Hot Desert

Wallaby

Pouches, power-hops, and wild places

Earwig

Forceps, night-life, and fierce mothering

Collared Peccary

Not a pig-America's javelina

Bandicoot

Digging by night, healing soils by day

Leopard Tortoise

Spotted shell, savanna soul.

Avocet

Curved bill, clean sweep.

Crane

Dance, Trumpet, Migrate

Snail

One class, a thousand ways to snail.

Pond Skater

Skating predators of the surface film

Black Rhinoceros

Hook-lipped browser, hard to beat

African Bush Elephant

Big ears, big impact.

Sparrow

Small birds, big social networks

African Penguin

The braying penguin of the Cape

Indian Star Tortoise

Stars on a shell, survivor of scrub

Radiated Tortoise

Starbursts of Madagascar's spiny forests

Rock Hyrax

Built for cliffs, wired for teamwork

Scimitar-horned Oryx

Scimitar horns, desert survivor

Honey Badger

Small mustelid. Big attitude.

Hoopoe

Crest up, bill down-hoopoe on patrol.

Cockatoo

Crested geniuses of Australasia

Wolf Spider

Fast feet, sharp eyes, fierce moms

Xerus

Burrows, sun, and savvy survival

Jerboa

Desert jumpers on spring-loaded legs

Camel Spider

Big jaws. Fast feet. Desert hunter.