Discover 1-2

44

Species

Exposed!

❯

STEALTH,

DISGUISE AND

SOME GOOD

HIDING SPOTS had

previously left these

agents undetected.

The species that

scientists exposed and

identified in 2017 had

been squirreled away

in all kinds of places,

from the depths of

remote oceans to

right under our noses.^

SYLVIA MORROW

CODENAME^ Skywalker

hoolock gibbon

NAME^ Hoolock tianxing

COMPROMISED January

KNOWN TERRITORY Myanmar and

southwestern China

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS^

Downturned white eyebrows

NOTABLE SKILLS/TRAITS^

ELITE STATUS: Tucked away in

isolated mountains known as

sky islands, these rare gibbons

have taken careful tracking

to find and identify. Biologists

finally discovered them, but

they’re already on the brink

of being lost.

CODENAME Hoodwinker

ocean sunfish

NAME Mola tecta

COMPROMISED

July

KNOWN TERRITORY

Southern Hemisphere

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Weighs 2 tons; bizarre,

flattened body

NOTABLE SKILLS/TRAITS

EVASION: Researchers

first caught wind of

M.

tecta in 2009, but the fish

continued to evade them for

years despite its massive size.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

skin between limbs and torso, Webbed

used for gliding down from

heights

NOTABLE SKILLS/TRAITS

CAMOUFLAGE/IMPERSONATION:^

Since the 1800s,

remained hidden among G. oregonensis

populations of other flying

squirrels in the Pacific

Northwest and Canada.

However, recent genetic testing

has outed G. oregonensis

separate species. as a

CODENAME Humboldt’s

flying squirrel

NAME Glaucomys oregonensis

COMPROMISED

KNOWN TERRITORY May

Pacific Northwest^

DECLASSIFIED