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Mammalia · Fur & milk

Mammals

Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates with fur or hair and milk production — from bats that tip the scales in grams to the blue whale. This is WARN's mammal section: 208 sourced species guides plus 10 type pages covering big cats, bears, primates, marine mammals, hoofed animals, rodents, bats, marsupials, canids and small carnivores.

208 species guides 10 mammal types 65 threatened species covered
Search all 208 mammals Browse by type
~6,000
Living mammal species recognised worldwide
Blue whale
Largest animal known — a mammal, not a fish
Bats
Only mammals capable of true powered flight
Primates
Among the most threatened mammal groups by share of species at risk

Types of mammals

The everyday groupings people search for. Each type has its own page with identification pointers, FAQs and the matching species guides.

All 208 mammal guides

Search by name, or filter by type, conservation status, region and letter.

Showing 1-24 of 208 animals

Animal group
A wild aardvark (Orycteropus afer) foraging at dusk among dry scrub in open savanna, its long ears, tubular snout and arched back clearly visible.
Least Concern

Other mammals

A

Aardvark

Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766)

Africa's solitary digger — one species, an entire order, built for termites.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Open guide
African wild dog with mottled coat in savanna
Endangered

Canids

A

African Wild Dog

Lycaon pictus

Africa's cooperative pack hunter

Africa

Open guide
A domestic alpaca with dense fleece and upright ears standing in a high-altitude Andean pasture against a mountain backdrop.
Domesticated

Hoofed animals

A

Alpaca

Vicugna pacos (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Andes' woolly camelid — domesticated for millennia, prized for its fleece.

Peru · Bolivia

Open guide
An American bison grazing on open prairie grassland, its massive dark-brown hump and thick woolly coat clearly visible as it lowers its head to feed on green grass and sagebrush
Near Threatened

Other mammals

A

American Bison

Bison bison

Once numbering 60 million, the mighty American bison now depends on careful management to survive — a cautionary tale and a conservation triumph.

North America · United States

Open guide
Lowland anoa, a small dark buffalo with short horns, standing in Sulawesi rainforest understorey
Endangered

Hoofed animals

A

Anoa

Bubalus depressicornis and B. quarlesi — dwarf buffalo of Sulawesi

The smallest wild cattle on Earth — endemic to Sulawesi and declining in both forest types.

Sulawesi, Indonesia · Endemic — lowland and mountain forests

Open guide
Mixed herd of African antelope species — impala, wildebeest and gazelle — grazing together on golden savanna plains at sunrise.
Varies by species

Hoofed animals

A

Antelope

Family Bovidae, subfamilies Antilopinae, Alcelaphinae, Hippotraginae and others — ~90 species

The hoofed heart of the savanna — ninety species, one extraordinary family.

Africa · Asia

Open guide
Arabian oryx with long straight white horns and pale coat standing on sandy desert plain under harsh midday sun
Vulnerable

Hoofed animals

A

Arabian Oryx

Oryx leucoryx (Pallas, 1777) — family Bovidae

The antelope that went extinct in the wild and came back — a case study in what captive breeding can achieve.

Arabian Peninsula — desert and gravel plains of Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan

Open guide
Arctic fox in thick white winter coat on tundra snow
Least Concern globally; the Scandinavian population remains critically small

Canids

A

Arctic Fox

Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758) — family Canidae

The warmest coat of any mammal, a coat that changes colour, and a species being pushed north by its bigger cousin.

Arctic tundra of Eurasia, North America, Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard · Sea ice in winter

Open guide
A nine-banded armadillo foraging on leaf-littered ground, showing its leathery banded bony shell, long pointed snout, sturdy digging claws and tapering armoured tail.
Varies; nine-banded armadillo Least Concern

Other mammals

A

Armadillo

Dasypus novemcinctus and relatives (order Cingulata)

The Americas' armour-plated insect hunters

Central America · South America

Open guide
Aye-aye with large eyes and elongated finger
Endangered

Primates

A

Aye-aye

Daubentonia madagascariensis

Madagascar's nocturnal oddity

Africa

Open guide
Male babirusa with upward-curving tusks piercing the top of the snout, dark sparse coat in Sulawesi forest
Vulnerable

Hoofed animals

B

Babirusa

Babyrousa babyrussa and related species — family Suidae

The pig whose upper tusks grow through the roof of its own snout.

Sulawesi and nearby Indonesian islands · Wallacea — forest and wetland

Open guide
An olive baboon with a dog-like muzzle and thick fur sitting on savanna grassland, a juvenile clinging to its side.
Varies by species

Primates

B

Baboon

Genus Papio — 6 species: hamadryas, olive, yellow, chacma, Guinea and Kinda baboon

Africa's largest monkey — powerful, social and adaptable across savanna and desert.

Sub-Saharan Africa · Arabian Peninsula (hamadryas baboon)

Open guide
A European badger with a distinctive black-and-white striped face emerging from a woodland sett entrance at twilight.
Least Concern

Small carnivores

B

Badger

Meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758)

The burrow architect of Old World woodlands — social underground and solitary above ground.

Europe · Western Asia

Open guide
Bandicoot with elongated snout, hunched body and rear-opening pouch foraging on leaf litter at night
Genus-level overview

Marsupials

B

Bandicoot

Order Peramelemorphia — bandicoots and bilbies (family Peramelidae and others)

Marsupials with the shortest pregnancies on Earth — and a placenta more like a placental mammal than most pouched animals.

