Posts tagged natural history

American Flamingo - Phoenicopterus ruber

Flamingos aren’t naturally pink! They get their coloration from beta carotene found in the blue-green algae they consume. The flamingos that consume blue-green algae directly are much pinker than flamingos that primarily consume the blue-green algae secondhand (via zooplankton/brine shrimp). 

Flamingos are also unique in their method of eating - their bills are designed to scoop the bottom sediment and then filter out the mud and silt, leaving only the blue-green algae or the brine shrimp in their mouth. They shake their head back and forth under the water after scooping up the sediment. The big, fleshy tongue of the flamingo pushes water back and forth in the mouth and facilitates the filtering of all that mud. They also swallow their food while their head is upside-down! The meaty tongue used to be considered a delicacy among the Roman elite.

Images:
Nature Neighbors: Embracing Birds, Plants, and Minerals. Nathanial Moore Banta for the American Audubon Association, 1914.

Osteologia Avium; or, A sketch of the osteology of birds. T.C. Eyton, 1867.

openlibrary.org

Top left: Hippocampus sp. internal structure
Top right: Short-snouted seahorse - Hippocampus hippocampus
Center: 1. Syngnathus hippocampus [now Hippocampus hippocampus]
2. Pegasus draconis [now Eurypegasus draconis] - the Little Dragonfish (*unrelated to Syngnathidae family*)
3. Syngnathus pelagicus - the Sargassum pipefish
Bottom: Phyllopteryx taeniolatus -the Weedy Sea Dragon

Despite their remarkable appearance, seahorses are true ray-finned bony fishes (class Actinopterygii, infraclass Teleostei), along with bass, mullets, eels, salmon, and lanternfish.

Many people know of the male seahorse incubating the eggs and giving “birth” to 100-1000 offspring after they hatch, but reproduction is similar throughout the order Syngnathidae (including the seahorses, leafy and weedy sea dragons, and pipefish). There’s a persistent myth that seahorses are monogamous, but that’s not strictly true. The majority of species are serially monogamous, and remain together throughout the mating season (until the male births the babies).

Another remarkable thing about seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) is that they’re the only fish with prehensile tails - even their close relatives, the sea dragons and pipefish, don’t have this adaptation. However, since the seahorses are the only ones that swim upright, and they have the poorest locomotive skills, they need to be able to anchor themselves to the sea flora in order to not be swept away. The Guinness Book of World Records has named Hippocampus zosterae, the dwarf seahorse, the slowest fish in the world, moving less than 5 ft [150 cm] an hour.

Aside from the seahorses, the razorfish (Aeoliscus strigatus) is the only other fish to swim “upright”.

Images:
Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol 1. 1881.
Arcana; or, The Museum of Natural History. George Perry, 1811.

Top: Common Opossum - Didelphis marsupialis
Bottom: Virginia Opossum - Didelphis virginiana

Stay in the pouch, kids! We can’t stop here; this is bat country!

Even though several marsupial families lived in the Americas before the last ice age, opossums are the only ones still remaining. Thanks to their opportunistic omnivorous diet and high rate of reproduction, opossums have survived in their current form for millenia, even despite their extremely low encephalization quotient. While rote brain volume does not in and of itself determine intelligence of an animal, mammals with smaller encephalization quotients tend to be more specialized and quickly speciated when hardships are encountered (such as ice ages).
Opossums in the Americas generally have an EQ around 1/5 that of the raccoons.

Didelphidae (Western hemisphere opossums) have very short lifespans, generally living less than two years in the wild, which is very unusual for a mammal of their size (up to the size of a large housecat). However, they can generally produce two successful litters of up to 13 young each in their short lives.

Australian opossums, while distantly related to those in the Americas, have furry tails, larger brains, and are much less urbanized. They also bear fewer young, live at least twice as long, and are less than half the size of the largest North American opossums.

Dictionnaire Universel d’Histoire Naturelle. Charles d’Orbigny, 1849.

Top: Bichir and trunkfish [top], Electric Catfish [bottom]
Center: Electric “eel” - Electrophorus electricus
Bottom: Indo-Pacific Moray Eel - Muraena nudivomer (now Gymnothorax nudivomer) 

A while ago I saw this Bird and Moon illustration of animals with misleading names, but I kept seeing people asking, “Ok, if they’re not THAT, then what ARE they?” For some reason, I completely forgot that I wanted to cover those questions, but hey, better late than never!

