finland and Estonia).
• 🐾GopherNorth and Central America, from Canada through the US and Mexico to Panama and Colombia.
• 🐻Grizzly bearNorth America.
• 🐾GroundhogMuch of the eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska.
• 🐾GrouseTemperate and subarctic North America, Europe and Asia, as far north as 83°N.
• 🐇HareNative to Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, from Arctic tundra to desert edges.
• 🐾HellbenderEastern and central United States.
• 🐝HornetMainly Asia; the European hornet ranges across Europe to Siberia and was introduced to eastern North America. The Asian hornet is spreading in Europe.
• 🐾Horseshoe crabThe Atlantic coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, plus coasts of South, Southeast and East Asia.
• 🐦HummingbirdThe Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
• 🐾LemmingIn or near the Arctic across North America, Europe and Asia, including Norway and Siberia.
• 🐆LynxEurope, Asia and North America; the Iberian lynx only on the Iberian Peninsula.
• 🐾MagpieThe northern part of Europe and Asia.
• 🐾MarmotMountains such as the Alps, Carpathians and Sierra Nevada, and rough grassland across North America and the Eurasian steppe.
• 🐾MinkNative to North America; introduced to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America.
• 🐾MockingbirdThe Americas. The northern mockingbird breeds from south-eastern Canada through the US and Mexico to the Greater Antilles, and was introduced to Hawaii.
• 🦡MoleMost of North America, Europe (except Ireland) and Asia.
• 🦎Monitor lizardAfrica, Asia and Oceania, including New Guinea and Australia; the Nile monitor is invasive in South Florida.
• 🫎MooseNorthern forests of North America, northern Europe and northern Asia, from Scandinavia and the Baltic states to Russia and Mongolia.
• 🐐Mountain goatMountains of western North America, from Idaho and Montana through British Columbia and Alberta to southern Yukon and southeastern Alaska.
• 🐾MuskoxGreenland, Arctic Canada and Alaska; reintroduced to Siberia, and introduced to Norway, from where some spread to Sweden.
• 🐾MuskratMost of Canada and the US and a small part of northern Mexico; introduced to Europe, northern Asia and parts of South America.
• 🦎NewtNorth America, Europe, North Africa and Asia.
• 🐾NuthatchWoods of North America, Europe and Asia, with a few in North Africa (Algeria and Morocco).
• 🐆OcelotFrom the southwestern United States (Texas and Arizona) through Mexico and Central America to northern Argentina.
• 🐀OpossumThe Americas, from Canada to South America.
• 🐾OryxDry lands of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; gemsbok were also released in New Mexico, USA.
• 🐾PartridgeNative to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East; introduced to North America and elsewhere for hunting.
• 🐾PikaCold mountains and steppes of Asia and western North America; the large-eared pika lives above 6,000 m in the Himalayas.
• 🦔PorcupineOld World porcupines: Italy, West and South Asia and most of Africa. New World porcupines: North America and northern South America.
• 🐾Prairie dogThe Great Plains and grasslands of the western United States, the Canadian Prairies and northern Mexico.
• 🐾PronghornWestern and central North America, from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan through the western US into Mexico.
• 🐾PuffinNorth Atlantic coasts: Iceland, Norway, Britain, Ireland, the Faroes, Greenland and Canada, south to Maine and Brittany.
• 🦝RaccoonNorth America, and since the mid-20th century also central Europe, the Caucasus and Japan, from escapes and introductions.
• 🐍RattlesnakeThe Americas, from southern Canada to central Argentina.
• 🐾RavenAcross the Northern Hemisphere, the most widespread of all crows.
• 🦊Red foxAcross Europe, Asia, North America and North Africa. It was introduced to Australia in the 1830s and 1840s and is now an invasive predator there.
• 🦌ReindeerCircumpolar: the Arctic, subarctic, tundra and mountain regions of North America, Europe and Asia.
• 🐾RoadrunnerThe southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
• 🦎SalamanderMostly the Northern Hemisphere, richest in eastern North America; some in Central and South America.
• 🐾SawfishTropical and subtropical coasts, estuaries and rivers worldwide, but now gone from much of that range except northern Australia and Florida.
• 🦂ScorpionEvery continent except Antarctica.
• 🐾ShrewAlmost worldwide, except New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America (a few now live in the northern Andes).
• 🐍SidewinderDeserts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, and Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.
• 🦨SkunkThe Americas: striped skunks across North America, spotted skunks south to Costa Rica, and hog-nosed skunks in North and South America.
• 🐾Star-nosed moleMoist, low areas of northeastern North America.
• 🐾StoatEurasia and northern North America; introduced to New Zealand.
• 🐟SturgeonEastern North America, from New Brunswick in Canada to Florida, plus a reintroduced population in the Baltic Sea region of Europe.
• 🦢SwanEurope, Asia and North America, plus the black swan of Australia.
• 🕷️TarantulaThe Americas, Africa and Asia, in savanna, grassland, rainforest, desert, scrub, mountains and cloud forest.
• 🐢TerrapinDiamondback: US East Coast from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico coast and Bermuda.
• 🦃TurkeyNative to North America, including Mexico; domestic turkeys are farmed worldwide.
• 🐍ViperThe Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. The adder ranges from Britain across Eurasia to the Pacific, north of the Arctic Circle.
• 🐾VoleAcross North America, Europe and Asia.
• 🦅VultureOld World vultures: Europe, Africa and Asia. New World vultures and condors: North and South America.
• 🐾WeaselEurope, Asia and North America; the least weasel crossed to North America about 200,000 years ago.
• 🐺WolfAcross much of North America, Europe and Asia, from Arctic tundra to forest, steppe and desert edges.
• 🐾WolverineNorthern forests and tundra of the Northern Hemisphere: Canada, Alaska, the Nordic countries, Russia and Siberia.
• 🐦WoodpeckerWorldwide except Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the polar regions.
• 🐾WrenThe Americas, plus the Eurasian wren across Europe, Asia and North Africa.
• 🐠ZebrafishIndia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, mainly the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins; introduced in parts of the US.

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