Children Illustrated Animal Atlas by DK

Carrion crow

The crow has a huge brain for its size.
It’s so smart that it makes and uses
tools, and recognizes faces. It will even

teach other crows to identify
a mean human!

BARENTS SEA

This type of finch’s bill crTuhseheinidgerthsewiralslhowelslsminusisteslsstwohmoalec,h.
is crossed at the tip,
which is ideal for
pulling conifer seeds
out of cones.

Parrot Also called the fish The wolverine is the Common eider
crossbill eagle, the osprey biggest member of the
plunges into water weasel family. It has a The eider is the Northern Hemisphere’s
Used as Christmas trees, feetfirst to grab bite so powerful it can largest duck. Mother eiders lead their
the Norway spruce can fish with its talons. crush bone. chicks to the sea, where they swim in
grow to 131 ft (40 m) groups of more than 150 chicks!
in height and live for
1,000 years.

Osprey

Wolverine

Norway RUSSIAN The jay survives cold SCALE
spruce FEDERATION winters by storing food,
especially berries. It hides 0 100 miles
Northern them in trees, or covers
them with bark and lichens. 0 100 kilometers

OnLeagkea Male capercaillies perform Dvina Siberian HABITAT KEY
Western a dance in an area called a jay
“lek” to attract females. They
capercaillie put their tails up, their wings Mountains Coniferous
down, and make sounds like Deciduous forests
forests
popping corks! Sukhoma

This toad’s skin gives off Common Stoat
a nasty substance that toad
stops most predators The stoat is a lightning-
from eating it. It can fast member of the
live for up to 40 years. weasel family. Usually
reddish brown, its coat
Location turns white in winter,
making it hard to see
This part of the taiga runs against the snow.
across the top of Europe The tip of its tail,
eastward to the Ural however, stays dark.
Mountains in western
Russia. Winters here are Whenita’ssctaoalltedhaasnietsrmwihniet.e coat, 49
very cold and snowy.

British Isles European badger d

The British Isles are made up of the United The badger likes to live in groups.
Kingdom—which includes England, Scotland, Six or more share a system of
Wales, and Northern Ireland—and the Republic underground tunnels called a sett,
of Ireland. Although wolves and bears once lived which they dig out with powerful
here, today the largest wild mammal is a deer. claws. One badger can eat
hundreds of earthworms
in a single night!
n
s

a
d

l
n

et
la

h
s

S
I

N Cold British waters y
WE don’t bother this marine
C mammal. It has a 2½ in e
S N (6 cm) layer of fat under its s
skin, called blubber, to
TI keep it warm. n
EA d

N k
n

r
a

A O
sl

L I

AT
OC

des Gray seal This wildcat looks like a
big domestic cat, but it’s
SCALE i really a fierce, strong
predator with 18
0 50 miles r razor-sharp claws! The E5u,r0o0p0easnpihneedsgienhoigtshcaosata.round

0 50 kilometers b

e

H

ter European hedgehog
des
If threatened, this hedgehog curls up
HABITAT KEY Ou ANS into a ball. Although it is known for
bri eating earthworms and slugs, it actually
prefers insects—even wasps and bees.
Wetlands Coniferous e
Mountains forests
Deciduous H Scottish
forests wildcat
Inner GRAMPI
Red squirrel Red squirrels can be
right- or left-handed—
Location you can tell by the way NORTH SEA
they handle a pinecone.
This group of islands is
found off the northwest Clyd Edinburgh
coast of mainland Europe.
The weather is often wet e
and windy, but summers
can also be very warm.

Scotland

Northern LAKE Shore crabs must shed
Ireland DISTRICT their old shells as they
grow because once it
Belfast Ouse Green hardens, the shell
shore crab can’t get any bigger.
European Red
robin Male deer are called stags. deer
Tiny, feisty robins sing Their horns, called antlers,
even in winter. A male must be regrown every year The barn owl has a
robin will fight to the and can reach 3 ft (1 m) across. heart-shaped face. Its
death for his territory, color and silent flight
which he may keep mean it is often called
for life. Mersey the “ghost owl.”
Dublin NIA
annon
Sh Barrow English oaks can grow
SNOWDO up to 131 ft (40 m)
IRELAND SevernUNITED high. They don’t Barn owl
KINGDOM produce acorns until
they are at least
40 years old.

Eurasian Red kite Wales English Seven-spot
otter oak tree ladybug
The red kite likes to Cardiff Thames
Harbor decorate its nest with This tiny beetle eats a
Webbed feet make porpoise odd items—and has London pest called an aphid. Just
the otter a fast, agile Shallow, cold-water even been known to one ladybug can eat over
swimmer. It has two bays are this porpoise’s steal clothes from Hazel E n g l a n d 5,000 aphids in its
layers of fur: a warm favorite place. It hunts clotheslines! lifetime—which is just
inner one, and a thick, for fish and shellfish on dormouse one year.
waterproof outer one. the seabed.

The dormouse’s paws turn ENGLISH CHANNEL
sideways to help it climb. FRANCE
It can spend three-quarters
Buff-tailed bumblebee of the year either asleep
or in hibernation!
Unlike honeybees, which live in hives,
bumblebees nest in the ground, usually s lhaanndnse l
in an abandoned mouse or vole hole.
They are important pollinators and
rarely sting.
CI

51
Baunmd bnleecbteaers fcroolmlecftlopwolelresn. Common European adder

The adder is the only venomous snake
in Britain, but this shy, secretive snake is
rarely seen. The zigzag pattern on its
back helps it hide under leaf litter.

European FINLAND
forests
N O R WAY Stockholm
Oslo
BA LT I C S E A
Forests here mostly have a mix of trees. Some, like ESTO

the Bavarian Forest in Germany, have more conifers, SWEDEN
such as spruce. Others, such as Białoweża Forest in
This little rodent
Poland, have more broad-leaved trees, like oak. All, Copenhagen doesn’t hibernate in LATVIA

however, provide great homes for animals. winter. Instead, it
moves around beneath
Families of blue tits gather DENMARK the snow, searching for LITHUANIA

plants to eat.

together in winter to search A wood ant colony
for food. They eat insects in contains around
the summer, but eat seeds 250,000 workers.
in the winter. The Hague GERMANY This ant can spray
NETHERLANDS
formic acid to keep
Amsterdam Berlin enemies away! Bank vole

London Warsaw
BRITISH ISLES
Brussels This millipede might look Red wood POLAND
scary, but it is actually a ant This insect gets its name from
vegetarian—it eats the male’s jaws, which look
B E L G I U M rotting plants.
Nightjars live in Africa in the Eurasian Prague like the antlers of a male
winter, but return to Europe blue tit LUXEMBOURG deer, or stag. Males get up to
to nest in the spring. Their CZECH 3 in (7.5 cm) long.
speckled feathers hide them Paris Black REPUBLIC SLOVAKIA
perfectly among dead leaves. millipede

LICHTENSTEIN Vienna

AUSTRIA Bratislava

This mink is one European nightjar Bern Budapest
of Europe’s most FRANCE SWITZERLAND
endangered mammals. S L O V E N I A H U N G A R Y Stag beetle
It lives near rivers and Ljubljana ROMANIA
streams, and hunts Zagreb
SERBIA
CROATIA

mostly at night. European BOSNIA & Belgrade
mink HERZEGOVINA Pristina Sofia
MONACO SAN MARINO
Sarajevo

ANDORRA VATICAN CITY MONTENEGRO B

Podgorica KOSOVO
Skopje

M E Rome I TA L Y Tirana MACEDONIA

D I T E NEAN ALBANIA
S E
R R A GREECE
A

52 red fox’s bushy tail is Red fox Location
called a brush.
This adaptable mammal can live There are areas of forest
almost anywhere—farms or city in mainland Europe from
centers, marshes or mountaintops. Portugal as far as Russia.
It lives in more places in the world Some get really hot in
than any other carnivore. summer, while others
are cool all year round.
A

LadoLagkae OneLgaake SCALE

Helskini The ancient Romans 0 200 miles
Tallinn thought this dormouse Common
was very tasty—which wood pigeon 0 200 kilometers
ONIA is how it got its name.
This pigeon lives in
Riga woodlands, parks, gardens,
and even cities. Its feathers
weigh more than its skeleton!

The le9a1⁄s2tinwe(2as4eclmis) only about
long.
Edible
dormouse Moscow Least weasel
Vilnius
The roe deer has a varied Small, energetic, and deadly, the weasel
Minsk diet, eating everything hunts mice and voles in their burrows,
BELARUS from fungi and ferns to which it often uses to make a den of
leaves and acorns. Baby its own. It even lines its nest with its
Kiev roe deer are called kids. Grass snake prey’s fur in winter.
Roe deer

RUSSIAN Don This snake has no venom. Volga
FEDERATION If it’s threatened and can’t
escape, it plays dead, or HABITAT KEY
releases a nasty smelling
substance from its rear end!

This colorful bird is named This wild ancestor of the Scrublands Coniferous
for its calls, which sound domestic pig lives on every Temperate forests
like “hoop, hoop, hoop.” continent except Antarctica. grasslands Deciduous
It spends most of its time Males can grow to 6 ft Mountains forests
(1.8 m) long and weigh up
Common on the ground, hunting Wild boar to 661 lb (300 kg).
hoopoe for insects.
MOLDOVA N
UKRAINE WE

Chisinau S

Bucharest BLACK SEA
ULGARIA

Daubenton’s bat

This “super-sleeper” hibernates for
about six months of the year. It likes to
roost near water in caves, abandoned
mines, tunnels, or hollow trees.

Daubentionns’esctbaptrseyuaset sound to find Eurasian eagle owl
night.
This owl is one of the largest in
the world—it has a wingspan of
almost 6½ ft (2 m). It is so big, it
can catch mammals as large as a

full-grown fox or young deer!

The Alps Location

The mountains of the Alps divide the cooler The Alps stretch through
northern parts of Europe from the warm southern eight countries in total.
parts. With mountain lakes, glaciers, meadows, The highest parts are
and forests, there are plenty of places for different always snowy, but in
animals to live. As many as 30,000 different summer lower parts can
species make their home here. reach 86˚ F (30˚ C).

Young shrews “caravan”
behind their mother, by
following each other in a
line, holding onto the shrew
in front by their mouth!

This hoofed mammal is able to GERMANY
N run up to 31 mph (50 kph), even
on a snow-covered mountain!

WE LICHTENSTEIN AUSTRIA

S SWITZERLAND Alpine shrew

FRANCE Chamois SLOVENIA
Bern
This ptarmigan Rock Ljubljana
Alpine turns white in the ptarmigan
ibex winter to hide
Alpine from predators
salamander in the snow.
Alpine
The endangered Apollo chough
Apollo butterfly’s bright-red wing Built for flight, CROATIA
butterfly spots fade in the sun, so the alpine chough
has been seen
older butterflies have spots soaring as high as
that are more orange. 26,250 ft (8,000 m)

I TA LY above sea level!

The sure-footed ibex has SCALE
long curved horns that
grow up to 40 in
(100 cm) long in males. HABITAT KEY 0 100 miles

Although it mostly Scrublands Coniferous 0 100 kilometers
comes out at night, this Mountains forests
little black salamander Deciduous
also ventures out in the forests
daytime after rain.

Alpine marmot

The alpine marmot digs
long, deep burrows where
it hibernates for up to nine
months of the year. When
Pine marten hibernating, a marmot

Powerful forelimbs and strong breathes just one to two
times a minute!
claws make martens excellent The mmaearmdoowtsliavnesd ipnashtiugrhesa.lpine
54 climbers. They even race through

the trees to hunt squirrels.

