Fish > Polyodontids & Acipenseriformes
The American Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula), celebrated across evolutionary biology as the sole surviving member of the ancient paddlefish family Polyodontidae following the tragic extinction of China’s Yangtze paddlefish, is a colossal primitive freshwater fish...
Mammals > Hippopotamids & Artiodactyls
The Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), known colloquially as the river horse, is an immense semi-aquatic artiodactyl mammal belonging to the family Hippopotamidae, native to the perennial river systems and lakes of sub-Saharan Africa. Standing alongside elephants...
Mammals > Ursids & Carnivorans
The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus), celebrated across evolutionary biology as the apex marine predator of the frozen north, is a colossal hypercarnivorous bear belonging to the family Ursidae. Clad in a dense, water-repellent coat of translucent hollow guard hairs...
Plants > Conifers & Pinaceae
The Lebanese Cedar (Cedrus libani), celebrated across millennia of ancient history, sacred scriptures, and Mediterranean literature as the ‘Cedar of God’ (Arz ar-Rabb), is a monumental, ancient evergreen conifer belonging to the pine family Pinaceae....
Reptiles > Snapping Turtles & Chelydridae
The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), celebrated across herpetology as the ‘dinosaur of the turtle world’, is an immense, heavily armored freshwater chelonian belonging to the snapping turtle family Chelydridae, endemic exclusively to the...
