EX Extinct EW Extinct in the Wild CR Critically Endangered EN Endangered VU Vulnerable NT Near Threatened LC Least Concern Oak Toad Oarfish Ocean Perch Ocean Pout Ocean Whitefish Oceanic Whitetip Shark Ocellated Turkey Ocelot Octopus Oenpelli python Oilfish Okapi Old English Sheepdog Old House Borer Oleander Hawk Moth Olingo Olive Baboon Olive python Olive Sea Snake Olm Olympic Marmot Onagadori Chicken Onager Opabinia Opah Opaleye (Rudderfish) Opossum Oranda Goldfish Orange Baboon Tarantula Orange Dream Ball Python Orange Roughy Orange Spider Orange Tanager (Orange-Headed Tanager) Orange-Crowned Warbler Orangutan Orb Weaver Orchard Oriole Orchid Dottyback Oregon Spotted Frog Ori-Pei Oribi Oriental Cockroach Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher Orinoco Crocodile Ornate Bichir Ornate Black-Tailed Rattlesnake Ornate Box Turtle Ornithocheirus Ornithomimus Ortolan Bunting Oscar Fish Osprey Ostracod Ostrich Otter Otterhound Ovenbird Oviraptor Owl Owl Butterfly Owlfly (Ascalaphidae) Ox Oxpecker Oyster Oyster Toadfish Ozark Bass Major animal paintings include Albrecht Dürer’s 1515 The Rhinoceros, and George Stubbs’s c. Some medicines such as the cancer drug trabectedin are based on toxins or other molecules of animal origin.
The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The mountains of basswin the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round. The northernmost region, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate but varies greatly from north to south. It has the 17th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2016 World Risk Index.
After being defeated in the Pacific War and suffering the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation until 1952. The Meiji period saw Japan pursue rapid industrialization, modernization, militarism, and overseas colonization. Between the 4th and 6th centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara and later in Heian-kyō. With a population of almost 123 million as of 2026, it is the world’s 11th most populous country.
Species estimates shown here are based on numbers described scientifically; much larger estimates have been calculated based on various means of prediction, and these can vary wildly. Other animals may have very specific feeding behaviours, such as hawksbill sea turtles which mainly eat sponges. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location, attach to the seabed, and develop into a new sponge. Japan is the most successful Asian Rugby Union country and hosted the 2019 IRB Rugby World Cup. The country gained the hosting rights for the official Women’s Volleyball World Championship on five occasions, more than any other country.
Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. Other minority religions include Hinduism, Judaism, and Baháʼí Faith, as well as the animist beliefs of the Ainu. Throughout the latest century, Western customs originally related to Christianity, including Western style weddings, Valentine’s Day and Christmas, have become popular as secular customs among many Japanese.
The Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms. The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. It nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.
Animals, plants, fungi, and some other living things have complex cells, so they are grouped together as eukaryotes. Animals (or Metazoa) are living creatures with many cells that make up the kingdom Animalia. Animals may be listed or indexed by many criteria, including taxonomy, status as endangered species, their geographical location, and their portrayal and/or naming in human culture.
In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan by the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo established a military government at Kamakura. In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital, settling on Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto) in 794. The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literary culture with the completion of the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and architecture. The Nara period (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara).
The United States is a major market for Japanese exports and a major source of Japanese imports, and is committed to defending the country, with military bases in Japan. Ambulacraria are exclusively marine and include acorn worms, starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. Karate, which originated in the Ryukyu Kingdom, is popular across the world and has been included in the Olympic Games. Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue. Minority ethnic groups in the country include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan people. Since privatization in 1987, dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven JR enterprises, Kintetsu, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation.
For sexual reproduction, most sponges are hermaphrodites, they produce both egg and sperm cells. In addition to sponges, Placozoa has no symmetry and was often considered a “missing link” between protists and multicellular animals. Extant phyla in these rocks include molluscs, brachiopods, onychophorans, tardigrades, arthropods, echinoderms and hemichordates, along with numerous now-extinct forms such as the predatory Anomalocaris.