Fill cell values based on cells provided

Hi there,

I am searching for a function that can assist with the following: 

I have a list of animals, for example, 50 animals at a certain location - with species name only. 

I have a database of say, 1000 animal species, with columns including species name, habitat, status, etc.

I would like to auto-fill the information from the database regarding habitat, status, etc that corresponds with the species name for each of the 50 specific animals on the list I have. 

Is there a way to set up spreadsheet that can auto-populate cells (habitat, status) based on filling one column (species name)?

Thanks very much! 

Laura