Today is #WhoopingCraneDay! The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is an endemic North American species that is the continent’s tallest native bird. It is also one of our flagship conservation success stories, having very nearly gone extinct in the early 20th century. Once thought to have numbered at least 10,000 birds,…
Since both Audubon Day and International Flamingo Day are celebrated annually on the 26th of April, what better work to spotlight today than John J. Audubon’s famous flamingo print from his magnum opus, The Birds of America… On the 7th of May, 1832, while sailing from Indian Key, one of…
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Today is not only a #MarsupialMonday, but it’s also the first annual International Tasmanian Devil Day! The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is an endangered marsupial species endemic to Australia. Although it once ranged across the mainland continent, since its extirpation some 3500 years ago, it is now only found on the…
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day! As seen above, there are three officially recognized manatee species, all currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Today’s Animal Art of the Day is a 19th century illustration which was first identified as one, then identified as another, and finally correctly identified as…
This gallery contains 6 photos.
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…
This gallery contains 10 photos.
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.
This gallery contains 13 photos.
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.
Fauna: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) (Reminder: not really a bear! It’s a marsupial.)Flora: Western Wooden Pear (Xylomelum occidentale) (Also not a true pear.) While Marianne North is primarily known as a pioneering botanical artist of the nineteenth century, many of her paintings include native fauna as well. Her life’s work of…
Alfred Russel Wallace was born #OTD 200 years ago (8 Jan. 1823). Here’s his original sketch & published drawing of a frog previously unknown to science & now named in his honor, Wallace’s Flying Frog:
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Happy International Red Panda Day, celebrated annually on the 3rd Saturday of September! The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens, which roughly translates to “shining cat”), is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only extant species of the Ailuridae family, nestled within the “weasel…