European Black-bellied hamster
steppe
This hamster digs summer
The steppe is a temperate grassland habitat. and fall burrows 191⁄2 in
Many animals here are seasonal visitors from
other habitats, while some, such as hamsters (50cm) below the ground’s
and moles, live here all year round. surface. Its winter burrow

can be 61⁄2 ft (2 m) deep.
When swimming, this
hamster inflates its
cheek pouches to act
like water wings!

Blbalcakckf-ubrelolnieditshaumndsetresridites gives the
name.

RUSSIAN
FEDERATION
SCALE This big bird of prey can
This pink and black live for up to 32 years.
0 200 miles starling eats locusts It makes a nest, called
and other grasshoppers an aerie, in a tall tree
0 200 kilometers Minsk it finds on the steppe. The colorful marbled Golden eagle or on a cliff ledge.
polecat travels up to
0.6 miles (1 km) a night Although they each have their
searching for food. own burrow, there might be 6,000
BELARUS giant mole rats in just 0.4 sq miles
(1 sq km) of grassland!
The mole’s big forepaws Kiev Rosy starling Marbled
are always turned UKRAINE polecat HABITAT KEY
outward to help it dig its
underground tunnels.

European Great Eurasian Giant mole Temperate Coniferous
mole bustard harvest mouse rat grasslands forests
Weighing just Scrublands Deciduous
0.2 oz (6 g), Mountains forests
the tiny harvest
ROMANIA This is the heaviest mouse is Europe’s N
Bucharest flying bird on Earth. smallest rodent.
Males weigh up to
BULGARIA 35 lb (16 kg)!
Sofia
WE

MACEDONIA S

Location Onlyomn atlheesirhabvaeckas.crest 55

The European steppe Northern crested newt
stretches from Romania
in the west to the Ural Also called the great crested newt, this
Mountains in the east, amphibian gets up to 61⁄2 in (17 cm)
where it merges with long. Newts are most active at night,
the Asian steppe. and spend the day hiding in ponds, or
under damp logs or rocks.
Common nightingale

This little bird is plain to look at,
but its song sets it apart. Nightingale
songs have high and low notes,
phrases, and trills that other birds
can’t make.

Mediterranean Mediterranean chameleon
scrubland
This is one of only two chameleon species
The coastal areas around the Mediterranean Sea found in Europe. Its tongue is sticky to catch
contain rocky hills and flat, shrub-filled plains. This passing insects. It is also
rare habitat is found in only a few places on Earth. twice the length
Plants here can survive wildfires, and animals have of its body!
to deal with hot, dry weather.

This wolf is thinner and FRANCE Rhöne MONACO
smaller than other European
wolves. It hunts rabbits, deer, N ardin i aC o r s i c a
wild boar, birds, and fish. W E Garon

S
ne
o Mediterranean
Ebr P Y R E N E E S banded centipede This centipede paralyzes
Iberian wolf ANDORRA Mediterranean its prey with a venomous
Madrid Tagus tree frog bite and will give a
S PA I N This frog is usually bright human a painful nip
green or blue. It has suckers too—so stay well away!
on its fingers and toes
PORTUGAL that let it climb with ease.

Jeweled The cuckoo lays its eggs in S
lizard other birds’ nests. When
the cuckoo chick hatches,
Lisbon This monkey is found Majorca it pushes all the other
in Africa and on the eggs out—so the parent
island of Gibraltar, birds feed it instead! Common
near Spain. It is the The sapphire-like blue spots on cuckoo
only wild monkey Iberian its body give this lizard its name.
in Europe. ibex It is the largest lizard in Europe
at about 231⁄2 in (60 cm) long.
Iberian pig R R A N E A N SEA

E D I T E

This pig is a A type of wild goat, male M
farmed animal, Iberian ibexes have horns
but lives in open that grow up to 291⁄2 in HABITAT KEY
country, looking (75 cm) long!
for mushrooms, Barbary SCALE Scrublands Coniferous
roots, and acorns macaque forests
from cork oaks. Wetlands
0 200 miles Deciduous

0 200 kilometers Mountains forests

European rabbit Location

The European rabbit is the This region includes the
ancestor of all pet rabbits in
the world. Unlike its enemy, southern parts of Europe
around the Mediterranean
the Iberian lynx, the rabbit Sea, as well as islands
has been seen in yards and
56 parks, and even in busy cities. like Crete that share a
similar habitat.

nThecetahra-wrikchmfoltohwewrildlaryetaufrtnertdoaay. Hummingbird Iberian lynx
hawk moth
Just 404 adult Iberian
This insect beats its lynxes are left in the
wings so fast that they
make a humming wild, so this is the most
sound—just like the endangered cat on

birds it’s named after. Earth—but the good
It feeds on nectar news is this figure
made by flowers like is nearly twice the
buddleia and
honeysuckle. number of wild lynxes
alive a few years ago!

Zagreb The Iabneirmiaanl—lytnhxe mEuorsotplyeahnunratsbbjuits.t
CROATIA one

SAN MARINO Golden Belgrade
jackal

The golden jackal BOSNIA & ROMANIA
is found in many places, HERZEGOVINA
including southeastern
I TA LY Europe, northern Sarajevo SERBIA

Africa, and
southern Asia.
MONTENEGRO
Pristina
VATICAN CITY
Rome A D R Podgorica KOSOVO
The cork oak is I Skopje
A T IC SEA BULGARIA

one of few trees Tirana MACEDONIA
that can grow new
bark. The cork bark is
harvested once every ALBANIA
nine years to make bottle
stoppers and other items. Cork oak Dalmatian
pelican G R E E C E
The magpie is so smart In addition to making
that it can make and use other sounds, this
tools. It eats insects and pelican barks and
seeds, and will even steal hisses! When fishing,
other birds’ eggs. it fills up its beak
with food to eat later.
Eurasian Marginated
magpie This plant-eating tortoise
Sicily tortoise lives mostly
in Greece, in thorny, Athens

MEDITERRANEAN SEA rocky, scrubby areas.

M A LTA

Crete 57

Mediterranean house gecko

This little gecko is about 4 in (10 cm) long
and weighs about as much as a sugar cube. It is
also called a “moon lizard” because it mostly comes
out at night. It eats small cockroaches and moths.

Bialowieza Red deer Red deer find
Forest leaves, small twigs, and bark
to eat in the fall and winter,
Białowieża is lowland Europe’s only old-growth, and herbs and grasses during
or “primeval,” forest. Forests like this once covered the summer.
all of northeastern Europe. Its many different trees
and habitats mean Białowieża is home to thousands
of animals, including the rare European bison!

Pine marten Pine martens
are related to weasels but,
unlike weasels, they hunt in
the trees. They chase small
mammals such as squirrels.

All domestic dogs are descended Red fox Foxes feed on a wide
from the gray wolf. variety of foods. In Białowieża,
they eat yellow-necked mice,
Gray wolf hares, and the carcasses of red
deer killed by wolves or lynxes.
The gray wolf is found in Europe,
North America, and Asia. Packs of
four to five wolves hunt deer, elk,
wild boar, rabbits, and beavers.

Common toad A male and female red fox
have a territory that they
Many parts of this forest are wet, share, which is where they
including rare places known as “spruce raise their young.
bog forests,” where coniferous spruce trees
58 grow in very wet ground. These habitats

make a perfect home for the common toad!

Old-growth forests have
plenty of standing dead
trees as well as live ones.
Woodpecker nests or holes
where the tree has rotted
make ideal bat roosts.

Great spotted woodpecker
Woodpeckers nest in holes
made in tree trunks. They
search for tasty insect prey
in the bark.

European bison The bison Tawny owl This woodland
is Europe’s largest land owl hunts at night for birds,
mammal. There are around rodents, amphibians such as
900 in Białowieża forest. frogs, and bats to eat.

Yellow-necked mouse Eurasian red squirrel Noctule bat
This mouse prefers living in Eurasian red squirrels like
woodland, because it eats a to eat seeds, especially from Noctule bats nest in
lot of tree seeds. It is also an conifer trees. hollow trees. The holes
excellent tree climber! Eurasian badger Badgers must be high enough to
are common in forests. In avoid predators such as
addition to plenty of worms pine martens. Noctules
to eat, they find lots of hollow are one of the first bats
trees, which they use as to come out at night,
daytime shelters. and hunt moths and
flying ants.

Eurasian beaver Location

The Eurasian beaver disappeared from Białowieża Forest
Białowieża in the mid-19th century due covers 579 sq miles
to hunting. It was reintroduced in 1956. (1,500 sq km) across
Today, they live all along the rivers, Poland and Belarus.
streams, and ponds throughout the forest. Temperatures range
from 21˚ F (-6˚ C) in
winter to 75˚ F (24˚ C)

in summer.

Btehaavterkseperposdtuhceeiranfuorilwyastuerbpsrtoaonf.ce 59

Asia Savanna

Welcome to Earth’s largest continent! Asia This region in northern India is warm
contains half the world’s human population, all year round. It has the highest
but there is still a lot of land for wildlife. grasslands in the world—some
Habitats here include vast deserts, grassy grow more than 10ft (3m)
plains, snowy mountains, and dense, tall! The grasslands provide
green rain forests. food for deer and rhinos,
and cover for predators
such as the tiger.

M

E

D

I

T BLA
RKE
E CK
Y
R T

R CYPRUS U GEOR
S
SEA
A
E

N A JO K A Z A K H S TA N
A
CASPIAN SEA
E N ANGIA
ARMENIA
UZ
AZERBAIJAN TURKM BEKISTANENISTAN

LEBANON SYRIA

ISRAEL RDAN KYRGYZSTAN
IRAQ
RED SEA KUWAIT I R A N TAJIKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN

SAUDI BAHRAIN PAKIST
ARABIA QATAR

City wildlife UNITED NEPAL
ARAB
The Turkish capital of Istanbul is rich in wildlife—
337 of the country’s 483 bird species, such as this EMIRATES
seagull, live here. The city is also part of an important
migration route for hundreds of thousands of storks, YEMEN OMAN INDIA
raptors, and water birds each year. OF
GULF OF ADEN ARABIAN
60 SEA SRI LANKA
Socotra
N INDIAN

WE
Arabian highlands Maldives

The Arabian highlands are S BAY
made of the mountains and high
plateaus that border the desert
of the Arabian Peninsula, in
southwest Asia. The highlands
are cooler than the desert, and
have more rainfall, so shrubs and
grasses can grow. These plants are
food for animals such as camels.

ARCTIC EAST
OCEAN SIBERIAN

SEA BERING SEA

S

RUSSIAN EA OF OKHOTSK Himalayas
FEDERATION
Running through northeast India and parts of
Kurile Islands five other Asian countries, the Himalayas are
the world’s highest mountains. Their highest,
rockiest areas offer enough food sources for
the rare snow leopard, and this strong yak.

