Mammals Encyclopedia

Barbary Ape — The Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is a tail-less macaque. Found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco with a small, possibly introduced, population in Gibraltar, the Barbary Macaque is one of the best-known Old World monkey species. Besides humans, they are the only primates that live freely in Europe. Although the species is commonly referred to …

Bandicoot — A bandicoot is any of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. The word bandicoot is an anglicised form of the Telugu word pandi-kokku, (loosely, pig-rat) which originally referred to the unrelated Indian Bandicoot Rat. The other two species of peramelemorphs are the bilbies. Classification within the Peramelemorphia used to be …

Badger — Badger is the common name for any animal of three subfamilies, which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same mammal family as the ferrets, the weasels, the otters, and several other types of carnivore. There are eight species of badger, in three subfamilies: Melinae (badgers of Europe and Asia), Mellivorinae (the Ratel or honey badger), and Taxideinae (the …

Babirusa — The Babirusa or pig-deer, Babyrousa babyrussa, is a pig-like animal native to Sulawesi and surrounding islands of Indonesia. It has two pairs of large tusks; enlarged canine teeth that curve back up through the top of the snout. This species is considered endangered. The Babirusa is native to the large eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi and surrounding islands. …

Baboon — The five baboon species are some of the largest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill and the Drill are larger. In modern scientific use, only members of the genus Papio are called baboons, but previously the closely related Gelada (genus Theropithecus) and two species of Mandrill and Drill (genus Mandrillus) were grouped in the same …

Aye-Aye — The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a strepsirrhine native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unique method of finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the …

Ass — The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae family, and an odd-toed ungulate. The words refer to the domesticated E. asinus. The animal considered to be its wild ancestor, is called the African Wild Ass, also E. asinus. Colloquially, the term “ass” is usually used today to refer to a larger, horse-sized animal, and …

Armadillo — Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a bony armor shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata. Until as recently as 1995, the family was placed in the order Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for “little armored one”. There are approximately 10 extant genera and …

Capybara — Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, also known as capibara, chigüiro and carpincho in Spanish, and capivara in Portuguese) is the largest living rodent in the world. It is related to agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs. Its common name, derived from Kapiyva in the Guarani language, means “master of the grasses” while its scientific name, hydrochaeris, is Greek for “water …

Anteater — Anteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. The name is also colloquially applied to the aardvark, the numbat, the echidna, and the pangolin. Together with the sloths, they comprise the order Pilosa. Species include the Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla, about 1.8 m (6 ft.) long including the tail; …