Mammal
Lion
The social big cat of the African savanna
Mammals
The guide features 194 species in the mammal class. Each profile answers the most-searched questions first.
What are mammals?
Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates defined by a combination of traits no other group shares: hair or fur, mammary glands that produce milk for their young, and (in almost all species) live birth. They range from the 2-gram bumblebee bat to the ~150-tonne blue whale — the largest animal that has ever lived. Most have specialised teeth and large, complex brains, and they inhabit every continent and ocean on Earth.
Mammal
Dog
Humanity's oldest animal companion
Mammal
Tiger
The largest cat species on Earth
Mammal
Cat
The world's favorite small predator
Mammal
African Elephant
The largest land animal alive today
Mammal
Honey Badger
The world's most fearless animal
Mammal
Arctic Fox
The white fox of the frozen tundra
Mammal
Giant Panda
The bamboo-eating bear of China's mountains
Mammal
Giraffe
The tallest animal on Earth
Mammal
Pangolin
The world's only scaly mammal
Mammal
Asian Elephant
The smaller cousin of Africa's giant
Mammal
Mountain Gorilla
The gentle giant of Rwanda's volcanoes
Mammal
Pygmy Hippopotamus
The small forest hippo of West Africa
Mammal
Blue Whale
The largest animal that has ever lived
Mammal
Aye-aye
Madagascar's nocturnal oddity
Mammal
Japanese Macaque
The hot-spring snow monkey of Japan
Mammal
Gray Wolf
The ancestor of the domestic dog
Mammal
Leopard
The stealthy, tree-climbing big cat
Mammal
Brown Bear
The widespread bear of the Northern Hemisphere
Mammal
Cow
The domestic cattle that feeds the world
Mammal
Polar Bear
The largest land carnivore, ruler of the Arctic
Mammal
Gorilla
The largest living primate
Mammal
Grizzly Bear
North America's iconic brown bear
Mammal
Leopard Seal
Antarctica's apex predator
Mammal
Clouded Leopard
The tree-climbing cat of Asian rainforests
Mammal
Sperm Whale
The deep-diving giant with the largest brain
Mammal
Tasmanian Devil
Australia's feisty marsupial scavenger
Mammal
Indian Rhinoceros
The armour-plated one-horned giant
Mammal
Red Panda
The fiery-furred resident of the Himalayas
Mammal
Philippine Tarsier
The wide-eyed nocturnal primate
Mammal
American Black Bear
North America's adaptable forest bear
Mammal
Bottlenose Dolphin
One of the ocean's most intelligent animals
Mammal
Rhinoceros
The armored giant with a horn of keratin
Mammal
Okapi
The forest giraffe of the Congo
Mammal
Mandrill
The world's most colourful primate
Mammal
Black Rhinoceros
Africa's hook-lipped browser in crisis
Mammal
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
The long-limbed acrobat of Central American forests
Mammal
Malayan Tapir
The black-and-white gardener of Asian rainforests
Mammal
Przewalski's Horse
The last truly wild horse
Mammal
Orca
The ocean's top predator
Mammal
Northern Elephant Seal
The deep-diving seal giant
Mammal
White Rhinoceros
The square-lipped giant of African grasslands
Mammal
Reindeer
The Arctic migrator and both-sex antlered deer
Mammal
Cheetah
The fastest land animal on Earth
Mammal
Zebra
The striped wild horse of the African plains
Mammal
White-handed Gibbon
The singing ape of the canopy
Mammal
Elk
The bugling giant of North American meadows
Mammal
Walrus
The tusked giant of the Arctic ice
Mammal
Bonobo
The peaceful ape of the Congo Basin
Mammal
Common Squirrel Monkey
The tiny big-brained monkey of the Amazon
Mammal
Red-necked Wallaby
The rusty-shouldered grazer of eastern Australia
Mammal
Sumatran Rhinoceros
The smallest, hairiest — and rarest — rhino
Mammal
Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo
The golden-striped kangaroo that lives in trees
Mammal
Chimpanzee
Our closest living relative
Mammal
Proboscis Monkey
Borneo's big-nosed swimmer
Mammal
Beluga Whale
The white whale of the Arctic
Mammal
Red Deer
The roaring stag of Eurasian woodlands
Mammal
Giant Anteater
South America's two-metre tongue specialist
Mammal
Javan Rhino
The rarest rhino on Earth
Mammal
Horse
The animal that carried human history
Mammal
African Wild Dog
Africa's cooperative pack hunter
Mammal
Eurasian Lynx
The tufted forest hunter of Europe and Asia
