biomedicalephemera:

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)

Aww, the sea otter…so cute, so resourceful, so smart. Such adorable bobbing buoys above the Pacific kelp forests. Such…jerks?

Yep, that’s right - just like humans observed decades ago in animals that they considered to be “highly intelligent” (such as dolphins, elephants, and apes), when you get smarter, you get more potential for dickishness. The brain power it takes to use tools and find novel ways to extract food also gives sea otters the mental capacity to understand how to manipulate the behavior of other otters.

To wit: Male sea otters are routine kidnappers. Though otters often raise pups in close proximity to one another, and males occasionally interact with pups in an amicable fashion, one of the most common behaviors of younger males is to kidnap the pup of a sleeping mom and hold it ransom.

The mother goes into a panic and will procure an almost absurd amount of food for the male, just to get her pup back. Older males will engage in kidnapping from time to time, but from what’s been observed thus far, it largely seems to be a behavior of the younger male who hasn’t perfected his hunting skills, and instead of improving his skills, sees an easy way out.

What a jerk.

Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon. Completed and posthumously published by John Woodhouse Audubon, 1858.

biomedicalephemera:

Callorhinchus milii - The Elephant Fish

This unfortunate-looking chap is an elephant fish, from the Antarctic basin. Antarctic elephant fish are smaller and more wrinkled than the variety that New Zealanders might know as elephant shark that comprises much of the “fish” side of fish & chips shops on the Islands. Their standard whitefish-like meat with palatable texture made them popular even before Europeans arrived in the South Pacific, with indigenous Maori populations. Since the fish come very close to shore during breeding season, Maori were able to catch and dry large numbers of them for the rest of the year.

The eponymous elephant-like trunk of the elephant fish is a proboscis, and the fish’s primary mode of food detection. As it weaves along the sea floor, the sensory nerves of the proboscis pick up movement from any buried crustacean life, and guide the fish to its prey. Though not prehensile by any means, most species of elephant fish are thought to use the proboscis to dig out the prey, as well as locate it.

Fishes and Fishing: Artificial Breeding of Fish, Anatomy of their Senses, Their Loves, Passions, and Intellects. W. Wright, Esq., 1858.

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)

Aww, the sea otter…so cute, so resourceful, so smart. Such adorable bobbing buoys above the Pacific kelp forests. Such…jerks?

Yep, that’s right - just like humans observed decades ago in animals that they considered to be “highly intelligent” (such as dolphins, elephants, and apes), when you get smarter, you get more potential for dickishness. The brain power it takes to use tools and find novel ways to extract food also gives sea otters the mental capacity to understand how to manipulate the behavior of other otters.

To wit: Male sea otters are routine kidnappers. Though otters often raise pups in close proximity to one another, and males occasionally interact with pups in an amicable fashion, one of the most common behaviors of younger males is to kidnap the pup of a sleeping mom and hold it ransom.

The mother goes into a panic and will procure an almost absurd amount of food for the male, just to get her pup back. Older males will engage in kidnapping from time to time, but from what’s been observed thus far, it largely seems to be a behavior of the younger male who hasn’t perfected his hunting skills, and instead of improving his skills, sees an easy way out.

What a jerk.

Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon. Completed and posthumously published by John Woodhouse Audubon, 1858.

Fascia of the Palm

Below the dermis of the palm, there is a significant and tougher-than-average layer of fascia (connective tissue) that serves primarily as a protector to the underlying muscles. Despite the keratinized layer of epidermis on the palms, additional reinforcement is needed for general protection of the muscles in the area. On the back of the hands, the fascia is still significant, but not as tough as the palm.

Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical. Henry Gray, 1858.

Callorhinchus milii - The Elephant Fish

This unfortunate-looking chap is an elephant fish, from the Antarctic basin. Antarctic elephant fish are smaller and more wrinkled than the variety that New Zealanders might know as elephant shark that comprises much of the “fish” side of fish & chips shops on the Islands. Their standard whitefish-like meat with palatable texture made them popular even before Europeans arrived in the South Pacific, with indigenous Maori populations. Since the fish come very close to shore during breeding season, Maori were able to catch and dry large numbers of them for the rest of the year.