MONGOLIA S E A O F JA PA N J A PA N HABITAT KEY

NORTH Tropical forests
KOREA Deciduous forests
Coniferous forests
SOUTH Tropical grasslands
KOREA Scrublands
Temperate grasslands
CHINA EAST Desert
CHINA Wetlands
Mountains
SEA Tundra
Ice
BHUTAN TAIWAN PA C I F I C Mangroves
OCEAN

BANGLADESH MYANMAR P H
(BURMA) PH
I

LAOS Hainan L
Dao
I

BEN THAILAND PPINE Bornean rain forest
CAMBODIA ILIPP
GAL VIETNAM SOUTH Borneo is the third-biggest
CHINA I island in the world, and the
GTUH Bornean rain forest is 140 million
AInsldaanmd sa n SEA S years old! About 221 mammal
N species live here, including Asia’s
only great ape, the highly
EA endangered orangutan.
ES

dbsar ASNEDAA M A N A I L F NODF
L A
N iIcsol a n BRUNEI

M A L AY S I A

eo
Born SCALE
Sumatra S I A
0 500 miles 1000 miles
OCEAN I N D O N E 61
J AV AS EA 0 1000 kilometers
EAST TIMOR

Java

TIMOR SEA

Russian KARA SEA
taiga
Fur-covered flaps of
Taiga is also called “snow forest.” It’s found in cool, skin linking its legs let
high places, like in northeast Russia, and is made this tiny squirrel glide
up of coniferous forests. Animals use trees for food from tree to tree.
and shelter, and as places to hide from predators.

Brown bear The sable is a member Siberian flying
of the weasel family. squirrel
The most widespread of all It hunts chipmunks,
bear species, the brown bear mice, and birds. Sable
eats mostly roots, berries,
and other parts of plants, This deer has fangs! Siberian
but it will also hunt animals. They’re really tusklike musk deer
Adults can be more than teeth that the males This wapiti is a large
7 ft (2 m) tall when they stand use to fight each other. type of deer that forms
herds of 100 or more
on their hind legs. in the fall.

ysh Siberian wapiti
brown bear tfaokr essaltmo otnh.e river Yenisei
A to hunt
Ob
Irt
Fast-growing birch
trees shed their bark
like tissue paper as
they grow.

Silver birch
The saiga’s swollen,
flexible nose hangs over
its mouth, helping keep
out the dust kicked up
by its herd in summer.

Saiga antelope HABITAT KEY

Wetlands Coniferous
forests
Mountains
Siberian tiger Deciduous
Snow forests
This is the world’s biggest wild cat. Males and ice
62 weigh up to 660lb (300kg). It even has
a mane, like a lion’s, to help keep its neck
warm in cold Siberian winters.

Ural owl BERING SEA

This big owl hunts rodents,
frogs, and birds that it spots
from its perch. In spring, it
sings a courtship duet with
its lifelong mate.

This is the only chipmunk
found outside North
America. It has five dark
and four white stripes
running along its back.

ThteerrUirtaorlyo,wclhaagsignrgesasiwvaelyy defends its Siberian
intruders. chipmunk

Both male and female Snow sheep Its main home is the Siberian
snow sheep have big, Blue robins often look taiga, but this little rubythroat
curved horns that grow for food near rivers, bird is sometimes
in a corkscrew shape but they never stray spotted in Scotland
as they get older. far from the forest. and North America.

Lena N SCALE 300 miles
WE
0
S
0 300 kilometers

This seal lives only in Siberian blue robin
Lake Baikal, which is
an icy, freshwater lake
in Russian Siberia.

ke Baikal Baikal seal Wood frogs spend Siberian
La the winter wood frog
hibernating in holes
on river bottoms.

Location Black woodpecker

Taiga stretches over Strong neck muscles and a
northeast Russia, eastward sharp bill make this bird
to the Pacific Ocean. a champion wood borer.
Summers are short, but the It chisels out holes in tree
winters are long and snowy.
trunks, where it lays its eggs.

Asian steppe Central Asian tortoise

Also called the steppe tortoise,
this animal’s shell is almost as
wide as it is long. It has claws
A steppe is a high, grassy, mostly treeless plain. on each foot—and one on
Animals here live on grass and other plants— its tail, too!

or on the animals that do! They must be able to

survive freezing winters, hot summers, and harsh

wind, and to go long periods without water. On

the steppe, watering holes are in short supply. RUSSIAN This nocturnal
HABITAT KEY FEDERATION animal can cover
11 miles (18 km)
a night in its
search for food.

Wetlands Coniferous The bobak digs Steppe polecat
Temperate forests burrows up to 13–16 ft This wild cat’s coat
grasslands Deciduous (4–5 m) deep, where turns from frosty gray
Mountains forests Bobak it hibernates up to six in winter to reddish
Cold desert marmot months each year. gray in spring.

K A Z A K H S TA N Astana

SCALE N This bird hovers above Steppe Wild horses live in herds Pallas’s cat
WE its prey before swooping eagle of females and foals led Przewalski’s
0 200 miles down and grabbing it by a male, called a wild horse
S with its powerful talons. stallion. Stallions fight
0 200 kilometers over who gets to lead.
This squirrel digs two
types of burrows: one
for hibernation, and
one to hide in from
predators like eagles.

CASPIAN SEA U Z B E K I S TA N Little Bishkek
ground K Y R G Y Z S TA N
squirrel
Tashkent

Dushanbe

TA J I K I S TA N The onager looks like a CHINA
A F G H A N I S TA N horse, but is smaller and
brays like a donkey.

Onager

Peregrine falcon Location

These falcons normally hunt other The Asian steppe stretches
birds. When hunting, peregrines make from west of the Caspian
a steep dive called a “stoop.” During a Sea, though central Asian
stoop, they can reach speeds of up to Russia, and as far east as
150 mph (240 kph)! the Altai Mountains.

Secret toadhead agama Location

The insect-eating agama keeps several There are deserts in
secrets. It may look like a regular desert Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
lizard, but when it displays, it opens its and Turkmenistan, and
mouth to reveal a deep reddish pink parts of Afghanistan,
and expands two spiny cheek flaps. Pakistan, and Iran.

When a predator is near, Astana
this hedgehog growls and
A secret toadhead agama stands alert. hisses like a cat, then rolls
itself into a protective ball.
SCALE
The corsac fox uses Long-eared
0 200 miles its long, wide ears to hedgehog
listen for rodent noises
in the desert.
K A Z A K H S TA N

0 200 kilometers Corsac fox At up to 13 in (33 cm)
long, this is the largest
gerbil on Earth. Bishkek
N
W E This is the world’s most U Z B E K I S TA N Tashkent
venomous true cobra. Great gerbil K Y R G Y Z S TA N
Though it lives in the
desert, it is very good
S at swimming.
This hare comes out at night
to feed on desert plants. It
rests in a shallow scrape in
Yerevan Central Asian cobra the ground during the day. CHINA

AZERBAIJAN T U R K M E N I S TA N

ARMENIA The wild goat lives Dushanbe TA J I K I S TA N
Baku in dry, rocky areas. Tolai hare
Its curved horns Ashgabat

Tehran have a very sharp Kabul
inside edge.

Tehran Wild goat Islamabad

Baghdad IRAN A F G H A N I S TA N
PA K I S TA N

Central Asian Goitered HABITAT KEY
deserts gazelle
A big, swollen tube on Wetlands Coniferous
There are different kinds of deserts here. Some its throat gives this gazelle Temperate forests
are salty and sandy. Others are rocky or have clay its name. It also gives males grasslands Deciduous
soil. All are dry. Water is found mostly near desert an extra-loud voice. Mountains forests
borders where rivers can overflow. Cold desert Tropical
forests

Hot desert

65

Tibetan HABITAT KEY
Plateau
Tropical Coniferous
This high, flat region of Asia is surrounded by forests forests
mountains. It’s so high that it’s often called the
“roof of the world.” The animals that live here Tropical Deciduous
have to deal with thin air and bitter winters. grasslands forests

Many kinds of plants Mountains Cold desert
grow on the plateau,
including this serratula,
a type of thistle.

Location Himalayan
alpine serratula
This region includes Tibet
and parts of southwest Islamabad This large, cowlike animal
China. Summers are dry This little relative has extra-big lungs that
and warm, and winters of the rabbit is so suited help it to get enough
are often below freezing. to rocky ground that it oxygen from the thin air.
often nests in a
Asiatic black bear pile of stones! Himalayan Wild yak
mouse hare
This bear is also called the
“moon bear” due to the pale, PA K I S TA N
crescent-shaped band on its The tahr is a wild goat that
chest. It spends about half has hooves with rubberlike
of its life up in trees. cores. These help it grip
onto smooth rocks.
Himalayan H I M A L AYA S
tahr N E P A L

New Delhi N Himalayan wolf
INDIA WE Kathmandu

S The Himalayan wolf is a
rare type of gray wolf. Some
are almost white—like snow
on the Himalayas!

Himalayan marmot

Nicknamed the “Tibetan snow pig,”
this ground squirrel is one of the
only mammals on Earth that lives
66 Himablauyrarnowms atormhoibtserdniagteveirny. deep above 16,400 ft (5,000 m).

SCALE When threatened, Mountain
the mountain weasel weasel
0 100 miles scares away predators
with a foul-smelling
0 100 kilometers spray called musk.

A LT U N M O U N TA I N S This bird picks up bones
CHINA in its claws and carries
them high into the air.
It then drops the bones Pandas are the
on rocks to shatter them that eat just only bears
Bearded vulture into bite-sized pieces. plants.

The chiru is a type of Also called the Himalayan Giant panda
antelope. It has soft wool, blue sheep, the bharal has
called shahtoosh, which is a bluish sheen to its gray The giant panda lives in six forests
very good at keeping it coat. This makes it hard in central China. It spends 10 to 16
warm through winter. for its enemies to see it hours a day eating mostly bamboo,
This very rare fox against rocky cliffs. and sleeps the rest of the time.
hunts rodents and
Chiru lizards. Its slitlike
eyes help to lessen
glare from the sun. Bharal

Kiang Herds of kiang can have
as many as 400 animals.
When they travel, kiangs
follow their female
leader in single file.

Tibetan sand
fox

This raccoonlike animal
is also called the “fire
fox” or “fire cat” due
to its striking red fur.

Thimphu Tibetan This toad is Red
one of the very panda
B H U T A N toad few amphibians M YA N M A R
that are able to
live so high up.

BANGLADESH

Snow leopard 67

These cats have a thick, spotted
coat that keeps them warm and
helps them blend in when hunting.
They keep their face warm when they
sleep by covering it with their furry tail.

East Asian UNTAIN S
forests YABLONOI MO
Ulan Bator
Eastern Asia’s deciduous forests are full of trees
like oak and ash, as well as some walnut and
birch. With streams and rivers, mountains and
grassland edges, they are a haven for animals.

MONGOLIA

Chinese peacock butterfly

This forest butterfly’s size depends
on what time of the year it comes
out of its cocoon. Spring Chinese
peacocks have a wingspan of up to
3in (8cm). Summer ones have a
wingspan up to 5in (12cm).

Beijing

A Chinese psepaidceorckliblyutptlearnftly. feeds
on a
This monkey This snake eats poisonous
Japanese sika deer has a blue face! toads, absorbs the poisons,
It spends 95 then releases them later
The sika is a small deer— percent of its from its neck glands!
males are only 3ft (95cm) at time in the trees.
shoulder height. They make Asian tiger
strange noises, too, such as keelback
the male’s long, whistlelike Huang He
call that sounds like a siren. Male Baikal teals
make a deep chuckling
Golden sound—wot-wot-wot!
snub-nosed

monkey

Earth’s largest Yangtz CHINA Baikal teal
amphibian grows
to 6ft (1.8m) e
long. That’s longer
than many adult
humans are tall!

Chinese giant This is the smallest
salamander of the “big cats.”

