Birds > Darwin's Finches & Tanagers
The Vampire Ground Finch (Geospiza septentrionalis) is one of the most astonishing evolutionary anomalies in the avian kingdom, an enigmatic songbird endemic strictly to two tiny, uninhabited volcanic islets in the far north of the Galápagos archipelago. Diverging...
Birds > Phasianidae & Pheasants
Sclater’s Monal (Lophophorus sclateri), named in honor of British zoologist Philip Sclater, is one of the most spectacularly plumaged, secretive, and elusive high-altitude pheasants in the world. Native to the rugged, mist-veiled peaks of the Eastern Himalayas...
Invertebrates > Peripatidae & Velvet Worms
Solórzano’s Giant Velvet Worm (Peripatus solorzanoi) is a biological marvel and the largest living representative of the ancient phylum Onychophora on planet Earth. Discovered in the rainforests of northeastern Costa Rica and scientifically described in 2010,...
Birds > Menuridae & Lyrebirds
Albert’s Lyrebird (Menura alberti) is one of Australia’s most secretive, acoustically magnificent, and evolutionarily ancient avian treasures. Named in honor of Prince Albert and restricted to a tiny mountainous corridor of subtropical rainforest...
Reptiles > Agamidae & Dragon Lizards
The Hump-nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus), known locally in Sinhala as the ‘Kandukara Bodilima,’ is the sole living representative of its monotypic genus, endemic exclusively to the misty tropical rainforests of southwestern Sri Lanka. Possessing a...
