Black Buffalo

Fish > Ray-finned Fish

The Black Buffalo (Ictiobus niger) is the stoutest and most streamlined member of the buffalo fish genus, engineered for life in the swift, turbulent currents of North America’s largest rivers. Recognized by its dark slate-black coloration, robust cylindrical...

African Spoonbill

Birds > Wading Birds & Shorebirds

The African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) is a magnificent, snow-white wading bird in the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, unmistakable for its flat, paddle-shaped bill and striking crimson-red face and legs. Widespread across the vast floodplains and Rift...

Squacco Heron

Birds > Wading Birds & Shorebirds

The Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) is a small, stocky pond heron with a dramatic optical secret: while perched motionless among reeds it appears completely tawny-buff and cryptic, but the instant it takes flight it unfolds dazzling, pure white wings that flash like...

Bates’s Pygmy Antelope

Mammals > Even-Toed Ungulates

Bates’s Pygmy Antelope (Nesotragus batesi), also called the Dwarf Antelope, is the second-smallest antelope in Africa, flourishing throughout the dense, humid rainforests of the Congo Basin. Inhabiting the shadowed floor of equatorial Africa, it has adapted...

Royal Antelope

Mammals > Even-Toed Ungulates

The Royal Antelope (Neotragus pygmaeus) holds the title of the world’s smallest antelope and one of the smallest ruminants on Earth, standing a mere 25 centimeters tall at the shoulder. Endemic to the dense, humid rainforests of West Africa, this diminutive...