Cloudlike spots
help this leopard
blend in with its Clouded
68 forest home. leopard

RUSSIAN HABITAT KEY
FEDERATION
Wetlands Coniferous
Temperate forests
grasslands Deciduous
Mountains forests
Cold desert

This popular game bird, Although it is a relative of SIKHOTE-ALIN RANGE SCALE
which has been hunted the dog, this animal does
in Europe for centuries, not bark. Instead it whines, 0 250 miles
is originally from Asia. growls, or even mews!
0 250 kilometers
Raccoon
dog

Common S E A O F JAPAN
pheasant

Red-crowned This tall, graceful,
crane endangered crane is
a symbol of love and
Hokkaido good luck in Japan.

NORTH KOREA The serow is a goat
antelope—a hooved
Pyongyang Gorals warn other This clever, short-tailed Japanese mammal with traits of
gorals of danger by monkey loves to bathe serow both goats and antelopes.
making a wheezing in Japan’s natural hot
alarm call. springs to keep warm.

Seoul The Japanese marten can
jump 6½ ft (2 m) from
Long-tailed goral Japanese the ground into a tree! OCEAN
SOUTH KOREA marten Tokyo IC
J A PA N PA C I F
Japanese N
macaque WE

EAST CHINA SEA S

Cherry The Japanese cherry tree is
blossom called the sakura in Japanese.
Its blossom is a traditional
symbol of Japanese culture.

Location Mandarin duck

There are broad-leaved Despite their bright colors,
forests in parts of eastern Mandarin ducks are hard to spot
China, southeast Russia, in the wild. They hide under plants
North and South Korea, that hang over lakes, or in nests
and Japan. they build in hollow trees.

Arabian Arabian partridge

This partridge lives on the
ground, where it looks for
seeds, grass, and insects
Peninsula to eat. The female lays
her eggs in a shallow,
scooped-out hole.

The Arabian Peninsula is a hot, dry part of the

world, and it is covered by sandy deserts. The

animals that live here have special ways of

dealing with its harsh conditions. Partridges run trhatrheaertetnheadn. fly
away when

Jerusalem Amman Baghdad Location
ISRAEL
Located between Africa
JORDAN and Asia, the Arabian
Peninsula is made up of
This cat can jump IRAQ Saudi Arabia and several
10 ft (3 m) off the smaller countries.
ground to snatch Kuwait City
birds out of the air.

W N Caracal Spadelike hooves let KUWAIT IRAN

this antelope walk Manama B A H R A I N SCALE
on the soft desert
sand with ease. Q ATA R 0 200 miles
Doha
E People of the desert, called Arabian oryx 0 200 kilometers
the Bedouin, bred this horse

S to be fast, strong, and able to
withstand desert conditions.
RED SEA
Riyadh Abu Dhabi

UNITED ARAB Muscat
EMIRATES
Arabian horse
Hamadryas baboon The sandfish is a type of Male gazelles have
Fur on the bottom lizard that “swims” beneath “air-cushion” fights—
These monkeys live in troops of its feet helps they charge at each
of up to 1,000. They spend the sand cat walk Sand cat the surface of the sand using other but stop just
nights on ledges of cliffs, but its flipperlike feet.
come down to the ground over hot ground. Mountain gazelle before they crash.
each day to find food.
SAUDI ARABIA
70
HABITAT KEY

Arabian camel spider The camel spider isn’t Sandfish Wetlands Deciduous
Sana’a a true spider—it’s a OMAN Mountains forests
different type of Hot desert
arachnid, and it eats
scorpions, spiders,
and mice.

YEMEN Rock hyrax

Although it looks more like a
guinea pig, the plant-eating rock
hyrax is related to the elephant.
It even grows two tiny tusks!

Location Indian forests

Indian forests stretch from India’s forests can be wet or dry, but all are warm
the Himalayan mountains and tropical. Many trees have broad leaves that
south to the Indian Ocean. they lose in the dry season. For animals, the forests
The weather here is hot or provide food and shelter. However, since trees are cut
warm most of the year. down for wood or to make farmland, animals like
the Bengal tiger have fewer places to live.
PA K I S TA N

INDIA GangYeasmuna New Delhi

Male peafowl are Ganges
called peacocks.
Bengal tiger They use their bright,
This tiger’s canine eyespotted feathers
teeth (fangs) grow up to attract mates.
to 4 in (10 cm) long.
Indian Indian grey
Narmada peafowl mongoose
Mongooses kill
The cobra hunts lizards, scorpions by throwing
rodents, and frogs. Venom them against a hard
from its bite stops its prey surface until they crack.
from being able to move.
orTahnegeIncdoilaorn
The Indian rhino’s Godavani Indian cobra N giant hornet’s bright
horn grows to makes it easy to spot.
2 ft (60 cm) long.
It’s made from WE Indian giant hornet
keratin—just S
like our hair. Indian rhinoceros Krishna The giant hornet is the world’s
largest—and probably angriest—
wasp. It grows up to 2 in (5 cm)
long and will sting anything that
The giant squirrel even slightly disturbs its nest.
A RA builds nests in trees BAY
SE B that are the same size
A I A N Indian giant as eagles’ nests. AN n dbaamr
squirrel OF BENGAL o
i c a n a n d
i s a n d
l s

SCALE Asia’s largest land mammal
is much smaller than its African
0 200 miles cousin. It spends three-quarters
of its day eating plants.

0 200 kilometers

HABITAT KEY Asian elephant SRI Sloth bear
Colombo LANKA
Wetlands Coniferous The shy sloth bear digs
Mountains forests ants and termites with its
Cold desert Deciduous
forests long, curved claws. As it
laps them up, its loud

slurping can be heard from
several miles away.

Tropical Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
forests

INDIA N

WE
S

CHINA

Female oarrcehisdmmallaenrtiasneds ldouokllelrikien flowers. M YA N M A R VIETNAM Hanoi
Males color. Nay Pyi Daw
mantis LAOS Hainan
Orchid Vientiane

This insect disguises itself as a pink- AI ns dl aanmdas n Adult sunbirds drink
and-white orchid flower. When other nectar with their
insects land nearby, they are caught ANDAMAN SEA long, curved bills.
unaware as the mantis strikes. They feed their
chicks insects.

Bornean orangutan Gibbons sing in the Lar gibbon Purple
treetops every morning Bangkok sunbird
Fruit-eating orangutans live in trees. to tell other gibbons CAMBODIA
They bend branches into nests to sleep where their territory is.
in at night. Orangutans live alone,
unlike other Its foxlike Water buffalo
great apes. face gives
this large fruit
Large bat its name. The domesticated
flying fox water buffalo
Phnom Penh is widely used to
plough paddy
G U LF OF (rice) fields.
T Special skin stretched
IN THAILAND over extra-long ribs lets
iscloabnadrs This frog jumps from Wallace’s this lizard glide through
tree to tree, using its H the rain forest.
webbed feet and loose
skin like a parachute. flying frog AILAND

This rare, M A L AY S I A
endangered
rain-forest Sumatran Putrajaya Kuala Lumpur Common
rhino has rhinoceros flying dragon
two horns.

SINGAPORE Borneo

Southeast Sumatra
Asian rain forest
This is the biggest Rafflesia Jakarta
The Southeast Asian rain forests are some of the single flower in the flower
oldest on Earth, and they are home to hundreds world. It smells Java
of animal species. As the rain forests are cut down, like rotting flesh!
however, amazing animals like the Sumatran
rhinoceros become rarer and rarer. IN D IAN
OC E AN

Taipei Location
TA I WA N
Lots of countries make up
Southeast Asia, including
many island nations. All
are tropical, with a rainy
monsoon season and
a hot, dry season.

HABITAT KEY

A big “sail” of skin Wetlands Tropical One csatninkgilflroamwaourldib-bboenptareildasttionr.gray
on its tail helps drive Mountains forests
the soa-soa water Ribbontail stingray
SOUTH CHINA SEA lizard forward SCALE
when it swims. This stingray swims in
Soa-soa 0 200 miles shallow water, looking for
water lizard crabs, shrimp, and small
Manila 0 200 kilometers fish to eat. Its bright-blue
spots and stripes warn
PHILIPPINES P A C IFI C other sea creatures to
O C EA N stay away.

SULU Just 6 in (16 cm) tall, Pa l a u King cobra
SEA this little primate can
turn its head right This species of The king cobra can grow
around to look humpback dolphin up to 18 ft (5.5 m) long.
backward! is usually gray, but it It lives almost entirely
Philippine tarsier can also be white, off other snakes, which it
or even pink! hunts by sight and smell.
BRUNEI The world’s smallest type S E A Indo-Pacific Unusually, this snake
Sun bear of bear uses its long tongue Only male birds of paradise doesn’t hiss—it growls!
to lap up insects, but its humpback have amazing, colorful
favorite food is fruit. MOLUCCA dolphin feathers, which they show
off to attract females.
u
h

lourkt

N New
a

M

INDONESIA Guinea

Proboscis Sulawesi Maluku Greater bird
monkey of paradise

Male proboscis The world’s biggest lizard,
monkeys’ huge the Komodo dragon grows
noses help to make up to 6 ft (2 m) long. Its
their calls louder. venomous bite can kill
a water buffalo!
JAVA SEA

EAST TIMOR

Bali Komodo dragon 73

Dili

Gobi desert Gobi bear This is the Earth’s
rarest bear. Fewer than 50
The Gobi is Asia’s largest desert. It spans more than Gobi bears remain in the
460,000 sq miles (1.2 million sq km). Temperatures desert, their only home.
here can be as scorching hot as 122˚ F (50˚ C) and Mongolian wild ass The wild
as freezing cold as -40˚ F (-40˚ C), but many tough ass waits for rare rain showers.
animal species are able to survive despite the After the showers, it can feed
extreme conditions. on fresh grass.

Dinosaur fossil Mongolian marmot This
rodent spends winters in its
The Gobi tells us a lot about burrow, where it is safe from
prehistoric wildlife. Hundreds of predators such as eagles.
dinosaur fossils of many types have
been found here—including some
from 250 million years ago! This was
also first place in the world where
dinosaur eggs were identified.

Long-eared jerboa This tiny,
mouselike jerboa hops around
the desert at night, looking for
tasty insects to eat.

Marbled polecat This jerboa’s enormous
ears are almost as long
74 Marthbeledpaptotleercnatosnatrheenirambaecdksa.fter This little predator doesn’t see very well, as its body! Scientists
but it has no trouble finding most of its think they release heat,
prey by smell. It hunts rodents, birds, and keeping the jerboa cool.
reptiles—mostly during cool desert nights.

Great bustard Each year, The great bustard flies
male great bustards grow with slow, steady beats
“whiskers” that look a lot of its wings, which end
like ears of wheat! in long, white feathers.
Yarkand gazelle Unlike other
gazelles, the Yarkland doesn’t Bactrian camel
“bound.” If scared, it sprints
away as fast as it can! The Bactrian camel
has two humps, where
it stores fat to help it
survive for long periods
without food. If it can’t
find enough plants to
eat, it will eat bones,
rope, or even a tent!

Przewalski’s wild horse This Location
wild horse is always on the
move, looking for water and The Gobi stretches across
short grasses to eat. northwestern China

Saxaul tree and southern Mongolia.
The average rainfall
The gnarly saxaul has a lot of roots to here is less than 8in
anchor it in the sand. Its tiny leaves keep (190mm) a year!
it from losing too much moisture, and it
stores water in its bark. If you press a few 75
pieces together, water comes out!

Australasia Northern
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Mariana Islands
thousands of small islands make up the Australasia PHILIPPINE
region. From deserts, mountains, and rain forests to SEA (UNITED STATES)
beaches and coral reefs, the habitats here are home
Guam

(UNITED STATES)

to many animals only found in this part of the world.

