150 animals to discover
Every card in the book has a QR code: here you will find the fun facts that did not fit on paper, the experiments to try and — above all — the quiz answers.
150 animals in 15 habitats
Savanna and grasslands
Habitat 1 of 15 · 10 animals
Lion
Panthera leo
The big cat that lets females hunt
African elephant
Loxodonta africana
The giant walking across the savanna
Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
The camelopard of ancient books
Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
A body built only for running
Zebra
Equus quagga
Stripes as unique as a fingerprint
White rhinoceros
Ceratotherium simum
A giant with the wrong name
Wildebeest
Connochaetes taurinus
An antelope that looks like a bull
Meerkat
Suricata suricatta
The small carnivore that defies venom
Ostrich
Struthio camelus
The largest living bird on Earth
Spotted hyena
Crocuta crocuta
The world's most social carnivore
Rivers, lakes and wetlands
Habitat 2 of 15 · 10 animals
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius
One of the most dangerous herbivores
Nile crocodile
Crocodylus niloticus
The second most powerful bite in nature
Beaver
Castor fiber
The largest rodent native to Eurasia
Otter
Lutra lutra
It lives only in clean waters
Capybara
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
The world's largest living rodent species
Piranha
Pygocentrus nattereri
A timid scavenger rather than a monster
Gray heron
Ardea cinerea
The heron that travels furthest north
Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis
As small as a sparrow, completely unmistakable
Salmon
Salmo salar
Always returns to its home river
Amazon river dolphin
Inia geoffrensis
A cetacean that never sees the ocean
Seas and oceans
Habitat 3 of 15 · 10 animals
Blue whale
Balaenoptera musculus
The largest animal to ever exist
Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
The most common cetacean in the Mediterranean
Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
The largest living predatory fish
Octopus
Octopus vulgaris
Three hearts and no bones at all
Sea turtle
Caretta caretta
Returns to nest on its birth beach
Orca
Orcinus orca
The predator that teaches its children
Clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
Born male and becomes female later
Jellyfish
Aurelia aurita
No brain and no respiratory system
Seahorse
Hippocampus hippocampus
The male carries the whole pregnancy
Giant manta ray
Mobula birostris
Twenty feet wingspan without hunting prey
The deep sea
Habitat 4 of 15 · 10 animals
Sperm whale
Physeter macrocephalus
The largest predator on the planet
Giant squid
Architeuthis dux
First photographed alive in 2004
Deep-sea anglerfish
Melanocetus johnsonii
A living lamp in the deep sea
Japanese spider crab
Macrocheira kaempferi
The largest living arthropod on Earth
Nautilus
Nautilus pompilius
A shell that works like a submarine
Viperfish
Chauliodus sloani
Teeth too long to close its mouth
Goblin shark
Mitsukurina owstoni
Jaws that snap out of the mouth
Giant isopod
Bathynomus giganteus
A crustacean as long as a forearm
Giant tube worm
Riftia pachyptila
An animal without a mouth or stomach
Blobfish
Psychrolutes marcidus
A body lighter than surrounding water
Rainforest and jungle
Habitat 5 of 15 · 10 animals
Tiger
Panthera tigris
The largest cat on the planet
Gorilla
Gorilla beringei
The largest of all living primates
Orangutan
Pongo pygmaeus
Four hands for living in the trees
Sloth
Bradypus variegatus
The mammal that made slowness a profession
Jaguar
Panthera onca
A bite that cracks tough shells
Toucan
Ramphastos toco
A huge and almost hollow beak
Scarlet macaw
Ara macao
Red, yellow, and blue above the forest
Poison dart frog
Dendrobates tinctorius
Poison borrowed from tiny eaten prey
Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
A two foot tongue without any teeth
Okapi
Okapia johnstoni
Zebra stripes and a giraffe cousin
Reptiles and amphibians
Habitat 6 of 15 · 10 animals
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
The largest living lizard on Earth
King cobra
Ophiophagus hannah
The longest venomous snake in the world
Reticulated python
Malayopython reticulatus
The longest snake in the world
Anaconda
Eunectes murinus
The heaviest snake in the world
Chameleon
Chamaeleo chamaeleon
Skin that responds to the surrounding temperature
Marine iguana
Amblyrhynchus cristatus
The only lizard that feeds at sea
Galápagos giant tortoise
Chelonoidis niger
A century and a half of life
Gecko
Tarentola mauritanica
Two hundred mosquitoes in a single night
Fire salamander
Salamandra salamandra
Black and yellow, a warning sign
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
The salamander that stays a larva forever
Extraordinary birds
Habitat 7 of 15 · 10 animals
Flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseus
Not born pink, food gives it color
Hummingbird
Mellisuga helenae
The smallest bird in the world
Peacock
Pavo cristatus
The display fan is not the tail
Wandering albatross
Diomedea exulans
The longest wings in the world
Bald eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
The raptor that is not actually bald
Pelican
Pelecanus onocrotalus
A twelve foot wingspan in flight
White stork
Ciconia ciconia
The bird that avoids the Mediterranean
Swan
Cygnus olor
Called mute but never stays quiet
Crowned crane
Balearica regulorum
A crane that perches on tree branches
Raven
Corvus corax
Among the largest living songbirds today
Woods and fields of North America
Habitat 8 of 15 · 10 animals
Wolf
Canis lupus
A pack is simply a family
Red fox
Vulpes vulpes
The carnivore with the widest global range
Wild boar
Sus scrofa
The snout that reads the soil
Raccoon
Procyon lotor
The animal that sees with its fingers
