The Disillusioned Taxonomist

Celebrity Plant Quiz - Answers

2012-01-14T17:29:00.002Z

Sorry it’s taken a while, but here are the answers to the Celebrity Plant Quiz from two months ago:

1 K – Olive (Oyl) – photo of Olea europaea
2 E – Hazel (Blears) – photo of Corylus avellana
3 L – (Rose of) Sharon (Stone) – photo of Hypericum calycinum
4 S – (River) Phoenix (the genus of date palms) – photo of Phoenix dactylifera
5 H – Rosemary (Clooney) – photo of Rosmarinus officinalis
6 C – (Sweet) (Prince) William – photo of Dianthus barbatus
7 W – (Condoleezza) Rice – photo of Oryza sativa
8 B – (Black-eyed) Susan (Sarandon) – photo of Rudbeckia hirta
9 V – (Aloe) Vera (Lynn) – photo of Aloe vera
10 I – (Leslie) Ash – photo of Fraxinus excelsior
11 M – (Weeping) Willow (Rosenberg) – photo of Salix babylonica
12 U – Joshua (Tree) (Jackson) – photo of Yucca brevifolia
13 A – (Buddy) Holly – photo of Ilex aquifolius
14 X – Ginger (Rogers) – photo of Zingiber officinalis
15 O – Apple (Martin) – photo of Malus domesticus
16 D – Heather (Mills) – photo of Calluna vulgaris
17 F – Basil (Fawlty) – photo of Ocimum basilicum
18 Q – (Dog) Rose (Nylun) – photo of Rosa canina
19 G – Lavender (Brown) – photo of Lavandula angustifolia
20 P – (Neneh) Cherry – photo of Prunus subhirtella
21 J – (Princess) Jasmine – photo of Jasminum officinale
22 T – (African) Lily (Allen) – photo of Agapanthus africanus
23 N – (Common Dog) Violet (Beauregarde) – photo of Viola riviniana
24 R – Rowan (Atkinson) – photo of Sorbus aucuparia

Well done to Ed Gill for getting them all right.

Celebrity Plant Quiz

2011-11-03T09:00:00.001Z

This is a (hopefully) fun little quiz that links plants with celebrities. Each of the twenty-four descriptions below match up with one of the plants pictured above (click to enlarge). Each person is named after a plant. For example, if one of the clues read: “I am the lead character in an American teen drama starring Kristen Bell”, the answer would be Veronica Mars. The picture of a speedwell (genus Veronica) would then be matched up with the clue, i.e. 1-A. The names are either first or surnames (not both), and the plants are either common or generic names, with one example of a specific name (one that is well known). In some cases, the plant’s full name is not the answer, only a part of it, e.g., there might be a Stanley Flower or a Tree of Barbara. You can comment here to answer, or on whichever social network site you see this on, or just wait for the answers which I will reveal at some point. Have fun!

1. I am a comic strip character best known for being the girlfriend of a spinach-loving strongman.
2. I am a female British politician for the Labour party who served as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2007 to 2009.
3. I am an American actress best known for my role in Basic Instinct.
4. I was an American actor who died at the age of 23, known for my role in the movie Stand By Me.
5. I was an American singer and actress best known for the song Mambo Italiano and my famous acting nephew.
6. I am a member of the British Royal Family and married Catherine Middleton in 2011.
7. I am an American politician who was the 66th US Secretary of State.
8. I am an American actress known for my Oscar winning performance in Dead Man Walking, and for my marriage to Tim Robbins.
9. I am a British singer in her nineties known for Second World War era songs such as The White Cliffs of Dover.
10. I am a British actress best known for my role as Deborah in Men Behaving Badly.
11. I am a character in a television series about a teenage vampire-killer and her cohort.
12. I am an American actor known best as Pacey in Dawson’s Creek.
13. I was an American singer-songwriter who died at the age of 22.
14. I was an American actress, singer, and dancer known for my partnership with Fred Estaire.
15. I am the daughter of a British singer-songwriter and an American actress, and I have received ridicule for my unconventional name.
16. I am a former model mostly known for my marriage to Paul McCartney.
17. I am the owner of a fictional hotel which I run with my wife, Sybil.
18. I am one of four fictional mature ladies who share a house in Florida.
19. I am a character in a series of children’s books and movies who had a brief romance with a Weasley.
20. I am a Swedish singer with West African roots known for the song Buffalo Stance.
21. I am a fictional princess who went on a flying carpet ride with a street boy.
22. I am a British fashion designer but am more widely known for the songs The Fear and Smile.
23. I am a character in a children’s book and film adaptations about a group of children and adults who tour a confection manufacturing facility.
24. I am a British comedian and actor known for my portrayal of Edmund Blackadder.

Crocodiles of the World

2011-10-20T19:00:00.001+01:00

As a birthday treat to myself this year, on the nineteenth of September I made a trip to Crocodiles of the World in Crawley, a town just outside of Oxford in the Cotswold Hills. When I first heard about this place, about a month before, I was so excited to visit that I booked a place on a private tour for that day, knowing that I’d be passing through the area en route back to London from Gloucestershire. It’s a small facility that houses twelve species of crocodilian and a small number of other reptiles, but some of the species are found in few other captive collections. A breeding pair is sought for each species, and some are already breeding in the very short history of the centre, which only opened to the public in February this year. The centre exists due to the work of Shaun Foggett, known to viewers of a UK Channel 5 documentary as ‘Croc Man’, and he deserves high praise for the work he is doing to help conserve and educate the public about crocodilians.

All photos below were taken by Mo Hassan at Crocodiles of the World, Oxfordshire, September 2011.

Siamese crocodile
Crocodylus siamensis Schneider, 1801
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The Siamese crocodile is one of the rarest crocodiles in the world, restricted to the Indochinese Peninsula, Borneo, and possibly Java. It is a relatively small crocodile that coexists with its much larger relative, the saltwater crocodile (C. porosus) across its range, and indeed they occasionally hybridise both in the wild and in captivity. This dilution of the gene pool is a severe threat to the Siamese crocodile, as well as hunting for its skin, as in all crocodilians.

Dwarf crocodile (one-year-old juvenile above, two-day-old hatchling below)
Osteolaemus tetraspis Cope, 1861
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

As its name suggests, the dwarf crocodile is the smallest crocodile, and is native to west and central Africa. It too coexists with a larger, more well known species, the Nile crocodile, as well as the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus), all of which occupy different niches so they do not suffer from interspecific competition. Dwarf crocodiles eat fish and crustaceans, not taking larger prey. As you can see, they are breeding well at the centre.

American alligator
Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

American alligators need no introduction, so no introduction shall I give. Notice the maloccluded jaw on this specimen.

Cuban crocodile
Crocodylus rhombifer Cuvier, 1807
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The Cuban crocodile is a lightly built, critically endangered species of crocodile restricted in distribution to parts of Cuba and nearby small islands. It was previously more widely distributed on the island, and fossil remains have been found on other Caribbean islands. It is easily distinguished from other crocs by its ‘pebbled’ appearance and relatively long legs, which suggest it is more terrestrial, and it is. It shares its range with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), but doesn’t clash due to differences in habitat and ecology.

Black caiman
Melanosuchus niger Spix, 1825
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The largest of the six species of caiman, the black caiman hails from the river Amazon and its tributaries. It can be told apart from the other, smaller caimans by the presence of black blotches on its lower jaw and its darker coloration. When adult, the black caiman is an apex predator, eating the other large animals found in its ecosystem, including capybara, anaconda, and tapir, and are immune from attack from jaguars due to their size.

Juvenile Nile crocodiles
Crocodylus niloticus (Laurenti, 1768)
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

This is the beast that dominates much of Africa and Madagascar, unless the studies that have shown there to be two species of African Crocodylus prove to be correct. The subspecies C. n. suchus from western and central Africa, and historically from the lower reaches of the Nile, has been identified in various studies as perhaps forming a species in its own right. Part of the basis for this finding has been the study of DNA from mummified crocodiles from Egypt and the Sudan. I’ll personally wait until there have been more studies, especially morphological ones.

Schneider’s dwarf caiman
Paleosuchus trigonatus (Schneider, 1801)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

Also known as the smooth-fronted caiman, this is a small little-known species from northern parts of South America in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

Cuvier’s dwarf caiman
Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

Another tiny crocodilian, in fact, the tiniest, at no more than one and a half metres in length. It is found in lowland tropical parts of South America, mostly in fast-flowing streams. At the time I visited Crocodiles of the World, the female Cuvier’s dwarf caiman had just laid a nest of eggs.

Broad-snouted caiman
Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The broad-snouted caiman is in the same genus as the spectacled caiman (C. crocodilus) and the yacare caiman (C. yacare), and is found in southern Brazil and neighbouring countries in marshes, swamps, mangroves, and other slow-moving water bodies. It is intermediate in size between the larger black and spectacled caimans and the smaller dwarf caimans.

The other species held at Crocodiles of the World are the Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) from southern Mexico and Central America, the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), and the spectacled caiman. There are also a few kinds of freshwater turtle, a Meller’s chameleon (Trioceros melleri, and two of the longest monitor lizards.

Crocodile monitor
Varanus salvadorii Peters & Doria, 1878
Varanidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata

The crocodile monitor from New Guinea reaches lengths of almost two and a half metres, truly earning its name. It’s an arboreal species and uses its prehensile tail to help with gripping to tree branches. It is the apex predator of New Guinea (despite there being an endemic crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae, and even saltwater crocodiles on the coasts), bringing down large mammals, like its heavier relative, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) does.

Water monitor
Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768)
Varanidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata

The water monitor was previously believed to live in much of southeast Asia, but several former subspecies have been separated, including three Philippine species, from the water monitor proper. It’s another very large monitor, among the world’s longest, and like the crocodile monitor, can take large prey.

Slimbridge Wetland Centre

2011-10-19T09:00:00.001+01:00

A slight change of pace for this post: more of an annotated photo album, with an anecdote about being bitten by birds. I came home from Dorset and Devon via Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; a convoluted route, yes, but worth it for the places I visited whilst there. Whilst in Gloucestershire (staying in Newent in the Forest of Dean), I visited Slimbridge Wetland Centre. Slimbridge is the birthplace of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT), the organisation I work for. I’ve mentioned the site and some of its inhabitants in previous posts, but briefly, the reserve at Slimbridge, located by the River Severn, was created in 1946, along with the WWT itself, by Sir Peter Scott. Scott, the son of Antarctic explorer Robert Scott, devoted much of his life to the conservation of wildfowl and wetlands, for which he was knighted in 1973. Slimbridge has become a world-renowned centre for the breeding of rare and endangered birds, some of which, like the Hawaiian goose or nene (Branta sandvicensis), Laysan teal (Anas laysanensis), and spoon-billed sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus)* were saved from extinction due to the efforts of the WWT.

* This species, a small wader breeding in northeastern Russia, is being raised in captivity at Slimbridge and Moscow Zoo, and is critically endangered in the wild.

Here follows a few photos I took during my last visit to Slimbridge. All photos by Mo Hassan, taken at Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire, September 2011. Those that are wild are indicated as such, otherwise the animals are part of the captive collection.

Albino xenopus toad, or African clawed frog
Xenopus laevis Daudin, 1802
Pipidae; Anura; Amphibia; Chordata

Pied avocet
Recurvirostra avosetta Linnaeus, 1758
Recurvirostridae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata

Garden spider (wild)
Araneus diadematus Clerck, 1758
Araneidae; Araneae; Arachnida; Arthropoda

Puna, or James’, flamingo
Phoenicoparrus jamesi Sclater, 1886
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata

Eurasian harvest mice
Micromys minutus (Pallas, 1771)
Muridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata

Female (above) and male lesser Magellan geese
Chloephaga picta picta (Gmelin, 1789)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Swan goose (foreground) with lesser white-fronted goose
Anser cygnoides (Linnaeus, 1758); A. erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Lesser snow goose
Chen caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Crested duck
Lophonetta specularioides (King, 1828)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

West Indian whistling-duck
Dendrocygna arborea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Dendrocygnidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Magpie goose
Anseranas semipalmata (Latham, 1798)
Anseranatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Black swan (cygnet)
Cygnus atratus (Latham, 1790)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Male Baer’s pochard
Aythya baeri (Radde, 1863)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata

Common crane
Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Gruidae; Gruiformes; Aves; Chordata

European eel (elver)
Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anguillidae; Anguilliformes; Actinopterygii; Chordata

Common mudpuppy
Necturus maculosus (Rafinesque, 1818)
Proteidae; Caudata; Amphibia; Chordata

This odd-looking creature is similar in appearance to the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a popular pet and one of my favourite creatures ever, but is not closely related. It is, however, in the same family as the olm (Proteus anguinus), a non-pigmented blind cave salamander from eastern Italy and former Yugoslavia, and is called a mudpuppy probably cause of those immense fluffy gills that look like dog ears.