Mammal
Wild Boar
The ancestor of the domestic pig
Mammal
Humpback Whale
The acrobatic singer of the seas
Mammal
Banded Mongoose
The cobra's agile rival
Mammal
North American Beaver
Nature's engineer of wetlands
Mammal
Fin Whale
The sleek greyhound of the seas
Mammal
Malayan Tapir
The black-and-white forest gardener
Mammal
Sloth
The slowest mammal on Earth
Mammal
Fennec Fox
The tiny desert fox with enormous ears
Mammal
Wildebeest
The gnu of the great migration
Mammal
Domestic Pig
The intelligent farm mammal
Mammal
Bobcat
North America's adaptable wild cat
Mammal
Dingo
Australia's wild dog of the outback
Mammal
Sun Bear
The smallest bear of Southeast Asia's rainforests
Mammal
Sugar Glider
Nocturnal gliding marsupial of eucalypt forests
Mammal
Wolverine
The fierce scavenger of the boreal north
Mammal
Olive Baboon
Africa's adaptable monkey
Mammal
Hamster
The classic pocket-sized pet rodent
Mammal
Mule Deer
The big-eared deer of western North America
Mammal
Koala
Australia's iconic eucalyptus-eating marsupial
Mammal
Sea Otter
The tool-using keystone of the kelp forest
Mammal
Manatee
The gentle sea cow of warm coastal waters
Mammal
Aardvark
Africa's ant-eating oddity
Mammal
Ferret
The playful domestic mustelid
Mammal
Capuchin Monkey
The clever New World monkey
Mammal
Domestic Goat
The agile browser
Mammal
Guinea Pig
The gentle social rodent from the Andes
Mammal
Sloth Bear
India's shaggy insect-eating bear
Mammal
Short-beaked Echidna
Spiny egg-laying anteater of Australia
Mammal
Saiga Antelope
Bulbous-nosed steppe antelope of Central Asia
Mammal
Jaguar
The Americas' largest and most powerful cat
Mammal
Howler Monkey
The loudest land animal in the Americas
Mammal
Chinchilla
The soft-furred rodent of the Andes
Mammal
Spectacled Bear
The only bear native to South America
Mammal
Ocelot
The spotted cat of the Americas
Mammal
Red Fox
The most widespread wild carnivore on Earth
Mammal
Snow Leopard
The elusive ghost of the mountains
Mammal
Platypus
The egg-laying, duck-billed mammal of Australia
Mammal
Water Buffalo
The wallowing bovine of Asia
Mammal
Domestic Sheep
Humanity's oldest livestock
Mammal
Nine-Banded Armadillo
North America's armoured digger
Mammal
Caracal
The tufted hunter of Africa and Asia
Mammal
Serval
Africa's long-legged pounce specialist
Mammal
Pronghorn
Fastest land mammal in the Americas
Mammal
Hippopotamus
Africa's deadliest large land mammal
Mammal
Raccoon
The masked, clever-handed night raider
Mammal
Muskox
The Ice Age survivor of the Arctic
Mammal
Brown Lemming
The tundra rodent of myth
Mammal
Warthog
Africa's tusked savanna pig
Mammal
Dugong
The gentle sea cow of the Indo-Pacific
Mammal
Fossa
Cat-like apex predator of Madagascar
Mammal
Rabbit
The fast-breeding pet and classic prey animal
Mammal
Sea Lion
The agile, barking acrobat of the coast
Mammal
Narwhal
The tusked unicorn of the sea
Mammal
Thomson's Gazelle
The small antelope of the Serengeti
Mammal
Grey Seal
The horse-faced seal of the Atlantic
Mammal
Llama
The Andean pack animal and flock guardian
Mammal
Golden Jackal
The adaptable wild dog of three continents
Mammal
Bighorn Sheep
Mountain sheep with massive curling horns
Mammal
Red Kangaroo
The largest marsupial and a powerful hopper
Mammal
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
The keystone burrower of the plains
Mammal
Greater Bilby
Long-eared desert bandicoot
Mammal
Mountain Goat
Sure-footed climber of North American peaks
Mammal
Meerkat
The cooperative sentinel of the Kalahari
Mammal
Ring-Tailed Lemur
Madagascar's striped-tailed, sun-bathing primate
Mammal
Springbok
South Africa's pronking antelope
Mammal
Alpaca
The Andean fleece specialist
Mammal
Minke Whale
The smallest and most abundant rorqual
Mammal
Muskrat
North America's pond-building rodent
Mammal
Numbat
Diurnal termite-eating marsupial
Mammal
Groundhog
North America's weather-watching marmot
Mammal
North American Porcupine
The quilled climber of northern forests
Mammal
Spotted-tailed Quoll
Largest mainland Australian marsupial carnivore
Mammal
Snowshoe Hare
Colour-changing hare of northern forests
Mammal
American Mink
The semi-aquatic mustelid
Mammal
Donkey
The hardy working companion of arid lands
