It is time to fall in love again with our planet, to rediscover its awe-inspiring and inexhaustible variety of life. The fieldwork undertaken by the author allows him to describe the discovery of new species of animals and plants in places of spectacular richness: Papua New Guinea, Borneo, the Himalayas, the Mekong River basin, the islands of Sri Lanka and Madagascar, and the mountains of Tanzania. Page after page, readers encounter an infinite collection of species – the overall number of which remains a mystery – with which we coexist and which we are in danger of driving to extinction before we even get to know anything about them. The author also provides a wide array of reasons to preserve this diversity, which is fundamental to our very survival, so that our descendants may continue to enjoy the wondrous spectacle of life.

Stefano Mazzotti, a zoologist, teaches Biology Teaching and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Ferrara, heads the city’s Natural History Museum, and has conducted zoological explorations in South America.