species

I would like to confirm my understanding on the definite article 'the' when it's used to refer to a group or species.If the plant or animal is countable, it's a must to use 'the' followed by the name of the plant or animal in the singular form. For example,

The elephant is the largest animal on land.

The penguin lives in Antartica.

And the opposite is true, when the the animal or plant is uncountable. For example,

Broccoli is a green plant.

Bacteria is a very tiny microorganism.

Therefore, I can understand three of the following examples given by CalifJim:

Corn is native to Central America. =>corn is uncountable
Storks are native to Europe. => Should it be the stork since storks are countable?
The coyote is native to the western United States. =>coyotes are countable
The tomato is native to the Americas, but it is grown all over the world. => tomatoes are countable

Please help! I'm confused

Thanks!