PALAU MICRONESIA

Australian coast

The western Australian coast PAPUA NEW
is home to hundreds of fish, GUINEA
mammals, and bird species.
Australian pelicans often
land here to enjoy the sand
and sun after staying in the
air for 24 hours!

ARAFURA
SEA

TIMOR
SEA

Christmas Island Ashmore and Coral Sea Islands
Cartier Islands
(AUSTRALIA) (AUSTRALIA)
(AUSTRALIA)
CORAL
Cocos INDIAN OCEAN Northern SEA
(Keeling) Islands Territory
Queensland
(AUSTRALIA)

Western AUSTRALIA
Australia
South
Australian outback Australia New South
Wales
The hot, dry center of Australia N
is known as the outback, WE Victoria
or the “bush.” Because it
is mostly desert, very few S Tasmania
people live here, but some
amazing animals have found Snares Islands Macquarie Island
ways to survive the tough
desert conditions. This New Zealand island group, (AUSTRALIA)
north of the Auckland Islands, is
76 protected from humans so native
animal species can thrive. One is
the Snares penguin, which nests
only on these islands—on the
ground, under trees and shrubs.

Wake Island New Guinea forests

(UNITED STATES) Forests cover two-thirds of
the island of Papua New
MARSHALL Guinea. Around 760 bird
ISLANDS species and 25,000 plant
species live here, as does
the Goodfellow’s tree
kangaroo, which climbs
trees to eat leaves.

NAURU Baker and Kingman Reef
Howland Islands
SOLOMON (UNITED STATES)
ISLANDS (UNITED STATES)
Palmyra Atoll

(UNITED STATES)

K Jarvis Island

I R I B A (UNITED STATES)

TI

TUVALU Coral reefs

VANUATU Wallis and Coral reefs, like this one in French
Futuna Polynesia, make up about one percent
of the ocean floor—but they are home
(FRANCE) to almost a quarter of all ocean species.
SAMOA Lots of fish, such as these gold-lined sea
breams, gather in the reefs to eat.
American Samoa

(UNITED STATES)

FIJI

New Caledonia TONGA Niue

(FRANCE) (NEW ZEALAND)

Cook Islands

(NEW ZEALAND)

Norfolk Island Kermadec Islands French Polynesia

(AUSTRALIA) (NEW ZEALAND) (FRANCE)

Lord Howe Island

(AUSTRALIA)

NEW PA C I F I C OCEAN
ZEALAND
HABITAT KEY

Tropical forests

TA S M A N Deciduous forests Pitcairn,
SEA Tropical grasslands Henderson,
Ducie, and Oeno
Chatham Islands Scrublands
Islands
(NEW ZEALAND)
(UNITED KINGDOM)

Auckland Islands Bounty Islands Temperate grasslands SCALE
Desert
(NEW ZEALAND) (NEW ZEALAND) Mountains 0 500 miles

Campbell Islands Antipodes Islands

(NEW ZEALAND) (NEW ZEALAND)

Mangroves 1000 miles

0 1000 kilometers 77

Australia SCALE This lizard defends
itself by opening its
Australia is the world’s largest island. Most of it 0 250 miles frill, standing on its
is made of hot, dry desert called “the outback.” hind legs, and hissing.
In the hottest months, some of Australia’s lakes
may dry up completely. However, there are rain 0 250 kilometers Frilled lizard
forests here, too, and many of the animals that
live in Australia are found nowhere else. The kookaburra is the
largest kingfisher. Its call
sounds like a laugh.

Blue-winged
kookaburra
Victoria
Grey Fitzroy

Location INDI OCEAN This desert lizard is
AN covered in protective
Australia lies south of thorny scales.
the equator, between the De
Pacific and Indian oceans.
Summer here is from Fortescue
December to February. Ashburton

HABITAT KEY Gascoyne Thorny devil
AUSTRALIA

Temperate Tropical These huge caterpillars
grasslands forests eat witchetty bush roots—
and Australian Aboriginals,
Scrublands Mountains the first people to live
here, eat them!
Tropical Hot desert
grasslands
Common off the
This mouse-sized Witchetty Australian coast,
marsupial doesn’t grubs the world’s largest
eat honey—just predatory fish has
nectar and pollen. 300 teeth.

Emu Honey Great white shark
possum
Australia’s largest bird
is 5–6½ft (1.5–2m) tall
and can weigh up to 132lb
(60kg). Its call can be heard
up to 1 mile (2km) away!

Red kangaroo

Kangaroos are marsupials,
which are a type of animal
N that carry their young in a
pouch on their body. Red
WE kangaroos are only found
in Australia. They move by
78 S hopping around on their iknanitgsarmooo,thcaerll’sedpoaucjohe.y,
powerful back legs.
A baby
rides

PA P U A
NEW GUINEA

Earth’s largest reptile Redbacks are one of
is also found in India the most venomous of
and Southeast Asia. Australia’s 10,000
spider species.
Saltwater
crocodile Redback
spider
Mitchel REEl
GREAT BARRIER
sThhaerpshsporint-ebseraekpeedl echidna’s
Flin predators.
Short-beaked echidna
ders
F Also called the spiny anteater,
this strange-looking mammal
lays eggs. It uses its long, sticky
tongue to eat grubs, termites,
and ants.

This dangerous snake is Eastern A webbed membrane
responsible for the most brown snake allows this tiny mammal
deaths by snakebite in to glide more than 151 ft
Australia. Watch out! Sugar glider (46 m) between trees.
This intelligent
wild dog rarely Common
barks, but it loves wombat
to howl.
BLU
Dingo This plant-eating E
burrower is a marsupial, MOUN TA I N S
but its pouch points
backward. Also, its
poop is cube shaped!

Darling

Platypus Murray

This egg-laying Canberra
mammal has
webbed feet and N
a ducklike bill.
A
G R E AT
AUSTRALIAN M
A
BIGHT TAS S
This animal is the size of a E
small dog. It’s called a devil Koala
because it is so aggressive. Tasmanian devil 79
Often mistakenly called bears,
koalas are marsupials. Once big
enough to leave the pouch, baby
koalas ride on the parents’ backs.
Koalas mostly eat eucalyptus
(gum tree) leaves, such as those
found in southeastern Australia.

80 Auckland tree weta New Zealand

Wetas are much larger cousins New Zealand is made up of two main islands—North
of crickets. A tree weta’s body is and South Island—and many smaller ones. Lots of birds
about 11⁄2in (4cm) long, but a live here, some of which cannot fly. Unfortunately, many
giant weta can be 4in (10cm)— were killed by cats, rats, and other predators brought
longer than your hand! by European settlers. Now, rare birds such as the
kakapo are protected.

Auckland tbraecekwleetgassfocar nderfaeinseset.heir These huge trees only Kauri
spiny grow on the North Island.
Birds eat the seeds from
the cones they produce.

Bats are New Zealand’s
only native mammals. This
O one spends more time on
This bus-sized whale often BAY the ground than in the air.
raises its tail like a sail, letting F
the wind push it along the PLENTY
surface of the ocean. New Zealand’s national o North
symbol, the kiwi is a bird Island
Southern right that cannot fly. It lives Waikat
whale mostly in burrows and
only comes out at night. New Zealand
lesser short-

tailed bat

N North Island Lake Tau po
brown kiwi
WE e
SCALE S w k y

0 250 miles SEA

0 250 kilometers Ha
Ba
Location TA S M A N
New Zealand This enormous snail
Located in the land snail grows to 31⁄2 in (9 cm)
southwestern Pacific across and loves to
Ocean, New Zealand’s This rare frog lives mostly eat earthworms.
closest neighbor is on tiny Stephens Island,
Australia, 932 miles where it is safe from
(1,500 km) to the northwest. tuataras and rats.

Hamilton’s
frog

Wellington

HABITAT KEY Found only in New
Zealand, this crayfish
Temperate Deciduous buries itself in mud to Northern
grasslands forests survive droughts. koura

Mountains

Hector’s dolphin New Zealand Also called the kereru,
Highly endangered, pigeon this blue-green bird eats
this social little mostly fruit. It has a red
dolphin only grows up bill, eyes, and feet.
to 41⁄2 ft (1.4 m) long.
PS nd
SOUTHERN
ALLakeLaTkeekLaaPpkuoekaOkhi au Its mlaorrgeepoerykestoheslepetahte nocturnal
night.
TASMAN SEA South Isla The yellow-eyed penguin
lays its eggs in forests, Morepork
and hunts for food up to
Lake 15 miles (24 km) away. This small, dark owl got its name because
Lake
Yellow-eyed its call sounds like “more pork”! It sleeps
Hawea penguin in forests during the day. At night it hunts
Wanaka
The blue damselfly insects, such as the weta.
can turn itself darker
to get more warmth Blue damselfly This sea lion rests on
from the sun. Lake Te Anau southern beaches and Kea
offshore islands when
New Zealand it isn’t hunting squid. Scientists think this cat-sized
sea lion parrot is as smart as a four-year-
PA CIFIC
Clutha OCEAN old child. It lives on the
South Island and makes
a laughlike squeal.

Stewa Kakapo So rare they are almost
extinct, these large,
rt Island flightless parrots live
only in New Zealand.

81 Tuatara

This reptile’s closest relatives were
around at the time of the dinosaurs.
Tuataras like cool weather and can
live for up to 100 years!

Great Regal tang Also called
Barrier Reef surgeonfish, tangs have a
scalpel-like spine at the base
The world’s largest chain of coral reefs, the Great of their tail on both sides.
Barrier Reef lies just off Australia’s northeastern
coast. It’s so big that it can be seen from space,
and it is home to more than 1,500 types of fish.

Giant barrel sponge The
barrel sponge is an animal
that grows up to 6 ft (1.8 m)
across—and it has no brain!

Dugongs can live for 70 years Sea slug Sea slugs eat corals,
or more in the wild. sea anemones, sponges, and
fish eggs. Their bright colors
Dugong warn predators away.

This slow-moving mammal eats
nothing but plants. It pulls seagrass
out by the roots with its flexible upper
lip. Dugongs are also called “sea
cows,” because they graze like cows.

Coral Blue starfish Tiny suckers,
called tube feet, cover the
Living corals are made underside of starfish and
up of tiny animals let them crawl over the reef.
called coral polyps
that catch bits of food The reef has many different Starfish can regrow a
with their tentacles. types of coral. In addition to damaged or lost arm.
The polyps make hard corals, which build the Some can even grow a
hard cases from reef, there are also soft corals. whole new starfish from
minerals to protect just part of an arm.
themselves, and these
build up over many
years into a reef.

82

Blubber jellyfish Each of this Potato cod The potato Tfahsetepsetacpoucnkchmiannttihseshanriimmpalhwasortldh.e
creature’s eight stumpy arms cod hunts fish, crabs, and
has several mouths that move crayfish. It’s so curious that Peacock
food to the animal’s stomach. it can annoy divers. mantis shrimp
Blacktip reef shark This
medium-sized shark loves the Only 1–7 in (3–18 cm)
shallows. It can swim in water long, this shrimp is
just 12 in (30 cm) deep. deadly. Its clublike
arms can punch hard
Green sea turtle Green sea enough to break the
turtles are black when they shells of crabs—and
hatch. They change color even aquarium glass!
over the next 25 to 50 years.

Olive sea snake This snake
breathes air, and it has a large
lung that lets it swim for hours
between breaths.

