Written By: Eliza Berman
As magazine titles go, LIFE is perhaps the most all-encompassing in the history of periodicals. Though the magazine specialized in facets of human life from war to fashion and culture to politics the editors more than dabbled in the lives of our four-legged (and slithering and winged) friends. Someone in the art department clearly had a soft spot for dogs, but mice, lorises, triggerfish and walruses all had their turns on the cover, as well. For their contributions to science and cinema, agriculture and plain old human companionship, animals more than earned their ample coverage in LIFE.
Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.
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February 8, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Charles J. Belden
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March 1, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Henry M. Lester
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April 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Torkel Korling
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July 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt
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January 10, 1938 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Lane Flinders
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December 12, 1938 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by George Karger
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April 3, 1944 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Nina Leen
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September 9, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Martha Holmes
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September 23, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Frank Scherschel
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November 4, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by David Douglas Duncan
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August 23, 1948 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Jon Brenneis
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January 31, 1949 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by George Karger
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October 8, 1951 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Burton Glinn
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November 30, 1953 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Fritz Goro
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December 22, 1952 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Ed Clark
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March 22, 1954 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Roger Kirschner
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November 8, 1954 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Gjon Mili
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November 24, 1958 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Ralph Crane
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March 16, 1959 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Dmitri Kessel
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June 27, 1960 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Fritz Goro
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February 10, 1961 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Henry Burroughs
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March 1, 1963 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Nina Leen
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June 19, 1964 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Francis Miller
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January 6, 1967 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by John Dominis
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December 5, 1969 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by John Dominis
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January 30, 1970 LIFE Magazine cover
Photo by Co Rentmeester