Mammalia › Lagomorpha › Leporidae
European rabbit
Up to 9 years old
Unlike hares, a baby rabbit is born blind and helpless.
Field Guide · Chapter 4 of 29
Small mammals
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Mammalia › Lagomorpha › Leporidae
Snowshoe hare
Up to 518 mm long
As many as 85 percent do not live longer than a year in the wild.
Mammalia › Erinaceomorpha › Erinaceidae
European hedgehog
Around 5,000 spines
An adult hedgehog carries around 5,000 spines on its body.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Sciuridae
Eastern gray squirrel
Up to 525 mm long
In Europe it is on a list that says it cannot be bred or released into the environment.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Sciuridae
Red squirrel
19 to 23 cm body
In some places, whole populations may have almost identically colored coats.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Sciuridae
Eastern chipmunk
Food in its cheeks
It lives alone, except during mating season.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Sciuridae
Groundhog
2 to 6.3 kg
Heavy-bodied, yet a strong swimmer that sometimes climbs trees.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Sciuridae
Black-tailed prairie dog
400,000,000 animals
A single Texas town was reported to hold 400,000,000 prairie dogs.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Caviidae
Capybara
Up to 134 cm long
The largest living rodent, native to South America and not to Chile.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Bathyergidae
Naked mole-rat
Over 37 years
It can live longer than any other rodent, in excess of 37 years.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Caviidae
Guinea pig
Up to 25.4 cm long
Guinea pigs were first raised as livestock for meat, and people in the Andes still eat them.
Mammalia › Rodentia › Erethizontidae
North American porcupine
Up to 18 kg
Predators have been known to die after a quill goes in.
Mammalia › Soricomorpha › Talpidae
Star-nosed mole
22 nose tentacles
A report in Nature calls this mole the fastest-eating mammal.
Mammalia › Cingulata › Dasypodidae
Nine-banded armadillo
Up to 10 kg
When frightened, it can jump 91 to 120 cm straight up, and that makes it a danger on roads.
Mammalia › Tubulidentata › Orycteropodidae
Aardvark
When pressed, it can dig extremely quickly.
Mammalia › Didelphimorphia › Didelphidae
Virginia opossum
50 teeth
The northernmost marsupial in the world, reaching from Costa Rica up into southern Canada.
Mammalia › Dasyuromorphia › Dasyuridae
Tasmanian devil
Males up to 12 kg
For its size, it has among the strongest bites of any living predatory land mammal.
Mammalia › Diprotodontia › Vombatidae
Common wombat
Up to 1.2 m, mainland
Its teeth never stop growing, a trait no other marsupial shares.
Mammalia › Diprotodontia › Petauridae
Sugar glider
Glides up to 45 m
It may get up to half its daily water from drinking rainwater.
Mammalia › Peramelemorphia › Thylacomyidae
Greater bilby
Males up to 2.4 kg
A bilby is pregnant for only 12 to 14 days, one of the shortest pregnancies among mammals.
Mammalia › Chiroptera › Vespertilionidae
Little brown bat
Lives 34 to 35 years
Its name misleads: it is not a close relative of the big brown bat.
Mammalia › Chiroptera › Molossidae
Mexican free-tailed bat
Up to 160 km/h
Claims put it at the top of the animal speed table, in level flight.
Mammalia › Chiroptera › Pteropodidae
Indian flying fox
Up to 1.6 kg
India's largest bat, one of the biggest in the world, can weigh 1.6 kg.
1 of 23
On this page
- European rabbit
- Snowshoe hare
- European hedgehog
- Eastern gray squirrel
- Red squirrel
- Eastern chipmunk
- Groundhog
- Black-tailed prairie dog
- Capybara
- Naked mole-rat
- Guinea pig
- North American porcupine
- Star-nosed mole
- Nine-banded armadillo
- Aardvark
- Virginia opossum
- Tasmanian devil
- Common wombat
- Sugar glider
- Greater bilby
- Little brown bat
- Mexican free-tailed bat
- Indian flying fox
What is real here
Every photograph and every outline comes from a real, openly licensed image, credited at the bottom of its card. Only plain charts are drawn.
The words on these cards are written by AI from the sources named on each card. Software matched every number and claim to a sentence in those sources. Mistakes are still possible, so follow a card's links before relying on it.
Globe dots are real recorded sightings from GBIF. Where a card says native range only, they are clipped to that range. Otherwise they can include zoos, gardens and places the species was introduced.