Orange clown fish Clown Location
fish have coats of slime that
let them live in sea anemones The Great Barrier Reef
without being stung. runs for 1,429 miles
(2,300 km) off the
Giant clam coast of the state of
Queensland, Australia.
This clam is so big, it can no
longer move. It lives attached Most sea creatures avoid sea 83
to the reef, where it sucks in anemones because they sting,
plankton to eat with a tubelike but clown fish live among their
organ called a siphon. tentacles for protection. In return,
they bring the anemones food.

Antarctica Wandering Blackfin icefish
albatross This fish’s blood is white
The world’s coldest continent, Antarctica is also its because it has no red blood
most remote, meaning it is far from any other land cells. This makes it easier
mass. Ice more than 1 mile (1.6km) thick covers for blood to move around
most of it, and temperatures go down to -129˚F the body in icy water.
(-89.2˚C), too extreme for many animals. Since it
doesn’t rain here, Antarctica is considered a desert. With the longest wingspan
of any bird—111⁄2 ft (3.5 m)
Location —the wandering albatross
can glide for hours at a time.
Antarctica is found at
the bottom of the Earth. A NTA D E L L Weddell seals can stay
It is home to the Earth’s E A underwater for up to
most southerly point, RCTIC W E D 82 minutes while they
the South Pole. S hunt for icefish.

P E NINSULA Weddell seal CFEI

I RO NNE I LSCHHENL E R
CE SHEL F F

HABITAT KEY Chinstrap These penguins look as if they
penguin have a strap around their chin.
They are often found on icebergs
Snow Mountains in the sea around Antarctica.
and ice

Unlike most Antarctic South
fish, the toothfish has Pole
chemicals in its blood
that prevent it Patagonian West
from freezing. toothfish Antarctica

TO This small whale eats
SOUTH krill by using comblike
AMERICA structures in its mouth
called baleen.
Southern elephant seal Antarctic ICE RO
minke whale SCALE SH
The southern elephant seal 250 miles
is Earth’s largest seal. Males ice 0
can grow up to 20 ft (6 m) L i mit of winter pack
long and weigh 8,501 lb TO 0 250 kilometers
(3,856 kg), but females are NEW
much smaller. An inflatable, ZEALAND Limit S O
trunklike nose allows males O
to make loud roaring calls. U T H E R
C E A N
of N

summer pack ice

Even though it has Leopard seal
enormous jaws and eats
other animals, this seal’s
main food is tiny krill.

Krill are tiny, shrimplike TO
crustaceans that provide food AFRICA
for animals ranging from small
fish to the largest whales. Antarctic
brittle
Antarctic krill star
This relative of the
Pure white except for starfish can lose an
their black eyes and arm if attacked—
bills, snow petrels have and grow it back!
even been seen at the
South Pole. Snow petrel wThheenAsnhtoawrnctiocnmaidhguemlaoonkfsintigneyr.

The colossal squid is the Colossal Antarctic midge
biggest squid on Earth. squid
It also has the largest Antarctica’s only insect, this
eyes of any animal. midge lives on the rocky Antarctic
Peninsula, which juts out into the
East Southern Ocean. It is wingless
Antarctica and eats algae and bacteria.
Adult midges live just seven to
ten days, but their young can
survive two winters.

h The size of a large gull, the Emperor penguin
skua takes penguin eggs
and chicks for food. South polar The emperor penguin is
skua the only animal to survive
T R Antarctica’s ice in winter. It
M A stays snug with its waterproof
O N coat and four layers of feathers.
Males keep the eggs warm by
S holding them on their feet off
of the chilly ice.
A
Emperor penguin
NT chicks are covered in
UN fluffy gray down, which
is not waterproof.
A
T 85

R
A

HO ES CTI
INS

S C
L

F

This penguin is 28 in TO
(71 cm) high and makes AUSTRALIA
its nest out of stones,
sometimes stealing rocks
from its neighbors.
Adélie penguin

The Arctic Polar bear

The Arctic is the Earth’s northernmost region. The polar bear actually has
Animals here must survive freezing temperatures. black skin, but it is covered
Ice and snow cover the area in winter, and the by thick fur to keep the bear
water of the Arctic Ocean freezes over. In summer, warm. A strong swimmer,
much of the ice melts, revealing a treeless habitat the polar bear hunts seals,
on the surrounding land called tundra. which it can smell from
1 mile (1.6 km) away.

A pbolleanrdbienarw’sitwhhiittes fur helps it
habitat.

Lichen is one of the SCALE HABITAT KEY
few things reindeer
find to eat during 0 250 miles Mountains Coniferous
Arctic winters. Snow forests
0 250 kilometers and ice
USA

H U K C H I
S E A
Reindeer lichen C

EAST

Both male and female SIBERIAN Arctic tern
SEA
Reindeer reindeer have antlers. They
use their hooves to dig for
CANADA USFEOAR T food under the snow. This bird flies 24,900 miles RUSSIA
(40,000 km) from the
BEA Arctic to the Antarctic
each year to follow
warmer weather.

Musk ox Hunted by wolves and This cod has substances
sometimes polar bears, in its blood that prevent
musk oxen form a circle it from freezing in the Lemmings are small
when threatened. polar cold.

rodents that live on the
tundra, eating grass,
ARCTIC seeds, and moss.
OCEAN E V
L A P T A Siberian brown
Arctic cod S E lemming

Its pure-white coat
makes this hare almost
invisible in the snow.

Arctic hare North Beluga Born gray, beluga
In winter, this fox Pole Narwhal whales don’t turn
turns white to This whale’s spiral white until they are
help it hide in the tusk is actually a tooth as old as eight years.
snow as it hunts that grows up to 10 ft
for Arctic hares. (3 m) long. KARA SEA

A very slow swimmer,
this shark cruises deep
in the ocean, feeding on
carrion (dead animals).

Arctic fox Greenland shark

Walrus B A R E N T S ARCTIC CIRCLE
A thick layer of blubber S E A

GREENLAND (fat) keeps walruses
(DENMARK) warm when they hunt
for food in icy waters.
LA N D Lemmings are one of the
A snowy owl’s main sources
G R E EN of food. It can eat five
SE lemmings in a day.

Location N O R WAY Snowy owl
FINLAND
The Arctic includes the
extreme northern parts of SWEDEN
Europe, Asia, and North
America. Winters get as
cold as -90˚ F (-68˚ C).

Harp seal

These seals are named for
the pattern on their backs,
which looks like the musical
instrument. Harp seals are
born white, but turn dark
Arctic fox after three weeks.

In summer, the Arctic fox
sheds its white coat, turning
gray-brown so it blends in
with its surroundings. An iatsduwlht ihtea-rfpursreeadl watches
cub.
87

HABITAT KEY Common cuttlefish

Coral reef The cuttlefish changes color
to blend in with its surroundings
The chinook hatches in and to communicate with other
freshwater, then swims to cuttlefish. It has three hearts,
the ocean, but each adult two of which pump blood to
fish returns to the place its gills. The third pumps blood
where it hatched to breed. around its body.

Chinook salmon The cuttlefish oicstorpeulasteesd. to squids Sardines
The world’s largest ray, and Sardines grow up to 12in
the giant manta grows up (30cm) long and swim in
to 23 ft (7 m) across and As it grows, the lobster Killer enormous schools with lots
weighs up to 2.2 tons sheds its skin—a process whale of other sardines so they
(2 tonnes). called molting. By the time aren’t all eaten at once.
it becomes an adult, a
lobster has increased in Also known as an orca, Blue mussels
size 100,000 times! this is the largest dolphin
species. It has teeth
American up to 4 in (10 cm) long.
lobster
The blue mussel is one
of the toughest shellfish
around. It can survive
freezing as well as very
warm ocean water.

Giant manta ray

The great hammerhead’s Yellowfin Just one yellowfin tuna
favorite food is the stingray. tuna can weigh up to 882 lb
It holds rays down using one (400 kg), although
Great side of its “hammer” to avoid 388 lb (176 kg) is
hammerhead getting stung while it feeds. more common.

The sea horse can move PA C I F I C OCEAN The anglerfish uses Deep sea
its eyes individually, so it the glowing lure on anglerfish
can watch for predators Spiny its head to tempt
or prey from many sea horse passing prey close
directions at once. enough to eat.

Oceans ATLA N T I C O C EAN
and seas
The blue whale is roughly Blue whale
Water covers a huge 70 percent of the Earth’s the size of a jumbo jet. It
surface. Thousands of species live in or near weighs two times more than
oceans and seas, from tiny plankton to the the biggest known dinosaur.
largest creature on our planet—the blue whale.

Common sea urchin

The common sea urchin moves along
the ocean floor using “tube feet”—
suckerlike tips that stick out from
its spines. It eats seaweed, mollusks,
corals, and anemones.

This fish grows up to 161⁄2 ft The giant Pacific octopus
(5 m) long. Sturgeons are grows up to 291⁄2 ft (9 m)
endangered, because people long. The female lays up to
kill them for their eggs, which 100,000 eggs at a time.
are eaten as caviar. This crab’s legs never stop
growing. They can stretch
13 ft (4 m) from the tip of
one claw to the other!

Beluga sturgeon Seawater is full of tiny plants Giant Pacific
and animals that are often octopus
too small to see without a Japanese
microscope. This is plankton. spider crab Found in warm
Most food chains in the ocean ocean waters, green
start with these miniature With its big forehead sea turtles have
life forms. and short beak, this green-colored fat—
dolphin looks more like a that’s what gives
small whale. Each baby, them their name.
or calf, is born about
3 ft (1 m) long.

Plankton Irrawaddy Green
dolphin turtle
INDIAN OCEAN Porcupine fish

The whale shark isn’t a whale, If threatened by a predator,
but a whale-sized fish. It grows the porcupine fish “puffs
to about 391⁄2 ft (12 m) long, up” by swallowing air or
and it eats mostly plankton. water. This makes it a very
uncomfortable mouthful.
Whale
shark

Common bottlenose dolphin Sperm whale Sperm whales can dive IFIC OCEAN
9,501 ft (2,896 m) deep in
The bottlenose is very smart. It loves to search of octopus, fish, PA C
play, riding in the wakes of boats and and giant squid to eat.
ships. Some have even been known to They can hold their breath
help fishermen by driving fish into their for up to 90 minutes!
nets in return for some of the catch!
89

ATLAS PICTURE QUIZ

This area in northern 2 This high prairie stretches
Africa is the largest across parts of Canada
hot desert in the world. and the United States.

1 This area of scrubland T 3
10 shares its name with 4
the sea it borders.
This famous mountain This country is made
range in Europe includes NAME THE HABITA of two main islands
lakes, glaciers, meadows, and lots of other,
and forests. Here are some smaller ones.
of the habitats and
islands that appear in
this atlas. Can you name
them? Look at the clues
to help you. The answers

are on page 91.

9 This desert in southern This South American 5
Africa gets enough rain rain forest is home to
for grass and other plants 2.5 million different
to grow. species of insects.

The rain forests of this 6
area are some of the
oldest on Earth.

8 7

These volcanic islands are This continent, found at
the bottom of the Earth,
90 home to many unique animals is the world’s coldest.

named after the area.

3. How many ants 2. What sea 1. What is the FIND THE FACT
can an aardvark creature has the smallest of the
largest eyes of All of the answers to
eat a night? “big cats”? these questions appear
any animal? somewhere in this book.
You can check if you are
correct at the bottom

of this page.

