Reptiles > Monitor Lizards & Varanids
The Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor (Varanus bitatawa), known to indigenous Agta communities as the Bitatawa, is one of the most stunning zoological discoveries of the 21st century. Formally described in 2010 from the dense mountain forests of northern Luzon in...
Mammals > Cetaceans & Coastal Dolphins
The Franciscana Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), also celebrated along South American shores as the La Plata dolphin, is one of the most distinctive and biologically fascinating odontocetes in the southern hemisphere. While phylogenetically grouped within the river...
Plants > Nepenthaceae & Pitcher Plants
The Splendid Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes edwardsiana) is widely regarded by botanists and horticulturalists as the undisputed king of carnivorous pitcher plants. Endemic strictly to the windswept, mist-shrouded cloud forest ridges of Mount Kinabalu and neighboring Mount...
Fungi > Thelephoraceae & Gomphales
The Blue Chanterelle (Polyozellus multiplex), also celebrated by naturalists as the Black Chanterelle or Clustered Blue Chanterelle, is one of the most stunning and highly coveted macrofungi of the northern boreal wilderness. Forming magnificent, multi-capped rosettes...
Plants > Cucurbitaceae & Pachycauls
The Socotra Cucumber Tree (Dendrosicyos socotranus) is one of the botanical world’s greatest evolutionary anomalies. Endemic solely to the isolated, windswept island of Socotra off the Horn of Africa, it is the only living member of the gourd and cucumber family...
