The new banknotes will each feature one animal or bird, but the public will be able to select up to two of their favourites from each of three categories on the shortlist before the deadline of the end of 3 July.
The mammals are: the bottlenose dolphin, the brown hare, the European hedgehog, the grey seal, the pine martin and the red fox.
The second category of birds feature: the Atlantic puffin, the barn owl, the common kingfisher, the Eurasian curlew, the great spotted woodpecker, and the white-tailed eagle.
The final section of amphibians, insects and fish, has: the Atlantic salmon, the basking shark, the buff-tailed bumblebee, the common frog, the Emperor dragonfly, and the marsh fritillary butterfly.
The panel of experts which chose the contenders is made up of wildlife filmmakers and presenters Gordon Buchanan, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Nadeem Perera, alongside Ulster Wildlife’s Katy Bell, and academics Steve Ormerod and Dawn Scott.
However, it will be Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey who makes the final decision, not necessarily choosing the four animals that receive the highest number of public responses.
