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Thursday 15 October 2026

A glossy black ant on coarse sand, seen from the side, holding pale termites in its curved jaws, its long legs spread.
Photo: Matt Muir · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Picked by voters

Matabele ant

Ants hurt in raids on termites are carried home, where nestmates lick their wounds and treat infections with antimicrobials, cutting deaths by 90%.

Lives in
SavannaSavannas and woodlands throughout sub-Saharan Africa
More about the Matabele antScientific name, size and Red List status
Scientific name
Megaponera analis
Size
Workers 5–18 mm long
IUCN Red List
Not evaluated

The IUCN Red List has assessed 175,909 species. This one has not been assessed yet. What this means

Fact source: Frank et al., 2023

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This week

Every animal so far
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  2. Tue 20Alpaca
  3. Wed 21Sociable weaver
  4. Thu 22Gumboot chiton
  5. Fri 23Cape dwarf chameleon
  6. Sat 24Northern paper waspToday
  7. Sun 25Tomorrow’s animalin 23 h 34 min

Why Animall

People can’t care about animals they have never heard of.

Scientists still discover thousands of new animal species every year, while many others are disappearing because of habitat loss and climate change. Some die out before anyone has described them.

10,000+

new animal species are described every year.

University of Arizona, 2025

86%

of species on Earth, and 91% in the ocean, have not been described yet.

Mora et al., 2011

73%

average drop in monitored wildlife populations between 1970 and 2020.

WWF Living Planet Report, 2024