Posts tagged Audubon

The Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana The pronghorn is still colloquially known as the “prong-horned antelope”, even though it’s not actually related to the true Old World antelopes, which are native to Asia and Africa. It fills a similar ecological niche, and appears very similar, due to convergent evolution. When humans first arrived in North America, there were five species of Antilocarpa extant, but the other four have since gone extinct. The other North American Artiodactyla were much larger than the pronghorns are. In fact, the fawns of these ruminants are so small at birth (only a few lbs) that they’re not uncommonly snatched by golden eagles, in smaller harems that cannot effectively defend their offspring while eating. Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1854.

The Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana

The pronghorn is still colloquially known as the “prong-horned antelope”, even though it’s not actually related to the true Old World antelopes, which are native to Asia and Africa. It fills a similar ecological niche, and appears very similar, due to convergent evolution.

When humans first arrived in North America, there were five species of Antilocarpa extant, but the other four have since gone extinct. The other North American Artiodactyla were much larger than the pronghorns are. In fact, the fawns of these ruminants are so small at birth (only a few lbs) that they’re not uncommonly snatched by golden eagles, in smaller harems that cannot effectively defend their offspring while eating.

Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1854.

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:

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.

Bridled (Long-Tailed) Weasel (Mustela frenata) More medieval medicine: For deafness or headache: Take one weasel heart, coat in wax, and place in ear canal. Leave in place for at least one day. (The Subtleties of Diverse Creatures. Hildegard of Bingen, ca. 1160.) Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 87. Edited by J. McKeen Cattell, 1915. Image: Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1848.

Bridled (Long-Tailed) Weasel (Mustela frenata)

More medieval medicine:

  • For deafness or headache: Take one weasel heart, coat in wax, and place in ear canal. Leave in place for at least one day. (The Subtleties of Diverse Creatures. Hildegard of Bingen, ca. 1160.)

Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 87. Edited by J. McKeen Cattell, 1915.

Image: Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1848.

books.google.com

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.

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.

Lynx canadensis - Canada Lynx Check out those paws! They’re big and fur-covered, providing a snowshoe-like surface for the lynx to to traipse across the winter snow of Canada. These felids are closely-related to Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) and bobcat (Lynx rufus). The Newfoundland Lynx (Lynx canadensis subsolanus) subspecies is larger than the mainland species, and has been known to take down caribou calves when snowshoe hares are not around. They’re some of the largest cats that aren’t considered “big cats”. Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1849.

Lynx canadensis - Canada Lynx

Check out those paws! They’re big and fur-covered, providing a snowshoe-like surface for the lynx to to traipse across the winter snow of Canada. These felids are closely-related to Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) and bobcat (Lynx rufus).

The Newfoundland Lynx (Lynx canadensis subsolanus) subspecies is larger than the mainland species, and has been known to take down caribou calves when snowshoe hares are not around. They’re some of the largest cats that aren’t considered “big cats”.

Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1849.

John James Audubon, 1785-1851. This was the last portrait of Audubon created, in 1850. Dude’s got a wicked case of the olds going on, mostly because he was said to have a serious distaste for false teeth, and given what they had back then, can you blame him? They weren’t wooden (that would be ridiculous - even Washington never had wooden teeth), but people who could afford them had metal or ivory teeth, with extremely uncomfortable fittings, for the most part. The Auk. Vol IX, 1894.

John James Audubon, 1785-1851.

This was the last portrait of Audubon created, in 1850. Dude’s got a wicked case of the olds going on, mostly because he was said to have a serious distaste for false teeth, and given what they had back then, can you blame him? They weren’t wooden (that would be ridiculous - even Washington never had wooden teeth), but people who could afford them had metal or ivory teeth, with extremely uncomfortable fittings, for the most part.

The Auk. Vol IX, 1894.

American Cross Fox The real one. The Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1851.

American Cross Fox

The real one.

The Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1851.

Do you know of any books I can purchase that have lots of vintage scientific plates of animals? — Asked by Anonymous

Unfortunately, the digital age hasn’t led to many reprints of exact copies of vintage illustration plates (though many of the classic illustrations of Audubon and the like are used as solitary figures), but there are some available on Amazon, if you want a collection of the plates. Your best bet is to search by author (e.g. Audubon, Haeckel, etc). There are also a few that deal with specific time periods of scientific illustration, such as Nature Illuminated.

Personally, the best one I know of is Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery, by David Attinborough et al, though it contains a good deal more writing about the art of scientific illustration than it does artwork itself (though it does contain a fair amount of that, too).

American Cross Fox This is actually a partially-melanistic form of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) - like the fully-melanistic silver fox, the only difference between the Cross Fox and the red fox is the coloration of the coat. There seem to be differences in body size and coat texture between the three, but it’s been shown that those differences are due to environment and diet. The Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1851. ETA: This is actually  a gray fox. Whoops.

