Plants > Triuridaceae & Mycoheterotrophs
Sugimoto’s Fairy Lantern (Sciaphila sugimotoi) is a remarkably bizarre and delicate flowering plant discovered in 2017 in the dense, undisturbed subtropical rainforests of Ishigaki Island, Japan. Belonging to the family Triuridaceae, this achlorophyllous...
Birds > Alcedinidae & Kingfishers
The Tuamotu Kingfisher (Todiramphus gambieri), known locally in the Paumotu language as the ‘Koteuteu,’ is one of the rarest and most critically imperiled avian species on Earth. Once distributed across several islands in southeastern Polynesia, this...
Amphibians > Bufonidae & True Toads
The Admirable Red-bellied Toad (Melanophryniscus admirabilis) is one of the rarest, most geographically restricted, and aesthetically breathtaking amphibians on the planet. Described in 2006, this jewel-like bufonid toad is confined entirely to a single 700-meter...
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...
