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This is one of the most distinctive animals on the planet. African elephants are the largest of the three elephant species. Elephants have many unique characteristics, and the secrets of some of their adaptations are still being discovered to this day. Elephants live long and very social lives centered around a matriarch and her offspring. The illegal killing of elephants for ivory represents a serious and pressing threat to the future of this species.

Blue-throated macaws are often called barba azul in Spanish, meaning “blue beard,” because of the bright blue coloration covering their throats. They play an important role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers. These intelligent and colorful birds are critically endangered and threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade.

Reticulated pythons, along with the green anaconda, are the largest snakes in the world. The distinction is that these pythons attain a greater length, with valid records of wild individuals over 20 feet in length. Green anacondas, on the other hand, are not as long but achieve a much more massive girth and mass.

The Guatemalan beaded lizard lives only in an isolated pocket of desert in eastern Guatemala. Discovered by scientists in the mid-1980s, this distinctive lizard has been well known to local populations in Guatemala for millennia. This species is one of the five closely related species of venomous beaded lizards, including the Gila monster of the southwestern U.S. The venom is used entirely for self-defense and is not used in the capturing of prey.

Ring-tailed lemurs are named for the distinctive, alternating black-and-white bands along their tails. They reside in southern and southwestern Madagascar and are found in social groups called troops. This species uses both vocal and scent marking as tools of communication.

Sidewinders get their name from their unique form of side-stepping locomotion that is an adaptation for moving across loosely packed desert sands. They are a type of rattlesnake and are venomous.

Sumatran tigers are the smallest of the tigers. Unfortunately, all subspecies of tiger are endangered (and three already are extinct) because of the combined threats of habitat loss, fear-based persecution by humans, and wildlife trade for their skins, bones and other body parts.

Guenons are a diverse group of Old World monkeys, characterized by enormous cheek pouches that they stuff with food opportunistically as they forage. They will then actually consume the bounty from their recent foraging bout in a secluded retreat, safe from predators. They mainly eat fruits and small animals such as insects or lizards. Like the other species of guenon, these are social animals living in family groups, with a single dominant male. Group size may reach 50 animals when resources are abundant, but groups may split into smaller units if resources become scarce.

Goats were among one of the very first domesticated animals and have been part of human life as companions and a source of hides and food for millennia. Many thousands of years of selective breeding have produced a large number of breeds specialized for different purposes and climates. Their particularly rich milk, small size, and easygoing manner make them popular as family pets and for small-scale dairy operations.

The appearance and habits of the naked mole rat enthrall scientists and observers alike. Naked mole rats are eusocial mammals, with a social system structured in service of a queen, much like bees.