South American Animals

Cacajao calvus

The bald uakari is a small Amazonian monkey best known for its strikingly bare, bright red face, found in seasonally-flooded forests along the Amazon and its tributaries.

Basiliscus basiliscus

The basilisk lizard, nicknamed the 'Jesus Christ lizard,' is famous for its remarkable ability to run upright across the surface of water for short distances without sinking. Native to the rainforests of Central and northern South America, it relies on this unusual skill primarily to escape predators.

Desmodus rotundus

The common vampire bat is one of only three bat species that feeds exclusively on blood, mainly targeting livestock across Latin America under cover of darkness.

Corallus caninus

The emerald tree boa is a non-venomous constrictor found in the rainforest canopy of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, spending nearly its entire life coiled in trees and rarely descending to the ground. It's a striking example of convergent evolution: the unrelated green tree python of New Guinea and Australia — a completely different snake family from a different part of the world — has evolved an almost identical bright green color, white markings, and coiling posture to fill a very similar ecological niche.

Phyllobates terribilis

The golden poison frog is widely regarded as the most toxic animal on Earth by weight, native to a small stretch of Colombian rainforest.

Eunectes murinus

The green anaconda is the heaviest snake species in the world, a massive non-venomous constrictor found in the swamps, rivers, and flooded grasslands of South America. Unlike many large snakes, it spends much of its time submerged in water, where its bulk is supported and it can ambush prey coming to drink.

Iguana iguana

The green iguana is a large arboreal lizard native to Central and South America, often found basking on branches overhanging rivers and streams.

Harpia harpyja

The harpy eagle is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world, a rainforest apex predator capable of snatching monkeys and sloths directly from the treetops. Its enormous talons can exert a grip strength far beyond a human hand's, making it one of the most formidable raptors on Earth.

Eretmochelys imbricata

The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered marine reptile named for its narrow, pointed beak, which resembles a bird of prey's hooked bill. It plays a vital ecological role on coral reefs by feeding primarily on sponges, helping maintain the balance of reef ecosystems by preventing sponges from overgrowing and smothering coral.

Panthera onca

The jaguar is the largest big cat in the Americas and the only living member of the genus Panthera found in the New World, prowling the rainforests of Central and South America.

Herpailurus yagouaroundi

The jaguarundi is a small, elusive wildcat found from South America through Central America, notable for a long, slender, weasel-like body unlike the more compact build of most wild cats. Despite living alongside the much larger jaguar across parts of its range, the two are only distantly related within the cat family.

Dermochelys coriacea

The leatherback is the largest sea turtle species in the world and the only one without a hard bony shell, ranging farther into cold water than any other reptile.

Pygocentrus nattereri

The red-bellied piranha is one of the most notorious freshwater fish in the world, native to rivers and floodplains across the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. Despite its fearsome reputation, it is primarily a scavenger and opportunistic feeder, and unprovoked attacks on humans are extremely rare.

Ramphastos toco

The toco toucan is the largest toucan species, instantly recognizable by its enormous bright orange bill, native to the forests and savannas of South America.

Cathartes aura

The turkey vulture is a widespread scavenger found across the Americas, playing a critical ecological role by cleaning up carrion using one of the keenest senses of smell in the bird world.

Cephalopterus penduliger

The umbrellabird is a striking rainforest bird named for the umbrella-like crest of feathers that arches forward over its head, along with a long, inflatable wattle of feathered skin hanging from its throat. Males use both features in elaborate courtship displays, along with deep, booming calls that can carry through dense forest.

Pristella maxillaris

The X-ray tetra is a small freshwater fish native to slow-moving rivers and streams in South America, named for its almost completely transparent body that reveals its skeleton and internal organs. Its see-through appearance has made it one of the most recognizable and popular small fish in the freshwater aquarium hobby worldwide.

Thunnus albacares

The yellowfin tuna is a large, fast-swimming fish found in tropical and subtropical waters across the world's oceans, prized both as one of the ocean's most powerful predators and as one of the most commercially important fish species for human consumption. Its name comes from the bright yellow coloring of its dorsal and anal fins, which become especially long and dramatic in mature adults.