Black-tailed godwit (wild)
Limosa limosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Scolopacidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata

To wrap this post up, hear me out whilst I tell you about ducks that bite. One way in which Slimbridge trumps London (over all, I prefer London) is that you can feed most of the birds in the World Wetlands area. Being eager to get closer views of many species, and also, I won’t lie, to be bitten by as many species as possible so I can run a phylogenetic analysis based on how it feels to be bitten by them (if I get bitten by a bittern I can die happy), I invested in some bird seeds and set about walking around the reserve. In total, I fed twelve different species*, and attempted several others. I can say that the throats of the smaller geese are so soft and are the gentlest feeders, feeling like a gently vibrating game controller. That’s in contrast to the Toulouse goose, a big beefy variety of the domesticated greylag, that practically hoovered up the grains I offered it, as well as most of the epithelial cells of my palm. It has a big powerful beak, but didn’t actually bite me (I’m using the term ‘bite’ although none of these birds have teeth). The most bitey bird was the swan goose, interestingly also domesticated as the Chinese goose, which actively nipped my palm and fingers as it picked up seeds. I guess it’s difficult to manipulate fine objects when you have a bill the size and shape of a children’s shoe. I expected the magpie goose to have a vicious bite, as the residents formerly at the London Wetland Centre used to bite my shoes and camera whenever I got anywhere near them, but it was surprisingly gentle in feeding.

* Those were: magpie goose, Bewick’s swan, swan goose, greylag (domestic) goose, lesser white-fronted goose, emperor goose, Ross’ goose, snow goose, barnacle goose, Hawaiian goose, red-breasted goose, and mallard.

Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park

2011-10-18T09:00:00.002+01:00

After the SVPCA conference in Lyme Regis ended, I decided to visit a tiny but amazingly well-stocked little zoo about ten minutes away from the town by car. Despite this, the zoo is in Devon, while Lyme is in Dorset. Obviously, although it had escaped my attention, Lyme is very close to the border between the two counties.

Anyway, I arrived too early to get entry to Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, near the town of Axminster in, as we have already established, Devon (albeit almost in Dorset). When it opened, I would have been surprised to see a nice variety of creatures, if I hadn’t already looked up the zoo on its own website and on zootierlist.de, the best guide to European zoos and wildlife parks on the web. I came particularly to see two rarely seen carnivores and a nice mix of unusual rodents; more on those in a bit.

There are several aviaries, each with a nice mix of species, both common-place (e.g. mallards [Anas platyrhynchos] and various breeds of chicken), and less usual (including demoiselle crane [Anthropoides virgo] and Magellan goose [Chloephaga picta]). The first ‘aviary’ (one inhabitant obviously doesn’t fly, I’ll leave that to the reader to figure out) to be seen includes: white stork (Ciconia ciconia), Puna ibis (Plegadis ridgwayi), Javan green peafowl (Pavo muticus muticus), white-cheeked turaco (Tauraco leucotis), marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), white-cheeked pintail (Anas bahamensis), and parma wallaby (Macropus parma). Another contained oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), grey-headed swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio poliocephalus), little egret (Egretta garzetta), and some sort of quail I was unable to identify (see below if you can help!).

Demoiselle crane
Anthropoides virgo (Linnaeus, 1758)
Gruidae; Gruiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

White-cheeked turaco
Tauraco leucotis (Rüppell, 1835)
Musophagidae; Musophagiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Normal (above) and leucistic white-cheeked pintails
Anas bahamensis Linnaeus, 1758
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Eurasian oystercatcher
Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758
Haematopodidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Unidentified quail
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

The park is lacking in herpetofauna, with only some species of commercially available testudine (including Horsfield’s tortoise [Testudo horsfieldii] and painted turtle [Chrysemys picta]), and mainly has a good variety of relatively non-threatening mammals and birds. The order Rodentia is well-represented, with black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), Hokkaido red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris orientis), Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus), Prevost’s squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii), degu (Octodon degus), Azara’s agouti (Dasyprocta azarae), North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), and crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata). By far my favourite of these is the Hokkaido red squirrel; it is much the same species as the red squirrel found in Europe but the coat colour is different (less red and more brown) and has extremely long ear tufts. They turned out to be extremely tough to photograph because they don’t stay still, so what you see here is the best I could manage.

Hokkaido red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris orientis Thomas, 1906
Sciuridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

As for carnivorans, the list includes Asiatic short-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea), North American raccoon (Procyon lotor), ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua), banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata), suricate (Suricata suricatta, you know, the thing everyone else calls ‘meerkat’), and two critters I came all this way to see: common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides).

Common palm civet
Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Pallas, 1777)
Viverridae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

The common palm civet, or toddy cat, is a widespread small viverrid from south and southeast Asia and is found in many urban areas such as Singapore. It’s a surprise they’re not more well known than they are, for a number of reasons. Firstly, civets (albeit not palm civets but civets proper) are partly responsible for the perfume industry, by producing a pungent musk from glands around the anus. The common palm civets do smell wonderfully musky, a bit foxy or ferret-like, only stronger. Also, the common palm civet is known to be partial to fermenting palm juice, hence its alternate name of ‘toddy cat’. But the species has gained notoriety in recent years for being responsible for kopi luwak. If you think you haven’t heard of that, you’re probably wrong. You may not have known it was a civet that was responsible for this, but palm civets that enjoy eating coffee beans are tracked down somehow and their excreta are sorted and sterilised (hopefully), as the coffee beans have passed through their digestive tract almost unchanged, only the bitter coating from the beans has been digested. The resulting coffee, which is rather expensive, might I add, is apparently excellent-tasting without any of the bitterness otherwise associated with coffee. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried kopi luwak, but I’d certainly try it if I was offered it.

Raccoon dogs
Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834)
Canidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

The raccoon dog is another species not seen much in western zoos. It is a species of dog, supposedly rather basal within the Canidae, but could be closely allied with the zorros or South American foxes. It is native to eastern Asia from Far Eastern Russia south through Korea and China into northern Indochina, as well as Japan. It is known as tanuki in that latter nation, and is well known as part of ancient Japanese folklore. One of the things about male Japanese raccoon dogs which I’ve failed to notice is that they have disproportionately large testicles (apparently…), and this is represented in tanuki statues as backpacks flung over their shoulders. There’s even a children’s schoolyard song mentioning this. Tanukis are also known for their shape-shifting ability (I’m still talking mythologically here). Raccoon dogs are otherwised famed for their luxurious fur. Russian dogs were exported from the Far East to eastern Europe and as is the case with many fur-bearers, some escaped and have been spreading throughout continental Europe over the past century. Another reason raccoon dogs should be better known is their domesticity. It’s a myth that the only canid that has been domesticated is the grey wolf (Canis lupus). You may have also heard of domesticated Russian silver foxes (actually a colour morph of the cosmopolitan red fox, Vulpes vulpes), but raccoon dogs are mild-tempered and apparently domesticate well. They even come in alternate colour morphs, including a pure white one, but this probably derives from the selective breeding involved in the fur industry rather than from domesticity. I’ve yet to see raccoon dogs for sale in the pet trade, but it’s only a matter of time, I reckon.

Anyway, here are some photos of some of the other cool creatures at Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park:

European great grey owl
Strix nebulosa lapponica Thunberg, 1798
Strigidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Timneh grey parrot
Psittacus erithacus timneh Fraser, 1844
Psittacidae; Psittaciformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Blue eared-pheasant
Crossoptilon auritum (Pallas, 1811)
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Southern white-faced owls
Ptilopsis granti (Kollibay, 1910)
Strigidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Western roe deer fawn
Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cervidae; Cetartiodactyla; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Sarus crane
Grus antigone (Linnaeus, 1758)
Gruidae; Gruiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Cape Barren goose
Cereopsis novaehollandiae Latham, 1801
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Leucistic greater rhea
Rhea americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Rheidae; Rheiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Tawny owl
Strix aluco Linnaeus, 1758
Strigidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park, Devon
September 2011

Just one more thing, notice the lack of bars around the tawny owl? Not just good camera work there, I suspect it’s a wild owl not just a feral or escaped one.

New Forest and Old Fossils

2011-10-16T09:00:00.001+01:00

It’s not been all work, work, work with me though – I took a ‘break’ in mid-September to visit various bits of southern and western England. I attended the SVPCA (Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy) symposium in Lyme Regis, Dorset; visited the New Forest Reptile Centre in Hampshire, as well as Axe Valley Park in Devon; London Wetland Centre’s sister reserve in Slimbridge, Gloucester; and the amazing Crocodiles of the World in Oxfordshire. For now though, I’ll fill you in on one of the cooler highlights from Hampshire and a bit about SVPCA.

The Reptile Centre is located within the New Forest, a nationally important area of lowland heath and open woodland in Hampshire, southern England. The facility consists of a few open air terraria, each containing a number of reptiles and amphibians, all native to or otherwise found in the UK. All of Britain’s snakes are represented, as are the three native lizards, as well as two toads and two frogs.

Natterjack toad
Epidalea calamita (Laurenti, 1768)
Bufonidae; Anura; Amphibia; Chordata
New Forest Reptile Centre, Hampshire
September 2011

The natterjack toad the rarer of Britain’s two toad species, and is easily distinguished from the common toad (Bufo bufo) by the yellow dorsal stripe. It’s not certain whether the toad is native to the UK or introduced from mainland Europe, but either way, it is protected by law, and is restricted to such areas of lowland heath as the New Forest.

Female adder
Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Viperidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
New Forest Reptile Centre, Hampshire
September 2011

The adder is Britain’s only venomous snake. It is not as venomous as other vipers, however, and is very rarely fatal to humans. Even so, it’s not exactly heaven being bitten, with recovery taking up to a year if it doesn’t kill you. Males and females differ in their coloration, with the female being a less-contrasted version of the male’s black and grey zig-zag motif. Occasionally, but more often in continental Europe than in Britain, melanistic individuals occur, and of course the black adder has given its name to this.

Smooth snake
Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768
Colubridae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
New Forest Reptile Centre, Hampshire
September 2011

The smooth snake is the rarest of Britain’s snakes, restricted to lowland heath, much like the natterjack toad and sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). Its generic name, Coronella, comes from the little dark crown present on the top of the head.

SVPCA was fascinating, with talks on subjects such as afrotherian tooth eruption, sauropod necks, well-preserved ankylosaurs, Dorset’s own basal thyreophoran (that would be Scelidosaurus harrisonii), and a seemingly countless array of pterosaurs. For me, the true highlight of the symposium was the auction held one evening to raise money for the Jones-Fenleigh fund which helps students without institutional backing to attend the yearly conference. The majority of items for sale were journal reprints, but prints by the excellent palaeo-artists Bob Nicholls and Luis Rey were also available. I didn’t bid, as I had a budget of £5, but was entertained by compère and palaeoichthyologist Jeff Liston. A series of public lectures were given by some of the bigger names in British palaeontology: I attended those given by Michael Benton (on extinction in general, and the Permian-Triassic extinction event in particular), David Norman (on the history of British dinosaurology), and Mark Witton (on the modern pterosaur revolution). All were excellent of course. Hopefully next year I’ll have something of my own to present, but I won’t say any more on that just yet.

Wetland Bonanza

2011-10-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

Sincere apologies for the long hiatus from this blog. I have a string of excuses, but really, I just couldn’t be bothered. So, sorry again.

