Identify Animals (Pictures): Expert

Binturong

A cat-like civet from Southeast Asia with a long prehensile tail that lives in the trees. Curiously, it smells distinctly of popcorn.

💡 Did you know? Its popcorn smell comes from the very molecule that is also produced when corn is roasted.

Fossa

The largest predator of Madagascar, slender and cat-like but related to the mongooses. It hunts mainly lemurs in the trees.

💡 Did you know? Despite its cat-like appearance, the fossa is not a cat.

Aye-aye

A nocturnal lemur from Madagascar with huge ears and an extremely long, thin middle finger. It uses it to tap wood and fish out grubs.

💡 Did you know? It is the only primate that finds prey by ‘tap-foraging’: echolocating grubs inside wood.

Kinkajou

A tree-dwelling relative of the raccoon from the rainforests of Central and South America, with a prehensile tail. It feeds mainly on fruit and nectar.

💡 Did you know? With its long tongue it laps nectar from flowers: pollinating them in the process.

Serval

A slender African wild cat with very long legs and large ears. It hunts rodents in tall grass with spectacular leaps.

💡 Did you know? The serval leaps over two metres high to knock birds out of the air.

Caracal

A powerful wild cat with striking black ear tufts, found across Africa and Asia. It is a skilled bird-hunter.

💡 Did you know? Caracals knock flushed birds out of the air with a lightning-fast leap.

Rock hyrax

A small, marmot-like mammal of Africa and the Middle East that lives among rocks. Surprisingly, its closest relative is the elephant.

💡 Did you know? Despite its size, the rock hyrax is among the closest living relatives of elephants.

Saiga antelope

A steppe antelope of Central Asia with a distinctive, trunk-like nose. It roams the steppe in large herds.

💡 Did you know? The grotesque nose filters out dust in summer and warms the inhaled air in winter.

Gaur

The largest wild cattle in the world, native to the forests of South and Southeast Asia. Despite its bulk it is a shy plant-eater.

💡 Did you know? A gaur bull can weigh over a tonne.

Takin

A massive hoofed animal of the Himalayas that looks like a mix of goat, wildebeest and cattle. It lives in mountain forests and bamboo thickets.

💡 Did you know? The takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

Markhor

A large wild goat from the mountains of Central Asia with spectacularly twisted horns. It climbs steep rock faces with ease.

💡 Did you know? The corkscrew-like horns can grow over a metre long.

Gerenuk

An East African gazelle with an extremely long neck. It stands on its hind legs to browse leaves from tall bushes.

💡 Did you know? Its name means ‘giraffe-necked’ in Somali.

Dik-dik

One of the smallest antelopes in the world, barely larger than a hare, from East Africa. Pairs live faithfully together in fixed territories.

💡 Did you know? Its name imitates the alarm ‘dik-dik’ call it makes when startled.

Proboscis monkey

A monkey of the swamps of Borneo whose males carry a huge, drooping nose. It is an excellent swimmer.

💡 Did you know? The male's large nose amplifies its calls and impresses the females.

Mandrill

The largest monkey in the world, from the rainforests of Central Africa, with a brilliantly blue-and-red face. It lives in huge groups.

💡 Did you know? The vivid facial colours are strongest in high-ranking males.

Platypus

An egg-laying mammal from Australia with a duck's bill, a beaver's tail and an otter's feet. It hunts underwater with its eyes closed.

💡 Did you know? The males carry venomous spurs on their hind legs: a rarity among mammals.