Apex Predator
Occupies the top of its food chain with no natural predators as adults, maintaining balance across entire ecosystems.
King Cobra
Up to eighteen feet of hooded crown, growling acoustic hiss, and specialized predator of other snakes.
Kodiak Bear
Isolated on one Alaskan island chain for about twelve thousand years, with adult males weighing 600 to 1,400 pounds and standing up to ten feet on their hind legs.
Komodo Dragon
The largest living lizard, armored in bone and equipped with iron-coated serrated teeth and anticoagulant venom.
Leopard Seal
The serpentine apex hunter of Antarctic pack ice with a reptilian gape and teeth that double as krill sieves.
Moose
Half-tonne boreal giant, antlers that are the fastest-growing tissue of any mammal, and stilt legs that sometimes give it an edge over wolves in deep snow.
Nile Crocodile
An armored crocodile whose skin is more touch-sensitive than a primate's fingertips.
Orca (Killer Whale)
Matrilineal pod dialects, cooperative wave-washing tactics, and apex oceanic dominance.
Peregrine Falcon
The sky's guided missile, folding into a 320 km/h (200 mph) stoop with the same navigation math built into real missiles.
Polar Bear
Arctic apex predator with hollow, see-through fur over jet-black skin, a nose that smells seals 20 miles off, and a shrinking sea of ice to swim.
Quokka
A Western Australian wallaby with three kinds of colour cone, a permanent grin, and no fear of tourists.
Reticulated Python
The longest python, up to 33 feet of snake with black X's running down its back in a diamond-like pattern.
Saltwater Crocodile
Up to 23-foot apex archosaur, and the species behind the highest bite force measured in any animal: 3,689 pounds.
Secretarybird
The stilt-legged snake executioner whose stomp, measured in one captive male, peaked at five times his body weight on average.
Shortfin Mako Shark
Considered the fastest shark in the world: burst speeds up to 70 km/h, warm swimming muscle, and hook-like, razor-edged teeth.
Snow Leopard
The "ghost cat of the Himalayas", with a tail up to a metre long and leaps of up to thirty feet.
Tasmanian Devil
Pound for pound, the strongest estimated bite of any living mammal predator studied, bloodcurdling nocturnal screams, and a scavenger's take-no-prisoners appetite.
Tiger Shark
A shark with a reputation for eating almost anything, serrated teeth that can pierce sea turtle shells, and a habit of hunting at night.
Volta Electric Eel
The biological super-battery that hit 860 volts, the strongest electric discharge known from any living animal.