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A list of notable Texas mammals, with photos and an identification guide to each species. Read on to discover interesting and iconic mammals of Texas.

Introduction

Texas is home to a wide variety of mammals across deserts, plains, forests, rivers, and brush country.

On this page, you’ll find a list of especially characteristic, iconic, or regionally notable Texas mammals, including familiar animals such as White-tailed Deer, Coyote, Bobcat, and Nine-banded Armadillo, along with lesser known mammals such as collared peccary, hispid cotton rat, and ringtail.

The list below is intended as an introduction to Texas mammal identification and natural history, with attention to the habitats and features that make these species distinctive. It is not a complete checklist of Texas mammals, but a useful overview of the Lone Star State’s mammalian inhabitants.

Texas Mammals List

American Beaver

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Texas Frogs & Toads: Photos, Identification Guide to Common Species

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| Wildlife

A list of Texas frogs and toads that includes features useful for identification, such as physical characteristics, typical habitats, calls, behavior, and general distribution.

The state of Texas is home to a wide range of frogs and toads, from widespread species such as the American Bullfrog and Gulf Coast Toad to more localized species such as the Houston Toad and Cliff Chirping Frog.

On this page, you’ll find a guide to common and less common Texas frog species, giving you a useful overview of the amphibian population of Texas.

Because ranges and appearances can vary, especially among similar leopard frogs, treefrogs, and toads, careful observation of size, pattern, habitat, and vocalizations is often important for accurate identification.

Page Index

American Bullfrog

Scientific name: Lithobates catesbeianus
Family: Ranidae
Rank: species

The very large size and exposed round eardrum are the best …

Texas Wildlife: Animals, Habitats & Wild Places – A Complete Guide

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| Wildlife

Texas wildlife is as varied as the state itself – across deserts, mountains, forests, prairies, rivers, and coastal marshes, Texas supports an extraordinary mix of animals and habitats.

Some species, such as the armadillo and Texas horned lizard, are closely tied to the state’s identity, while others, including the whooping crane, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and ocelot, make Texas an important place for conservation.

What makes the state especially interesting is the way different landscapes meet here. The dry Chihuahuan Desert, the wooded Piney Woods, the Gulf Coast wetlands, and the spring-fed Hill Country all support different communities of plants and animals.

Together, these elements make Texas one of the most rewarding states for anyone interested in North American wildlife.

Page Index

What Makes Texas Wildlife Unique?

Texas sits at the meeting point of several major ecological regions. In the …

Texas is giving data centers more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year

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| Pollution

This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Texas will lose out on $ 3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office.

That figure is likely a vast underestimate given the explosion of new facilities being built, but already makes the tax break one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation.

Lawmakers, who will meet in January for the next legislative session, say they are considering proposals to either limit the scope of the tax break or get rid of it altogether.

“These new numbers are extremely concerning, and I will say they’re unsustainable,” said state Senator Joan Huffman, chair …

Texas saw a $50B future in clean energy. Then the political winds shifted.

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On an unseasonably warm January day, Duff Hallman’s goats and sheep wandered unhurried through the rocky hills of his ranch 30 miles south of San Angelo, Texas, unbothered by the long shadows that swept over the ground. The shadows fell from wind turbines towering 250 feet above, their blades spinning like clock hands over land that has been in Hallman’s family for four generations. From a shady spot in his backyard, Hallman can almost nod off watching them turn. “It slows your pace down a bit,” he said.

At 74, Hallman still feels honored to work the 9,200-acre ranch he owns with his brother and sister, sometimes putting in as much as 15 hours a day. The labor starts at dawn — mending fences, clearing pastures, tending horses and livestock — and is far from lucrative. He doesn’t do it …

After Texas’ catastrophic floods, families face a daunting question: Rebuild or let go?

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| Pollution

Brian Keeper doesn’t remember exactly when his family began spending holidays in Hunt, Texas, an unincorporated town on the banks of the Guadalupe River where they’d camp, swim, and fish. Sometimes they caught so many perch, bass, and catfish that it felt like his mother had the grill going all day long.

“We were just in love with Hunt,” recalled Keeper. “We were in love with coming up here and getting in the river.”

But he does remember the year he and his seven siblings helped their father build a one-bedroom summer house along the river. It was 1975, and the Texas Longhorns were on their way to winning the national collegiate baseball and football championships. Keeper was 18.

As Keeper and his siblings grew up, the house in Hunt only became more important to their family. His father added …

Texas food banks are rationing meals for flood survivors because of Trump’s cuts

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Early in the morning on July 4th, as torrential rains battered Central Texas, the dangers of flash floods became imminent. In Kerr County, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet within 45 minutes, leading to the deaths of 106 people. As the catastrophic deluge swept throughout the region, the death toll climbed to at least 132.

Later that day, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The law gutted public food and healthcare safety nets, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, while also codifying massive tax breaks for wealthier individuals and major corporations. The devastation in Texas, then, became the first major disaster to expose the grave effects of Trump’s extensive disinvestment from disaster resilience programs — and his administration’s newest food and hunger policies.

Charitable groups such as food banks …

Data centers are building their own gas power plants in Texas

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Abigail Lindsey worries the days of peace and quiet might be nearing an end at the rural, wooded property where she lives with her son. On the old ranch across the street, developers want to build an expansive complex of supercomputers for artificial intelligence, plus a large, private power plant to run it.

The plant would be big enough to power a major city, with 1,200 megawatts of planned generation capacity fueled by West Texas shale gas. It will only supply the new data center, and possibly other large data centers recently proposed down the road.

“It just sucks,” Lindsey said, sitting on her deck in the shade of tall oak trees outside the city of New Braunfels. “They’ve come in and will completely destroy our way of life: dark skies, quiet and peaceful.”

The project is one of many …

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Tag: Texas

Texas Mammals: Photos and Identification Guide to Iconic Species

Introduction

Texas Mammals List

American Beaver

Texas Frogs & Toads: Photos, Identification Guide to Common Species

Page Index

American Bullfrog

Texas Wildlife: Animals, Habitats & Wild Places – A Complete Guide

Page Index

What Makes Texas Wildlife Unique?

Texas is giving data centers more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year

Texas saw a $50B future in clean energy. Then the political winds shifted.

After Texas’ catastrophic floods, families face a daunting question: Rebuild or let go?

Texas food banks are rationing meals for flood survivors because of Trump’s cuts

Data centers are building their own gas power plants in Texas