Happy #NationalAardvarkWeek! Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are widely distributed across Sub-Sahara Africa, and as such can be found in African visual culture from ancient rock art to contemporary works. The Bambara (also called Bamana) peoples of West Africa, especially in Mali, have a rich tradition of aardvark representation, which manifests in…
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Happy #NationalAardvarkWeek! Besides being one of my favorite mammals, the Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is also the most evolutionarily distinct one, which makes it very special indeed: The aardvark…has the highest score for being the most evolutionarily distinctive (ED) using the EDGE scientific method. Species such as the aardvark are much…
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Happy International Polar Bear Day! This conservation holiday was founded by Polar Bears International and celebrated annually on the 27th of February, “to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens. As part of our celebration, we focus on the need to…
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For #LoveHornbillsDay, here are examples of kenyalang figures from the Iban people of Borneo. These carved and painted wooden figures are stylized representations of the kenyalang bird, aka the Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros). It is the official state bird of Sarawak and national bird of Malaysia. GALLERY The largest sculptures…
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Plates XIII. IX, and X from Our reptiles and batrachians; a plain and easy account of the lizards, snakes, newts, toads, frogs and tortoises indigenous to Great Britainby M. C. Cooke (1825-1914)London, W. H. Allen & co., limited, 1893via Biodiversity Heritage Library
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Happy Word Numbat Day! The first published image of a numbat accompanied its 1836 scientific description; see it and other 19th century plates in this gallery.
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November 3rd is World Jellyfish Day! To celebrate, here is a dozen of Ernst Haeckel’s “medusae” plates from Kunstformen der Natur (1899-1904) as well as the cover art that features a bonus one.
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English sisters Mary & Elizabeth Kirby were prolific producers of books dedicated to popularizing science & nature study in the Victorian era. Their 1874 book Humming-birds included 6 color plates…
June 21st is World Giraffe Day! These two life-size giraffe petroglyphs are the largest known animal carvings in the world.