Australia · New Guinea and nearby islands

Open guide
Banteng bull with dark coat and white stockings standing in Sundaland forest clearing
Endangered

Hoofed animals

B

Banteng

Bos javanicus (Hardwicke, 1825) — family Bovidae

The wild cattle whose clone made headlines in 2003 — while the species itself kept declining.

Borneo · Java

Open guide
A small insect-eating bat in flight at dusk, wings outstretched showing the thin membrane stretched between elongated finger bones
Varies by species

Bats

B

Bat

Chiroptera

The only mammals that truly fly, and quiet guardians of farms and forests.

Worldwide

Open guide
A brown bear standing on a riverbank during salmon season, water dripping from its fur, forested mountains behind.
Varies by species

Bears

B

Bear

Family Ursidae — 8 living species across North America, South America, Europe and Asia

The eight bears of the world — from polar ice to Andean cloud forest, all under pressure.

North America · South America

Open guide
A North American beaver (Castor canadensis) sitting in shallow water beside a pile of sticks and branches that form part of its dam, photographed in the wild
Least Concern

Rodents

B

Beaver

Castor fiber (Linnaeus, 1758) and Castor canadensis (Kuhl, 1820)

Nature's engineers — dam builders whose wetlands sustain entire ecosystems.

Europe · North America

Open guide
A beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) surfaces at the water line, its distinctive white rounded head and melon clearly visible against a dark background in a close-up side-on portrait.
Least Concern

Other mammals

B

Beluga Whale

Delphinapterus leucas

The Arctic's Singing Ghost — A White Whale That Talks, Mimics and Rules the Ice

Arctic Ocean · Subarctic seas

Open guide
Greater bilby with long pink ears and silky blue-grey fur standing at the entrance to a sandy burrow in arid spinifex country
Vulnerable

Marsupials

B

Bilby

Macrotis lagotis (Reid, 1837) — family Thylacomyidae

Australia's Easter Bilby — a rabbit-eared marsupial that burrows through the desert while the real rabbits eat it out of house and home.

Arid and semi-arid central and western Australia · Reintroduced populations in fenced sanctuaries

Open guide
A binturong with shaggy black fur and a prehensile tail draped over a branch in tropical Asian rainforest canopy.
Vulnerable

Small carnivores

B

Binturong

Arctictis binturong (Raffles, 1821)

The bearcat of the canopy — shaggy, prehensile-tailed and vanishing with the forest.

South-east Asia · India

Open guide
An American black bear (Ursus americanus) resting in deep snow between tree trunks in a winter forest in West Virginia, its dark fur dusted with snowflakes
Least Concern

Bears

B

Black Bear

Ursus americanus (Pallas, 1780)

North America's most common bear — adaptable, omnivorous and widely misunderstood.

North America · Canada

Open guide
Black rhinoceros with hooked lip browsing on acacia scrub
Critically Endangered

Hoofed animals

B

Black Rhinoceros

Diceros bicornis

Africa's hook-lipped browser in crisis

Africa

Open guide
A blue whale surfacing in open ocean, its mottled blue-grey body dwarfing the surrounding water.
Endangered

Marine mammals

B

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The largest animal ever known — a colossal filter-feeder recovering from the whaling era.

All oceans — Arctic to Antarctic; migratory between feeding and breeding grounds

Open guide

Quick answers about mammals

Mammal facts Q&A hub → Browse all answers →

Habitat loss and trade decide most mammal futures

Forest clearance, prey depletion, hunting and the wildlife trade remove mammals faster than slow breeders can replace themselves. Island and large-bodied species are hit first; primates and big cats show the pattern clearly.

Free, sourced guides exist so readers can replace myths with mechanisms — and so every page can still route toward habitat and rescue funding when someone is ready to act.

Fund mammal protection Start with big cats

Mammals: frequently asked questions

What makes an animal a mammal?
Mammals are vertebrates with three middle-ear bones, hair or fur at some life stage, and females that produce milk. Most give live birth; the platypus and echidnas lay eggs but still nurse young.
How many mammal species are there?
Around 6,000 living species are currently recognised, though the exact count shifts as genetic work splits and merges taxa. Bats and rodents account for a large share of that diversity.
What are the main types of mammals?
Everyday groupings include big cats, bears, primates, marine mammals, hoofed animals, rodents, bats, marsupials, canids and small carnivores. These cut across scientific orders — a whale and a bat are both mammals but live very different lives.
Are whales and bats mammals?
Yes. Whales nurse calves with milk and breathe air; bats are the only mammals capable of true powered flight. Neither is a fish or a bird.
Which mammals are most threatened?
Primates carry one of the highest shares of threatened species of any mammal group, driven by deforestation, hunting and the pet trade. Large carnivores and many marine mammals are also heavily pressured.
What is the largest mammal?
The blue whale — the largest animal known to have lived. On land, the African bush elephant is the heaviest living mammal.
What is the difference between a seal and a sea lion?
Sea lions have visible external ear flaps and can rotate their hind flippers to walk on land; true seals lack external ear flaps and move on land by wriggling. Both are pinnipeds.
How can I help threatened mammals?
Support habitat protection and anti-trafficking work, avoid products linked to illegal wildlife trade, and use free, sourced guides to replace myths that obscure real threats.

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