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The midnight cat is a nocturnal creature, and during the day it sleeps on the ground deep in the forest under piles of decomposing leaf litter. This rotting vegetation is prime real estate for decomposers like fungi, many of which are poisonous and which other animals know not to eat, and the pale brown, hairless skin growths on Mycospondylus’ back mimic these poisonous mushrooms to ward off any nosy intruders. Additionally, the midnight cat’s skin secretes a poisonous substance that is derived from the poison in the milk frogs it eats, which prevents other carnivores from trying to eat it and giving a nasty surprise to any who try to. At night, Mycospondylus leaves the dense inner forest and climbs up into the rainforest’s understory in search of food, where it remains until dawn. While it can eat most tree frogs, Mycospondylus is particularly partial to the Amazon milk frog, which lives in trees near “permanent, slow-moving water sources” (“Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog”, n.d). Once up in the branches, the midnight cat uses its highly acute hearing to listen for the milk frog’s distinctive croak, then looks for it between the densely packed vegetation. When it finds its target, the midnight cat keeps its distance, closing its eyes and letting the moon on its forehead do its job. The “moon” is made up of specialized skin cells that contain a chemical compound similar to the luciferin found in fireflies which makes them bioluminescent (“Firefly Luciferin”, n.d.). The glow attracts insects to the midnight cat, which draws the attention of the nearby frog. Mycospondylus listens for the frog’s approach and uses the electroreceptors in its secondary tails to sense its exact position. Once the cat has determined that its prey is within reach, it pounces. Now with a mouthful of slimy frog, Mycospondylus’ specialized dentition comes into play: instead of just one canine on either side of both the upper and lower jaw, Mycospondylus has two canines that occlude and lock together to help the midnight cat clamp down on its slippery prey and stop the frog from getting away before the cat gets the chance to eat it.

Located in the drainage basin of the Amazon River,  the Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest (“The Amazon Basin Forest”, n.d.). It is mostly a lowlands forest with some mountainous areas, and it has more biodiversity than any other single area on the planet. It is hot, humid, and very damp (Butler, 2017), and although some areas have a “rainy” season and a “dry” season, there is rainfall year round, often created by the rainforest itself from the large amounts of transpiration and moisture from the rainfall which add to the local humidity and form cloud cover (Butler, 2017). The Amazon rainforest is stratified and is primarily evergreen, with huge trees that have smooth trunks and widespread roots (“Amazon Forest Ecology”, n.d.). Most rainforest life is congregated in the canopy, a dense ceiling of closely spaced branches and trees 25-30 m off the ground that is constantly abuzz with activity. Above the canopy are the few emergent trees that can reach up to 60 m, while below in the sub-canopy are the trees that grow towards the light openings in the canopy, and in the understory below that are the small trees and shrubs that are adapted to low-light conditions (“Amazon Forest Ecology”, n.d.). The bottom layer is the forest floor,  full of tree trunks, fungi, and low-growing vegetation (Butler, 2012), and it is here, deep in the rainforest, that Mycospondylus mesanyctus spends its days. Named for the mushroom-like growths on its back, the “moon” on its forehead, its blue-black coloration, and its nocturnal lifestyle, Mycospondylus mesanyctus—the Mushroom-Spined Midnight cat—is commonly known as the “Midnight Cat”.

Sanguivory is a challenging food source: it is mostly liquid which can overwhelm the kidneys and bladder, it contains a lot of protein, there is a risk of it carrying blood-borne pathogens, etc. To cope with these challenges, vampire bats have evolved microbiomes that are highly specialized to face these challenges. Although the common vampire bat has a gut microbiome that is taxonomically more similar to insectivorous and carnivorous bats than to frugivorous (fruit-eating) bats, and although insectivorous, carnivorous, and frugivorous bats all have similarly functioning gut microbiomes, vampire bats have gut microbiomes that are unique. A study on “Hologenomic adaptations underlying the evolution of sanguivory in the common vampire bat” (Mendoza et al. 2018) suggests that the function of the microbiome may be influenced more by phylogeny than taxonomy, and that the vampire bat’s gut microbiome is specialized for its highly specific diet.