4. What color, 5. For how long 6. In what 7. How long do the
other than blue, can does a seven-spot mountain range Iberian ibex’s
the Mediterranean would you find the horns grow?
ladybug live? spectacled bear?
tree frog be?

11. In what area 10. What is the 9. Where does the 8. What animal has
would you find largest tortoise Gila monster live? cube-shaped poop?

a mandrill? in Africa?

12. What lizard 13. What bird has 14. What whale has 15. On what island
is also called the two tail feathers a tusk that can grow does the ring-tailed
twice the length to 10 ft (3 m) long?
racerunner? lemur live?
of its body?

19. What butterfly 18. What 17. What is the 16. What is the
migrates from northern penguin lays its heaviest spider in heaviest flying bird
eggs in forests?
North America 21. How long can the world? on Earth?
to Mexico? the Indian tiger’s
20. What bat fangs grow? 22. What frog uses 23. What beetle
drinks other its feet to parachute with antlerlike
animals’ blood? from tree to tree? jaws is this?

91
Answers: Page 90 Name the habitat: 1. Sahara desert (pages 36–37), 2. Kalahari (page 42), 3. Great Plains (page 12), 4. New Zealand (pages 80–81), 5. Amazon rain forest (pages 22–23), 6. Antarctica (pages
84–85), 7. Southeast Asia (pages 72–73), 8. The Galápagos (page 29), 9. Mediterranean scrubland (pages 56–57), 10. The Alps (page 54).
Page 91 Guess the icon: 1. Clouded leopard (page 68), 2. Colossal squid (page 85), 3. 50,000 (page 42), 4. Green (page 56), 5. One year (page 51), 6. The Andes (page 24), 7. 291⁄2 in or 75cm (page 56),
8. Common wombat (page 79), 9. Western deserts (page 14), 10. African spurred tortoise (page 37), 11. Congo Basin (page 38), 12. Giant ameiva (page 31), 13. Resplendent quetzal (page 16), 14. Narwhal (page 87),
15. Madagascar (page 43), 16. Great bustard (page 55), 17. Goliath birdeater (page 23), 18. Yellow-eyed penguin (page 81), 19. Monarch butterfly (page 11), 20. Vampire bat (page 17), 21. 4in or 10cm (page 71),
22. Wallace’s flying frog (page 72), 23. Stag beetle (page 52).

Glossary

amphibians equator mountain reptiles

Cold-blooded animals that Imaginary line around the Area of land that rises up Cold-blooded animals covered
live both on land and in water, middle of the Earth much higher than the land in dry, scaly skin such as snakes,
such as frogs and newts around it to form a peak tortoises, and crocodiles
extinct
birds national park scrubland
Word used to describe a plant
Warm-blooded animals that or animal species that has no Area of countryside that has Area of land covered in
are covered in feathers and living members been preserved in its natural different types of grass, and
have a bill, many of which can state by the government of a small trees and bushes
fly, such as eagles fish country to protect the wildlife
there and for people to enjoy species
climate Cold-blooded animals that live
in water and have gills and native Particular group of animals
Normal weather pattern fins, such as salmon or plants that share similar
during the year in any part Word used to describe an features
of the world habitat animal that comes from a
particular area or country taiga
coniferous tree Environment in which an
animal or plant lives nocturnal Area of cold, coniferous forest
Type of tree with cones and found near the Arctic Circle
needlelike leaves that keeps hibernation Word used to describe animals
its leaves all year round that are awake during the night temperate grassland
Sleeplike state some animals
continents enter in winter ocean Large areas of grass found
in regions with hot and cold
Seven large areas of land invertebrates Very large sea. There are five seasons, such as prairie,
that the world is divided into: oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, steppe, and pampas
Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Cold-blooded animals Indian, Arctic, and Southern
Australasia, Europe, North without a backbone, such as temperate regions
America, and South America insects, spiders, or squids plain
Areas with hot and cold
coral reefs island Area of flat land with few seasons found between
trees, often covered with grass tropical and polar regions
Rocklike structures formed Piece of land that has water
by coral animals in the shallow all around it plateau tropical grassland
waters along coasts
mammals Large area of high, flat land Large areas of grass found
deciduous tree in areas that are hot all year
Warm-blooded animals that polar regions round, such as savanna
Type of tree that loses its have hair and feed their young and cerrado
leaves in the fall or the with milk, such as mice Areas within the polar circles.
dry season Polar regions are covered in tropical regions
mangroves snow and ice for most of the
desert year and are extremely cold Areas that are hot all year
Trees that live in salty water round, found near the equator
Dry region that gets very little and have long, stiltlike roots predator between the Tropic of Cancer
rainfall in a year. Deserts can and the Tropic of Capricorn
be hot or cold marsupial Animal that hunts other living
animals for food tundra
endangered Type of mammal that keeps its
young in a pouch prey Cold, treeless plains found
Word used to describe a near the Arctic Circle
species of plant or animal migration Animal that is hunted for food
with only a few living wetlands
members left Movement of a large number rain forests
of animals from one area to Land with wet, spongy soil,
92 another. Animals migrate to Dense forests with very high such as a marsh or swamp
follow warmer weather and rainfall. Most are near the
to find food equator and are also very hot

Index

A Belize 9, 16 chimpanzees 39 dugongs 82
Benin 34 China 60, 61, 64, 65, 66–67, 68–69, 72,
aardvarks 42, 44 bharals 67 E
acacia trees 34, 41 Bhutan 61, 67 74–75
Afghanistan 60, 64, 65 Białowieża Forest 58–59 chinchillas 25 eagles 8, 12, 23, 39, 45, 49, 55, 64
Africa 34–45 birch trees 62 chipmunks 63 East Asian forests 68–69
Alaska 10 birds of paradise 73 choughs 54 East Timor 61, 73
Albania 47, 52, 57 bison 8, 12, 59 clams 83 eastern forests 13
albatrosses 84 blue tits 52 climatic zones 6 echidnas 79
Algeria 34, 36 bobcats 14 clown fish 83 Ecuador 20, 22, 24
alligators 18 Bolivia 20, 23, 24, 28, 30 coatis 23 eels 23
The Alps 54 bongos 38 cock of the rocks 25 Egypt 35, 37
Amazon rain forest 20, 22–23 bonobos 38 cod 83, 86 El Salvador 9, 16
Amazon River 21 boobies 29 colocolos 32 elephants 40, 45, 71
Andes 21, 24–25, 32–33 Borneo 61, 72 Colombia 20, 22, 24 emus 78
Andorra 46 Bosnia & Herzegovina 47, 52, 57 Comoros 35 England 51
anglerfish 88 Botswana 40, 42 condors 25, 32 equator 6
Angola 34–35, 40, 42 Brazil 20–21, 22–23, 24, 28, 30–31 Congo 34, 38 Equatorial Guinea 34
anhingas 18 British Isles 46, 50–51, 52 Congo Basin 38–39 Eritrea 35, 37
Antarctic Circle 6 brittle stars 85 continents 6–7 Estonia 47, 48, 52
Antarctica 84–85 Brunei 61, 73 coral 82 Ethiopia 35, 37
anteaters 22, 30 buffaloes 38, 72 coral reefs 77, 82–83 Europe 46–59
antelopes 12, 36, 37, 41, 42, 45, 62, 65, Bulgaria 47, 55, 57 Cordillera Blanca 32–33 European forests 52–53
Burkina Faso 34 cork oaks 57 European steppe 55
67, 69, 70, 75 Burundi 35 cormorants 29 The Everglades 18–19
ants 23, 30, 52 bush babies 40 Corsica 56
Arabian Peninsula 60, 70 bustards 37, 55, 75 Costa Rica 9, 16 F
Arctic 86–87 butterflies 11, 22, 54, 68 coyotes 12
Arctic Circle 6 coypus 26 falcons 64
Argentina 20, 25, 26–27 C crabs 29, 51, 89 Falkland Islands 21, 25
armadillos 15, 31 cranes 69 Fiji 77
Armenia 60, 65 cacti 15 crayfish 81 Finland 47, 48, 52, 87
Asia 60–75 caimans 28 Crete 57 fireflies 11
Asian steppe 64 The Camargue 46 Croatia 46, 52, 54, 57 flamingos 21, 24, 41
assassin bugs 26 Cambodia 61, 72 crocodiles 17, 37, 79 Florida 18–19
asses 67, 74 camels 35, 37, 60, 75 crossbills 49 forests 13, 22–23, 35, 52–53, 58–59,
Atlantic Ocean 88 Cameroon 34, 38 crows 49
Australasia 76–83 Canada 8–9, 10–11, 12–13, 86 Cuba 9, 17 68–69, 71, 77
Australia 76, 78–79, 82–83 Cape Verde 34 cuckoos 56 see also rain forests; taiga
Austria 46, 52, 54 capercaillies 49 culpeos 33 fossas 43
aye-ayes 43 capybaras 20, 28 cuttlefish 88 foxes 12, 13, 26, 36, 52, 58, 65, 67, 87
Azerbaijan 60, 65 caracals 70 Cyprus 60 France 46, 52, 54, 56
caracaras 25, 33 Czech Republic 46, 52 French Guiana 21, 23
B cardinals 13 frigate birds 17
Caribbean 9, 17 D frogs 16, 19, 22, 24, 26, 31, 39, 42, 43,
baboons 40, 70 Carpathian Mountains 47 56, 63, 72, 80
badgers 10, 50, 59 Caspian Sea 64 damselflies 81 fynbos 34
Bahamas 9, 17 cats 15, 27, 31, 64, 70 deer 8, 13, 24, 25, 27, 28, 32, 51, 53, 58,
Bahrain 60, 70 centipedes 56 G
Bangladesh 61, 67 Central African Republic 34–35, 38 62, 68
baobabs 43 Central America 9, 16 Democratic Republic of the Congo 35, 38, Gabon 34, 38
barracudas 18 Central Asian deserts 65 galagos 40
barrier islands 9 Cerrado 30–31 40–41 Galápagos 29
batfish 17 Chad 34–35, 37, 38 Denmark 46, 52 gallinules 19
bats 17, 48, 53, 59, 72, 80 chameleons 43, 56 desert broom 14 The Gambia 34
bears 8, 10, 13, 24, 33, 47, 62, 66, 71, 73, chamois 54 deserts 14–15, 35, 36–37, 42, 60, 65, 70, gazelles 37, 65, 70, 75
chapis 38 geckos 36, 57
86 cheetahs 42, 45 74–75, 76, 78, 84 geese 11, 25, 32
beavers 11, 59 cherry trees 69 dingoes 79 geladas 35
bee-eaters 39 chickens 12 dinosaur fossils 74 Georgia 60
bees 51 Chihuahuan desert 15 Djibouti 35 gerbils 65
beetles 22, 41, 52 Chile 20, 25 dogs 25, 31, 40, 58, 69, 79 Germany 46, 52, 54
Belarus 47, 48, 53, 55, 58–59 dolphins 22, 73, 81, 89 Ghana 34
Belgium 46, 52 Dominican Republic 9, 17 gibbons 72
dormice 51, 53 giraffes 34, 41, 44
ducks 33, 49, 68, 69
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goats 65, 66, 69 J M Niger 34, 37
Gobi desert 74–75 Nigeria 34, 37
gorals 69 jackals 57 macaws 9, 30 nightingales 55
gorillas 38 jaguars 23 Macedonia 47, 52, 55, 57 nightjars 52
grasslands 30–31 Jamaica 9, 17 Madagascar 35, 43 North America 8–19
Japan 61, 69 magpies 57 North Korea 61, 69
see also pampas; savanna; steppes jays 49 Majorca 56 North Pole 87
Great Barrier Reef 82–83 jellyfish 83 Malawi 35 Northern Ireland 51
Great Plains 8, 12 jerboas 37, 74 Malaysia 61, 72 Norway 46, 48, 52, 87
Greece 47, 52, 57 Jordan 60, 70 Mali 34, 36
Greenland 9, 87 Malta 46, 57 O
grisons 27 K manakins 30
guanacos 32 mandrills 38 oaks 51, 57
Guatemala 9, 16 kakapos 81 mantises 72 oceans 88–89
Guinea 34 Kalahari desert 42 maras 26 ocelots 16
guinea pigs 24 kangaroos 77, 78 marlins 17 octopuses 89
Guinea-Bissau 34 kapok trees 22 marmots 54, 64, 66, 74 okapis 38
Guyana 21, 23 kauri trees 80 Marshall Islands 77 Oman 60, 70
Kazakhstan 60, 64, 65 Mauritania 34, 36 onagers 64
H keas 81 Mauritius 35 opossums 13, 31
Kenya 35 meadowlarks 27 orangutans 61, 72
habitats 5, 6 kererus 81 Mediterranean scrubland 56–57 ospreys 49
Haiti 9, 17 kiangs 67 Mediterranean Sea 47, 56–57 ostriches 42
hamsters 55 kingfishers 27, 78 meerkats 42 otters 10, 28, 51
hares 12, 48, 65, 66, 87 Kiribati 77 Mexico 8–9, 15 outback 76
hawks 29 kites 19, 51 mice 51, 53, 55, 59, 66 owls 11, 13, 15, 27, 48, 51, 53, 59, 63, 81,
heather 46 kiwis 80 Micronesia 76
hedgehogs 50, 65 koalas 79 midges 85 87
herons 18 Komodo dragons 73 millipedes 52
Himalayas 61, 66–67 kookaburras 78 minks 52 P
hippopotamuses 40, 44 Kosovo 47, 52, 57 Mojave desert 14, 15
hogs 39 krill 85 Moldova 47, 53 Pacific Ocean 88–89
Honduras 9, 16 Kruger National Park 44–45 mole rats 55 Pakistan 60, 65, 66, 71
honey badgers 44 Kuwait 60, 70 moles 55 Palau 76
hoopoes 53 Kyrgyzstan 60, 64, 65 Monaco 46 pampas 21, 26–27
hornbills 41 Mongolia 60, 61, 68, 74–75 pampas grass 27
hornets 71 L mongooses 71 Panama 9, 16
horses 46, 60, 64, 70, 75 monkeys 16, 23, 28, 41, 56, 68, 69, 70, 73 pandas 67
hummingbirds 15, 16, 33 ladybugs 51 Montenegro 47, 52, 57 pangolins 39
Hungary 47, 52 Laos 61, 72 moorland 46 Pantanal 20, 28
hutias 17 Latvia 47, 48, 52 moose 11, 47 panthers 19
hyenas 36 Lebanon 60 Morocco 34, 36 Papua New Guinea 76, 79
hyraxes 70 lemmings 48, 86, 87 mosquitoes 39 Paraguay 21, 23, 28, 30
lemurs 43 moss 46 parrots 38, 81
I leopards 38, 61, 67, 68 moths 43, 57 partridges 70
Lesotho 35 mountains 8, 24–25, 35, 54, 61, 66–67 Patagonia 21
ibexes 54, 56 Liberia 34 Mozambique 35, 41 peafowl 71
icefish 84 Libya 34–35, 37 musk oxen 86 pelicans 57, 76
Iceland 46, 48 lichen 86 mussels 88 penguins 29, 76, 81, 84, 85
iguanas 29, 30 Liechtenstein 46 Myanmar (Burma) 61, 67, 72 Peru 20, 22, 24, 32–33
impalas 41, 45 lions 40, 45 petrels 85
India 60, 66, 71, 72 Lithuania 47, 48, 52 N pheasants 69
Indian forests 71 lizards 14, 26, 29, 30, 31, 36, 56, 70, 72, Philippines 61, 73
Indian Ocean 89 Namibia 34–35, 40, 42 pigeons 53, 81
Indonesia 61, 73 73, 78 Nauru 77 pigs 17, 39, 56
Iran 65, 70 llamas 24 Nepal 60, 66 pine martens 54, 58
Iraq 60, 70 locust 36 Netherlands 46, 52 piranhas 23
Ireland 46, 51 loons 11 New Zealand 77, 80–81 plankton 89
Israel 60, 70 lungfish 39 newts 55 platypuses 79
Italy 46, 52, 54, 57 Luxembourg 46, 52 Nicaragua 9, 16 Poland 47, 52, 58–59
Ivory Coast 34 lynxes 48, 57 polar bears 86

