Birds > Psittaculidae & Old World Parrots
The Great-billed Parrot (Tanygnathus megalorynchos) is a majestic and imposing psittacine bird native to the biodiverse Wallacean islands of eastern Indonesia. Instantly recognized by its astonishingly massive, glowing coral-red beak—one of the largest relative to...
Fungi > Tricholomataceae & Shanklets
The Branched Shanklet (Dendrocollybia racemosa), formerly classified within Collybia, is one of the most anatomically extraordinary and biologically unique mushrooms in the fungal kingdom. Native to the damp coniferous and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere,...
Plants > Doryanthaceae & Spear Lilies
The Gymea Lily (Doryanthes excelsa) is a colossal, prehistoric-looking monocot plant endemic strictly to the sandstone plateaus of the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. The flagship member of the ancient, endemic Australian family Doryanthaceae, this monumental lily...
Invertebrates > Chaetopteridae & Parchment Worms
The Pigbutt Worm (Chaetopterus pugaporcinus), also known colloquially as the ‘flying buttocks worm,’ is an extraordinary and comical bathypelagic polychaete worm discovered in 2007 by marine biologists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute...
Fish > Diretmidae & Spinyfins
The Silver Spinyfin (Diretmus argenteus) is a remarkable deep-sea teleost inhabiting the vast mesopelagic and bathypelagic waters of the world’s oceans. Resembling a shining silver disc forged of burnished chrome, this deep-dwelling beryciform fish possesses...