The electric eel isn’t an eel - it’s a knifefish. Knifefish (Gymnotiformes) are actually more closely related to electric catfish (Siluriformes) than they are to true eels (order Anguilliformes), but developed their electroconductive organs through convergent evolution - the first signs of the organ evolution in both the electric eel and the electric catfish appeared after they shared a common ancestor.

In addition to electric eels and electric catfish, electric rays (order Torpediniformes) are the only other “strongly electric” fishes - that is, fish that produce electric shocks over one volt, and use their electrogenerative organs to either stun or kill prey and/or attackers. There are many fish that can produce a small current (“weakly electric”), but it is used for electrolocation and electrocommunication, instead.

Images:
Fishes of Zanzibar: Acanthopterygii. J. Van Voorst, 1866.
The Standard Natural History. John Sterling Kingsley, 1884.
Wild life of the world. Richard Lydekker, 1915.

Loligo gigas [now Dosidas gigas] - Humboldt Squid/Jumbo Squid The Humboldt squid is among the largest of the squid, despite their lifespan of just under one year. Other giant squids have a lifespan estimated to be around five years at a minimum, and don’t reach their maximum size until near the end of their life. One of the major sources of food for Humboldt squid is other Humboldt squids, which is believed to contribute significantly to their fast growth. All of the suckers of the Humboldt are ringed with sharp, flesh-tearing teeth, and when squid are feeding, they’ve been known to be very aggressive towards scuba divers. Outside of feeding time (generally dusk to dawn), the squid are generally non-aggressive creatures. Like many squid, the Humboldt has chromatophores in its skin, allowing for rapid color changes. When they feed or are in distress (such as when they’re caught by fishers), they flash bright red. This led to one of their first colloquial names - El diablo rojo - the Red Devil. Voyage dans l’Amerique Meridionale: Tome Neuvieme. Alcide d’Orbigny, 1847.

Loligo gigas [now Dosidas gigas] - Humboldt Squid/Jumbo Squid

The Humboldt squid is among the largest of the squid, despite their lifespan of just under one year. Other giant squids have a lifespan estimated to be around five years at a minimum, and don’t reach their maximum size until near the end of their life. One of the major sources of food for Humboldt squid is other Humboldt squids, which is believed to contribute significantly to their fast growth.

All of the suckers of the Humboldt are ringed with sharp, flesh-tearing teeth, and when squid are feeding, they’ve been known to be very aggressive towards scuba divers. Outside of feeding time (generally dusk to dawn), the squid are generally non-aggressive creatures.

Like many squid, the Humboldt has chromatophores in its skin, allowing for rapid color changes. When they feed or are in distress (such as when they’re caught by fishers), they flash bright red. This led to one of their first colloquial names - El diablo rojo - the Red Devil.

Voyage dans l’Amerique Meridionale: Tome Neuvieme. Alcide d’Orbigny, 1847.

“Ok, I’ll just leave the front here and hang the tentacles over here, get this squid drawn up before we bring in the next haul, and make it more accurate than last time! I want the squid exactly as it is; they don’t all look the same!” Several hours later… “DAMNIT CHARLES, I DIDN’T MEAN DRAW THE SQUID EXACTLY AS IT WAS!” Cephalopoda of the Hawaiian Islands. S. Stillman Berry, 1914.

“Ok, I’ll just leave the front here and hang the tentacles over here, get this squid drawn up before we bring in the next haul, and make it more accurate than last time! I want the squid exactly as it is; they don’t all look the same!”

Several hours later…

“DAMNIT CHARLES, I DIDN’T MEAN DRAW THE SQUID EXACTLY AS IT WAS!”

Cephalopoda of the Hawaiian Islands. S. Stillman Berry, 1914.

biomedicalephemera

mysty-lee:

biomedicalephemera:

“Domestic weasel” [Ferret] - Mustela putorius

Did you know that ferrets were domesticated over 2500 years ago? They were used in ancient Rome to hunt rabbits, moles, and other ground-dwelling animals, and the verb “ferreting” (as in ferreting out) came from their inquisitive and seeking nature.

Throughout the middle ages, they were used by the nobility and the gentry, but their use during the Renaissance decreased. Until the late-20th century, domestic ferrets were on the decline, but in the mid-1980s, their popularity as pets began to boom. Unfortunately, in some countries, such as New Zealand, feral ferret colonies have destroyed indigenous wildlife. In North America and Northern Europe, however, pet ferrets have continued to stay popular, and wild colonies have not been established thus far.