Sanguivores are animals that feed on blood. There are three species of bat that are obligate sanguivores: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). There have been multiple theories about the evolution of vampire bats, including that they may have evolved from frugivorous, carnivorous or nectarivorous ancestors, but recent analysis has suggested that they descended from insectivores. Vampire bats have short, cone-shaped muzzles and incisors and canines that are specialized for cutting. They are very maneuverable on land, and can walk, jump, and run by using their forelimbs. Vampire bats have gut microbiomes that are highly specialized for their sanguivorous diet, including being highly resistant to blood-borne pathogens. While the common vampire bat primarily feeds on mammal blood, the hairy-legged and white-winged vampire bats both mostly feed on bird blood. Once a vampire bat has found a target, they likely use thermoception to find a warm spot, which they bits into with their razor-sharp incisors. The vampire bat’s saliva contains compounds that keep the wound bleeding, such as anticoagulants that stop the blood from clotting and compounds that prevent blood vessels near the wound from constricting, and this allows the bat to lap up enough blood for its meal.

Mycospondylus mesanyctus is a small nocturnal carnivore that belongs to the family Felidae and the subfamily Felinae. Standing at a height of between 15 and 20cm, with a length of 25-30cm (excluding its tails) and weighing about 1 kg, it is one of the world’s smallest wild cats. It is a digitigrade quadruped with elongated phalanges and laterally ridged paw pads that—alongside the modified ball and socket joints in its shoulders and hips, and hyper flexible ligaments that increase its range of rotational motion—enable it to climb huge trees with trunks made of smooth bark. The midnight cat has sleek blue-black fur that helps it blend into shadows, and a hairless circle in the center of its forehead: this is its “moon”, a patch of specialized bioluminescent skin cells that the midnight cat uses to lure in its prey when hunting at night. Its primary tail is framed by four highly flexible secondary tails that are packed with electroreceptors, and mushroom-like growths line the top of its body from its head to the base of its tails. It has large eyes and ears, giving Mycospondylus both excellent vision and hearing. Males and females of the species look pretty much identical, except for the “antlers” that females have on their heads in between their ears. These are not actually antlers, but are flexible tubes of muscle and skin with pheromone glands at the base. They are usually held down and tucked flat against the head and neck; females will only raise their “antlers” to signal when they are in heat.

The midnight cat’s diet consists mainly of various species of tree frogs, particularly the Amazon milk frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix), which it climbs up trees to find, sometimes climbing as high up as the canopy. Because its preferred prey lives in trees near slow-moving permanent water sources (“Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog”, n.d), the midnight cat has developed several adaptations to suit its semi-arboreal lifestyle. Mycospondylus has ball and socket joints on both its scapula and its pelvis, with extra muscle attachments on both of these bones that allow increased rotational motion. This motion is supported by a highly muscled back and powerful hind limbs, as well as extremely elastic ligaments that can stretch to allow Mycospondylus rotate its limbs outwards to climb even the widest trees. It does this by wrapping its limbs around the trunk of the tree and using its powerful hind limbs and its very large and strong claws to “scoot” itself up the tree. Tropical trees tend to have bark that is thin and not very textured (“Amazon Forest Ecology”, n.d), so in addition to its strong claws Mycospondylus also has paw pads that are laterally ridged to provide traction to help the midnight cat climb up even the smoothest and slipperiest of trees. It also has elongated phalanges in both its fore and hind feet with no webbing between them, allowing it to splay its paws out quite far—extremely useful for climbing wider trees. As in most felines, its claws are fully retractable and so its elongated foot structure has the additional advantage of having space to accommodate the large claws when they are pulled into the paw.

