Up to 1.6 m. Brown with darker triangular blotches. Causes more snakebites than any other species in southeast Brazil. Its venom led to the discovery of ACE inhibitors (blood pressure drugs).

Hemotoxic venom causes severe local damage, hemorrhage, kidney failure. About 20,000 bites per year across Brazil, with 0.1–0.5% mortality even with antivenom.

Atlantic forests and grasslands of southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina, Uruguay.

Nocturnal in summer. Often found near rural homes hunting rodents. Females give birth to up to 20 live young.

Up to 1.8 m. The widest-ranging rattlesnake in South America. Unique among rattlers for highly neurotoxic venom (most have hemotoxic).

Neurotoxin causes paralysis, blindness, kidney failure. Mortality up to 12% without antivenom — much higher than US rattlers. About 1,000 bites/year in Brazil.

Dry savannas, Cerrado, and Caatinga of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela.

Nocturnal in hot weather. Often near villages and farms hunting rodents. Rattles loudly before striking — but doesn't always.

Brown spider 8–40 mm with characteristic violin marking. Considered the most dangerous of all recluse spiders worldwide — 'araña de rincón' in Chile.

Cytotoxic venom causes severe necrotic skin lesions ('loxoscelism') that can spread for weeks. Visceral form attacks kidneys — mortality 3–5% in such cases. Hundreds of bites annually in Chile, Peru.

Inside houses across Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil — behind paintings, in closets, woodpiles, beds.

Reclusive, nocturnal. Bites only when pressed — often in bedding, while dressing, or while moving stored items.

Glossy black with red hourglass — South American counterpart of the North American black widow. Found across Argentine Pampas, Uruguay, southern Brazil.

Alpha-latrotoxin causes severe muscle cramps, hypertension, sweating. About 1,000 bites per year reported in Argentina alone. Antivenom is widely available and very effective.

Grasslands and pampas of Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil, Paraguay. Also found in agricultural areas, woodpiles.

Builds messy tangle webs near the ground. Female bites only when pressed — typically in fields, while harvesting, or while moving objects.

Slender, deep-blue shark up to 3.8 m. The most commonly seen large shark in the Mediterranean and northeast Atlantic.

Attacks on humans are rare but documented — about 13 fatal attacks worldwide. Will investigate divers and survivors of shipwrecks.

Open ocean and coastal waters of the Atlantic, Bay of Biscay, and Mediterranean Sea.

Migratory and curious. Often investigates boats and divers. Aggressive only when food is present or in feeding frenzy.

Largest dolphin — up to 9 m and 6 tons. Apex predator of the oceans. Since 2020, a pod off Iberia has been deliberately ramming and sinking sailboats.

No fatal attacks on humans in the wild ever recorded — but as of 2024, over 700 boat ramming incidents and 4 sailboats sunk off Spain and Portugal. Direct human risk: drowning during shipwreck.

All European waters — Atlantic, Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean (rare), Norwegian Sea, North Sea. Iberian pod active off Spain, Portugal.

Highly intelligent, social — pods of 5-30. Teach each other behaviours culturally. The boat-ramming is being learned by new generations.

Disc up to 1.5 m with whip-like tail bearing a serrated venomous spine. Common in Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean — popular with tourists at 'Stingray City'.

Stings only defensively when stepped on. Spine drives deep, often breaks off. Steve Irwin's death is a textbook example of chest impalement.

Sandy and muddy bottoms of Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, southeastern US Atlantic coast.

Buries in sand. The 'stingray shuffle' (sliding feet) prevents most stings. Eats clams, shrimp.