Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Introduction xiii
4. The Vertebrates
5. 1. Pushed up a Mountain and into the Clouds: The Olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina) 1
6. 2. Beneath a Color 83 Sky: The Ucucha Mouse (Thomasomys ucucha) 13
7. 3. Going on a Tapir Hunt: The Little Black Tapir (Tapirus kabomani) 19
8. 4. A Taxonomic Confusion: The Saki Monkeys (Pithecia genus) 31
9. 5. Scattered to the Corners of the World: The Arfak Pygmy Bandicoot (Microperoryctes aplini) 41
10. 6. The One That Got Away for 160 Years: Wallace’s Pike Cichlid (Crenicichla monicae) 51
11. 7. Here Be Dragons: The Ruby Seadragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea) 59
12. 8. A Century in a Jar: The Thorius Salamanders 67
13. 9. From a Green Bowl: The Overlooked Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis kutogundua) 75
14. 10. A Body and a Disembodied Tail: Smith’s Hidden Gecko (Cyrtodactylus celatus) 85
15. The Invertebrates
16. 11. Treasure in the By-Catch: The Gall Wasps (Cynipoidea species) 95
17. 12. The Biomimic: The Lightning Cockroach (Lucihormetica luckae) 103
18. 13. Sunk beneath the Surface in a Sea of Beetles: Darwin’s Rove Beetle (Darwinilus sedarisi ) 111
19. 14. The Spoils of a Distant War: The Congo Duskhawker Dragonfly (Gynacantha congolica) 119
20. 15. A Specimen in Two Halves: Muir’s Wedge-Shaped Beetle (Rhipidocyrtus muiri) 127
21. 16. Mary Kingsley’s Longhorn Beetle (Pseudictator kingsleyae) 135
22. 17. The Giant Flies (Gauromydas papavero and Gauromydas mateus) 143
23. 18. It Came from Area 51: The Atomic Tarantula Spider (Aphonopelma atomicum) 151
24. 19. The Host with the Most: The Nematode Worm (Ohbayashinema aspeira) 161
25. 20. From a Time Machine on Cromwell Road: Ablett’s Land Snail (Pseudopomatias abletti) 169
26. 21. In Sight of Land: Payden’s Isopod (Exosphaeroma paydenae) 177
27. 22. A Ball of Spines: Makarov’s King Crab (Paralomis makarovi) 185
28. Botanical
29. 23. In an Ikea Bag: The Custard Apple Family (Monanthotaxis Genus) 193
30. The Others
31. 24. Waiting with Their Jackets On: The Fossils (Paleontology Specimens Collected by Elmer Riggs) 201
32. 25. The First Art: The Earliest Hominin Engraving (a 500,000-Year- Old Shell) 211
33. Epilogue 217
34. Illustration Capt ions and Credits 223
35. Notes 227
36. Index 237