Mammal

The brown-throated sloth (or Bradypus variegatus) is an arboreal mammal living in the rainforests of Central and South America. It is pale grey to brown in colour, has long gangly limbs, longer arms than legs, and a short, vestigial tail. The sloth has three long claws on both of its hands and feet, although the front claws are significantly longer. The brown-throated sloth has a round head with inconspicuous ears and dark brown markings going laterally from the eyes to the side of the head.

The lar gibbon (or Hylobates lar), also known as the white-handed gibbon, is a primate that lives in the rainforests of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The fur of this animal can vary from dark brown to ginger, tan, or cream in colouration. Its face is black, with a distinct white ring of hair around it. Its hands and feet are also white. Male and female lar gibbons look alike, have a head-body length of 42cm to 59cm, and weigh between 4kg and 7.6kg.

The fossa (or Cryptoprocta ferox) is a large mammal found in the forests of the island of Madagascar. It belongs to the family of Eupleridae, the Madagascan carnivores, of which the fossa is the largest. Mostly arboreal, the fossa has a long and slender cat-like build, with a tail almost as long as its body. Its fur is uniformly tan-brown. The fossa has rounded ears, a round nose, and yellow eyes resembling that of a cat. Males and females look alike, and are between 61cm to 80cm long, with the tail adding another 60cm to 75cm. Fossas weigh 5kg to 9kg.

Native to the rivers, lakes and marshes of Western and Central Africa, the red river hog (or Potamochoerus porcus) is a small member of the pig family. It has striking red fur across its body, with a black face, legs, tail and ears. The ears are adorned with long black and white tufts. Down their backs, red river hogs have a wispy, white line of hair. Their facial features and ears are surrounded by coarse white fur. They are sexually dimorphic, with males being generally larger and heavier than females, and having a wider skull with bony protrusions and long whiskers along the face.

A generalist predator and scavenger, the striped hyena (or Hyaena hyaena) is native to North Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia. It lives in a variety of environments, from open savannahs, grass and woodlands to arid, mountainous areas. The striped hyena has strong forelimbs and a muscular neck with shorter hind legs, giving the body a sloped build. The head is broad with a wide snout, wideset eyes and large pointed ears. Striped hyenas have tan fur with vertical black stripes along their body and legs. A long mane runs along the entirety of the spine and ends in a thick, bushy tail.

The red-necked wallaby (or Notamacropus rufogriseus) is a medium-sized marsupial native to Eastern Australia and Tasmania. As a member of the kangaroo family it shares the distinctive appearance of large, muscular hind legs and tail, comparatively small forearms, large ears and a blunt snout. The red-necked wallaby has grey fur with a red-brown tinge and a paler underside. The fur on its ear tips, around its nose, and on its feet is black. This species is sexually dimorphic, with males being larger than females.

Found in grasslands, rainforests and dried scrublands, the nine-banded armadillo (or Dasypus novemcinctus) is a species of armoured mammal native to North, Central, and South America. There are nine subspecies of nine-banded armadillo spread throughout its range, with a lot of variation in appearance between them. Generally, nine-banded armadillos are covered by a mottled pink-grey carapace made up of large plates across their shoulders and hips, and nine characteristic segmented plates over the torso, which merges into their long, plated tail.

Found in the wood, grass and scrubland of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the maned wolf (or Chrysocyon brachyurus) is a species of canid named for the dark, thick mane running down the centre of its neck to its shoulder blades. It has long, thin limbs and an overall lanky appearance. The maned wolf is covered in red, shaggy fur on its body, and short, black fur on its legs. Male and female maned wolves are similar in size and appearance, standing 73cm to 95cm tall at the shoulder.

The caracal (or Caracal caracal) is a small wildcat living in the savannahs, marshes, semi-deserts and wood and scrublands of Africa and the Middle East. Its coat is tan-red with a paler underside and the body is stocky with large feet and a comparatively short tail. It has large pointed ears with long, black tufts protruding from the tips, as well as dark facial markings above the eyes and sides of their lips. Caracal males are slightly larger than females, but sexes otherwise look alike.

The blue wildebeest (or Connochaetes taurinus) is a large antelope native to Southern Africa. It is also known as the common or white-bearded wildebeest, or brindled gnu. They have a pale grey or brown coat with dark stripes across their neck, shoulders, and chest. Blue wildebeest have a long black tail and a long black mane, which either stands up or drapes over the neck depending on the subspecies. The beard trailing under the neck is white. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males being larger than females, but both males and females have distinctive, L-shaped horns.