I have recently found myself a small amount of paid employment (hooray!), and it all involves working with children in an amazing environment (hurrah!): the London Wetland Centre. I know I’ve raved about this gorgeous urban oasis in the past, but I’ve discovered more and more to love about the Centre in the last few months, so there’ll be plenty to share. I started volunteering for the education team some months ago, helping out with and leading such activities as pond dipping, story-telling, arts and crafts, and themed walks around the grounds. I’ve had close encounters with all sorts of beasts, ranging from gammarid shrimp and three-spined sticklebacks to slow worms, viviparous lizards, and water voles, not to mention the children! A few photographic highlights of my work follow:

Marsh frog
Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771)
Ranidae; Anura; Amphibia; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
May 2011

Northern water vole
Arvicola amphibius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cricetidae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
June 2011

Early marsh orchids
Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soo
Orchidaceae; Asparagales; Liliopsida; Angiospermae
London Wetland Centre
June 2011

Female tufted duck with ducklings
Aythya fuligula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
June 2011

Slow worm
Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758
Anguidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
June 2011

Gravid female viviparous lizard
Zootoca vivipara (Von Jacquin, 1787)
Lacertidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
June 2011

Blue-winged goose
Cyanochen cyanopterus (Rüppell, 1845)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
July 2011

Female mallard (with mallard duckling and adopted tufted ducks)
Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 (tufted duck: see above)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Wild at London Wetland Centre
July 2011

Highland cattle with a West London backdrop
Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758
Bovidae; Cetartiodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
July 2011

The prominent purple flowers belong to purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L.; Lythraceae; Myrtales; Magnoliopsida; Angiospermae.

White-faced whistling-duck ducklings
Dendrocygna viduata (Linnaeus, 1766)
Dendrocygnidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
August 2011

Dead grass snake
Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758)
Colubridae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
August 2011

I’m currently working on preserving the specimen of this skeleton.

Chinese mitten crab
Eriocheir sinensis Milne-Edwards, 1853
Varunidae; Decapoda; Malacostraca; Arthropoda
Wild at London Wetland Centre
September 2011

This animal was found by a volunteer on the path early in the morning. It was likely caught by a heron or other bird and dropped. It was still alive, although only just, by 9 a.m., when I photographed it. Its fate was decided by the grounds team, that it should be humanely dispatched. Chinese mitten crabs are, as their name suggests, not native to the UK and are classed as an invasive species. This means that live individuals may not legally be introduced to a wild setting, and applies to other species such as grey squirrels and rose-ringed parakeets.

My current work at the Centre is mostly centred around the events planned for the upcoming autumn half-term. The Yuk! Show will run daily throughout the half term, inviting children to discover the gory and revolting side of nature. I’ve spent some of my work days doing things I’d never thought I’d do: creating and painting replica droppings and bones, and painting a giant papier-mâché owl pellet (for those who don’t know, this is the regurgitated mass of fur, feathers, and bones chucked up by birds such as owls). I have high hopes for the Yuk! Show and I hope it’s worth all the effort me and my colleagues have put into it!

For more information on upcoming events at the London Wetland Centre, please visit the website here.

And the foot belongs to...

2011-07-13T12:14:00.000+01:00

Hawaiian goose, or Nene
Branta sandvicensis (Vigors, 1833)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
July 2011

The mystery foot from the last post belongs to one of the Hawaiian geese resident at the London Wetland Centre. Unlike most other anseriforms (ducks, geese, swans, magpie goose, whistling-ducks, and screamers), it has semipalmate webbing, meaning the webbing between the toes does not extend all the way to the tips of the digits. Since the Hawaiian goose is terrestrial, spending little time in water, it has little use for fully-webbed feet. Reduced webbing allows the nene (pronounced 'neigh-neigh') to move more quickly over solid terrain, including burnt lava fields that are abundant in its native home of Hawaii.

Anyone know any other anseriforms with semipalmate feet?

Whose foot?

2011-07-07T13:02:00.000+01:00

So, whose foot appears above? A couple of clues: it belongs to a dinosaur, more specifically a bird, and even more specifically, one that can be found at the London Wetland Centre. Any guesses can be submitted in the usual ways: here in the comments, or via Facebook or Twitter...

The Hide

2011-06-01T14:49:00.000+01:00

I want to draw attention to a really interesting movie I watched this past weekend, called 'The Hide'. Its relevance to this blog is that it's a thriller set in a birdwatching hide in the English countryside. It was on Film Four at some point last week, and has also been released on DVD.

DVD cover of "The Hide"

The tagline "No crime stays hidden forever" is a good taster as to what to expect from the film, featuring only two characters (ornithologist and twitcher Roy Tunt, played by Alex Macqueen, and "Dave John", played by Phil Campbell), and set in a single scene. This theatrical quality is not accidental; the film, directed by Marek Losey, is based on a play called "The Sociable Plover".

Roy Tunt (left), played by Alex Macqueen, and "Dave John", played by Phil Campbell

Without revealing any plot twists or surprises, here follows a brief summary of the film: ornithologist and obsessive-compulsive twitcher Roy Tunt is seen setting up his equipment and supplies for a day in a hide out on the Suffolk flats. He mumbles to himself and writes his sightings on the chalkboard in the hide. In walks the second character, looking shifty; he is told by Tunt that this is a private hide. The second character, known to us and Tunt only as "Dave... John", obviously a pair of pseudonyms, makes himself comfortable. His ignorance of birds and the hobby of birdwatching is made clear, and the pair become somewhat acquainted. The subject of Tunt's quest, the final tick on his British bird list - the sociable plover, is discussed. This odd couple become involved in a thrilling plot twist that I won't reveal here.

The acting by Macqueen, known for his occasional comedy acting, and Campbell, is faultless, with definite moments of humour interspaced between the awkwardness and seriousness between the characters. The humour, while probably more easily appreciated by seasoned birdwatchers, isn't restricted to in jokes.

If anyone has seen this film and wants to discuss any part of it (especially the ending and unseen aftermath), go ahead and speak up in the comments, just put *SPOILER ALERT* or similar announcement before your post!

Farne Islands Part II

2011-05-27T19:39:00.000+01:00

So, to continue from the last post, we have now approached Inner Farne Island, known for its tern colonies. There are indeed Arctic terns everywhere, but on the tiny sandy beach near the landing point, ringed plovers were nesting and rearing their chicks.

Ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula Linnaeus, 1758
Charadriidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

This plover had three chicks which were following it around, but I couldn't photograph them. So, onto the Arctic terns...

Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan, 1763
Sternidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Arctic terns are one of the bird world's greatest wonders; annually they make a round trip of over 70,000 km (>44,000 miles) from the extreme north to the extreme south of the globe and back again, to take advantage of ideal breeding conditions in the northern summer, and ideal feeding conditions in the southern summer. Of course, the Farnes are nowhere near the Arctic, but the isolated and predator free islands provide a haven for not just these terns but other species too.

Arctic tern in flight
Details as above

Eiders (male on left and right, female behind)
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

There were eiders on nests and females with ducklings scattered around the interior of the island, but on one of the coasts there were a few males.

Razorbills
Alca torda Linnaeus, 1758
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

There were again masses of kittiwakes, shags, puffins, and guillemots on this island, as well as a few more razorbills.

Sandwich terns
Sterna sandvicensis (Latham, 1787)
Sternidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Although they are by far the most numerous tern species on Inner Farne, the Arctic tern is not the only one. Interspersed are a few common terns (S. hirundo), which are almost indistinguishable from the Arctic terns, and maybe the odd roseate tern (S. dougallii), which is very rare with only a few breeding pairs in any one year. Slightly more numerous however, are the Sandwich terns, named after the Kentish town I presume and not the snack food. They are noticeably bigger than the Arctic terns and have a shaggy crest and black bill tipped with yellow. The only colony I saw on Inner Farne was close to the centre of the island and fairly distant.

Arctic tern divebombing
Details as above

Because the terns nest so close (foolishly close?) to where people walk, the terns defend their eggs and chicks by divebombing passers-by. We were all advised to wear hats, and as mine didn't blow away despite the winds picking up, it proved quite useful against beak-inflicted scalp bleeding. It's more comical than anything really, although I'm sure the wardens and other staff who are exposed to them every day would say otherwise. Almost like something out of a certain Alfred Hitchcock film, but with a comedy element, and too cute to be sinister.

Atlantic puffin
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The puffins were the co-star of the island along with the Arctic terns, because, although they were much more civilised and less noisy, they waddled along and flew about in a charismatic yet slightly undignified way. Puffins built their burrows close to the boardwalk in many places, and I was to be rewarded for my sitting in sea bird droppings with this excellent view:

Atlantic puffin
Details as above

Atlantic puffin
Details as above

Arctic tern
Details as above

That's it for my Farne Islands trip, I had an excellent time that can't be described in words. If you haven't seen tens of thousands of seabirds in the same place with your own eyes, not to mention smelled and heard them too, this description can hardly do it justice.

On a final note, as a group, the nine of us on the trip from London to Northumberland and back in two days amounted to exactly 100 bird species seen. I didn't see all of those, but came close. While totting up our list on the way back, we discovered not one of those eighteen eyes or ears had spotted probably the most ubiquitous and widely known bird in the UK, the robin. Grey plovers, an osprey, and a thousand puffins, but no robin. Although, just days previously, one flew into my house for all of five seconds before darting out again. That's irony for you.

Farne Islands: Part I

2011-05-25T11:42:00.000+01:00

Last Friday and Saturday I went on a birding trip to Northumberland. Most of Friday was spent either travelling up there from London or on various sites along the way trying to spot as many bird species as we could. A lot of species were seen at Rutland Water in the tiny county of Rutland, famous for its breeding ospreys. Whilst I was there I saw a few new species of bird I'd never encountered before, including the gorgeous yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), which I had previously only heard, and tree sparrows (Passer montanus), far less common than their once ubiquitous cousin, the house sparrow (P. domesticus). When in Northumberland itself, we decided to stop at various streams and brooks to look for grey wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) and dippers (Cinclus cinclus). We did see a few individuals of both species, and I managed to get a couple of poor shots of the dipper.

White-throated dipper
Cinclus cinclus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cinclidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
River Breamish, Northumberland, May 2011

After a comfy night's rest in our bunkhouse near the town of Seahouses, we set off for the harbour in that town for a boat tour of the Farne Islands. These islands, as you are about to see, offer almost unbelievable views of various species of breeding seabirds. The tour took us to Staple Island, then briefly around some of the smaller islands, and finally to Inner Farne Island, before going back to the mainland, lasting six hours with two hours on each island.

The first thing that strikes you as you approach Staple Island is the masses of guillemots, puffins, shags, and kittiwakes that you see. There are simply thousands of birds on the rocks, in the air, and on the sea.

European shag
Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus, 1761)
Phalacrocoracidae; Pelecaniformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The shags are congregated close to the landing point so they are the first of the birds to offer fantastic views. With their dinosaur-like heads, glossy green-black plumage, shaggy quiffs, and emerald-green eyes, they are perfect objects for photographic study.

European shags
Details as above

In the above photo, one shag is providing nesting material for the other in the form of seaweed, which is abundant around the islands. They will also use grass to create their nests.

European shag
Details as above

Although it appears that this shag has caught an eel or a snake, it is carrying the steadfast of the sea kelp (Laminaria sp.) that this seaweed had attached itself to the rocks with. Shags differ from their close relative, the great cormorant (P. carbo) by lacking any white on the plumage. Cormorant colonies are also present on some of the Farne Islands, but none were seen on Staple or Inner Farne.

Northern fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis (Linnaeus, 1761)
Procellariidae; Procellariiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Fulmars look quite a lot like gulls to the untrained eye, but differ mainly in their shape whilst flying and features of the head. Fulmars are petrels and are related to albatrosses. As such, the 'tube-noses' as they are called, can be recognised by the namesake nostrils which are used to excrete excess salt from their bodies. Fulmars are also known for vomiting a stale broth containing parts of their last meal when threatened. Thankfully, this is as close as I got to any fulmar.

Atlantic puffin
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The main attraction for many, including myself, to visit the Farne Islands, is not shags nor fulmars, but puffins. Puffins need no introduction to most, as they are familiar to the majority of people (at least in the UK), and hold a place in many people's hearts. The puffins did not disappoint; they were the only bird to show incredibly well both on Staple and Inner Farne Islands.

Rock pipit
Anthus petrosus (Montagu, 1798)
Motacillidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Rock pipits are small birds in the same family as wagtails. They are common on rocky shores around the UK and other parts of western Europe.

Common guillemots
Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Guillemots, known as murres in the US, seemed to be by far the most numerous of all the birds on Staple Island. There were thousands perched on a single cliff. They are closely related to puffins, but have a more penguin-like shape, except when flying of course. Guillemots are known for crowding together en masse on cliff faces; they are able to do this because they do not make nests which take up room. Instead, they lay a single pear-shaped egg on the bare cliff. Simple physics dictates that a long egg will roll around in a circle without ever falling off the cliff, unlike a round one.

