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Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura (meaning "tail-less", from Greek an-, without + oura, tail), formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin salere (salio), "to jump"). Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Frogs are widely known as exceptional jumpers, and many of the anatomical characteristics of frogs, particularly their long, powerful legs, are adaptations to improve jumping performance...

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons. Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and—including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern—are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae...

The Valais Blacknose, German: Walliser Schwarznasenschaf, is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Valais region of Switzerland. It is a dual-purpose breed, raised both for meat and for wool. Both rams and ewes are horned...

A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to North America; those in New Zealand are introduced. Hedgehogs have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals they have adapted to a nocturnal, insectivorous way of life...

The Qin or Qinling Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains") and sometimes called the "Szechuan Alps", are a major east-west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. The mountains provide a natural boundary between North and South China and support a huge variety of plant and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on Earth. To the north is the densely populated Wei River valley, an ancient center of Chinese civilization...

The caracal (Caracal caracal) /ˈkærəkæl/ is a medium-sized wild cat that is around one metre (3.3 ft) long. The caracal is sometimes called the desert lynx, African lynx, or Persian lynx, but it is not a member of the Lynx genus. The caracal is native to Africa, Central Asia, Southwest Asia and India. The cat's name comes from the Turkish word "karakulak", which means "black ear"...

The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (Ιπποπόταμος), is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) The hippopotamus is the third largest land animal (after the elephant and the white rhinoceros) and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe...

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one (or two, depending on taxonomy) has already gone extinct. Reindeer vary considerably in color and size, and both genders grow antlers, though these are larger in the males and there are a few populations where females lack them completely...

The shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to the United States of America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail." Switchtail refers to the long filament found on the upper lobe of the caudal fin (often broken off as adults). Shovelnose sturgeon are the most abundant sturgeon, found in the Missouri River and Mississippi River systems...

The Bengal is a domestic cat breed developed to look like exotic jungle cats such as leopards, ocelots, margays and clouded leopards. Bengal cats were developed by the selective breeding of domestic cats crossed then backcrossed and backcrossed once more with hybrids from the Asian leopard cat (ALC), Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis, and domestic cat, with the goal of creating a confident, healthy, and friendly cat with a highly contrasted and vividly marked coat...

Elephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant (also known as the Indian elephant). All other species and genera of Elephantidae are extinct, some since the last ice age although dwarf forms of mammoths may have survived as late as 2,000 BC...

The Maine Coon is the largest domesticated breed of cat. It has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America, specifically "native" to the state of Maine (though the feline was simply introduced there), where it is the official state cat. No records of the Maine Coon's exact origins and date of introduction to the United States exist, so several competing hypotheses have been suggested...

The Pipevine Swallowtail or Blue Swallowtail (Battus philenor) is a swallowtail butterfly found in North America and Central America. The butterflies are black with iridescent blue hind wings. They are found in many different habitats, but are most commonly found in forests. The black or red caterpillars feed on Aristolochia species, making them poisonous as both larvae and adults, while the adults feed on the nectar of a variety of flowers...