Quetzal

Their scientific name is Pharomachrus mocinno. The resplendent quetzal is an aptly named bird that many consider among the world's most beautiful. These vibrantly colored animals live in the mountainous, tropical forests of Central America where they eat fruit, insects, lizards, and other small creatures. During mating season, male quetzals grow twin tail feathers that form an amazing train up to three feet (one meter) long. Females do not have long trains, but they do share the brilliant blue, green, and red coloring of their mates. Male colors tend to be more vibrant.

Snow Leopard

These beautiful gray leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia. They are insulated by thick hair, and their wide, fur-covered feet act as natural snowshoes. These cats have powerful legs and are tremendous leapers, able to jump as far as 50 feet (15 meters). Snow leopards use their long tails for balance and as blankets to cover sensitive body parts against the severe mountain chill. Snow leopards prey upon the blue sheep (bharal) of Tibet and the Himalayas, and mountain ibex found over most of the rest of their range. Though these powerful predators can kill animals three times their weight, they also eat smaller fare, such as marmots, hares, and game birds. Their scientific name is Panthera uncia.

Skunk

Skunks are legendary for their powerful predator-deterrent—a hard-to-remove, horrible-smelling spray. A skunk's spray is an oily liquid produced by glands under its large tail. To employ this scent bomb, a skunk turns around and blasts its foe with a foul mist that can travel as far as ten feet (three meters).There are many different kinds of skunks. They vary in size (most are housecat-sized) and appear in a variety of striped, spotted, and swirled patterns—but all are a vivid black and white that makes them easily identifiable and may alert predators to their pungent potential.Skunks usually nest in burrows constructed by other animals, but they also live in hollow logs or even abandoned buildings.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

The scientific name for the red eyed tree frog is Agalychnis callidryas. These iconic rain-forest amphibians sleep by day stuck to leaf-bottoms with their eyes closed and body markings covered. When disturbed, they flash their bulging red eyes and reveal their huge, webbed orange feet and bright blue-and-yellow flanks. This technique, called startle coloration, may give a bird or snake pause, offering a precious instant for the frog to spring to safety.They are found in tropical lowlands from southern Mexico, throughout Central America, and in northern South America.They eat crickets, flies, and moths with their long, sticky tongues.

howler monkey

Howler monkeys can make a loud roar.Howlers are New World monkeys found in tropical Central and South America. Male monkeys have large throats and specialized, shell-like vocal chambers that help to turn up the volume on their distinctive call. The noise sends a clear message to other monkeys: This territory is already occupied by a troop. Howler monkeys have beards and long, thick hair which may be black, brown, or red. The red howler species is the most common, but it is often targeted by hunters eager for bushmeat. Other species of howler monkey may be critically endangered over sections of their ranges.

chimpanzee

Noisy and curious, intelligent and social, the chimpanzee is the mammal most like a human. Chimpanzees fascinate humans and are favorites both in zoos and the wild. Chimps are mainly found in rain forests and wet savannas. While they spend equal time on land and in trees, they do most of their feeding and sleeping in trees. After descending from their night nests they hungrily feed on fruits, their principal diet, and on leaves, buds and blossoms. After a while their feeding becomes more selective, and they will choose only the ripest fruit. They usually pick fruit with their hands, but they eat berries and seeds directly off the stem with their lips. Their diet consists of up to 80 different plant foods. The number of chimps in the wild is steadily decreasing.

Spectacled Bear

Spectacled bears wear shaggy fur that is black, brown, or sometimes reddish. They are so named for the whitish to yellowish rings that encircle their eyes, resembling large eyeglasses. These lines, however, don't always fully encircle the eyes, and some individuals lack the markings altogether. Spectacled bears, also called Andean bears, are among the smallest members of the family Ursidae.Females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds (82 kilograms). The diminutive spectacled bear makes its home in the dense Andean jungles of South America, and it has the distinction of being the continent’s only bear. Population data are sketchy, but some estimates suggest fewer than 3,000 spectacled bears may remain in the wild today.