Razorbill
Alca torda Linnaeus, 1758
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The razorbill was not as numerous as either of the other auks (puffin and guillemot) on the Farnes, but it still afforded great views. Reminiscent both of penguins and its close extinct cousin, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis), the razorbill is so called because of the similarity of its bill to the old fashioned razor.

Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla (Linnaeus, 1758)
Laridae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Kittiwakes are small gulls that are quite numerous on the Farnes as well as in other parts of the northern British Isles and coastal North America. In any of these places though, the kittiwake chooses only the most inaccessible cliffs on which to build its nest, providing excellent protection for their eggs and chicks.

Female eider
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Whilst walking around on the dolerite cliffs of Staple Island, I nearly stepped on a female eider sitting on her nest. Thankfully, I saw her before I almost extinguished her life. I was soon to see many more ducks in a similar position, including this individual. She was the most confiding duck I have ever seen, even more so than domestic mallards. I was afraid to touch her, although I could have done so very easily, for fear of stressing her out, but my trip buddies were stroking her like a pet cat. I can tell you, the eider very easily deserves its reputation for having the softest feathers around; no wonder they were used to stuff pillows and duvets.

Grey seal cow (above); and cows and bulls (below)
Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)
Phocidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Lying on almost every rocky shore on the Farnes were colonies of grey seals. The bulls (around twice the size of the cows) can be easily distinguished from the cows in the above photo.

In the following post, I get bombarded by Arctic terns and get even closer to some puffins, all on Inner Farne Island, and you will hear about the case of the missing robin.

A Selection from my Portfolio

2011-05-19T13:09:00.000+01:00

So, tomorrow I'm taking a trip to Northumberland in the north of England, close to the Scottish border, where I'll be staying for one night. On Saturday I'll be taking the boat to the Farne Islands, well known for its breeding colonies for hundreds of thousands of birds, including eiders, terns, puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, and more. Until I've gone, come back, and edited my photos, here are some photos from my portfolio taken in the last few months. All photographs by Mo Hassan.

Poet's narcissus
Narcissus poeticus Linnaeus, 1753
Amaryllidaceae; Asparagales; Liliopsida; Angiospermae
Hyde Park, London, April 2011

Canada goose goslings
Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011

Great crested grebe
Podiceps cristatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Podicipedidae; Podicipediformes; Aves; Chordata
Hyde Park, London, April 2011

Daisies
Bellis perennis Linnaeus
Asteraceae; Asterales; Magnoliopsida; Angiospermae
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011

Great tit
Parus major Linnaeus, 1758
Paridae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011

Male common (ring-necked) pheasant
Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, 1758
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Tyttenhanger, Hertfordshire, April 2011

Eurasian robin
Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Muscicapidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011

Jackdaw
Corvus monedula Linnaeus, 1758
Corvidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, May 2011

Blue tit
Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Paridae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011

Male red-crested pochard
Netta rufina (Pallas, 1773)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Amsterdam, March 2011

Male stag beetle
Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Lucanidae; Coleoptera; Insecta; Arthropoda
Enfield Town Park, North London, May 2011

Male mandarin duck
Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011

Viviparous, or common, lizard
Zootoca vivipara (Von Jacquin, 1787)
Lacertidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, April 2011

Male marsh frog
Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771)
Ranidae; Anura; Amphibia; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, May 2011

White-winged wood duck
Asarcornis scutulata (Muller, 1842)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre (captive collection), April 2011

Peacock butterfly
Inachis io (Linnaeus, 1758)
Nymphalidae; Lepidoptera; Insecta; Arthropoda
Kings Meads Nature Reserve, Hertfordshire, April 2011

Antwerp Zoo

2011-05-03T18:45:00.000+01:00

Antwerp Zoo was by far the most accessible of the three zoos I visited two months ago (wow, it's been that long already!?) in Europe. It is located adjacent to the city's central railway station, ideal if you're coming from out of town, but even more conveniently, our hotel was located a mere two minutes' walk away. It's a small zoo, about the same size as Artis in Amsterdam. Although I don't feature any of their inhabitants in this post, the reptile house and the aquarium were very impressive. Less impressive though is the zoo's exhibit for nocturnal creatures. It was far too dark in there, lacking even the usual long wavelength lighting for the benefit of visitors. I wasn't able to get any photos in there. Oddly, Europe's only kiwi is kept in a standard-looking aviary. With it being completely nocturnal, and the sleeping quarters being off view, I'd be very surprised if anyone ever saw the bird. The same is true for the Cape genets (Genetta tigrina) apparently sharing their enclosure with African brush-tailed porcupines (Atherurus africanus) in an enclosure with visitor access only to the part exposed to sunlight.

Antwerp Zoo's inhabitants seem to be quite heavily biased towards those from central Africa (the okapi, eastern lowland gorilla, turacos aplenty, bongos, and Congo peafowl being a few examples): my thinking on this is that Belgium had imported lots of creatures from what is now The Democratic Republic of Congo (then, the Belgian Congo), and many have carried on breeding up until today. This won't remain the case for the eastern lowland gorilla, however (see below).

Here's a few of the highlights from Antwerp Zoo, heavily biased towards birds and mammals...

Siamang (male)
Symphalangus syndactylus (Raffles, 1821)
Hylobatidae; Primates; Mammalia; Chordata
Antwerp Zoo, March 2011 (and all other photos on this post)

The male siamang is a distinctive type of gibbon with his throat sac clearly visible in the above photo. He uses it to create an apparently almost deafening call which reverberates around the southeast Asian rainforests in order to communicate with other members of its species. They are a plain black coloured species of gibbon, unlike most of the other members of the family, and it now resides in its own genus Symphalangus. That, and the species name syndactylus, both mean "fused digits", describing the partially webbed toes that put apart the siamang from other gibbons. I highly dislike the term "lesser apes" to refer to the gibbons, as although it is accurate in that they are smaller, lighter, and more agile than the chimpanzees, gorillas, orang utan and humans, it implies that they are lesser than us in other ways, i.e. more primitive.

Eastern lowland gorilla (female)
Gorilla beringei graueri (Matschie, 1914)
Hominidae; Primates; Mammalia; Chordata

There are four types of gorilla in existence today, making up two species: Gorilla gorilla is the western gorilla, and G. beringei is the eastern. Within G. gorilla we have the well known and widely distributed (in captivity) western lowland gorilla G. g. gorilla from central Africa, and the critically endangered Cross River gorilla G. g. diehli from the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, representing the westernmost gorilla race. The eastern gorilla consists of the well known but extremely threatened mountain gorilla G. b. beringei from Uganda, Rwanda, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the eastern lowland gorilla whose range is adjacent to the mountain gorilla's but does not extend to high elevations.

I am not completely certain that the above photo is of an eastern lowland gorilla, but going by the number of western lowland gorillas I have seen, this one just looked different. The fur was more uniform black without the brown and grey shades that westerns have, and the head was less dome-shaped, which indicated a female. If I'm wrong and anyone out there knows otherwise, let me know in the comments.

This is the only eastern lowland gorilla kept in captivity in the world, and the only one outside of Africa. It was formerly more common in zoos, but has not had the same success as its western relative. It's likely, although I haven't had this confirmed, that Antwerp and other Belgian zoos had a population of eastern lowland gorillas since colonial times, and since exportation of wild gorillas doesn't happen anymore (hence why there are no mountain gorillas in zoos either), the population has dwindled, and the Antwerp individual is the only one of its kind left.

Great blue turaco
Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816)
Musophagidae; Musophagiformes; Aves; Chordata

Turacos are an exclusively African order of birds, most of which are very brightly-coloured. The less vivid members, the excellently-named go-away birds, and the plantain-eaters (because they apparently like the small bananas which also give Musophagiformes its name) are grey, brown, and white in colour, but the members of the genera Musophaga, Tauraco, Ruwenzorornis, and Corythaeola are coloured mostly in shades of green and blue, with highlights of every other colour possible. Such a range of hues is possible due to the presence of a unique pigment called turacoverdin. This is the only true green colour to be found in birds (with the exception of parrots, who have their own pigment too), as the green present in other birds is really yellow refracted in a way to appear green. The red in the turaco's wing, a pigment called turacin, is a copper-based pigment that differs entirely from the red in other birds. Most birds obtain their red coloration from carotenoids in their food, from fruits to brine shrimp, but it is unknown how the turaco synthesizes its own pigment, but both turacin and turacoverdin are known to be similar to porphyrins such as haemoglobin and chlorophyll which are both extremely widespread pigments in the animal and plant worlds respectively. Turacos have been allied with the cuckoos for most of taxonomic history, but they are now placed in an entirely different order with unknown affinities within the bird class as a whole.

Guira cuckoo
Guira guira (Gmelin, 1788)
Cuculidae; Cuculiformes; Aves; Chordata

The guira cuckoo is a South American member of the cuckoo family. Apart from the roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), made famous by Warner Bros., the most famous member of this family is the Eurasian cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), infamous for being a brood parasite, almost comedically so, with the hatchlings dwarfing their foster parent, often a teeny warbler or other small songbird. It was this that went through my mind when I saw this guira cuckoo at Antwerp Zoo, with what looked to be a newly-hatched bird in its beak. It wasn't until I was able to study the photos I took in detail that I noticed that it wasn't a baby bird but a baby rodent in its grasp, probably a pinkie (the term given to newborn rodents fed to reptiles in the pet industry). Soon after this photo was taken, the cuckoo swallowed its prey. Guira cuckoos are not brood parasites like their Old World cousins. They regularly feed on hatchlings in the wild, and although this bird was sharing its cage with other birds, none of them have hatchlings that look like a baby mouse.

Barred buttonquails
Turnix suscitator (Gmelin, 1789)
Turnicidae; Turniciformes; Aves; Chordata

Buttonquails are partridge-like birds of unknown affinity, most usually closely allied with the cranes and rails in the order Gruiformes or just outside it in their own order Turniciformes. Buttonquails are unusual in that they show a sexual role reversal: in the above photo, the bird towards the top of the photo, despite being more boldly coloured than the lower one, is the female. The male buttonquail takes care of the eggs and chicks, and the female is polyandrous, meaning she mates with many males. This is the opposite case of most birds, where the males are either monogamous, staying with their mate for one brood or for life, or polygynous, mating with many females. The female is also the more territorial sex, expelling rival females from her own home range. The female is also the one to attract males by producing a booming call.

Perhaps because of the lack of parental care from the mother, the buttonquail chicks hatch highly developed and can fend for themselves despite being looked after by their father. Buttonquails are distributed in most of the Old World with one species penetrating southwest Europe. The barred buttonquail has a broad distribution across southern Asia.

Oddities from Rotterdam Zoo

2011-04-14T15:52:00.000+01:00

Rotterdam Zoo, or to give it its proper name, Diergaarde Blijdorp, is by far the largest of the three zoos I visited on my recent jaunt to the Netherlands and Belgium. So large in fact that I couldn't see it all before closing time. OK, so that could be partly due to the rain and the fact that I took several rest stops, but still, it's immense, on the scale of San Diego Zoo almost. And it's still growing, apparently.

The zoo is relatively new, having built up bit by bit since the 1930s. It now has an impressive Oceanium, containing themed exhibits such as Bass Rock (see below), Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, the Falklands, and the Sea of Cortez, containing not just aquatic creatures but also birds, mammals, and reptiles. There are themed areas on the Arctic, with polar bear, arctic fox, and steppe lemming, and South America, with vicuna, Darwin's rhea, and scarlet ibis, before reaching the African and Asian sections, which are both massive. There is a small European section which I didn't get to see, and some wallabies which apparently constitutes an Australasian section. Finally, there is the Rivierahal containing most of the zoo's reptiles and amphibians, fishes, a tropical plant greenhouse with free-flying birds, and the indoor enclosures for the large ungulates like giraffes and hippos.

