Swimming

Eastern Rat Snake

Barn-Patrolling, Tree-Climbing Black Snake

White Ferret / Albino Ferrets

Little thief, big tunnel explorer

Freshwater Crocodile

Slim snout, freshwater stealth

Sambar

Asia's heavyweight forest deer

Basilisk Lizard

Kings of the riverbank sprint

Cinnamon Ferret

Cinnamon ferret: small hunter, big spark

Telescopefishes (Giganturids)

Built to see in the abyss

Blanket Octopus

The open-ocean octopus with a living cape

Sable Ferret

Small hunter, big curiosity.

Unau (Linnaeus's Two-Toed Sloth)

Two claws, night life, rainforest slow

Natterjack

The stripe-backed toad that runs and roars

Lazarus Lizard

The wall lizard that came back

Copperhead

Hourglass bands, hidden in plain sight

Eastern Indigo Snake

Iridescent hunter of the longleaf

Timber Rattlesnake (Canebrake Rattlesnake)

The forest rattler: warn first, strike last

Brown Snake

Australia's swift, serious brown snakes

Texas Indigo Snake

South Texas' diurnal snake hunter

Kirtland's Snake

Red-bellied ghost of wet prairies

Black Mamba

Black mouth. Cool head. Keep distance.

Green Mamba

Mambas: the canopy's quick-strike elapids

Egyptian Cobra (Egyptian Asp)

Hood up: the classic "asp" of history

Queen Snake

Seven stripes, one stream specialist

Coachwhip Snake

Built for speed. No venom required.

Carpet Python

Australia's patterned backyard constrictor