Vancouver Island Marmot

Mammals > Rodents

The Vancouver Island Marmot (Marmota vancouverensis) is one of the rarest mammals on the planet and Canada’s most critically endangered endemic mammal. Inhabiting isolated subalpine peaks on Vancouver Island, this stocky ground-dwelling rodent is famous for its...

Razorback Sucker

Fish > Suckerfishes & Loaches

The Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), also celebrated as the Humpback Sucker, is one of the most anatomically extraordinary freshwater fish on Earth. Endemic to the turbulent, sediment-laden waters of the Colorado River system, it is crowned with a sharp, bony,...

Clapper Rail

Birds > Finfoots & Rails

The Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personatus) is one of the rarest, most enigmatic, and critically endangered waterbirds on Earth. The sole Asian representative of the ancient family Heliornithidae, this bizarre waterbird combines a dagger-like yellow bill, a jet-black...

Cui-ui

Fish > Suckerfishes & Loaches

The Cui-ui (Chasmistes cujus) is a large, prehistoric-looking lake sucker endemic exclusively to the alkaline waters of Pyramid Lake in the Great Basin of Nevada. A sacred species of supreme cultural and historical significance to the Kooyooe Tukadu (Cui-ui Eaters)...

Flat-tailed Tortoise

Reptiles > Tortoises

The Flat-tailed Tortoise (Pyxis planicauda), known locally in Madagascar as Kapidolo (the ‘ghost tortoise’), is one of the rarest, most secretive, and most critically endangered chelonians on Earth. Inhabiting the dry deciduous forests of western...