Atlantic puffin (in winter plumage)
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Rotterdam Zoo, March 2011 (and all other photographs in this post)

The Bass Rock exhibit is the first in the Oceanium after you pass the California sea lions at the zoo entrance. It consists of a tank containing, appropriately, sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), and simulated cliffs for the four bird species, common guillemot (Uria aalge), razorbill (Alca torda - although I didn't see any), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), and of course, Atlantic puffin. These are some of the more prominent species seen at the real Bass Rock off the coast of Scotland, which is an important breeding colony for these and countless other sea birds. Gannets (Morus bassanus) are probably the most famous inhabitants of Bass Rock, the place even being honoured in their specific name by Linnaeus. The puffins at Rotterdam didn't look as clean and brightly-coloured as those you see in photographs, but that's because they're in winter plumage, which is grey where the white is on the face, and the brightly-coloured beak plates are shed after breeding. Never mind, it was nice to finally see these iconic birds in the flesh, and I'll hopefully get to see them in a more natural setting next month when I go to the Farne Islands off the coast of Lincolnshire in the east of England, which is home to puffins and other auks, terns, waders, and gulls.

Cuban, or Desmarest's, hutia
Capromys pilorides Say, 1822
Capromyidae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata

These zoos love their unusual rodents, don't they? Hutias are an exclusively Caribbean group of fairly large rodents, with many members becoming extinct in historic times. The Cuban hutia is still common on its native island, especially in mangrove swamps. In Rotterdam Zoo, there are two hutias of different colours, one very pale one, seen above, and the other a darker shade of brown. They were in the Caribbean section of the Oceanium, with a variety of Caribbean fishes, Toco toucans, and Cuban boas completing the themed area.

Swift fox
Vulpes velox (Say, 1823)
Canidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata

I got excellent views of a pair of swift foxes, living in the Sea of Cortez exhibit within the Oceanium. The fox is smaller than the red fox but quite large for a desert fox, being found in parts of southern Canada throughout the prairies of the US south towards the border with Mexico, so it isn't really from the Sea of Cortez. That would be the kit fox (V. macrotis), its close relative. They are reminiscent of the corsac foxes (V. corsac) of central Asia that I've seen in captivity fairly often.

Asiatic golden cat
Pardofelis temmincki (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
Felidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata

I'd been waiting for aeons to see this species, and I got fantastic views at Rotterdam in the Asian section of the zoo. Although technically a 'small cat', it's certainly not small, being at least lynx-sized, but not quite as big as a puma. It is one of the most beautifully patterned of cats, with an overall golden tone which has silvery-grey patches in parts, and a subtle spotting which is often completely absent, but sometimes quite bold. The face, as you can see, is wonderfully patterned in stripes. The tail is long and tipped with white on the underside. They are distributed in southeast Asia from Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula north to southern China and the Himalayan foothills. On Borneo, a closely related species, the bay cat (P. badia), is found, which is extremely rare and very rarely seen.

Chinese giant salamander
Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871)
Cryptobranchidae; Caudata; Amphibia; Chordata

It's a giant salamander. The biggest amphibian currently alive today, in fact. It's very rarely seen outside of China, although there are a few in zoos in the States, but none in the UK. As a salamander fan, I was thrilled to see this guy in the flesh. It just looked rather apathetic to see me, however. An extinct close relative, Andrias scheuchzeri, was once identified as the remains of humans living before the Biblical Great Flood. It was hastily re-examined and identified as an amphibian. Thank goodness for that.

Klipspringer
Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmerman, 1783)
Bovidae; Cetartiodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata

Meaning 'rock jumper' in Dutch and Afrikaans, the klipspringer is an extraordinary antelope. Not just for its cute-as-a-button eyes with adorable thick eyeliner and white eye shadow, or even its horns-but-not-quite-horns. No, even better than that, if you look closely at its hooves, you'll notice that the klipspringer walks on the tips of its hooves, like a ballerina. Even more impressively, it manages to do this on steep, practically vertical rock faces. Klipspringers are widespread in eastern and southern Africa, but live mostly on the kopjes, large granite rock formations. They subsist on rock foliage like crassulaceans (house leeks, or money plants), obtaining all their required moisture from their succulent leaves. They are housed in a large indoor enclosure in the African section of Rotterdam Zoo, sharing their kopje-like enclosure with a group of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), and giant tortoises, most likely Aldabra giant tortoises (Dipsochelys dussumieri), but I didn't stop to check. We were so pressed for time at that point, not to mention a couple were getting married and having photos taken in the kopje house, so I felt in the way a bit.

Slender-snouted crocodile
Mecistops cataphractus (Cuvier, 1825)
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The least known of the three African crocodiles, the other two being the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus - also found at Rotterdam Zoo, next door to this guy), and the dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), the slender-snouted crocodiles at this zoo are the oldest of all their animals. When the zoo was located in the centre of Rotterdam by the railway sidings in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the slender-snouts were hatchlings, probably imported from the French or Belgian African colonies (I'm currently reading Heart of Darkness, thus that kind of stuff is on my mind). The zoo relocated to its current location in Blijdorp in the 1930s, and they have survived since then. This beast was huge, larger and fatter than the false gavials I saw at Artis. Slender-snouted crocodiles live in the same habitat as their larger and smaller cousins, in western and central Africa, but can co-exist due to a difference in diet. While the Nile crocodile will take larger prey (including large ungulates, as anyone who watches wildlife documentaries knows), and the dwarf croc eats small fish and crustaceans, the slender-snout will take those prey items of intermediate size. It is also able to use its snout in a different way to the broad-snouted crocodiles, in that being more slender allows the snout to enter smaller nooks on river beds and such.

Antwerp Zoo coming up soon.

Crocodile Lizard, and more...

2011-04-12T19:52:00.000+01:00

Chinese crocodile lizard
Shinisaurus crocodilurus (Ahl, 1930)
Shinisauridae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
Artis Zoo, Amsterdam
March 2011

So, yes, that hyper-macro shot in the previous post was of the Chinese crocodile lizard. It's rare in zoos and almost as rare in the wild. The derivation of its name is obvious; it's from China and looks like a crocodile. As such, it's in its own family within the lizard and snake order Squamata, and its closest relatives within that group aren't known.

Here follow some other interesting and rarely seen mammals and reptiles, all photographed at Artis Zoo.

False gavial (or gharial)
Tomistoma schlegelii Muller, 1838
Gavialidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

There were two false gavials in their indoor enclosure, one relatively small and slender, and the other, pictured above, who was huge. Never underestimate the apparent sluggishness of a crocodilian at rest; they can leap up without warning, as I discovered that day. If I hadn't been behind the extra barrier, which I wanted to jump over to get better photos, I might have been a goner. I can truly appreciate the terror that such a dangerous animal makes people feel.

White-bellied lizard (female)
Darevskia unisexualis (Darevsky, 1966)
Lacertidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata

I know this critter is a female not because of any distinctive markings, or a size difference, or obvious genitalia, but because there are no males. Not all animals have to mate to produce offspring. There are a few lizard species that are able to reproduce asexually, with the resultant offspring being exact genetic clones of their mother. As such, they are all female, all each other's sisters and their own mothers... I'm confused too. Anyhow, parthenogenesis (from the Ancient Greek, meaning 'virgin birth') is now being found in many species of reptile, and may be a viable form of reproduction when no males are present.

Spectacled bear
Tremarctos ornatus (Cuvier, 1825)
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata

The spectacled bear is the only surviving member of the short-faced bear lineage (Tremarctinae), which were found in North and South America. The short-faced bear itself, Arctodus simus, was a huge, long-legged beast capable of running after its prey. The closest thing we have to it today is the spectacled bear, a mostly herbivorous mammal from the cloud forests of South America. I'd been waiting to see this species for years, and have finally seen all the world's eight living bear species in zoos.

Round-eared elephant shrew (or sengi)
Macroscelides proboscideus (Shaw, 1800)
Macroscelididae; Macroscelidea; Mammalia; Chordata

Elephant shrews, or sengis, are an exclusively African group of mammals in the group Afrotheria, which also contains the outwardly dissimilar aardvark, tenrecs, golden moles, manatees, hyraxes, and elephants. The round-eared elephant shrew from South Africa is one of the smaller members of the group, being similar in size to a small mouse.

Yellow-throated marten
Martes flavigula (Boddaert, 1785)
Mustelidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata

This beautiful creature comes from Asia, from the cold forests of southern Russia and the Himalayas to the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Borneo. It is vividly coloured in shades of brown from near black through to yellow and white. It is the largest of the eight marten species distributed throughout the northern Hemisphere, with the pine marten (M. martes) being the most well known in the UK, and the fisher (M. pennanti) and American marten (M. americana) being the two New World species.

Rock cavy, or moco
Kerodon rupestris Wied-Neuwied, 1820
Caviidae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata

Cavies are also known as guinea pigs, the species Cavia porcellus being the one kept as pets and laboratory subjects the world over. There are a number of other species, the largest being the Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum). The rock cavy, however, is rarely seen in captivity. It's found only in Brazil, and are adept climbers, scaling near vertical walls like the ecologically similar rock hyrax (Procavia capensis). According to Wikipedia, they have been recorded displaying homosexual behaviour.

Common gundi
Ctenodactylus gundi (Rothmann, 1776)
Ctenodactylidae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata

Another rodent oddity, the gundis are a North African family from the dunes and mountains of the Sahara Desert. They have unusual external ears, having almost no pinna (flap). The generic name Ctenodactylus means 'comb finger', as the gundi has comb-like claws which it uses for grooming.

Coypu (or nutria)
Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782)
Myocastoridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata

Despite looking somewhat like a beaver, the coypu (called the nutria in North America, from the Spanish word for otter) is more closely related to cavies and chinchillas, and is thus placed in the Caviomorpha with them. It differs externally from the beaver by having a slender, unflattened tail, and thick orange enamel on the front teeth. Originally from South America, they have been reared in captivity for their cheap yet luxuriant fur, and have escaped numerous times, forming feral populations in East Anglia (now presumed extinct), other parts of Europe, in swampy parts of North America, as well as parts of east Africa. Like a giant rat, they are considered pests, as they destroy crops, but are relatively free from disease.

What on Earth?

2011-03-29T14:29:00.000+01:00

So, what on Earth is that? A couple of (poor) clues: it's not an extant crocodilian; it was photographed two weeks ago at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam (so it's not likely to be a Deinosuchus or something). Answers as comments or to the usual email address.

Finally, some answers

2011-03-26T11:05:00.001Z

Answers:
a) African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus) - skull #14
b) grey wolf (Canis lupus) - skull #3
c) cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) - skull #8
d) Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - skull #16
e) aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) - skull #7
f) South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) - skull #5
g) white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) - skull #24
h) binturong (Arctictis binturong) - skull #22
i) Soay sheep (Ovis aries) - skull #17
j) guanaco (Lama guanicoe) - skull #20
k) Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis) - skull #10
l) Reeves' muntjac (Muntiacus reevesii) - skull #2
m) white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) - skull #11
n) western hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - skull #13
o) European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) - skull #18
p) donkey (Equus asinus) - skull #4
q) Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) - skull #9
r) okapi (Okapia johnstoni) - skull #6
s) aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) - skull #1
t) white-crested gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) - skull #23
u) Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum) - skull #12
v) aardvark (Orycteropus afer) - skull #21
w) yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus) - skull #19
x) giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) - skull #15

The winning entry was by Andrea J., so congratulations! No-one got them all right though, if you did but didn't enter, well done but shame on you. New puzzle coming ~~shortly~~... um, eventually!

Panthera leo & Panthera tigris & Tremarctos ornatus...

2011-03-20T15:02:00.000Z

...oh my! Just got back from Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, the last of three zoos I have been to this week, beginning with Artis in Amsterdam, and followed by Diergarden Blijsdorp in Rotterdam. They've all been amazing, and I have seen many species of animal for the first time. A brief list of critters I've seen at these zoos would include: giant anteater, two-toed sloth, common tree shrew, red ruffed lemur, hamadryas baboon, mandrill, Javan lutung, siamang, eastern lowland gorilla, gundi, rock cavy, capybara, Cuban hutia, North American porcupine, coypu, swift fox, African hunting dog, yellow-throated marten, binturong, margay, serval, Asiatic golden cat, Amur leopard, spectacled bear, polar bear, harbour seal, rock hyrax, Asiatic elephant, Indian rhinoceros, Malayan tapir, Grevy's zebra, lesser Malay chevrotain, sika deer, okapi, wisent, American bison, Egyptian rousette, southern cassowary, Darwin's rhea, macaroni penguin, Atlantic puffin, lapwing, ruff, monk vulture, milky eagle owl, emerald hummingbird, great blue turaco, Asian fairy bluebird, false gharial, slender-snouted crocodile, Japanese giant salamander, greater siren, bamboo cat shark... there are loads more. Unfortunately, I missed out on the sea otters at Rotterdam, and the kiwi and genets at Antwerp. Photos to come at some point, if not here, then on my Facebook group.

