#carnivora

A jungle cat (Felis chaus) in Faunapark Flakkee, the Netherlands

Western Spotted Skunk Spilogale gracilis

It is found throughout the western United States, northern Mexico, and southwestern British Columbia in Canada. Their habitat is mixed woodlands, open areas, and farmlands. They are nocturnal omnivores, feeding on insects, scorpions, small vertebrates, roots, grains, fruit, and berries.

Bush dogs are living proof that team work makes the dream work! When these small canines hunt half of the pack will pursue their prey over land, while the other half waits in water for the target to try to swim away. Bush dogs are particularly adapted to this style of hunting, as their partially webbed feet make them excellent swimmers.

One of the species I've had to drive the farthest to capture images of, but gosh, isn't she worth it? (and now a shameless plug for the site ko-fi, travel for photos is $$)

See all the island fox photos on the repository website!

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use these and all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations.

Nanophoca vitulinoides was a small earless seal that lived during the mid-Miocene (~14-12 million years ago) in what is now Belgium, which at the time was covered by the southern margin of the North Sea.

It was slightly smaller than any modern pinnipeds, no more than 1m long (3'3"), and had more mobile front and back flippers than modern earless seals — indicating it had a different swimming style than its living relatives, and that it may have been more mobile on land.

It also had a very dense skeleton, which would have made it a slower, less maneuverable swimmer. It may have fed on small prey on the seafloor in shallow coastal waters, similar to modern bearded seals.

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