American Cross Fox

This is actually a partially-melanistic form of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) - like the fully-melanistic silver fox, the only difference between the Cross Fox and the red fox is the coloration of the coat. There seem to be differences in body size and coat texture between the three, but it’s been shown that those differences are due to environment and diet.

The Quadrupeds of North America. John James Audubon, 1851.

ETA: This is actually  a gray fox. Whoops.

Egretta thula - Snowy Egret These little white herons were nearly wiped out, because of the high demand for their snow-white, shaggy, flashy, breeding plumage - the fashionable High Victorian lady always had a base of fluffy heron feathers in her hat, highlighting the colorful centerpiece-feathers. Portraits and Habits of our Birds: National Association of Audubon Societies. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 1921.

Egretta thula - Snowy Egret

These little white herons were nearly wiped out, because of the high demand for their snow-white, shaggy, flashy, breeding plumage - the fashionable High Victorian lady always had a base of fluffy heron feathers in her hat, highlighting the colorful centerpiece-feathers.

Portraits and Habits of our Birds: National Association of Audubon Societies. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 1921.

Corvus corax principalis - Northern Raven (Common Raven) Ravens are incredibly smart. Young ravens are actually playful, much like mammalian youth are - this builds up their brains and coordination that they use so much as an adult. Even the adults play around sometimes, taunting wolves and dogs, playing catch-me-if-you-can. It’s very rare that a canine can catch a raven when the bird initiates a game; they don’t have any element of surprise, nor are they adept at catching flighted animals to begin with. Juvenile ravens have been observed multiple times sliding down snowbanks like fox pups or bear cubs, and ravens of all ages break off twigs and sticks and play social games with them. It’s fascinating to watch, especially if you have a full “conspiracy” or “unkindness” [archaic collective nouns, now known as a simple flock] living nearby. Portraits and Habits of our Birds: National Association of Audubon Societies. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 1921.

Corvus corax principalis - Northern Raven (Common Raven)

Ravens are incredibly smart. Young ravens are actually playful, much like mammalian youth are - this builds up their brains and coordination that they use so much as an adult. Even the adults play around sometimes, taunting wolves and dogs, playing catch-me-if-you-can. It’s very rare that a canine can catch a raven when the bird initiates a game; they don’t have any element of surprise, nor are they adept at catching flighted animals to begin with.

Juvenile ravens have been observed multiple times sliding down snowbanks like fox pups or bear cubs, and ravens of all ages break off twigs and sticks and play social games with them. It’s fascinating to watch, especially if you have a full “conspiracy” or “unkindness” [archaic collective nouns, now known as a simple flock] living nearby.

Portraits and Habits of our Birds: National Association of Audubon Societies. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 1921.

Cervus alces, the “moose deer”. Cervus alces is the binomial name for the elk these days, and while the moose is also known as the “Eurasian elk”, the accepted binomial is now Alces alces, with several sub-species. Illustration by Audubon, 1845.

Cervus alces, the “moose deer”. Cervus alces is the binomial name for the elk these days, and while the moose is also known as the “Eurasian elk”, the accepted binomial is now Alces alces, with several sub-species.

Illustration by Audubon, 1845.

Vulpus vulpus, the Red Fox. Well, this is the “silver fox”, a melanistic variation of the red fox. The gene mutation responsible for melanism in foxes also purportedly creates fluffier, finer, and denser fur than their average red counterparts. However, since the primary reports of fur quality were coming from Eastern Siberia (which had a large silver fox population), it may have been more of a climate-based microevolutionary change that caused the higher-quality fur. Reports I’ve read from early fur-trading posts in the Northeast (where 8-10% of the population of foxes was silver) don’t note any particular difference in the quality of the fur, though of course its rare colour did command a much higher price than other pelts. Audubon, 1845

Vulpus vulpus, the Red Fox. Well, this is the “silver fox”, a melanistic variation of the red fox.

The gene mutation responsible for melanism in foxes also purportedly creates fluffier, finer, and denser fur than their average red counterparts. However, since the primary reports of fur quality were coming from Eastern Siberia (which had a large silver fox population), it may have been more of a climate-based microevolutionary change that caused the higher-quality fur. Reports I’ve read from early fur-trading posts in the Northeast (where 8-10% of the population of foxes was silver) don’t note any particular difference in the quality of the fur, though of course its rare colour did command a much higher price than other pelts.

Audubon, 1845

Vulpes vulpes, noted here as Vulpes fulvus. Red Fox. Audubon, 1845

Vulpes vulpes, noted here as Vulpes fulvus. Red Fox.

Audubon, 1845

I think something’s wrong with that flipped-over mole >_> Scalops Townsendii, Townsend’s Shrew Mole John James Audobon, 1845.

I think something’s wrong with that flipped-over mole >_>

Scalops Townsendii, Townsend’s Shrew Mole

John James Audobon, 1845.