Invertebrates > Achatinids & Stylommatophora
The Giant African Land Snail (Lissachatina fulica, formerly Achatina fulica) is a monumental, voracious terrestrial gastropod belonging to the family Achatinidae. Indigenous to the humid coastal forests and tropical woodlands of East Africa—spanning Kenya, Tanzania,...
Plants > Strelitziaceae & Zingiberales
The Traveler’s Palm (Ravenala madagascariensis), known natively in Malagasy as ‘ravinala’ (forest leaves) and celebrated worldwide as the national emblem of Madagascar, is a monumental, awe-inspiring arborescent monocot belonging to the...
Amphibians > Sirenids & Caudata
The Greater Siren (Siren lacertina) is a colossal, primitive, eel-like aquatic amphibian belonging to the siren family Sirenidae. Native exclusively to the warm, sluggish freshwater wetlands, cypress swamps, and blackwater ditches of the southeastern United States...
Fish > Chiasmodontids & Trachiniformes
The Black Swallower (Chiasmodon niger) is a terrifying, masterfully engineered deep-sea predatory teleost belonging to the swallower family Chiasmodontidae. Inhabiting the sunless, freezing bathypelagic abyss of the world’s oceans at depths between 700 and 2,750...
Birds > Anhimids & Anseriformes
The Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata), known throughout South America as the ‘chajá’ in onomatopoeic tribute to its thunderous call, is an extraordinary, heavy-bodied semi-aquatic bird belonging to the screamer family Anhimidae. Natively roaming the...
