Explore

Animals of South America

South America has the Amazon, the Andes and the grasslands between them, which gives it capybaras, anacondas, piranhas and electric eels in the rivers, llamas, vicuñas and condors in the mountains, and maned wolves on the plains.

The line under each animal says which part of the continent it lives in.

69 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AgoutiCentral America, northern and central South America and the southern Lesser Antilles; introduced elsewhere in the Caribbean and to Benin in West Africa.
• 🦙AlpacaDomestic, from the Andes of South America.
• 🐍AnacondaTropical South America.
• 🐠AngelfishTropical South America: the Amazon and Orinoco basins and rivers of the Guiana Shield.
• 🐜AnteaterCentral and South America.
• 🦫ArmadilloThe Americas.
• 🦎Basilisk lizardSouthern Mexico to Ecuador and Venezuela; the brown basilisk has been introduced to Florida.
• 🐆Black pantherMostly tropical forests: black leopards in Africa and Asia, black jaguars in Central and South America.
• 🐍Boa constrictorTropical South America.
• 🐸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.
• 🐾CaecilianWet tropics of South and Central America, East and West Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
• 🐊CaimanCentral and South America; the spectacled caiman has been introduced to Florida, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• 🐒Capuchin monkeyTropical forests of Central America and South America as far south as northern Argentina; Brazil has the most.
• 🐾CapybaraAll of South America except Chile.
• 🐾ChinchillaThe Andes; wild colonies are now known only in Chile.
• 🐾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.
• 🐈CougarThe widest range of any wild land animal in the Americas, from the Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes.
• 🐊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.
• 🐾Electric eelSouth America.
• 🦌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).
• 🐾GopherNorth and Central America, from Canada through the US and Mexico to Panama and Colombia.
• 🐾GuanacoPeru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, especially Patagonia, with a few in Paraguay; a small introduced herd lives in the Falklands.
• 🐹Guinea pigDomestic worldwide. It comes from the Andean region of South America and has no wild population.
• 🐠GuppyNative to Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Antigua; introduced to countries on every continent except Antarctica.
• 🐒Howler monkeyForests of Central and South America.
• 🐦HummingbirdThe Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
• 🦎IguanaTropical Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean; introduced to Florida, Hawaii and parts of Asia.
• 🐆JaguarFrom Mexico through Central America to northern Argentina, with strongholds in the Amazon basin and the Pantanal wetlands.
• 🐾KinkajouTropical rainforests of Mexico, Central America and South America.
• 🦙LlamaDomestic, from the Andes of South America.
• 🐾LungfishAfrica, South America and Australia; lungfish once lived all over the world.
• 🦜MacawMexico, Central America and South America; formerly the Caribbean.
• 🐾Maned wolfBrazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina, Bolivia and far southeastern Peru; very rare in Uruguay.
• 🐒MarmosetSouth America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.
• 🐾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.
• 🐵MonkeyCentral and South America (New World monkeys), and Africa and Asia (Old World monkeys). Most live in trees; some, like baboons, live on the ground.
• 🐾MuskratMost of Canada and the US and a small part of northern Mexico; introduced to Europe, northern Asia and parts of South America.
• 🐆OcelotFrom the southwestern United States (Texas and Arizona) through Mexico and Central America to northern Argentina.
• 🐀OpossumThe Americas, from Canada to South America.
• 🦜ParrotMostly tropical and subtropical regions, with the greatest variety in South America and Australasia.
• 🐧PenguinAlmost entirely the Southern Hemisphere, from Antarctica to the Galápagos Islands at the equator.
• 🐟PiranhaSouth American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs.
• 🐸Poison dart frogTropical Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Bolivia and Brazil; introduced to Hawaii.
• 🦔PorcupineOld World porcupines: Italy, West and South Asia and most of Africa. New World porcupines: North America and northern South America.
• 🐍RattlesnakeThe Americas, from southern Canada to central Argentina.
• 🐾RheaArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay; a small feral population lives in northeastern Germany.
• 🦎SalamanderMostly the Northern Hemisphere, richest in eastern North America; some in Central and South America.
• 🦂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).
• 🦨SkunkThe Americas: striped skunks across North America, spotted skunks south to Costa Rica, and hog-nosed skunks in North and South America.
• 🦥SlothTropical rainforests of Central and South America.
• 🐻Spectacled bearThe Andes of northern and western South America.
• 🐒Spider monkeyTropical forests from southern Mexico to Brazil.
• 🐒Squirrel monkeyTropical forests of the Amazon, with one species in Costa Rica and Panama.
• 🐒TamarinFrom southern Central America to central South America: northwestern Colombia, the Amazon basin and the Guianas.
• 🐾TapirCentral and South America, and Southeast Asia.
• 🕷️TarantulaThe Americas, Africa and Asia, in savanna, grassland, rainforest, desert, scrub, mountains and cloud forest.
• 🐾ToucanCentral and South America.
• 🦇Vampire batCentral and South America.
• 🐾VicunaThe central Andes of Peru, northwestern Argentina, Bolivia and northern Chile, at 3,200–4,800 m; introduced to Ecuador.
• 🐍ViperThe Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. The adder ranges from Britain across Eurasia to the Pacific, north of the Arctic Circle.
• 🦅VultureOld World vultures: Europe, Africa and Asia. New World vultures and condors: North and South America.
• 🐦WoodpeckerWorldwide except Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the polar regions.
• 🐾WrenThe Americas, plus the Eurasian wren across Europe, Asia and North Africa.
• 🐂ZebuThroughout the tropics: South Asia, China, Africa and Madagascar, and in large numbers in Brazil.

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