Birds > Owls
Formally described in 2015 after genetic and acoustic studies resolved centuries of confusion with Hume’s Owl, the Desert Tawny Owl (Strix hadorami) is an exceptionally tough, desert-adapted raptor named in honor of Israeli ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai. It...
Fungi > Cortinariaceae
Discovered and described in 2020 by mycologists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Cortinarius heatherae is a graceful gilled mushroom named in honor of mycologist Andy Overall’s wife, Heather. Uncovered in a modest wooded strip along the River Crane near...
Reptiles > Snakes
Discovered in 2019 and published in 2020 from Pakke Tiger Reserve in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas, Salazar’s Pit Viper (Trimeresurus salazar) is a vibrant green arboreal serpent named in tribute to Salazar Slytherin. Belonging to the Asian pit viper...
Invertebrates > Ants
Described in 2006, Gracilidris pombero represents a miraculous ‘Lazarus taxon’ discovery in entomology: a living representative of a dolichoderine ant genus previously known only from 15-million-year-old Dominican amber fossils. Named after ‘El...
Invertebrates > Wasps
Described in 2014 by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the Dementor Jewel Wasp (Ampulex dementor) is a striking parasitoid wasp native to Thailand. It was voted by the public to be named after the soul-sucking ‘Dementors’ from J.K....
