The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. It is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The Blue whale was once abundant in nearly all the Earth's oceans until the end of the 19th century. It was hunted...
The Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a hypercarnivorous bear found within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear species, as well as the largest extant land...
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 reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution. Reindeer occur in both migratory and sedentary populations, and their herd sizes vary greatly in different regions....
The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the family...
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea ), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to 1.8 metres and...
The Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. They are the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea...
The Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, white owl of the true owl family. It has a number of unique adaptations to its habitat and lifestyle, which are quite distinct from other extant owls. Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but...
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 Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a colorful seabird that belongs to the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. Although it has a large population and a wide range, the species has declined rapidly, at least in...
The Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies of the Common box turtle . It is native to the eastern part of the United States and is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long-lived, slow to mature,...
Named for its whooping sound, the Whooping crane (Grus americana) is the tallest North American bird. The elegant Whooping crane represents one of the most well-known conservation stories in the United States and thus has captured the public...
The Chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) is a highly aerial bird belonging to the swift family Apodidae. A member of the genus Chaetura, it is closely related to both the Vaux's swift and the Chapman's swift; in the past, the three were sometimes...
The Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the Blue whale and the Fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas and prefers deep offshore waters. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word...
The Greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) is a large grouse from North American. This species was once abundant but has become extremely rare and extirpated over much of its range due to habitat loss. One of the most famous aspects of these...
The Wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) is a semi-aquatic species of turtle endemic to North America. It spends a great deal of time in or near the water of wide rivers and spends the winter in hibernation and the hottest parts of the summer in...
Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is a semi-aquatic turtle native to North America. It is considered to be an endangered species throughout much of its range. Blanding's turtle is of interest in longevity research, as it shows little to no...
The North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica ) is a very large, thickset baleen whale species that is extremely rare and endangered. The Northeast Pacific population, which summers in the southeastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, may have no...
The boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou ), also known as woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subspecies of reindeer (or caribou in North America) found only in Canada. Unlike the...
The Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic. Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies, though this coat is shed...
The Evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina) is a passerine bird found in North America. The genus Hesperiphona was introduced by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850; it originates from Ancient Greek and Latin words and means "evening" and "cry."
The freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera ) is an endangered species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Margaritiferidae.Although the name "freshwater pearl mussel" is often used for this species, other...
The long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis ), formerly known as oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only...
The Common box turtle is a species of a box turtle that lives in the Eastern United States and Mexico. This turtle gets its common name from the structure of its shell which consists of a high domed carapace (upper shell), and a large, hinged...
The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus ) is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in the genus...
The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata ), the only species of the genus Clemmys, is a small, semi-aquatic turtle that reaches a carapace length of 8–12 cm (3.1–4.7 in) upon adulthood. Their broad, smooth, low dark-colored upper shell, or carapace,...
The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla ) is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Larus tridactylus. The English name is derived...
The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (Podiceps auritus ) is a relatively small waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two known subspecies: P. a. auritus, which breeds in the Palearctic, and P. a. cornutus, which breeds in North America....
The eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius ) is a small, relatively slender skunk found in North America, throughout the eastern United States and in small areas of Canada and Mexico.This small skunk is more weasel-like in body shape than the...
The American black swift, or more simply black swift (Cypseloides niger ), is a species of bird that is found from northern British Columbia in Canada through the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica and Brazil. They are also found in the...
The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus ) is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the auk family. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow. Its habit of nesting in trees...
The short-tailed albatross or Steller's albatross (Phoebastria albatrus ) is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific. Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the...
The Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis ) naturally occurs only in the high mountains of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. This particular marmot species is large compared to some other marmots, and most other rodents. Marmots as a...
The rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus ) is a medium-sized blackbird, closely related to grackles ("rusty grackle" is an older name for the species). It is a bird that prefers wet forested areas, breeding in the boreal forest and muskeg across...
The Tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) is a species of microbat native to eastern North America. Its common name "tricolored bat" derives from the coloration of the hairs on its back, which have three distinct color bands. It is the smallest bat...
The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis ), also called the gray rabbit, brush rabbit, wood hare, wood rabbit, or cooney, is a species of cottontail rabbit represented by fragmented populations in areas of New England, specifically from...
Bicknell's thrush (Catharus bicknelli ) is a medium-sized thrush, at 17.5 cm (6.9 in) and 28 g (0.99 oz). One of North America's rarest and most localized breeders, it inhabits coniferous mountain tops and disturbed habitats of the Northeast. While...
Leach's storm petrel or Leach's petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous ) is a small seabird of the tubenose order. It is named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek. Hydrobates is from hydōr...
The Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus ) is one of two endangered subspecies of the Townsend's big-eared bat. It is found in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. In 1979, the US Fish and Wildlife Service...
Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a small songbird (passerine) in the family Motacillidae that breeds in the short- and mixed-grass prairies of North America. Migratory, it spends the winters in the southwestern United States and northern...
The chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus ) is a species of bird in the family Calcariidae. Like the other longspurs, it is a small ground-feeding bird that primarily eats seeds. It breeds in prairie habitats in Canada and the northern...
The Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa, meaning "precious frog") is a member of the frog family Ranidae of order Anura. It is a medium-sized aquatic frog endemic to the Pacific Northwest and historically well distributed in the Puget...