Named for the “moon” on its forehead, and its blue-black coloration, Mycospondylus mesanyctus—the Mushroom-Spined Midnight cat—is commonly known as the “Midnight Cat”, the “Witch-Cat”, or the “Cat of the Witching Hour”. Mycospondylus mesanyctus is a tiny carnivorous mammal that belongs to the family Felidae. Standing at a height of between 15 and 20cm, with a length of 25-30cm (excluding its tails) and weighing about 1.5 kg, it is one of the world’s smallest wild cats. Although it has similar facial features to the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), and although for the most part is has all the “typical” feline attributes, the midnight cat is most certainly a creature that is unique in its own right. A digitigrade quadruped with longer paws than most other felines, its body is a blue-black color with a pure black face. It has four thin, almost prehensile, tails that frame its main tail, and mushroom-like growths that line the top of its body from its head to the base of its tails. Its ears and eyes are large, which give Mycospondylus excellent vision and hearing respectively, and, most curious of all, it has hairless circle in the center of its forehead: this is its “moon”, a patch of specialized, bioluminescent skin cells that the midnight cat uses to lure in its prey.

The Amazon rainforest is stratified, and made up of primarily evergreen and semi-evergreen deciduous tree species. These are massive in both height and roots, and full of adaptations that allow them to survive in the wet, low-nutrient rainforest soil. Most rainforest life is congregated in the canopy, a dense ceiling of closely spaced branches and trees 25-30 m off the ground is constantly abuzz with activity. Above the canopy are the few emergent trees that can reach up to 60 m, while below in the sub-canopy are the trees that grow towards the light openings in the canopy. Even further down, in the understory, are the small trees and shrubs that are adapted to low-light conditions, and the bottom layer is the forest floor,  full of tree trunks, fungi, and low-growing vegetation.

With 6 million square kilometers of forest that house “approximately 10% of the world’s biodiversity and 15% of its freshwater”, the Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. It is more biodiverse than any other single area on the planet, and it is here that some of Earth’s strangest creatures live. Part of the reason for the rainforest’s extensive diversity is the year-round rainfall which gives the forest its name. There is also relatively low variability in temperature throughout the year, which means the Amazon is not a traditional seasonal forest; instead, it has a wet season and a dry season. The entire Amazon Basin gets at least 2000mm of rain annually, with the majority of this rainfall occurring during the wet season. In the central Amazon, the wet season starts around December, controlled by monsoon winds and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which is a belt of trade winds that converge around the equator and shift north or south as the seasons change. In the southern Amazon though, the rainy season starts in mid-October— approximately two months before the monsoon winds and the ITCZ bring the storms—because of increased transpiration during the dry season. 

If all domestic dogs were to go extinct except for a single breed of our choosing, the breed that should be saved is the Welsh Corgi because they are adaptable, affectionate, and adorable. Corgis are often thought of as “big dogs on short legs” because although they average a height of between 25 and 30cm, they have personalities reminiscent of bigger dog breeds. Corgis are playful and energetic, yet not so energetic that they are impossible to tire out, which—along with their smaller stature—makes them a versatile breed that could be suited to almost any owner. They are very friendly and attentive dogs that love to play and enjoy being involved, which makes them great pets. They are small but not spindly—they are stocky dogs and are very athletic. Corgis also highly adaptable: they can live in a variety of housing arrangements provided that they are able to get at least a moderate amount of exercise, and are comfortable in a wide range of temperatures, so they can live in most areas of the world with no major problems. Corgis were originally bred to be herding dogs, so they are intelligent, independent, and easily trainable. They still have herding instincts and so could be put back into work herding livestock on farms, and, because of these herding origins, they are highly alert and aware of their surroundings, which makes them good watchdogs. Overall, the Welsh Corgi is a well-rounded breed that can suit a variety of different environments, which makes it an ideal candidate to be saved should the rest of the world’s dogs go extinct.