Amber Mountain Long-fingered Bat

Mammals > Bats

Described in 2010, the Amber Mountain Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus ambohitrensis) is an endemic insectivorous bat restricted to the isolated volcanic peak of Montagne d’Ambre in northern Madagascar. Characterized by extraordinarily long third digits that fold...

Ayersthey Trap-jaw Ant

Invertebrates > Ants

Strumigenys ayersthey is a rare miniature dacetine trap-jaw ant described in 2021 from the hyper-diverse Chocó rainforest of Ecuador. Celebrated as the only organism named with the non-binary honorific ‘they’, it represents an evolutionary pinnacle of...

Agnicellus Orchid

Plants > Orchids

Dubbed ‘the ugliest orchid in the world’ by botanists upon its formal naming in 2020, Gastrodia agnicellus is a leafless, entirely holomycotrophic orchid native to Madagascar’s montane rainforest understories. Possessing no chlorophyll, it lives...

Sequoia Slender Salamander

Amphibians > Salamanders

The Sequoia Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps kawia) is a specialized, worm-like lungless salamander endemic strictly to the steep, rocky river canyons of the Kaweah River basin in California’s southern Sierra Nevada. Living beneath damp granite slabs and mossy...

Darwin’s Goliath Centipede

Invertebrates > Centipedes

Darwin’s Goliath Centipede (Scolopendra galapagoensis) is a titanic, formidable predatory myriapod and one of the largest extant centipede species on planet Earth. Reaching lengths exceeding 15 inches, this armored giant stalks the stark, arid volcanic terrain...