Browse "Animals"

Eel, snakelike fish of class Actinopterygii, order Anguilliformes (or Apodes).

Many animals in Canada face the risk of extinction. Animals are put at risk for several reasons, including: climate change, the loss of forest and grassland to cities and agriculture, hunting, fishing, and the pollution of lakes and rivers. As of 2018, a total of 771 species were considered at risk in Canada, including 531 animals. (Other species at risk include plants; see also Endangered Plants in Canada.)

Entomology is the branch of zoology dealing with the study of insects, although which organisms are included is open to interpretation.

    The falcon (family Falconidae) is a small to medium-sized predatory bird noted for its swiftness in flight.

Finch is a common name for one of the larger bird families, Fringillidae, which occurs worldwide (introduced in Australia). It includes some GROSBEAKS, crossbills, Hawaiian honey creepers, redpolls, siskins and birds specifically named finches.

Fishes are members of a large, heterogeneous group of vertebrates living in a wide variety of aquatic habitats.

The classification of fishes has undergone much change over the last few decades, and further changes are expected, partly because so many groups are poorly known.

The Fisher (Martes pennanti) is a member of the weasel family, with a typically pointed face and rounded ears. In Canada, fishers live in the boreal and temperate forests of almost all the provinces and territories, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.

Flatfish, common name for bottom-living, primarily marine fishes of class Actinopterygii, order Pleuronectiformes (Heterosomata).

Flatworm (Platyhelminthes), phylum of soft, bilaterally symmetrical invertebrates. Flatworms vary in shape from leaflike to ribbonlike; size ranges from microscopic to over 15 m long (some parasitic forms).

Fleas are very small, wingless, laterally flattened insects of the order Siphonaptera. They’re best known for being external parasites on mammals and occasionally birds. Adult fleas live in the fur or feathers of their hosts, feeding on their blood to survive and reproduce. While fleas do feed off humans, more common host animals include rodents, dogs and cats. The “human” flea, Pulex irritans, actually attacks a broad range of mammal species, and the same is true of most flea species that bite humans. About 2,000 species and subspecies are known worldwide, with at least 127 found in Canada, most of them in British Columbia and Alberta.

Fluke, see FLATWORM.

Adult flies have sucking or piercing mouth parts and lack the mandibles with which other insects bite food. Many so called "biting flies" (eg, horseflies, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, black flies, stable flies, tse-tse flies) feed on VERTEBRATE blood.

   The fox is a small, carnivorous MAMMAL of the DOG family. Four species inhabit Canada: red or coloured, swift, grey, and Arctic foxes (Vulpes vulpes, V. velox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, Alopex lagopus, respectively).

Frogs are amphibians belonging to the order Anura. The adult, typically, has no tail or ribs, longer hind limbs than forelimbs, well-developed eyes and skin equipped with mucus and venom glands.

Gallinule is a common name for some marsh-dwelling birds of the rail family (Rallidae), now also known as moorhens.

Game bird is not a scientific term, but refers to any bird that is hunted. There are 2 categories in Canada, migratory and nonmigratory.

The gannet, or northern gannet (Sula bassanus) is a large, long-winged seabird, white except for conspicuous black wing tips and yellowish tinged head.

Gar, large, slender, thick-scaled, predatory fish of family Lepisosteidae, order Semionotiformes, class Actinopterygii. Gars are found in fresh waters of eastern N America, Central America and Cuba, occasionally in brackish water and, rarely, in the sea.

Garter snake is a common name for 30 species of harmless colubrid snakes of the genus Thamnophis.