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I miss my ferrets..

Sadly in the USA the black footed ferrets ( native ) are almost extinct.( once deemed extinct..

pet ferrets are spayed and neutered before we can get them unless you have a breeders license which is WHY they don’t have colonies.


but we should be saving the Black footed ferrets

Thankfully, black-footed ferrets are recovering fairly well…they’re no Canada goose, but they’re acclimating to reintroduction amazingly, considering that they’re carnivores. Carnivores are much more difficult to reintroduce than herbivores and omnivores, but the strategy being used is proving to create fairly good hunters, and the vast majority are surviving and reproducing.

As pets, they’re fun…but they steal everything shiny. Or soft. Or whatever they like, really. When I used to play viola, they stole my (non-shiny) chin rests ALL THE TIME and kept changing their hiding spots. Le sigh.

biomedicalephemera

“Domestic weasel” [Ferret] - Mustela putorius

Did you know that ferrets were domesticated over 2500 years ago? They were used in ancient Rome to hunt rabbits, moles, and other ground-dwelling animals, and the verb “ferreting” (as in ferreting out) came from their inquisitive and seeking nature.

Throughout the middle ages, they were used by the nobility and the gentry, but their use during the Renaissance decreased. Until the late-20th century, domestic ferrets were on the decline, but in the mid-1980s, their popularity as pets began to boom. Unfortunately, in some countries, such as New Zealand, feral ferret colonies have destroyed indigenous wildlife. In North America and Northern Europe, however, pet ferrets have continued to stay popular, and wild colonies have not been established thus far.

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Brown-throated sloth - Bradypus variegatus The brown-throated sloth is one of the three-toed sloths, and lives in the neotropical regions of South America. Though the species as a whole eats a wide variety of leaves, each individual sloth tends to specialize in one to three species, and preferentially eats from those particular trees.  As sloth babies begin to eat leaf particles from their mother’s fur as early as the fourth day of life, they tend to develop the same leaf preferences as her. That said, sloths aren’t so picky that they won’t eat any other leaves. You may like pizza a whole lot, but would you really JUST eat pizza your whole life? Sloths tend to slow their eating habits significantly when they’re allowed to eat only the species they appeared to be most preferential of initially. Brehm’s Tierleben: Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs. Prof. Otto zur Strassen, 1912.

Brown-throated sloth - Bradypus variegatus

The brown-throated sloth is one of the three-toed sloths, and lives in the neotropical regions of South America. Though the species as a whole eats a wide variety of leaves, each individual sloth tends to specialize in one to three species, and preferentially eats from those particular trees. 

As sloth babies begin to eat leaf particles from their mother’s fur as early as the fourth day of life, they tend to develop the same leaf preferences as her.

That said, sloths aren’t so picky that they won’t eat any other leaves. You may like pizza a whole lot, but would you really JUST eat pizza your whole life? Sloths tend to slow their eating habits significantly when they’re allowed to eat only the species they appeared to be most preferential of initially.

Brehm’s Tierleben: Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs. Prof. Otto zur Strassen, 1912.

biomedicalephemera: Canada Goose - Branta canadensis Can you believe that this incredible nuisance of a bird was once on the verge of extinction - and not in the distant past? Hunting and slaughter by farmers in the late 1800s led to the critical endangerment of the entire Branta canadensis species, until the International Migratory Birds Treaty was passed in 1918. While the species as a whole began a slow recovery process at that point, several of the subspecies were still on a rapid decline due to habitat loss, and by 1962, both the Aleutian and Giant Canada Goose were believed to be functionally extinct. However, the discovery of a wintering flock of Giant Canada Geese in Rochester, MN, that year, and the discovery of two small Aleutian Canada Geese flocks the next year, kicked off a conservation movement to restore the habitat and flyways for the entire species. Well, the movement worked, obviously. In less than 40 years, all seven subspecies have been removed from the endangered species list, and the species as a whole is now considered a nuisance bird in many areas. As they prefer open spaces with water, they’re often present in the same area as humans: around beaches, airports, and golf courses; their toxic droppings (not to mention their big ol’ engine-clogging bodies) have caused many problems over the past decade or so. In fact, they were the cause of the birdstrike that resulted in the “Miracle on the Hudson” a few years back. So far, culling and extermination efforts have only had limited effects on the overall population. Voegel, aus Asien, Africa, America, und Neuholland in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Carl Wilhelm Hahn, 1818.

biomedicalephemera:

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

Can you believe that this incredible nuisance of a bird was once on the verge of extinction - and not in the distant past? Hunting and slaughter by farmers in the late 1800s led to the critical endangerment of the entire Branta canadensis species, until the International Migratory Birds Treaty was passed in 1918.

