Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
Species-focused habitats, a large playground, veterinary interpretation, Grassmere Historic Home, and shaded paths turn the zoo into both a wildlife and local-landscape visit.
Tennessee, United States: places and wildlife — page 4
Browse the published Explore collection for Tennessee, United States. Open a discovery for its field guide, practical details, and background.
Memphis Zoo
Large cats, primates, hoofstock, reptiles, aquarium habitats, and conservation programs occupy a broad Overton Park campus with architectural layers from many eras.
Zoo Knoxville
Red pandas, reptiles, otters, elephants, primates, and children’s nature play anchor a compact zoo known for breeding and conservation work with endangered species.
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
Sharks, rays, penguins, coral-reef species, jellyfish, touch experiences, and a long moving walkway through Shark Lagoon create a high-energy indoor counterpoint to the Smokies.
Nashville Crayfish
This olive-to-reddish crayfish survives in rocky runs of the Mill Creek watershed inside metropolitan Nashville, making urban water quality inseparable from species survival.
Tennessee Cave Salamander
This permanently aquatic salamander inhabits cave streams and pools in the southern Cumberland Plateau and related karst, with Tennessee holding the core of its known range.
Laurel Dace
Laurel dace survive in a few small, cool streams on Tennessee’s Walden Ridge, where spring flow, forest shade, and barriers from invasive fish shape an extremely narrow future.
Pygmy Madtom
The pygmy madtom is among the least frequently encountered North American fishes, documented from limited reaches of the Duck and Clinch river systems in Tennessee.
Tennessee Coneflower
This purple coneflower evolved in the thin, hot soils of limestone cedar glades near Nashville and occurs naturally nowhere outside a small part of Middle Tennessee.
Ruth's Golden Aster
This endangered perennial grows in cracks and scoured rocky margins along short reaches of the Hiwassee and Ocoee rivers, nowhere else on Earth.
Carolina Wren
A warm-brown wren with a white eyebrow lives close to cover across South Carolina and serves as the state bird.
Carolina Wolf Spider
North America’s largest wolf spider patrols open ground after dark and is South Carolina’s official state spider.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
This large striped butterfly, South Carolina’s state butterfly, moves between tree canopies, flowers, puddles, and host plants.
Carolina Mantid
South Carolina’s state insect is a gray, green, or brown ambush predator of gardens, old fields, and woodland edges.
Carolina Northern Flying Squirrel
This rare, soft-gray squirrel glides between cool high-elevation forests, feeding on fungi that help mountain trees exchange nutrients belowground.
Fraser Fir
Short, soft needles and upright cones identify a Southern Appalachian endemic that forms cool summit forests above the ordinary hardwood world.
Baltimore checkerspot
Black wings checked with cream and orange identify a wet-meadow butterfly whose official status contrasts with its rarity in Maryland.
Baltimore oriole
Maryland’s orange-and-black state bird whistles from leafy edges and suspends a woven pouch nest near a branch tip.
Black-eyed Susan
Rough-haired stems and golden rays around a raised brown center make Maryland’s state flower a familiar open-ground wildflower.
White oak
Maryland’s state tree supports insects and wildlife; rounded leaf lobes and pale bark reward a slower look in mature woodland.
Brook Trout
Follow this jewel-colored char from shaded headwaters to Adirondack ponds, where water quality shapes its future.
Common Snapping Turtle
A rugged freshwater turtle is easiest to notice when it leaves the water to nest, not while it lies hidden below.
Sugar Maple
Recognize New York's state tree by more than its color: bark, paired buds, and leaf shape tell the whole story.