Greetings from Amsterdam

2011-03-14T18:45:00.000Z

I'm currently in the capital of the Netherlands relaxing after a long day of travelling here from London via Brussels. It's taken nearly ten hours, but I'm now in the hotel where I'll be staying for the next three nights. Tomorrow's plan is to visit the zoo in Amsterdam, commonly known as Artis, as well as the natural history museum and botanic gardens in the same area. Although today was mostly spent in transit, I did get a bit of birdwatching done from my seat in the train from Brussels. Below is a list of birds I saw, including a couple of dubious ones that went just that little bit too quickly...

Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
Greylag goose (Anser anser)
Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Wigeon (A. penelope)
Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)
Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Coot (Fulica atra)
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
Feral pigeon (Columba livia)
Wood pigeon (C. palumbus)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Magpie (Pica pica)
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Carrion crow (C. corone)

I'm not sure about the hen harrier, as I say, we were moving at a helluva speed, but I'd like to think it was one. Saw many birds on large water bodies, but without bins and at high speed I had no chance of identifying them as anything other than "bird".

That's all for now, dinner beckons...

Some more time perhaps...

2011-03-11T20:54:00.000Z

Oops, I forgot I was supposed to reveal the answers to the quiz a few days ago... I'll attempt to hide that by giving you another week or so to send your answers in. The new closing date will be 21st March.

Guess the skull quiz

2011-02-23T23:29:00.000Z

It's been a while since I've posted a quiz on this blog (actually, it's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog at all, but hey), so I thought it was time for a sequel to the Cranial Challenge. This time, there are 24 mammals and 24 skulls. Identify each mammal as specifically as you can (you should, if you're skilled enough, be able to identify d to subspecies, i to breed, and the rest to species, with the possible exception of f). Then match each lettered mammal to its numbered skull, i.e. a1 b2 etc. If that seems a little hard for you, not to worry, either have a go anyway, or just play part one of the quiz.

Both photo montages can be enlarged by clicking on them. The skulls match the mammals to species in every example as far as I know. All photographs taken by myself, more details when the answers are revealed.

Send your entries to subhumanfreaks at hotmail dot com by 7th March, when I'll reveal the answers. There may be a prize if I'm impressed enough!

London Wetland Centre gallery

2011-01-24T19:07:00.000Z

One of my favourite places to get some birdwatching done is the London Wetland Centre. I've put together almost 200 of my best photographs covering pretty much all the birds I've ever seen there, including an awful shot of a bittern I saw this past Saturday. So thanks to everyone at the Centre for the fantastic work they do, and a special thanks to Jamie Wyver who organises the Centre's Facebook Group, tweets on their behalf (@wwtlondon), and gave me a metaphorical hat-tip as to the whereabouts of the bittern.

Drawing Mega-Mammals

2011-01-23T19:29:00.000Z

Last month, I spent some time in my beloved Natural History Museum (not mine, of course, but it's mine in the sense that I've spent a rather large chunk of my life within its walls) drawing some of the mammals. I was spurred into it by the need to create new content for the (then) upcoming elephant gallery at ART Evolved.

American Mastodon skeleton
Mammut americanum (Kerr, 1792)
Mammutidae; Proboscidea; Mammalia; Chordata
Line drawing in graphite pencil
Drawn from mounted specimen at Natural History Museum, London, December 2010

I decided to draw the American mastodon because the skeleton was in a convenient place to sit/stand, and it was fairly quiet. Although the mammal halls in the NHM are usually fairly popular, few people go to the 'dead end' that is made up of a woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius skull, a Stegodon ganesa skull, and the mastodon skeleton.

American Mastodon in tundra scene
Marker pen on clear acetate, with photo backdrop (by Billy Lindgrom at Wikimedia Commons)
Drawn from mounted specimen at Natural History Museum, London, December 2010

I then thought I'd try something different; I brought along some clear acetate sheets, like those used for overhead projections, and marker pens. After completing the pencil drawing, using that and the actual specimen as a guide, I drew an outline of the mastodon as it would be with all the layers of muscle, fat, and fur, including the boneless fillet that is the trunk. I was somewhat happy with the end result, but thought of superimposing a tundra backdrop afterwards.

Moropus elatus Marsh, 1877
Chalicotheriidae; Perissodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
Line drawing in graphite pencil
Drawn from mounted specimen at Natural History Museum, London, December 2010

Moropus isn't an elephant, or even a proboscidean, so it didn't end up in the ART Evolved gallery. This is the first place outside my sketchpad that this piece has been seen. Moropus was a chalicothere, a member of odd-shaped herbivorous mammals with relatively long forelimbs and short hindlimbs. They have well-developed claws on all limbs, and possibly used them to pull down leafy branches from up high to feed on. I didn't produce an acetate reconstruction of Moropus, but I might one day.

Paleoparadoxia tabatai Tokunaga, 1939
Paleoparadoxiidae; Desmostylia; Mammalia; Chordata
Line drawing in graphite pencil
Drawn from mounted specimen at Natural History Museum, London, December 2008

As you can see, I did this drawing over 2 years ago, whilst I worked at the library at the NHM. Paleoparadoxia is a member of the order Desmostylia, within the group of orders known as Afrotheria. The Afrotheria consist of six extant (surviving) orders: Proboscidea (elephants); Hyracoidea (hyraxes); Sirenia (manatees and dugongs); Tubulidentata (aardvarks); Afrosoricida (tenrecs and golden moles); and Macroscelidea (sengis, or elephant shrews). There are also a few completely extinct orders, one of which was the Desmostylia.

They mostly lived around the northern Pacific Ocean, with localities mostly in Japan, western Canada and the western United States. Several genera have been named, and although it is believed that all desmostylians were aquatic to some extent, some were more ocean-going than others. The main evidence for such a conclusion is bone density, which reveals just how heavy and able to sink or float the animals were.

Paleoparadoxia tabatai life reconstruction
Graphite pencil illustration
Drawn from mounted specimen (skeleton) at Natural History Museum, London, December 2010

Whilst at the Museum on the day I drew the rest of the specimens, I thought I'd do a life reconstruction of this desmostylian. I'm not very happy with the way the face has turned out, as I don't think I've drawn the teeth accurately at all. In my defence, the specimen on display is quite poor, and a lot of liberties have to be made as to tooth count and position of limbs.

Phiomia serridens Andrews & Beadnell, 1902
Phiomiidae; Proboscidea; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration Drawn from specimen at Natural History Museum, London, December 2010

And this is the other new piece I submitted to the elephant gallery. Phiomia was a small, early proboscidean with a short trunk. A skull is on display next to a reconstructed model of it. My own reconstruction, therefore, was unnecessary. Also, I only had the skull to work from.

May I take this opportunity to remind you of the official Facebook group, and the first volume of The Disillusioned Taxonomist in print form, covering posts from mid to late 2008.

So long 2010...

2010-12-30T21:44:00.000Z

...and greetings to MMXI. I’m writing this post on the penultimate day of the year, whilst I take a brief hiatus from the etymological research which has eaten up a lot of my time to retrospect about the year that was (and still is, for another 26 and a bit hours here in London) 2010.

It’s been a year of ups and downs for me. It has included a trip to Paris, a symposium in Cambridge, and a crippling depression. I made some new friends, got in touch with a few old ones, and lost family members.

As it currently is, I haven’t got an awful lot to complain about, and I feel thankful for all the good that’s happened to me so far, despite 2010 being punctuated with several events that could have ended very badly. I really didn’t think I’d make it through this year, and, as those who have been affected by those events will know, is no hyperbole.

I had my first taste of a proper relationship, and although it took me several months to get over, I am feeling much better for having had the experience, despite the suffering that came with it. I came out as gay this year, which was probably the single most liberating thing I have ever done. I feared a backlash, with some people declaring they weren’t comfortable with this, but so far nobody has reacted negatively. The metaphorical closet was lonely and claustrophobic, and I had to get out of there. I don’t regret the decision one iota.

I was employed for three months at Bruce Castle Museum, a spell which was ended prematurely due to the seriousness of the depression I was going through at the time. In the months since, I have slowly been getting better to the point where I now feel able to work again, and have been putting so much effort into the research for the etymological dictionary which I’m aiming to get published in 2011. I also resolve to take better care of my health (an oft-made resolution, but one which I really have to take seriously), and to get out there and make more friends in the New Year. Oh, and I must restart on some fiction projects I had started this year when my head was in an odd place.

My deepest thanks go to my friends and family who have helped support me during this oddest of years, to my online following who have boosted this tiny, yet no less shallow, ego, and to the wonder that is antidepressant medication. Here’s to a merry 2011!

200th post announcement

2010-12-25T23:54:00.000Z

So, it’s Christmas evening and I’m suitably overfed and groggy, but I thought I’d give all my readers the news I promised I’d deliver. For this post, my 200th on The Disillusioned Taxonomist, is the public announcement of both the official Facebook group of this blog, and also the first volume of the blog in book form!!

The first eight months of The Disillusioned Taxonomist are now available to purchase from Lulu with full colour artwork and photography for the reasonable price of £23.99. If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning or thereabouts (way back in May 2008), you will most likely have fond but distant memories of Meeting with a Spinosaurus, illustrations of all the penguins of the world, biographies of my three cats, and a bizarre Cypriot museum. Of course, you could read all of these for free by checking the archives, but there are a few additional entries that might just make it worthwhile to buy!

You may be wondering why I waited until after Christmas to make this announcement, well, I simply didn’t come up with the idea until very recently. I won’t deny I have partially been influenced to publish a blook (not sure if this is a neologism, but I want credit if it is and makes it into the OED, please) by seeing Darren Naish’s first volume of Tetrapod Zoology.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-22T13:36:00.000Z

Happy Holidays to all The Disillusioned Taxonomist readers!

Special announcement for 200th post... you'll have to wait till after Crimbo, I'm afraid!!

Interview with Brian Switek

2010-12-09T16:46:00.000Z

Here follows an interview with Brian Switek, author of Written in Stone, the blogs Laelaps and Dinosaur Tracking, and several popular and academic articles.

Can you describe your sense of pride upon having a book and several articles published? Can you compare it to anything?

That's actually a tricky one to answer. There was no single, satisfying moment when I laid down the book manuscript, heaved a sigh, and said "It is finished" with a smile on my face. Quite the opposite. When I send off the last of the edits for the book my first thought was "Shit, what am I going to do now?"

Freelancing is tough. During the work week I spend most of any given day at an office job unrelated to my interests and I squeeze in whatever writing I can when I get home. As soon as I finish one essay or story I immediately start thinking of what I am going to do next and where I am going to pitch it. I have been successful with writing and I am proud of having written a book, but, since there has not been any change to my day-to-day life, I can't say that I feel any different. I'm still in "sink or swim" mode. There are simply too many things to write!

Nevertheless, the response to Written in Stone has been wonderful. Its publication made me anxious initially - I had no idea how it would be received - but I have not seen a bad review yet. I am thrilled that so many readers, with so many different backgrounds, have enjoyed the book.

With respect to the recent debate that took place on the Dinosaur Mailing List, how much importance do you think using the correct words is in forming scientific names, for example, using correct spellings of foreign words? Are you of the opinion that ignorance of such subjects sets a poor example to future generations, despite it being negligible to the actual science involved? Is there a difference between "dead" languages such as Latin, and those which are more alien to the western ear, such as Chinese?

If you are going to name a new species, you had best do it right. Regardless of whether that name has Latin roots or is being derived from another language, I think scientists have a responsibility to check and double check that the name is spelled correctly and otherwise linguistically accurate. Does a bad or misspelled name significantly hurt paleontology? I don't think so - the bones don't change even the name used to categorize them does - but making sure that words are being used correctly is just part of good science. For my own part, though, misspelled names don't bother me at all. If the recognized name for a species is misspelled, there is nothing I can do about it.

Without wanting to create some sort of patriotic rivalry, in your opinion, which country's scientists have done more for the sake of furthering the human understanding of the prehistoric world, Britain or America?