While the species as a whole began a slow recovery process at that point, several of the subspecies were still on a rapid decline due to habitat loss, and by 1962, both the Aleutian and Giant Canada Goose were believed to be functionally extinct. However, the discovery of a wintering flock of Giant Canada Geese in Rochester, MN, that year, and the discovery of two small Aleutian Canada Geese flocks the next year, kicked off a conservation movement to restore the habitat and flyways for the entire species.

Well, the movement worked, obviously. In less than 40 years, all seven subspecies have been removed from the endangered species list, and the species as a whole is now considered a nuisance bird in many areas.

As they prefer open spaces with water, they’re often present in the same area as humans: around beaches, airports, and golf courses; their toxic droppings (not to mention their big ol’ engine-clogging bodies) have caused many problems over the past decade or so. In fact, they were the cause of the birdstrike that resulted in the “Miracle on the Hudson” a few years back. So far, culling and extermination efforts have only had limited effects on the overall population.

Voegel, aus Asien, Africa, America, und Neuholland in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Carl Wilhelm Hahn, 1818.

openlibrary.org

The Paenungulata

Despite their vast differences in their current appearance, the Sirenia, Hyracoidea, and Proboscidea are fairly closely related, in the grand scheme of things. The Paenungulata lived on the tidal shores of the Tethys Ocean. One line began to specialize in swimming and grazing on the shallow continental shelf, one began to specialize in browsing (eating from trees), and one began to specialize in grazing (eating grass and ground shrubs). Over time, these evolved into the three orders in the clade.

American Animals. Witmer Stone and William Everett Clam, 1905.
The Animal Kingdom. Hugh Craig, 1902.

weavercat: lostbeasts: biomedicalephemera: “Comparison of ancestral and existing horse” The lower figure is a model of a full-sized Eohippus, placed beneath the skull of a modern horse, to show that the skull of the modern horse is larger than the entire body of its ancestor. Despite being one of the most commonly cited “facts” in basic paleontology (as found in many elementary school science texts), this size comparison is actually incorrect. Geologist Henry Fairfield Osborn distributed (largely correct, aside from this point) educational pamphlets citing the size of Eohippus to be comparable to a “small fox terrier” to schoolhouses, to promote the science of paleontology, around the turn of the century. His pamphlets reached so far and wide that the “fact” still persists to this day in many textbooks. Eohippus was about twice the size of a fox terrier, which is about 2.5 times the size of a modern horse skull. Origin and History of the Horse. Address before the New York Farmers Metropolitan Club, 1905. i much prefer the name Eohippus to Hyracotherium Well, I prefer Hyracotherium as it is more closely related to paleotheres than ‘Eophippus’. Also, in college text-books, the freaking fox-terrier bit is still cited. Also, those feet look.. odd. Maybe it’s just me but they don’t look quite right. I thought the fifth toes on the forelegs were up ‘higher’ on the foot. The fifth toes weren’t higher up on the foot until Mesohippus, about 15 million years later. Hyracotherium was very wolf-like in its feet, though you can see from its leg structure that it had already begun the transition into a true prey animal, built for running long distances. Re: those college texts: It’s hard to criticize them currently, as a LARGE fox terrier can reach up to 15 inches, which would have been the size of a small “Eohippus”. However, when the pamphlet was written by Osborn, the standard size of a fox terrier was 13” tall - a small fox terrier would have been less than 8” at its withers, and was much smaller than the horse he purports it to represent.

weavercat:

lostbeasts:

biomedicalephemera:

“Comparison of ancestral and existing horse”

The lower figure is a model of a full-sized Eohippus, placed beneath the skull of a modern horse, to show that the skull of the modern horse is larger than the entire body of its ancestor.

Despite being one of the most commonly cited “facts” in basic paleontology (as found in many elementary school science texts), this size comparison is actually incorrect. Geologist Henry Fairfield Osborn distributed (largely correct, aside from this point) educational pamphlets citing the size of Eohippus to be comparable to a “small fox terrier” to schoolhouses, to promote the science of paleontology, around the turn of the century.

