False Smooth Snake

Reptiles > Squamata

The False Smooth Snake (Macroprotodon cucullatus) is a slender, secretive colubrid native to coastal scrublands and rocky ecosystems across the Mediterranean basin. Named for its visual resemblance to the true smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), this nocturnal hunter...

Arfak Astrapia

Birds > Passeriformes

The Arfak Astrapia (Astrapia nigra) is a magnificent, elusive bird-of-paradise restricted to high-elevation cloud forests of the Bird’s Head Peninsula in West Papua, Indonesia. Celebrated for the adult male’s jet-black plumage, brilliant emerald breast...

White-winged Vampire Bat

Mammals > Chiroptera

The White-winged Vampire Bat (Diaemus youngi) is one of only three obligate sanguivorous mammal species in the world, specialized almost exclusively in feeding upon the blood of roosting birds. Ranging across tropical and subtropical rainforests of the Americas, this...

Red Harvester Ant

Invertebrates > Hymenoptera

The Red Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) is a legendary keystone social insect native to the arid grasslands and desert scrublands of southwestern North America. Instantly recognizable by the massive, polished circular clearings and gravel mounds workers...

Column Stinkhorn

Fungi > Phallales

The Column Stinkhorn (Laternea triscapa) is a fascinating, sculptural saprotrophic fungus native to the humid tropical forests of the Caribbean and Central America. Emerging from a subterranean gelatinous ‘egg,’ this striking basidiomycete unfurls into an...