I am not going to be happy with either choice - scientists and naturalists from both countries have contributed greatly to our understanding of the history of life - but, if I must choose, I think I have to say the United States. Specifically, your question makes me think of the rapid development of American paleontology during the late 19th century when E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh (plus their various students, assistants, and field crews) dug into the west and found creatures unlike any seen anywhere before. The creatures they were discovering were not only unique, but were also scrutinized in regard to what they could tell us about evolution - the toothed birds (Ichthyornis, Hesperornis) and multi-toed horses Marsh found, in particular, thrilled British evolutionists like Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley. And, perhaps more importantly, the opening of the American west showed that the strata of Europe could not be taken as a near-complete proxy for the fossil record elsewhere. There was much left to discover elsewhere.

After the "Bone Wars" era, paleontology became more formally ensconced in American universities and museums. True, many expeditions were sent to find the biggest and best dinosaur skeletons, but many paleontologists (Elmer Riggs, W.B. Scott, William Diller Matthew, etc.) were very interested in what fossil mammals could tell us about evolutionary change. Granted, paleontology did go through a lull during the mid-20th century, but by the 1970's the field was reinvigorated by researchers like Tom Schopf, Stephen Jay Gould, Niles Eldredge, Steven Stanley, David Raup, Jack Sepkoski, and others who turned the science into an interdisciplinary pursuit of extreme importance to evolutionary questions. This "Paleobiological Revolution" continues today, although given the exchange of scientists and ideas between countries I don't think of things in a delineated pattern of strictly American and British paleontology traditions.

As I said, I am not very happy having to pick sides, but I think the spectacular geology of North America helped paleontology take off once it became established in the United States. It is a bit of historical contingency which allowed the science to flourish here.

We know that DNA and other molecules have become important in recent decades in revolutionising our view of true phylogenies in living taxa, but how much of a role can such data seriously play in interpreting fossil groups? In your opinion, as technology improves, will molecular data become a significant part of palaeontological practice, or will we [hopefully!] revert to a more classic, anatomically-based study? [You can tell what I think; this is why I called my blog 'The Disillusioned Taxonomist' after all!]

Obviously molecular phylogenies are extremely limited in their ability to tell us about fossil groups. If a lineage is entirely extinct - and there are many, many such lineages - they molecular phylogenies cannot take them into account. Take the now-resolved debate over the origin of whales, for example. During the 1980's and 1990's paleontologists preferred mesonychids (hoofed, predatory mammals) as whale ancestors on the basis of their teeth but geneticists and molecular biologists kept finding that whales grouped close to hippos and often within the artiodactyl family tree. Both groups were using different data sets, and molecular biologists could not include mesonychids because they became extinct long ago. What the molecular phylogenies did was - using data from modern mammals - make a prediction about what might be expected. Eventually the fossil data confirmed that whales are highly-specialized artiodactyls, but the debate over the placement of the mesonychids highlights the difficulty involved in determining evolutionary relationships when (most) extinct taxa are out of the reach of molecular biologists.

But, as the debate over whale origins showed, I think an interdisciplinary approach can be useful to paleontologists. After all, any phylogeny is a hypothesis that is bound to shift as we learn more. (I can't even count all the phylogenies of theropod dinosaurs there have been...) Phylogenies are definitively provisional, and I think that molecular phylogenies can sometimes be useful in making predictions about relationships that can then be tested with data from the fossil record. If the origin of a particular group is unknown, for example, but a molecular phylogeny shows that two lineages are close together and shared a common ancestor, then paleontologists can examine the fossil evidence to see whether or not this relationship holds up. I don't really think about this debate in terms of which method is superior or inferior. Molecular phylogenies and anatomically-based phylogenies can be used as tools that test and complement each other, so I think a combined approach may continue to be fruitful (even if it initially creates more discord than agreement).

Thanks to Brian Switek for answering my questions, now go and read his book!

Book Review: Written in Stone

2010-12-09T15:37:00.003Z

Written in Stone is the first book by the incredibly talented science blogger Brian Switek (above), most famous for his blog Laelaps formerly of Science Blogs, now of Wired Science, and the exclusively dinosaurian blog Dinosaur Tracking of the Smithsonian. It’s no surprise then, that his book is a masterpiece. I shall refrain from using any more clichés in the following review, I hope.

The book is broken up into nine main chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion, each with alliterative or otherwise memorable titles. Each also begins with a classic quote, many of which are Biblical. You might think this strange from a book about evolution, a process which is wholeheartedly denied by the Bible and its followers, but these quotes work both as a prelude to the chapter you are soon to read, and an example of the frameset of the pre-twentieth century scholar who would have taken the word of God as written in the Bible as undeniable truth (I avoided saying ‘gospel’ there, phew!)

The book’s introductory chapter, titled Missing Links, begins with the very familiar story of ‘Ida’ the famous specimen of Darwinius masillae which had a book and two television documentaries made in its honour. The story is familiar to me because I too watched the story unfold from hyped headlines into a media explosion back in May last year, and did my part for ‘Ida-fest’ by reviewing the BBC documentary about the discovery. Switek aired his views about the discovery on his blog, and was picked up by the media, even here in the UK. The story may not be so familiar to those who haven’t kept track of the media as closely, and it is these readers that will benefit most from the opening chapter.

The next chapter, The Living Rock, tracks the beginnings of palaeontology, from the comparison of living shark teeth with the glossopetrae, or petrified snake tongues, which were found centuries ago, through to the work of Baron Georges Cuvier, who pictured an antediluvian world before the Great Flood of the Bible based on archaeological and palaeontological evidence. The roles of Lyell, Buckland, and Lamarck, huge names in nineteenth century natural history, are summarised, before the primary subject of the next chapter is alluded to. Moving Mountains is the alliterative title given to the chapter about Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Many books have been written about Darwin, but this chapter condenses the main points pertinent to the history of geology as well as the best of them.

The next seven chapters each follow the historical and evolutionary stories of a different group of organisms. To take the first tetrapods, the subject of the chapter entitled From Fins to Fingers, as an example, the story of the first fossils to belong to such transitional organisms is told in parallel with that of the actual evolutionary chronology of the group as we currently know it. The discovery of the lungfish by both Natterer and Owen, and the consequent discovery of such early amphibians as Archegosaurus are interwoven with the relationship between Acanthostega, Ichthyostega, and Tiktaalik, amongst others.

This is taken even further in the following chapter, Footprints and Feathers on the Sands of Time, which tells the story of bird evolution from theropod dinosaur ancestors. The first fossil evidence to be found, albeit not consistently interpreted as such, was footprints, followed by the famous Archaeopteryx specimen. Because these are anachronistic with respect to the chronological order in which birds first came about, the two stories interfold beautifully so the reader can fully understand the basic facts about bird evolution.

Highlights of the subsequent chapters include the inner ear anatomy of therapsids and mammals in The Meek Inherit the Earth, the discovery of ancestral whales in As Monstrous as a Whale, the variety of extinct elephants, mastodons, mammoths, and their kin in Behemoth, and the convergent evolution of a single toe in both horses and litopterns in On a Last Leg. The chapter in which I learnt the most has to be that of the evolution of hominins – that is humans and our close extinct relatives – Through the Looking Glass, in which the well-known “ape-men” such as Lucy the Australopithecus and the Hobbit man of Flores are put in context with other members of the tribe which has culminated with Homo sapiens. I learnt, for example, that we are inseparable from apes because our chromosomes differ only in lacking a pair which has in fact become fused with another pair. The importance of the bipedal stance and unimportance of truncated faces is made clear once and for all.

Switek ends the book on a philosophical note with Time and Chance, the final chapter, which brings ideas from the previous chapters together and recapitulates them to some extent. He also contemplates what would have happened if, because evolution is entirely down to chance, the occurrences that caused therapsids to develop into mammals, and for dinosaurs to develop into birds, didn’t happen. Using the example of bacterial cultures to put evolutionary theory into practice, the reader is left in awe of the mechanics of evolution, and is dumbstruck by how on Earth we managed to not yet become victims of time and chance.

The book is illustrated throughout with portraits of the scientists who feature in it, engravings and illustrations of specimens old and new, and simplified cladograms which demonstrate evolutionary relationships in many groups.

Verdict: 10/10

Available to buy on Amazon.com in U.S.A. only, but is due to be released in the UK next summer.

Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with the author, coming soon.

The answer is...

2010-11-23T19:21:00.003Z

Fin whale skull (and rest of skeleton)
Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Balaenopteridae; Cetartiodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
Cambridge Zoology Museum
photograph taken June 2008

The answer to the question I posed a month ago now, that is. That 'fossilised leather belt' is actually a preserved part of the aorta of the very same fin whale whose more anterior bones you can see above. The whale washed up in Sussex on the south coast of England in 1865 (see the University of Cambridge's page about the specimen here, with a photo of the whale as it was found).

The aorta is the major artery in all mammals, starting at the heart and eventually splitting into all of the other arteries, with the exception of the pulmonary artery. It is at its widest just as it leaves the heart, so that gives you an idea of the size of the whale's cardiac pump.

That's all for now; I have been working hard on my etymological dictionary for the past month and seem to have neglected this blog! Although I rarely post here (and hardly have time for any of my favourite blogs), I can be found on Twitter most days, which takes up much less of my time (I could be wrong there!). I will be back with some interesting etymological titbits at some point!

What the hell is it?

2010-10-22T09:52:00.002+01:00

The item being modelled by the very lovely Matt Lowe, curator at the Cambridge Zoology Museum, once belonged to an animal. No, it's not a fossilized belt from a mid-sized theropod. So what is it? Anyone care to take a guess?

When a fox dies

2010-10-14T14:12:00.007+01:00

WARNING: This post contains some images which some may find disturbing. Having said that, they're not that bad, just thought I'd better mention it!

Red fox
Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758)
Canidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
in my garden in Enfield
July 2010

Around two months ago, a red fox died in my garden. I wasn't aware of this fact until a few days after a most bizarre entomological experience. I awoke on a rainy Sunday morning to find well over a million blowfly larvae scattered over the patio. Once the irrational thought of a biblical plague left my mind, I began to think there must be a dead animal somewhere which spawned this mass of maggots. The maggots died or found their way to safety by the evening, but I was still no nearer to finding the cause of this plague.

Some days later, large tufts of tawny-orange fur were discovered in the flowerbed near to where the maggots were found. Later that same day, the body was discovered. The fox had been eaten, and most of what was left behind was skin, fur, bone, and ligament. From the partial carcass, I managed to salvage parts of the forelimb, spinal column, ribcage, and pelvic and pectoral girdles. Also present were parts of the tail and a piece of plastic tubing in the region of the stomach. The hind legs were nowhere to be seen, and were most likely carried off by other foxes, crows, or magpies. I decided to leave the ulnae, radii, metacarpals, carpals, and manual phalanges (forelimbs and front paws), because there was still much flesh and ligament attached to them and it would have been too difficult to extract the bone. Also missing was the skull.

The bones, along with attached soft tissue and cartilage, were placed in a bath of domestic bleach and boiling water to sterilise and colour the bones and detach any soft tissue. They were left in the solution, topped up with bleach every two days, for a week. All of the bones salvaged from the carcass can be seen above, and most can be seen in more detail below. Six pairs of ribs were found.

The scapulae (shoulder blades) are heavily ridged for attachment of the trapezius and deltoid muscles of the upper back and shoulder region.

The humeri, or upper arm bones, came apart at the head to reveal spongy marrowbone. I have tentatively glued the heads back to the humeral bodies whilst they bleach further.

Lumbar vertebrae from the lower back of the fox, with intervertebral discs present in between.

Same vertebrae as above seen in dorsal view

Several thoracic and cervical vertebrae (from the upper back and neck). The large spines on the two bones on the upper right portion of the photo are from between the scapulae where the large muscles are attached.

Pelvic bones and sacrum (hips and lower back). The intervertebral disc between the last lumbar vertebra and the sacrum can be seen at the anterior margin of the sacrum.

It was all well and good have this selection of fox bones to study, but what I really wanted was the skull. On the last day of September, whilst searching for a wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) fledgling which had fallen from its nest, I found the skull, mandible, and 4 cervical vertebrae, hidden under a tall Lawson's cypress tree only a couple of metres from where the rest of the carcass was discovered. I stripped off the skin and remembered to take photos whilst the skull was still articulated. I was glad I did this, because after the bleaching process had finished, much of the skull was in pieces, and having a photo of the skull's original condition helped in reconstructing it.

The rather dark skull and mandible, with the skull in ventral view. Much soft tissue was still present around the tip of the snout, with the entire rhinarium (nose pad) intact.

Lateral view of skull, mandible, and C1-C4. The fur can be seen covering parts of the orbit (eye socket), and indeed, during the cleaning process, I found the remnants of the sclera of the eyeball.

