Mammals > Dormice & Platacanthomyidae
The Desert Dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis) is one of the most enigmatic small mammals of Central Asia, uniquely adapted to the harsh hyper-arid climates of the Betpak-Dala clay desert. Occupying its own distinct subfamily within Gliridae, this tiny nocturnal...
Mammals > Didelphimorphia & Opossums
The Wood Sprite Gracile Opossum (Gracilinanus dryas) is an elusive, miniature arboreal marsupial native to the chilly, epiphyte-draped cloud forests and high-elevation elfin woodlands of the northern Andes. Named ‘dryas’ after the mythical Greek tree...
Mammals > Molossidae & Free-tailed Bats
The Bristle-faced Free-tailed Bat (Mormopterus eleryi) is one of Australia’s rarest, most secretive, and ecologically specialized microbats. First formally identified and separated from regional species complexes in 2008, this diminutive molossid bat navigates...
Mammals > Cercopithecidae & Colobine Monkeys
The Gray-shanked Douc Langur (Pygathrix cinerea) is an extraordinarily beautiful and critically endangered colobine primate endemic solely to the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Elevated to full species status in 1997, this arboreal aristocrat is often celebrated as one...
Mammals > Cercopithecidae & Colobine Monkeys
The Gray Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi), also known as Guizhou snub-nosed monkey or Brelich’s monkey, is one of the rarest and most critically imperiled primates on Earth. Restricted entirely to a single isolated mountain massif—Mount Fanjingshan in...
Mammals > Phalangeridae & Cuscuses
The Blue-eyed Spotted Cuscus (Spilocuscus wilsoni) is an extraordinary and critically imperiled arboreal marsupial endemic solely to the oceanic islands of Biak and Supiori in eastern Indonesia. Renowned for its captivating, piercing pale blue eyes—a phenotypic...
Mammals > Rodentia & Shrew Mice
The Northern Luzon Shrew Mouse (Crunomys fallax) is an exceptionally secretive murine rodent endemic exclusively to the misty, moss-cloaked montane highlands of northern Luzon in the Philippines. Representing a distinct evolutionary lineage of Philippine endemic...
Mammals > Cetaceans & Baleen Whales
The Omura’s Whale (Balaenoptera omurai) is one of the most enigmatic and recently confirmed baleen whale species in the world, officially validated through DNA sequencing in 2003. Long misidentified by 20th-century whalers as a pygmy form of Bryde’s whale,...
Mammals > Macroscelidea & Sengis
The Etendeka Round-eared Sengi (Macroscelides micus) is an extraordinary dwarf afrotherian mammal discovered in 2014 atop the isolated volcanic tablelands of northwestern Namibia. Reaching a total body mass of barely one ounce, this miniature creature represents the...
