The Ladder Snake (Rhinechis scalaris orZamenis scalaris) is a medium-sized reptile and a colubrid (non-venomous) snake. It is related to the Ratsnake.
The Ladder Snake has yellowish to dark brown scales with two dark brown stripes running down the length of its body from neck to tail. It has a dark stripe at the back of its eye, angling down to its jaw. Its underbelly is pale, such as slivery-grey to whitish. It has a pointed snout (nose). It has dark eyes.
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The Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) is an insect in the family of eusocial wasps. It is a vespine. It is also known as the Yellow-Legged Hornet.
The Asian Hornet has a smooth black and yellow-orange body with black wings and yellow legs, called tarsi. Its thorax (chest) is brown or black. Its abdomen (stomach) is brown. Each abdominal segment has a narrow yellow border, except for the fourth segment, which is orange. Its head is black with a yellow-orange face and black antennae. The female worker hornet has a smooth barbless stinger that can repeatedly sting an animal.
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The Australian Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) is a large, arboreal amphibian in the Hylidae family. It is also known as the White’s Tree Frog or the Dumpy Tree Frog.
The Australian Green Tree Froghas a plump body with a ridge over its eyes. It is emerald or bright green with yellow or white blotches on its back. It has a cream underbelly, and the undersides of its feet and legs are bright yellow. Its eyes have horizontal golden pupils.
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The Two-Spotted Ladybird (Adalia bipunctata) is a small insect in the Coccinellidae family of ladybird beetles. It is also known as the Two Spotted Lady Beetle.
The Two-Spotted Ladybird Beetle can have a red or a yellow body with two black spots on its elytra (two wing cases). Its body is oval-shaped and slightly domed. Its wings are hidden underneath the wing cases. It has black compound eyes. Its antennae are light-brown, quite long, and slightly thickened at the ends. Its neck shield usually covers the head and has white spots. It has little black legs.
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The Spotfin Hogfish (Bodianus pulchellus) is a marine (salwater) fish in the Wrasse family. It is also known as the Cuban Hogfish.
The Spotfin Hogfish has a red body with a yellow ray-finned tail.
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The Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae novaeguineae) is a bird in the Kingfisher family. It is the largest Kingfisher in Australia.
The Kookaburra is carnivorous, eating mainly meat.
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The Antarctic Glyptonotus (Glyptonotus antarcticus) is a giant marine (saltwater) isopod crustacean. A crustacean includes crabs, shrimps, and lobsters.
The Antarctic Glyptonotus has a disc-shaped body with small outgrowths of hairs and knobbly scales. It has two pairs of compound eyes; one pair of eyes on its back and a smaller pair of eyes on its side. It has three pairs of front claws and eight legs.
It swims upside down.
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What is a canid? What is a canine?
A canid is an animal that belongs in the Canidae family of dogs.
A canine is a dog or an animal that is dog-like.
A canid or a canine is a carnivorous mammal known as a dog – such as a domestic dog or a wild dog.
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What is a felid? What is a feline?
A felid is an animal that belongs in the Felidae family of cats.
A feline is a cat or an animal that is cat-like.
A felid or a feline is a carnivorous mammal known as a cat – such as a domestic cat or a wild cat.
A wild cat includes a bobcat, caracal, cheetah, cougar, eyra, jaguar, jaguarundi, kodkod, leopard, lion, lynx, margay, ocelot, oncilla, panther, puma, serval, tiger, and tigrillo.
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The Frilled-Necked Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) is a medium-sized reptile. It is also known as the Frilled Agama or the Frilled Dragon. It is an agamid (a dragon lizard).
The Frilled-Necked Lizard has a large frilled collar around its neck. The frill stays mostly closed, but will open up when the lizard is startled, and also for courtship. It is mainly grey or brown with dark spots and blotches that are often red or orange. The colour depends on the lizard’s environment as a form of camouflage.
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The European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) is a wild cat, and a felid mammal.
The European Wildcat is like a domestic cat, but with longer sandy-coloured fur, a shorter non-tapering bushy tail, and larger sharper teeth. It has striped fur with a dark dorsal band and a whitish underbelly. Its eyes are yellowish-brown, and its nose is pink. It has large ears.
