Science Art: Ophidia I. Tropidonotus natrix Tab 18, by Paul Pfurtscheller
Click to embiggen From a series of zoological wall hangings (you remember these from classrooms, don’t you?) found on Scientific Illustrations. Viennese teacher Dr. Paul […]
zoology
Antelope genus about to disappear.
National Geographic reports that an entire genus of African antelopes – represented by the hirola, last species in genus Beatragus – is about to follow […]
Science Art: Wattles of Cock Tragopans, by William Beebe, from A Monograph on Pheasants, 1918-1922.
The artist and writer William Beebe is better known for his deep sea explorations than his wattle portraiture. He studied at Columbia, but spent too […]
Parrot names.
Wired brings us another step closer to talking with the animals, thanks to research showing that mama parrots give their babies names: Before a green-rumped […]
Science Art: Walross (Brochus)… (detail), by St. Schillinger, 1833-1841
A walrus! A walrus! Seen inside and out in Allgemeine Naturgeschichte für alle Stände, written by Lorenz Oken. I can’t find anything out about the […]
Shamrocks, Saint Patrick, and… Polar Bears?
What could be more Irish than a polar bear? Nothing, say Penn State gene researchers. Because all polar bears are Irish immigrants: Polar and brown […]
Reindeer can see invisible things. Of course.
BBC brings back our belief in Santa Claus with an update from the Arctic Circle… that reindeer can see ultraviolet light: “If you’re a bumblebee, […]
Science Art: Viperine Boa, James Francis Stephens, 1802.
Boa viperina, as seen in George Shaw’s General zoology, or systematic natural history. You can browse through the book at archive.org… if you’ve got a […]
SONG: Answering the Call
SONG: “Answering the Call.” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on Koalas bellow to attract a mate, BBC News, 18 […]
Full-throated koala love bellow.
BBC broadcasts the remarkable, newly discovered courtship holler of the koala: Dr [William] Ellis and his colleagues [from the University of Queensland], who report their […]
Science Art: Japanese Red-Bellied Newt (Cynopus pyrrhogaster), from NASA’s IML-2
This Japanese Red-Bellied Newt was part of the payload aboard the Space Shuttle’s STS-65 mission, which carried a few odd creatures into orbit for the […]
Quantum eyes.
Migrating robins have something better than magnets in their heads, Wired reports. They’ve got quantum sensors in their eyes: European robins may maintain quantum entanglement […]
Science Art: Alligator and Snake by Maria Sibylla Merian
An illustration by Maria Sibylla Graff Merian, daughter of an engraver, step-daughter of a painter and careful observer of the natural world. She carefully documented […]
New venomous critter in Yosemite
Just when you thought there were enough reasons to be nervous about camping, Mother Nature Network brings you, oh, a half-scorpion, half-spider that lives in […]
Science Art: Resplendent Trogon, J.G. Wood’s Illustrated Natural History 1898
Click to embiggen This is the resplendent trogon, a Mexican bird known formally, nowadays, as Pharomachrus mocinno, and once upon a time as Trogon resplendens. […]