{"id":35667,"date":"2024-01-26T17:49:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T16:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/02defd93-0aef-45a6-8f77-40fa83cdf55a"},"modified":"2024-01-26T19:35:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T18:35:46","slug":"animals-starting-with-a","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/animals-starting-with-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Animals starting with ‘A’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An alphabetical adventure through the animal kingdom, each starting with the letter ‘A’. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Friday, 26 January 2024 at 16:49 PM<\/p>

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Discover 19 animals that start with the letter ‘A’. Can you think of more? Let us know what we have missed…<\/p>

Animals starting with ‘A’<\/h2>
Aardvark<\/strong><\/p>
The Aardvark or Antbear is a burrowing, nocturnal animal native to Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The\u00a0nocturnal, burrowing mammal aardvark\u00a0is native to Africa and famous for its large snout, which is used to sniff out food.<\/p>
Albatross<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$
\u00a9 Alastair Wilson\/RSPB<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Albatrosses are stunning, long-lived seabirds. Some species are exceedingly large, with the wandering albatross <\/a>having the largest wingspan of any extant bird (3 metres!)<\/p>
Adder<\/strong><\/p>
$\"ADDER$ ADDER, VIPERA BERUS, COURTSHIP, THE SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK,UK. \u00a9 www.ivorchuterart.com\/getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Adders <\/a>are found throughout much of England, Scotland and Wales (but absent from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), and throughout most of Europe. <\/p>
They are the most northerly found snake with a distribution into the Arctic Circle.<\/p>
Ad\u00e9lie penguin<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ <\/figure>Famed for their ‘tuxedo’ appearance, Ad\u00e9lie penguins<\/a> are probably the second most numerous of all penguin species. <\/p>
African wild dog<\/strong><\/p>
$\"African$ African wild dog in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. \u00a9 Megan Shersby<\/figcaption><\/figure>
African wild dogs<\/a> are neither wolves nor dogs. African wild dogs do belong to the Canidae family. However, grey wolves, coyotes, dogs and jackals are all in the\u00a0Canis<\/em>\u00a0genus, whereas African wild dogs are the only extant (living) species in the\u00a0Lycaeon<\/em>\u00a0genus.<\/p>
African elephant<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Mother$ African elephant, (Loxodonta africana), Masai Mara National Reserve\/Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
There are two species of African elephant<\/a> – African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana<\/em>) and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis<\/em>)<\/strong>. <\/p>
In general, African elephants are larger than their Asian cousins. Adult males weigh up to six tonnes, while male Asian elephants usually weigh no more than five tonnes.<\/p>
African wild ass<\/strong><\/p>
$\"African$ <\/figure>
The African wild assess are all considered to be Critically Endangered with only a few hundred to a few thousand left in the wild when last recorded in the 1990s. <\/p>
Alligator<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ <\/figure>
There are two species\u00a0that go by the name of alligator \u2013 the American and the Chinese. However, the\u00a0alligator\u00a0family also includes the\u00a0closely-related\u00a0caimans, all\u00a0six of which occur\u00a0in Central and South America.\u00a0<\/p>
The only place where crocodiles and alligators occur together is southern Florida.<\/p>
Alpaca<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ <\/figure>Alpacas are a camelid, closely related to their more famous cousin, the llama. The other three species of camelids are\u00a0 camels<\/a>,<\/a>\u00a0 guanacos<\/a>\u00a0and vicunas.<\/p>
Alpine newt<\/strong><\/p>
$\"An$ An Alpine newt. \u00a9 CreativeNature_nl\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Alpine newts<\/a> are a striking species, with marbled skin and bright spot-free orange bellies. <\/p>
They are similar in appearance to\u00a0 great crested newts<\/a>, though they are smaller in size.<\/p>
Anteater<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ Close up of a Giant Anteater walking around an area of water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The anteater is one of the world’s oddest looking animals. But it is an ecological oddity, too. As the name suggests, it is an extreme example of a large mammal that specialises in feeding on tiny prey.<\/p>
Little surprise that a 50kg adult must consume a lot of prey – as many as 30,000 individual ants<\/a> and\u00a0 termites<\/a>\u00a0a day, in fact.<\/p>
Angelshark<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ An angel shark on the ocean floor at Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The angelshark<\/a> looks as if it\u2019s half way between a shark and a ray and they only grow to about 2.4 metres long. <\/p>
They look like they\u2019ve been compressed, and it\u2019s advantageous for them to be as flat as possible as they spend most of their time buried in the sand on the sea bottom.<\/p>
Ant<\/strong><\/p>
$\"A$ Scottish wood ant sitting on Scots Pine tree.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Ants are insects that form the family Formicidae. Like the wasps, bees and sawflies, they are part of the Hymenoptera order. They are found throughout the world, with the exception of Antarctica and some remote islands.<\/p>
It\u2019s thought that there are 22,000 species of ants, although not all have been described by scientists.<\/p>
Arabian oryx<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Arabian$ Arabian oryx \u00a9 Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Standing only about a metre tall at the shoulder, Arabian oryx<\/a> are unmistakable. Almost white, wearing black, full-length stockings with a black chest line and face markings that include, as Stuart Wells, former oryx-keeper at\u00a0 Phoenix Zoo<\/a>, Arizona, puts it, \u201ca Nike swoosh\u201d . <\/p>
And then there are those extraordinary horns: black and slender, almost as long as the animal is tall, and very slightly swept back at their sharp, pointed tips.<\/p>
Armadillo<\/strong><\/p>
$\"\"$ Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Did you know Armadillo means ‘little armoured one’,? Famous for their bony plates known as osteoderms these mammals live in central and most of South America, while the nine-banded armadillo has made it to North America.<\/p>
Arctic fox<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Arctic$ Arctic Fox, Vulpes lagopus<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The Arctic fox is found throughout the arctic tundra and has many adaptations that help it to survive the extreme temperatures it experiences.\u00a0<\/p>
Asian elephant<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Elephant$ Elephant family in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. \u00a9 chuchart duangdaw \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Asian elephants <\/a>are found in most regions of south-eastern Asia including the Indian subcontinent, Indochina peninsulas and Borneo. <\/p>
Axolotls<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Two$ Two Axolotls in the tropical aquarium. Ambystoma mexicanum species. A Mexican salamander living in several lakes around Mexico city, especially in Lake Xochimilco. \u00a9 bennymarty – bennymarty<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Increasingly popular as pets thanks to their appearance in the Minecraft computer game, axolotls<\/a> are Critically Endangered amphibians endemic to Mexico.<\/p>
Aye-aye<\/strong><\/p>
$\"Aye$ Image credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The aye-aye<\/a> is a strange nocturnal type of lemur that lives in <\/strong>Madagascar<\/a>. The IUCN list the aye-aye as endangered.<\/p>
Looking for more fascinating facts?<\/h2>
Explore our expertly curated collection of captivating\u00a0 animal features<\/a>, offering everything from insightful\u00a0 animal ID’s<\/a>\u00a0to engaging\u00a0 quizzes<\/a>. Check out our collection of species guides, from\u00a0 big cats<\/a>\u00a0to zebra<\/a> – all the information you need is in one place!<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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