Mammal
Vicuña
Wild Andean camelid with ultrafine wool
Mammal
Pine Marten
The agile forest mustelid
Mammal
Guanaco
Wild South American camelid ancestor of the llama
Mammal
White-tailed Deer
The Americas' most familiar deer
Mammal
Harbor Seal
The shy, spotted true seal of northern coasts
Mammal
Northern Flying Squirrel
North America's gliding rodent
Mammal
Stoat
The ermine in winter white
Mammal
Fisher
Arboreal mustelid that can prey on porcupines
Mammal
Striped Hyena
Nocturnal scavenger of Africa and Asia
Mammal
Aardwolf
Termite-eating hyena relative of African plains
Mammal
Blackbuck
Spirally horned antelope of the Indian plains
Mammal
Hedgehog
The spiny night-time garden visitor
Mammal
Coyote
North America's adaptable 'song dog'
Mammal
Common Shrew
The tiny insectivore with a fierce appetite
Mammal
Bat-eared Fox
Huge-eared fox that listens for insects
Mammal
Nilgai
Largest Asian antelope, also called blue bull
Mammal
Squirrel
The agile, tree-climbing rodent of parks and woods
Mammal
Mouse
The world's most widespread small rodent
Mammal
Kirk's Dik-dik
Tiny antelope that whistles when alarmed
Mammal
Otter
The playful, water-loving member of the weasel family
Mammal
Bat
The only mammals capable of true flight
Mammal
Capybara
The world's largest rodent
Mammal
Rat
The clever, adaptable rodent that lives everywhere humans do
Mammal
Camel
The desert traveler that thrives without water
Mammal
American Bison
North America's largest land animal
Mammal
Cougar
The wide-ranging big cat with many names
Mammal
Quokka
The smiling marsupial of Western Australia
Mammal
Moose
The largest member of the deer family
Mammal
Badger
The striped night-digger of British woodlands
Mammal
Large Flying Fox
Endangered fruit bat of island canopies
Mammal
Guereza Colobus
Black-and-white leaf monkey of African canopy
Mammal
Vervet Monkey
Alarm-calling savanna primate of Africa
Mammal
Verreaux's Sifaka
Dancing lemur of Madagascar's spiny forest
Mammal
European Polecat
Wild ancestor of the domestic ferret
Mammal
Nine-banded Armadillo
Armoured digger marching through the Americas
Mammal
Collared Peccary
Collared herd animal of American scrublands
Mammal
Dall Sheep
White horned climber of northern peaks
Mammal
Klipspringer
Rubber-hoofed dancer of African kopjes
Mammal
Long-nosed Bandicoot
Nocturnal digger of Australian leaf litter
Mammal
Eastern Quoll
Spotted Tasmanian survivor lost from the mainland
Mammal
Orangutan
The great ape of the Southeast Asian rainforest
Mammal
Spotted Hyena
The social, powerful hunter of the African savanna
Mammal
Wombat
The powerful Australian digger famous for cube-shaped droppings
Mammal
Chipmunk
The striped, cheek-stuffing squirrel of North America
Mammal
Vampire Bat
The only mammal that lives entirely on blood
Mammal
Skunk
The black-and-white mammal with a chemical defence
Mammal
Weasel
Britain's smallest carnivore, built for chasing prey into burrows
Mammal
Opossum
North America's only marsupial
Mammal
Vaquita
The world's most endangered marine mammal
Mammal
Hare
The long-legged sprinter of open fields
Mammal
Mole
The tunnelling insectivore behind every molehill
Mammal
Yak
The shaggy ox of the high Himalayas
Mammal
Impala
The acrobatic leaper of the African savanna
Mammal
Ibex
The mountain climber with sweeping ridged horns
Mammal
Uakari
The crimson-faced monkey of the flooded Amazon
Mammal
Urial
The wild sheep of the Central Asian hills
Mammal
Xerus
The African ground squirrel that shades itself with its tail
Frequently asked questions
What are mammals?
Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates defined by a combination of traits no other group shares: hair or fur, mammary glands that produce milk for their young, and (in almost all species) live birth. They range from the 2-gram bumblebee bat to the ~150-tonne blue whale — the largest animal that has ever lived. Most have specialised teeth and large, complex brains, and they inhabit every continent and ocean on Earth.
How many mammals are in the Global Animal Guide?
The Global Animal Guide currently features 194 mammals with full, answer-first profiles covering diet, habitat, size, and conservation status.