Kauaʻi Cave Wolf Spider

Invertebrates > Araneae

The Kauaʻi Cave Wolf Spider (Adelocosa anops), known locally in Hawaiian as ‘peʻe peʻe maka ʻole’ (the eyeless spider), is one of the world’s most specialized and critically endangered arachnids. Confined strictly to prehistoric basaltic lava tubes...

Ghost Orchid

Plants > Asparagales

The Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) is an ethereal, mystical perennial epiphyte that holds legendary status in botanical folklore. Native exclusively to the sweltering, mosquito-choked wetlands of southwestern Florida and isolated pockets of Cuba, this leafless...

Karst Dragon Tree

Plants > Asparagales

The Karst Dragon Tree (Dracaena jayniana) is an extraordinary, pachycaul succulent tree described by botanists in 2013 from sheer limestone karst pinnacles in central and northeastern Thailand. Adapted to extreme physical stress, this resilient botanical wonder...

Blind Velvet Worm

Invertebrates > Onychophora

The Blind Velvet Worm (Tasmanipatus anophthalmus) is a remarkable living evolutionary relic belonging to the ancient phylum Onychophora, a lineage that has survived virtually unchanged for over 500 million years since the Cambrian Period. Endemic strictly to a tiny...

Tiger Stream Treefrog

Amphibians > Anura

The Tiger Stream Treefrog (Hyloscirtus tigrinus) is one of the most vividly patterned and threatened torrent-breeding amphibians of the northern Andean cordilleras. Inhabiting turbulent, crystalline glacial meltwater streams rushing through high-altitude cloud forests...