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The Stoat (Mustela erminea) is a carnivorous mammal in the Mustelidae family. It is a mustelid. It is also known as the Short-Tailed Weasel.
The Stoat has an elongated body and neck, with short, rounded ears, and short legs. It has a long tail with a black tip. Its eyes are round, black, and slightly protruded. Its whiskers are long and white or brown. Each foot has five toes with retractable claws.
In winter, it has a coat of pure white silky fur, called ermine. In summer, its fur is coarse and sandy-brown on the back with a white underbelly.
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The Caracal (Caracal caracal) is a medium-sized carnivorous felid mammal in the Felides family of wild cats.
The Caracal has reddish, tan-coloured or sandy-coloured fur. Its sides are lighter with small, reddish markings, and its underbelly is white. It has a strong build, and long legs with large broad paws. It has a short face with black markings on its whiskper pads and around its green, grey, or golden-brown eyes. It has long canine teeth. It has large black ears with ear tufts. It has a short tail. The female is lighter in colour than the male, and shorter.
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The Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) is a carnivorous mammal. It is also known as the Red Meerkat.
The Yellow Mongoose has a long body with rough yellowish fur, and a bushy tail. It has lighter highlights on its underbelly and chin. It has a pointy nose and small ears. Its eyes are small and dark. It has long, strong claws that dig through soil. Its claws do not retract, and therefore they are always visible.
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The Regal Angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus) is a tropical marine (saltwater) fish. It is also known as the Royal Angelfish.
The Regal Angelfish is thin and compressed. It varies in colour, but is usually black-blue edged with blue-white and orange stripes that are narrow and angle backwards. Its dorsal (back) fin is black or blue with blue dots. The anal (bottom) fin has yellow and blue bands parallel to its body. Its caudal (tail) fin is yellow.
The Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungos) from Africa is a small, short-legged carnivorous mammal that lives in burrows, called dens. It has long, strong claws that dig through soil.
Its claws do not retract, so they are always visible. There are five toes on each foot, and each toe has a medium-sized claw.
The Anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) is a bony marine (saltwater) fish. It is commonly known as the Angler in the Lophiidae family of monkfish.
The Anglerfish is mainly all head and hardly any body. It has no scales. Its head is large, broad, and flat. It has a fleshy growth from it head, called the esca or illicium, which acts like a lure. The esca, or illicium, is commonly known as the ‘fishing rod.’ It has a very wide mouth with jaws that have long pointed teeth. Its teeth point inwards. It has long filaments along the middle of its head.
Its pectoral and pelvic fins act like legs, and it can walk along the bottom of the sea. It has fringes on its head and body that look like seaweed, so that it can be camouflaged in its environment.
The Caucasus Jungle Cat (Felis chaus chaus) is a sub-species of the Jungle Cat. It is also known as the Reed Cat or the Swamp Cat. It is a medium-sized feline, or felid, mammal. It looks like a lynx.
The Caucasus Jungle Cat has sandy, reddish-brown, or grey fur without spots. It has a long, narrow face with a white nose. Its eyes are yellow, and it often has white fur around its eyes. It has large, pointed ears with small tufts of black hair. It has long legs and a short, black-tipped tail. It has sharp teeth.
The Mexican Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a freshwater amphibian in the salamander family. It is also known as the Mexican Walking Fish, but it is not a fish. Toads, frogs, newts, salamanders and axolotl are amphibians, living partly in water and partly on land. However, the axolotl never leaves the water.
The Mexican Axolotl remains in the amphibian tadpole form, with gills, and never becomes an ‘adult’ with lungs. This is called partial metamorphosis. It has a wide head, and their eyes do not have eye-lids. It has four feathery external gills on the side of its head. It has little, under-developed legs. It is olive-green, with a lighter underbelly. It does not have scales – it has moist, smooth skin like the skin of frogs.
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The Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) is a non-venomous constrictor snake and a reptile.
The Burmese Python is a dark-coloured snake with many brown markings on its back. It has a clearly defined large head with dark eyes. It can also be albino (no pigmentation) or leucistic (partial pigmentation), and can look caramel, whitish, or yellowish. Albino pythons have pink eyes, but leucistic pythons have brown eyes.