His pamphlets reached so far and wide that the “fact” still persists to this day in many textbooks. Eohippus was about twice the size of a fox terrier, which is about 2.5 times the size of a modern horse skull.

Origin and History of the Horse. Address before the New York Farmers Metropolitan Club, 1905.

i much prefer the name Eohippus to Hyracotherium

Well, I prefer Hyracotherium as it is more closely related to paleotheres than ‘Eophippus’. Also, in college text-books, the freaking fox-terrier bit is still cited. Also, those feet look.. odd. Maybe it’s just me but they don’t look quite right. I thought the fifth toes on the forelegs were up ‘higher’ on the foot.

The fifth toes weren’t higher up on the foot until Mesohippus, about 15 million years later. Hyracotherium was very wolf-like in its feet, though you can see from its leg structure that it had already begun the transition into a true prey animal, built for running long distances.

Re: those college texts: It’s hard to criticize them currently, as a LARGE fox terrier can reach up to 15 inches, which would have been the size of a small “Eohippus”. However, when the pamphlet was written by Osborn, the standard size of a fox terrier was 13” tall - a small fox terrier would have been less than 8” at its withers, and was much smaller than the horse he purports it to represent.

biomedicalephemera

“Comparison of ancestral and existing horse” The lower figure is a model of a full-sized Eohippus, placed beneath the skull of a modern horse, to show that the skull of the modern horse is larger than the entire body of its ancestor. Despite being one of the most commonly cited “facts” in basic paleontology (as found in many elementary school science texts), this size comparison is actually incorrect. Geologist Henry Fairfield Osborn distributed (largely correct, aside from this point) educational pamphlets citing the size of Eohippus to be comparable to a “small fox terrier” to schoolhouses, to promote the science of paleontology, around the turn of the century. His pamphlets reached so far and wide that the “fact” still persists to this day in many textbooks. Eohippus was about twice the size of a fox terrier, which is about 2.5 times the size of a modern horse skull. Origin and History of the Horse. Address before the New York Farmers Metropolitan Club, 1905.

“Comparison of ancestral and existing horse”

The lower figure is a model of a full-sized Eohippus, placed beneath the skull of a modern horse, to show that the skull of the modern horse is larger than the entire body of its ancestor.

Despite being one of the most commonly cited “facts” in basic paleontology (as found in many elementary school science texts), this size comparison is actually incorrect. Geologist Henry Fairfield Osborn distributed (largely correct, aside from this point) educational pamphlets citing the size of Eohippus to be comparable to a “small fox terrier” to schoolhouses, to promote the science of paleontology, around the turn of the century.

His pamphlets reached so far and wide that the “fact” still persists to this day in many textbooks. Eohippus was about twice the size of a fox terrier, which is about 2.5 times the size of a modern horse skull.

Origin and History of the Horse. Address before the New York Farmers Metropolitan Club, 1905.

Left: Philippine tarsier - Tarsius philippensis [now Carlito syrichta]
Right: Tarsius fuscus and the Sangihe tarsier (Tarsius sangirensis)

Tarsiers are nocturnal prosimian (“before simians”) primates, and are the only completely carnivorous primate extant. They eat exclusively insects, small reptiles, and small birds, and unlike other primates, don’t eat any fruits or leaves.

Their eyes are as large as their brains, and unlike other prosimians, they do not have a tapetum lucidum (the light-reflecting membrane found in many nocturnal mammals, such as cats). The huge size of the eyeballs and the large section of the brain devoted to eyesight makes up for the lack of tapetum. They also have extraordinary hearing, and combine the two senses to great advantage against insects and animals trying to hide. in the dense rainforests of southeast Asia.

Learn More True Facts about the Tarsier.

Saugethiere vom Celebes- und Philippinen-Archipel vol I. A. B. Meyer, 1896.

Giant larva of the rhinoceros beetle of British Guiana

The most common rhinoceros beetle (subfamily Dynastinae) in British Guiana (now Guyana) is the elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas). The larval stage of these beetles can last up to 3 years, where the grubs consume the organic matter of the decaying logs that they’re hatched inside.

This species is one of three beetles that was used by the Pentagon to develop their so-called “bionic beetle”, which has been a bizarre and interesting project. Its outcomes so far have benefited science far more than the military, because, well, it turns out that remote-control beetles are pretty easy to see. Also…they’re remote-control beetles. But hey, science! We’ve learned a lot from them!

Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana, Vol 1. William Beebe, 1917.