Fiji Petrel

Birds > Petrels & Shearwaters

The Fiji Petrel (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi), known locally on Gau Island as ‘Kacau ni Gau,’ is one of the most enigmatic and critically imperiled seabirds on Earth. Discovered in 1855 from a single museum specimen, the species was unrecorded by science...

Hewitt’s Ghost Frog

Amphibians > Ghost Frogs

Hewitt’s Ghost Frog (Heleophryne hewitti) is an extraordinary torrent-adapted amphibian belonging to the ancient basal frog family Heleophrynidae, a distinct Gondwanan lineage that diverged over 160 million years ago. Restricted strictly to four clean, perennial...

La Gomera Giant Lizard

Reptiles > Lizards

The La Gomera Giant Lizard (Gallotia bravoana) is one of the rarest reptiles in the world, an ancient lacertid endemic strictly to the volcanic island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands archipelago. Feared completely extinct for centuries due to introduced mammalian...

Panay Rafflesia

Plants > Parasitic Plants

The Panay Rafflesia (Rafflesia speciosa) is an astonishing, colossal parasitic flower discovered by botanists in 2002 in the Sibalom Natural Park on the island of Panay, Philippines. Boasting blooms that span nearly two feet in diameter, this magnificent floral titan...

Sicilian Fir

Plants > Pinaceae

The Sicilian Fir (Abies nebrodensis) is one of the rarest conifers in the world and an emblematic living relic of the ancient Mediterranean montane forests. Once widespread across the highlands of Sicily during the cooler Pleistocene epoch, this magnificent evergreen...