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polar zones 6, 7 sea lions 29, 81 sugar gliders 79 Uruguay 21, 27
polecats 55, 64, 74 sea urchins 89 sugar maples 13 Uzbekistan 60, 64, 65
ponies 9 seagulls 60 sunbirds 72
porcupine fish 89 sea horses 88 sunfish 18 V
porcupines 42 seals 47, 50, 63, 84, 87 Suriname 21
porpoises 51 seas 88–89 Swaziland 35 Vanuatu 77
Portugal 46, 56 secretary birds 44 Sweden 46, 48, 52, 87 Vatican City 46
possums 78, 79 Senegal 34 Switzerland 46, 52, 54 Venezuela 17, 20, 22
prairie dogs 8, 12 Serbia 47, 52, 57 Syria 60 vicuñas 25
prairie shoestring 12 seriemas 31 Vietnam 61, 72
ptarmigans 54 serows 69 T vizcachas 27, 32
Puerto Rico 9, 17 serratulas 66 voles 52
puffins 48 Seychelles 35 tahrs 66 vultures 14, 30, 42, 44, 67
pumas 15 sharks 78, 83, 87, 88, 89 taiga 10–11, 47, 48–49, 62–63
sheep 14, 36, 63, 67 Taiwan 61, 73 W
Q shrews 54 Tajikistan 60, 64, 65
shrimps 83 tamarins 22 Wales 51
Qatar 60, 70 Sicily 57 tangs 82 walruses 87
quetzals 16 Sierra Leone 34 Tanzania 35 warthogs 42
skuas 85 tapirs 16 water lilies 28
R skunks 13 tarsiers 73 weasels 53, 67
sloths 16, 71 tayras 16 weavers 42
rabbits 12, 14, 56 Slovakia 47, 52 temperate zones 6, 7 western deserts 14–15
raccoons 13, 69 Slovenia 46, 52, 54 tenrecs 43 Western Sahara 34, 36
rafflesia flowers 72 slugs 8, 82 termites 31 wetas 80
rain forest 9, 20, 38–39, 61, 72–73 snails 28, 80 terns 86 wetlands 18–19, 20, 28, 46
rats 15 snakes 12, 15, 18, 23, 24, 28, 30, 36, 51, Thailand 61, 72 whales 80, 84, 87, 88, 89
rays 73, 88 thorny devils 78 wild boars 47, 53
Red Sea 35, 37 53, 65, 68, 71, 73, 79, 83 Tibetan Plateau 66–67 wildcats 50
redwood trees 8 Snares Islands 76 tigers 62, 71 wildebeests 41
reindeer 86 solenodons 17 toads 49, 58, 67 witchetty grubs 78
rheas 21, 26 Solomon Islands 77 Togo 34 wolverines 49
rhinoceroses 40, 71, 72 Somalia 35 Tonga 77 wolves 8, 10, 11, 30, 47, 56, 58, 66
roadrunners 15 Sonoran desert 15 toothfish 84 wombats 79
robins 51, 63 South Africa 34–35, 42, 44–45 tortoises 14, 29, 37, 43, 57, 64 woodpeckers 59, 63
Romania 47, 52, 55, 57 South America 20–33 toucans 23 world map 6–7
rubythroats 63 South Korea 61, 69 Trinidad and Tobago 9, 17
Russian Federation 47, 48–49, 53, 55, South Pole 84 trogons 17 Y
South Sudan 35, 38 Tropic of Cancer 6
60–61, 68–69, 86 Southeast Asian rain forest 72–73 Tropic of Capricorn 6 yaks 61, 66
Rwanda 35 Southern savanna 40–41 tropical zone 6, 7 Yemen 60, 70
Spain 46, 56 tuataras 81
S spiders 14, 19, 23, 79 tuna 88 Z
spiny forest 35 tundra 86
sables 62 sponges 82 Tunisia 34, 36 Zambia 35, 40–41
Sahara desert 35, 36–37 spoonbills 28 turacos 38 zebras 40, 45
salamanders 54, 68 spruce trees 49 Turkey 47, 60 Zimbabwe 35, 41
salmon 10, 88 squid 85 Turkmenistan 60, 65
salmonberries 10 squirrels 13, 50, 59, 62, 64, 71 turtles 10, 17, 18, 83, 89
Samoa 77 Sri Lanka 60, 71 Tuvalu 77
San Marino 46 starfish 82
sandgrouse 37 starlings 55 U
sardines 88 steppes 21, 55, 64
Sardinia 56 stick insects 24 Uganda 35
Saudi Arabia 60, 70 stingrays 73 Ukraine 47, 53, 55
savanna 34, 40–41, 44, 60 stoats 49 United Arab Emirates 60, 70
saxaul trees 75 storks 28 United Kingdom 46, 50–51
scorpions 37, 38 sturgeon 89 United States of America (USA) 8–9, 10,
Scotland 46, 50 Sudan 35, 37
scrubland 56–57 12–15, 18–19, 86
sea anemones 83 Ural Mountains 49, 55
sea breams 77

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Credits

Dorling Kindersley would like to thank Dr. Don E. Wilson, 35 Alamy Stock Photo: Ange (br); Aivar Mikko (tc). Maxim Petrichuk (bl). iStockphoto.com: muha04 (cra).
Curator Emeritus, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, iStockphoto.com: helovi (cra). 36 Dorling Kindersley: SuperStock: Biosphoto (ca). 76 Alamy Stock Photo:
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian, for Jerry Young (br). 38 Dorling Kindersley: Liberty’s Owl, David Foster (clb); Schöttger / mauritius images GmbH
his expert consultation. Raptor and Reptile Centre, Hampshire, UK (bl). 39 (cla); Frans Lanting Studio (bc). 77 Alamy Stock Photo:
123RF.com: Andrey Gudkov (cr); Jatesada Natayo (tr). 41 WaterFrame_fba (tr). SuperStock: Roland Seitre /
The publisher would also like to thank the following 123RF.com: pytyczech (bc). Alamy Stock Photo: Andrew Minden Pictures (tl). 78 Alamy Stock Photo: FLPA (br).
people for their help in preparing this book: Kealy Gordon Mackay (r). 42 Dorling Kindersley: Wildlife Heritage 79 Fotolia: Eric Isselee (br). 80 Getty Images: Robin
and Ellen Nanney at the Smithsonian; Helen Peters for Foundation, Kent, UK (bl). Dreamstime.com: Artushfoto Bush / Oxford Scientific (bl). 81 123RF.com:
the index; Polly Goodman for proofreading; Joylon (ftr). SuperStock: Alexander Koenders / NiS / Minden petervick167 (tl). 82 123RF.com: Daniel Poloha (br).
Goddard and Katy Lennon for additional editing; and Pictures (tr). 43 Alamy Stock Photo: Travel Africa (cl); Alamy Stock Photo: Barry Brown / DanitaDelimont.
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