Diurnal

Agkistrodon Contortrix

Hourglass bands. Hidden hunter.

Savannah Monitor

West Africa's clawed ground-forager

Scale-Crested Pygmy Tyrant

Big crest. Tiny flycatcher.

Spotted Garden Eel

The plankton-picker of the sand flats

Nematode

Roundworms: small bodies, huge impact

Kouprey

Kouprey: the vanishing forest ox

Leafcutter Ant

Farmers of the forest floor

Keyhole Cichlid

Small cichlid, big-family devotion

Uromastyx (Spiny-Tailed Lizard)

Spiny tails, desert scales, plant power.

Zokor

Engineers of the Asian underworld

Uaru Cichlid

Amazon's gentle giant with a triangle badge

Yellowjacket (Yellow Jacket)

Paper nests, sharp teamwork, bold stripes

Mollusk

One phylum, endless forms

Hartebeest

Built for the long run on the plains

Inchworm

Loop, look like a twig, and live on leaves

Owlfly (Ascalaphidae)

Big eyes. Clubbed antennae. Pure predator.

Gourami

Gulp air, build nests, rule the shallows

Kissing Gourami

Not a kiss-it's a contest.

Olympic Marmot

Olympic Mountains' whistling burrower

Pacific Coast Tick

Ornate hunter of the Pacific slopes

Western Blacklegged Tick

Pacific Coast tick, outsized impact.

Patagonian Mara

Patagonia's monogamous speedster

Sichuan Takin (Tibetan Takin)

The cliffside bovid of Sichuan

Boskimo

Spitz fluff, Boston charm.