The eponymous elephant-like trunk of the elephant fish is a proboscis, and the fish’s primary mode of food detection. As it weaves along the sea floor, the sensory nerves of the proboscis pick up movement from any buried crustacean life, and guide the fish to its prey. Though not prehensile by any means, most species of elephant fish are thought to use the proboscis to dig out the prey, as well as locate it.

Fishes and Fishing: Artificial Breeding of Fish, Anatomy of their Senses, Their Loves, Passions, and Intellects. W. Wright, Esq., 1858.

Galliphasis albocristatus (now Lophura leucomelanos hamiltoni) and Galliphasis horsfieldii (now Lophura leucomelanos lathami) 

The White-Crested Kalij Pheasant and Black-Breasted Kalij Pheasant.

Pheasants and other fowl (such as domestic chickens, ducks, and geese) are some of the most well-known precocial birds. Born with open eyes and fluffy down, with “adult” (juvenile) feathers growing in shortly after birth, precocial birds generally require less care from their parents than altricial chicks. The range of precocial nature is broad, though, and precocial birds still need protection and care from their parents.

Most birds that have only one parent caring for them after hatching are precocial, and most tree-nesting birds with two parents are altricial, but there are no set lines how birds raise their young.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1858.

Chalcopsitta rubifrons (now Chalcopsitta sintillata rubifrons) - Yellowish-Streaked Lory

This subspecies of the yellowish-streaked lory is native to Indonesia and southern Papua New Guinea, mostly around the Aru Islands. They’re sometimes called “Glossy Lories” in the pet trade, though that generally refers to Chalopsitta sintillata sintaillata. As Chalopsitta sintillata rubifrons is considered Threatened or Endangered (depending upon the watch agency, since they’re not well-tracked), you may want to ensure that any future pet is a “true” Glossy Lory, and not a Yellowish-Streaked Lory.

Not that I’m crazy about them as pets to begin with…these dudes require a LOT of specialized care. They only like (and can only process - not just finickiness like some birds) nectar and fruit, and have poo that gets everywhere when you don’t train them.

But hey, they’re pretty!

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. George Robert Gray, 1858.

“Engorgement hypertrophique et induration des follicules ciliaires”

The ulceration caused by the hypertrophied swelling was cured by powder application, and the edema was drained. No radical surgery required. Several weeks recovery time.

Iconographie Ophthalmologique. J. Sichel, 1858.

Exophthalamos of the left eye due to voluminous orbital cancer

Partial atrophy of the ocular muscles, partial sight still present in left eye. Right eye still functional. Cancer originated from superior levator muscle and grew back into other muscular tissues of the orbit. 

This kind of cancer is much more common in adults than in children, who tend to get retinoblastomas (in the ocular nerve) more than anything.

Iconographie Ophthalmologique. J. Sichel, 1858.

Skeletons of 1. tortoise, 2. bird, 3. fish, 4. frog, 5. boa-constrictor, and 6. chameleon

Zoological Science or Nature in Living Forms. A. M. Redfield, 1858.

Beaks, heads, and tails of birds.

Note the large differences between beaks, based on the food type of the bird.

I’ve always found the parrot beak very interesting - though they subsist almost exclusively on nutmeats, they have a beak structure very similar to that of the raptors and other birds of prey. Their tongue, however, is much more tactile and dextrous. Many nuts and seeds are encased in shells or pulps that are poisonous to the birds, so they have to be able to expertly remove every part of the poison before eating.

Zoological Science or Nature in Living Forms. A. M. Redfield, 1858.

biomedicalephemera:

Octopi:

1. Octopus Levis

2. Octopus Bermudensis

The Voyage of the HMS Challenger: Report on Cephalopoda Specimens

Calabar Python

This snake resembles a very long slow-worm (which is really a lizard). Also known as a “burrowing boa”. 

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, vol. XXVI. 1858.