Eastern gray squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis
It buries thousands of nuts alone
White-tailed deer
Odocoileus virginianus
It builds new weapons every year
Barn owl
Tyto alba
The quietest flight in the world
Swallow
Hirundo rustica
Seven thousand miles twice a year
Pileated woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
The woodpecker that carves rectangles
Striped skunk
Mephitis mephitis
It warns you before it fires
Farm and household friends
Habitat 9 of 15 · 10 animals
Dog
Canis lupus familiaris
The first animal domesticated by humans
Cat
Felis catus
A jump five times its own height
Horse
Equus ferus caballus
Walks on a single toe today
Cow
Bos taurus
Four stomachs to digest tough grass
Sheep
Ovis aries
Teeth reveal the age of a sheep
Pig
Sus scrofa domesticus
Same species as the wild boar
Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus
Digesting food with pebbles and grit
Rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus
One hundred million scent receptor cells
Donkey
Equus asinus
The poor person's working horse
Goat
Capra hircus
Domesticated before almost all others
Mountains and high places
Habitat 10 of 15 · 10 animals
Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
A wingspan over seven feet wide
Ibex
Capra ibex
All descendants of one hundred survivors
Marmot
Marmota marmota
Six months of sleep under snow
Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
The climber born with crampons on
Brown bear
Ursus arctos
The giant that eats mostly plants
Lynx
Lynx lynx
The wild cat no one can see
Andean condor
Vultur gryphus
Ten feet of wings across the Andes
Llama
Lama glama
A camelid without any humps
Giant panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
A bear that lives on bamboo
Snow leopard
Panthera uncia
The wild cat that cannot roar
Ice: the Arctic and Antarctica
Habitat 11 of 15 · 10 animals
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
The largest living land carnivore
Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
The only bird nesting in deep winter
Walrus
Odobenus rosmarus
Two canine teeth three feet long
Harbor seal
Phoca vitulina
Sixteen hundred feet beneath the surface
Narwhal
Monodon monoceros
A tooth that becomes a spiral
Arctic fox
Vulpes lagopus
A coat that changes with the seasons
Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus
A three thousand mile annual migration
Beluga
Delphinapterus leucas
The whale that turns its head
Musk ox
Ovibos moschatus
A wall of horns against wolves
Snowy owl
Bubo scandiacus
The largest winged predator in the Arctic
Deserts and drylands
Habitat 12 of 15 · 10 animals
Dromedary
Camelus dromedarius
Twenty-six gallons of water in ten minutes
Fennec fox
Vulpes zerda
The smallest wild dog in the world
Scorpion
Scorpiones
Arachnids equipped with a stinging tail
Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
The most famous Rattlesnake in North America
Arabian oryx
Oryx leucoryx
Extinct in the wild and brought back
Jerboa
Jaculus jaculus
A rodent that jumps ten feet
Coyote
Canis latrans
The predator that expanded its territory
Armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
An armor of bone and keratin
Roadrunner
Geococcyx californianus
A bird that prefers to run
Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum
One of the few venomous lizards
Australia and Oceania
Habitat 13 of 15 · 10 animals
Red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus
The largest marsupial in the world
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
Nineteen hours a day without moving
Platypus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
A mammal that lays eggs
Wombat
Vombatus ursinus
An engineer that digs sixty-five feet
Tasmanian devil
Sarcophilus harrisii
The most powerful bite among mammals
Emu
Dromaius novaehollandiae
The second tallest bird on Earth
Kookaburra
Dacelo novaeguineae
The kingfisher that does not fish
Quokka
Setonix brachyurus
The famous smile that is not real
Echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
A mammal that actually lays eggs
Bearded dragon
Pogona vitticeps
The beard is made of scales
Insects and small creatures
Habitat 14 of 15 · 10 animals
Honey bee
Apis mellifera
A society of one hundred thousand sisters
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
Two thousand miles with an internal compass
Ant
Formica rufa
A chemical weapon instead of a sting
Ladybug
Coccinella septempunctata
Seven spots as a signature
Dragonfly
Anax imperator
The largest dragonfly in all of Europe
Snail
Helix pomatia
Twenty years inside a shell
Cross spider
Araneus diadematus
The white cross on its back
Dung beetle
Scarabaeus sacer
An insect guided by the Milky Way
Glowworm
Lampyris noctiluca
Two hours of green light every night
Praying mantis
Mantis religiosa
Two legs that snap like lethal traps
Giants of the past
Habitat 15 of 15 · 10 animals
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus rex
The predator with the strongest bite
Triceratops
Triceratops horridus
Three horns and a bony frill
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus stenops
Two rows of plates along the back
Velociraptor
Velociraptor mongoliensis
Twenty inches tall, not six feet
Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus altithorax
A giant dinosaur with very long arms
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
The longest theropod ever discovered
Pteranodon
Pteranodon longiceps
A flying reptile, not a dinosaur
Woolly mammoth
Mammuthus primigenius
An elephant built against the cold
Saber-toothed tiger
Smilodon fatalis
Eleven inches of extremely fragile canines
Megalodon
Otodus megalodon
The largest predatory shark that ever lived