Modeled ACE2 receptor-binding-domain compatibility across 410 vertebrate species using 25 key spike-contact residues, scoring each species’ predicted susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 based on ACE2 sequence/structure conservation. Classified species (including humans, primates, many mammals of conservation and agricultural concern) into very-high/high/medium/low/very-low predicted-susceptibility bins. relevance_note: independent, computational (not just wet-lab) host-range estimate that can be cross-checked against the experimental-infection results (raccoon dog, mink, hamster, cat, civet) — useful for flagging species nobody has tested experimentally, including palm civets, for which no dedicated SARS-CoV-2 experimental-infection study appears to exist.