The Killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. It is the largest member of this family. The sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors of Killer whales have been described as manifestations of...
The wolf (Canis lupus), also known as the Gray wolf or Grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly understood, comprise wild...
The Sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the...
The Honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Despite its name, the Honey badger does not closely resemble other badger species; instead, it bears more anatomical...
The Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa. The species is now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suiform. It has been assessed as the least concern on the IUCN Red...
The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been...
The caracal (Caracal caracal) is a medium-sized wild cat. It was first scientifically described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. Typically nocturnal, the caracal is highly secretive and difficult to observe. It was...
One of the most abundant and widespread mammals around the globe, the House mouse (Mus musculus) is found in almost any part of the world (except Antarctica) due to human travel. This rodent originated in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern...
The False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a species of oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus Pseudorca. It is found in oceans worldwide but mainly frequents tropical regions. The name "false killer whale" comes...
The Golden jackal (Canis aureus) is a wolf-like canid. Despite its name, the Golden jackal is not closely related to the African Black-backed jackal or Side-striped jackal, which are part of the genus Lupulella, being instead closer to wolves and...
Hyenas are the most common large carnivore in Africa. Hyenas are neither members of the dog nor the cat family. They are unique, and so have their own family: Hyaenidae, which has four members: Striped hyenas, the “laughing” Spotted hyenas, Brown...
The Sand cat (Felis margarita) is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. The first Sand cat known to science was discovered in the Algerian Sahara and described in 1858. In the early 1970s, these adorable...
The European badger (Meles meles) is a mustelid native to almost all of Europe. It has a wide range and a large stable population size and is thought to be increasing in some regions. In Europe, where no other badger species commonly occurs, it is...
The Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of cetacean on Earth after the Blue whale. American naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews called the fin whale "the greyhound...
The European hare (Lepus europaeus) is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Generally nocturnal and shy in nature, hares change their behavior in the...
The Rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. It is also commonly referred to in South Africa as the dassie. These cute animals are the only extant terrestrial afrotherians in the...
The Jungle cat (Felis chaus) is a medium-sized cat. Its name comes from the Caucasus Mountains, the place this cat was first discovered. In Asia, it is the Jungle cat, but in Africa, it is commonly named Reed cat or Swamp cat, due to its preference...
The onager (Equus hemionus) is a species of the family Equidae that is found in Asia. The onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been...
The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a subspecies of Grey wolf. It travels in smaller packs and is less vocal than other variants of the Grey wolf, and has a reputation for being cunning. The Indian wolf is one of the most endangered...
The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive in 2006....
The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. It is the most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of the weasel family (Mustelidae). It is found in the waterways and coasts of Europe, many parts...
The Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a wide-ranging marine mammal of the family Delphinidae. The common bottlenose dolphin is a very familiar dolphin species due to the wide exposure it receives in captivity in marine parks and...
The Syrian brown bear (Ursus arctos syriacus or Ursus arctos arctos ) is a relatively small subspecies of brown bear native to the Middle East and the Caucasus mountain range.
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. As of 2015, it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the...
The Beech marten (Martes foina) is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is superficially similar to the European pine marten but differs from it by its...
The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) is the smallest known extant mammal by mass, weighing only about 1.8 g (0.063 oz) on average. It is characterized by very rapid movements and a fast metabolism, eating about 1.5-2 times its own body weight per...
European water voles > (Arvicola amphibius) are semiaquatic rodents. They are often informally called water rats, though they only superficially resemble a true rat. Their dark color allows them to blend in well in the densely vegetated areas and...
The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is a rare desert-dwelling goat species found in mountainous areas of Africa, and the Middle East. It was historically considered to be a subspecies of the Alpine ibex (C. ibex ), but is now considered a distinct...
The Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs ) is a subspecies of gray wolf native to the Arabian Peninsula, the Negev Desert, the Sinai Peninsula, and Jordan. It is the smallest wolf subspecies, and a desert-adapted subspecies that normally lives in small...
Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) is one of the most mysterious and little known-species of dolphin with a rather unusual appearance. It is named after Antoine Risso, whose study of the animal formed the basis of the recognized description by...
The Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a small member of the suborder of baleen whales. It is the smallest species of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. American whalemen in the 19th century simply thought...
The Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica ) is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae.
The Egyptian fruit bat or Egyptian rousette (Rousettus aegyptiacus ) is a species of megabat that is found in Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Indian subcontinent. It is one of three Rousettus species with an African-Malagasy...
The dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas ), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about 55–65 cm (1.8–2.1 feet) at the shoulder, with a head and body length of 90–110 cm (3–3.5 feet) and a weight of...
The long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus ) is a species of hedgehog native to Central Asian countries and some countries of the Middle East. The long-eared hedgehog lives in burrows that it either makes or finds and is distinguished by its long...
The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon ), also known as ichneumon, is a mongoose species native to the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Turkey, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in...
The common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus ) is a small pipistrelle microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and may extend into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the British...
The Syrian elephant or Western Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus asurus ) was the westernmost population of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus ), which became extinct in ancient times. Skeletal remains of E. m. asurus have been recorded from the...
The marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna ) is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. Vormela is from the German word Würmlein, which means "little worm". The specific name peregusna comes...
Blanford's fox (Vulpes cana ) is a small fox native to the Middle East and Central Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
The greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ) is an insectivorous bat of the genus Rhinolophus. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe and is thus...
The Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica ) is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008....
