Mammals > Canids & Carnivorans
The Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), celebrated across polar ecology as the ultimate mammalian survivor of the frozen north, is a small, resilient canid belonging to the dog family Canidae. Inhabiting the treeless, sub-zero tundra and drifting pack ice of the circumpolar...
Fungi > Geastraceae & Geastrales
The Rounded Earthstar (Geastrum saccatum), celebrated across mycology and forest ecology as one of the most architectural and sculptural fungi on Earth, is a fascinating gasteroid mushroom belonging to the earthstar family Geastraceae. Found on forest floors across...
Fungi > Entolomataceae & Agaricales
The Blue Pinkgill (Entoloma hochstetteri), known natively in Māori as ‘werewere-kōkako’ after the brilliant blue wattle of the endangered kōkako bird, is an exquisite, small forest mushroom belonging to the family Entolomataceae. Renowned across global...
Invertebrates > Cranchiids & Oegopsida
The Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), celebrated across marine teuthology and ocean exploration as the supreme titan of the abyssal deep, is a massive cranchiid cephalopod inhabiting the freezing polar waters of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica....
Plants > Aristolochiaceae & Piperales
Hydnora (Hydnora africana), celebrated across botanical science as one of the most bizarre and alien parasitic flowering plants on planet Earth, is an obligate subterranean holoparasite belonging to the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae. Native to the harsh, sun-baked...