Skull in lateral view and mandible in occlusal view showing the teeth which are still in situ. All twelve incisors and four canines were in place, as well as a few premolars and molars. I placed this specimen in a bleach and boiling water bath, increasing the concentration of the bleach. With daily checks, I could see the bleaching process was working better for the skull than it had for the other bones, as the colour turned from almost black to white in less than a week. The only downside is that all teeth became disarticulated, the rostrum and braincase split up, and both dentaries split at the mandibular symphysis. In other words, it was in bits.

I spent the bulk of two days rearticulating the skull. The braincase was nicely intact, but the ethmoid bone and nasal conchae (bones deep inside the nasal cavity) fell apart, leaving a shower of bony shards all over the place. The maxillae/palatines and premaxillae (see below photo for labels of some bones and teeth on ventral surface of skull), and the jugal bones of the cheek became disarticulated, as did the nasals and lacrimals. The latter bones, of the inside of the eye socket, couldn't be reconstructed, thus there is a massive hole in the eye socket where the lacrimal should be!

As well as using the photos of the specimen pre-cleaning to help reconstruct the fox skull, I used the skull of a coyote (Canis latrans) I have in my collection. It remains one of my best ever buys, a natural skull with nearly all teeth in place bought on eBay for under £10... anyway, here's a size comparison of coyote on left and fox on right.

This view of the fox skull shows the nasal bones (the two long bones in the middle) which became so disarticulated that I couldn't put them back properly. They are supposed to "slide in" between the maxillae.

This lateral view of the fox skull shows just how small it is, and it shows the carnassial teeth unique to carnivorans. More on those later.

It looks like some sort of rodent with that huge diastema, but I'm glad as many teeth were preserved as there were.

The carnassials are pair of teeth on each side of the jaw which work to cut meat for swallowing. The 4th upper premolar and 1st lower molar have specially adapted cusps which act like scissor blades. In the above photos, you can see how these two carnassials shear against each other so closely. This is the hallmark of the order Carnivora, with only a few types lacking it (such as the termite-eating aardwolf Proteles cristatus and certain pinnipeds).

The mandible in lateral and occlusal views. It took awhile to get the two halves of the lower jaw to stick together.

Finally, here we have the atlas, axis, C3, and C4 of the upper neck (I think they're in the correct order, but I could be wrong). The atlas supports the skull, while the axis articulates with the rest of the neck. I have placed the bones from the first find in a concentrated bleach solution to get as white as the skull and mandible have become.

Long time, no blog...

2010-09-10T15:18:00.006+01:00

... it may seem like I have vanished off the face off the Earth, and for that, I apologise. I am working on many ideas for blog posts: it turns out the island project I had mentioned a while back probably won't make it onto The Disillusioned Taxonomist. Although I completed it several months ago, I am less than proud of many of the drawings. There are a few outstanding illustrations, the best of which are towards the end of this post, but perhaps due to the paper quality, the scan quality, and my own substandard work, the majority of the illustrations look too poor to upload and show off. Perhaps in due course I will be able to rectify this, but for now, there are other projects in the pipeline. One of them, which I am soon to begin, is to draw every species of extant carnivoran. There are about 250 of them, so that should keep me busy for a while! For now, enjoy some oldies from my back catalogue, and some of the better island critters.

Smilodon fatalis (Leidy, 1868)
Felidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration of mounted skeleton in Natural History Museum, London
December 2008

Gomphotherium angustidens Burmeister, 1837
Gomphotheriidae; Proboscidea; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration
February 2009

Entelodon magnus Aymard, 1846
Entelodontidae; Cetartiodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration
February 2009

'Ida'
Darwinius masillae Franzen et al., 2009
Notharctidae; Primates; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration
May 2009

Basilosaurus isis (Andrews, 1904)
Basilosauridae; Cetartiodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration
December 2008

Rebbachisaurus garasbae Lavocat, 1954
Rebbachisauridae; Saurischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Ink pen illustration
October 2009

Valdosaurus canaliculatus (Galton, 1975)
Dryosauridae; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
June 2009

Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni (Tate & Blake, 1863)
Rhomaleosauridae; Plesiosauria; Sauropsida; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustration of mounted cast in Natural History Museum, London
January 2010

Tapejara and Tupuxuara (or 'Two Tapejarids')
Tapejara wellnhoferi Kellner, 1989 (top) - family Tapejaridae
Tupuxuara longicristatus Kellner & Campos, 1988 (bottom) - family incertae sedis
both Pterosauria; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
September 2008

Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus (or 'Two Pelycosaurs')
Dimetrodon angelensis Olson, 1962 (top)
Edaphosaurus pogonias Cope, 1882 (bottom)
Sphenacodontidae; Pelycosauria; Synapsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
December 2008

Huayangosaurus taibaii Dong, Tang, & Zhou, 1982
Huayangosauridae; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
June 2008

Centrosaurine skulls
Ceratopsidae; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Graphite pencil illustrations
February 2009

Argentinosaurus huinculensis Bonaparte & Coria, 1993
Family incertae sedis; Saurischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Ink pen illustration
October 2009

Parasaurolophus, Lambeosaurus, Saurolophus, Olorotitan, and Corythosaurus (or 'Five Hadrosaurids')
Clockwise from top left:
Parasaurolophus walkeri Parks, 1922 - coloration inspired by the hoopoe (Upupa epops)
Lambeosaurus lambei Parks, 1923 - coloration inspired by the mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
Saurolophus osborni Brown, 1912 - coloration inspired by the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)
Olorotitan arharensis Godefroit et al., 2003 - coloration inspired by the roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
Corythosaurus casuarius Brown, 1914 - coloration inspired by the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
Hadrosauridae; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
July 2008

Plateosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus (or 'Three Sauropodomorphs')
Plateosaurus engelhardti von Meyer, 1837 (top) - family Plateosauridae
Apatosaurus louisae Holland, 1915 (middle) - family Diplodocidae
Brachiosaurus altithorax Riggs, 1903 (bottom) - family Brachiosauridae
Saurischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
June 2008

Humboldt penguin
Spheniscus humboldti Meyen, 1834
Spheniscidae; Sphenisciformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
late 2006

Caribbean flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus, 1758
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
May 2010

Gastornis parisiensis Hébert, 1855
Gastornithidae; Gastornithiformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
December 2008

Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri (Gray, 1844)
Spheniscidae; Sphenisciformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
late 2006

Male anhinga
Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766)
Anhingidae; Pelecaniformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
August 2007

Sula Islands barn owl
Tyto nigrobrunnea Neumann, 1939
Tytonidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
February 2010

Tiktaalik roseae Daeschler, Shubin, & Jenkins, 2006
Family and order incertae sedis; Sarcopterygii; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
February 2010

Cuban solenodon
Solenodon cubanus Peters, 1861
Solenodontidae; Eulipotyphla; Mammalia; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
February 2010

Brothers Island tuatara
Sphenodon guntheri (Buller, 1877)
Sphenodontidae; Rhynchocephalia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
February 2010

PK Comics

2010-09-01T21:47:00.002+01:00

Not something I normally blog about, but check out this new web comic, PK Comics, which is just starting out. It was created by a close friend of mine, who has a real talent at this sort of thing. A word about the artistic quality: my friend decided to start uploading the panels as soon as possible in order to get the comic out there. He insists the quality of the artwork will improve in future strips as he takes more time in creating them. The relevance of this comic to me and my interests will become clear in due course...

Prehistoric Animal Alphabet

2010-06-28T20:28:00.007+01:00

Prehistoric Animal Alphabet
Colour pencil illustrations
June 2010

Above is a collection of twenty-six illustrations, each a stylised letter of the alphabet. They are styled to look like various prehistoric creatures, some are based loosely on existing types, others completely made up. All of them have been given a binomial, with each name beginning with the letter the animal represents, and a bit of geological/biological 'information' has been made up to go with each animal. To reiterate, none of these animals actually exists or have ever existed, and I cannot guarantee that all the names I have given them are unique and not synonyms (technically these are all nomina nuda, but anyway, enjoy...)

Alpharaptor aetonyx (meaning 'eagle-clawed "A" plunderer) was a purple-feathered theropod from late Cretaceous China. It had large, eagle-like talons on all four limbs and preyed upon small birds and mammals.

Betasaurus beryllinus ('beryl-like "B" lizard) was a medium-sized hadrosaur from late Cretaceous Alberta. It lived in large herds to defend itself from large tyrannosaurs, and fed upon cycads. The B-shaped head enabled Betasaurus to produce a sound somewhat like a euphonium.

Cyanosuchus cadaverinus ('corpse-like blue crocodile', from the colour and odour of the fossil remains) was a mesoeucrocodylian from Early Cretaceous southern England. It was a fish-eater and swam in freshwater lagoons.

Deltaceratops dipsomanius ('alcoholic "D" horned face') was a protoceratopsid from Late Cretaceous Mongolia. It lived in deserts and fed upon whatever ground cover it could find. Its specific epithet 'dipsomanius' was derived from the sprawled position of the type specimen.

Epsilonodactylus erebennus ('gloomy "E" finger) was a pteranodontid pterosaur from Late Cretaceous Argentina. It was discovered on a particularly gloomy day. It was a fish-eater, being most partial to sharks. It is thus believed to be an oceanic wanderer, like today's albatrosses.

Falcunguis ferox ('ferocious sickle claw') is only known from the claws and phalanges of two digits. It is believed to be an ancestor of the therizinosaurs, due to its geological and geographical distribution in Early Cretaceous China.

Gammasaurus geophagus ('earth eating "G" lizard) was a small coelurosaur with a very long tail which curved backwards over its body. It used the elongated tail to carry leaves which it used to shade itself in hot weather. It dates from the late Jurassic of Bavaria and ate large subterranean insects. Fossilised beetle remains were found in the stomachs of several well-preserved specimens of Gammasaurus geophagus, but these were erroneously believed to be examples of fossilised earth (so basically, rocks).

Hypsiloura helioscopus ('sky gazing high tail') was a camarasaurid from late Jurassic Montana. It was a medium-sized sauropod, capable of reaching tall monkey puzzles in search of foliage and pine cones. It was able to camouflage itself against the trunks of such trees by erecting its neck and tail and pretending to be a tree.

Iotatitan ischyrus ('strong "I" giant) was a titanosaurid from late Cretaceous Argentina. It was the largest sauropod ever known, and it is only known from a single partial cervical vertebra, but its total length has been extrapolated as anywhere from 27 m at the most conservative to 1.3 km at the other extreme. Since nothing is known of the skull or dentition, we cannot say anything about the diet of Iotatitan, except that it definitely ate something, and a lot of it.

Jovigyrinus jocosus ('joking Bon Jovi's salamander') was an early tetrapod from Devonian New Jersey. It was named after local rock band Bon Jovi. Jon Bon Jovi, the lead singer of the band, who is also an unsuccessful actor, has been quoted as saying about the animal, "Wow, at last something in the last two decades I can be proud of!" The animal was probably a predator of small fish and aquatic invertebrates such as trilobites in shallow seas, and would have had external gills like modern salamander larvae and axolotls.

Kappatherodon keiolophus ('cloven-crested "K" mammal-tooth') was a sphenacodontid therapsid related to Dimetrodon, but can be distinguished from it by its cloven back sail. Like its relative, it dates from the Permian of Texas and was a predator of smaller therapsids. It could only be active on hot days, between the hours of 10 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 2 p.m., unless it was during daylight savings time, when the hours are shifted an hour ahead. If Kappatherodon overslept, it would starve and become food for many a hungry Dimetrodon.

Lambdatherium lanatum ('woolly "L" mammal') was a multituberculate mammal from the Late Cretaceous of Kazakhstan. It was a colonial animal, living in mass burrow systems like rabbits or prairie dogs. It managed to survive beyond the K-T boundary, with remains of Lambdatherium lanatum being found 10 million years into the Palaeocene, proving beyond doubt that dinosaurs were abducted by aliens.

Micromacropteryx minutissimus ('very tiny little thing with long wings') was the late Triassic equivalent of a hummingbird. Although there were no flowering plants at the time, individuals could be seen flitting from plant to plant looking for sources of nectar. Of course, because there was no such thing as nectar, Micromacropteryx became hypercarnivorous, eating just about any flesh it could wrap its tiny jaws around.

Neonothosaurus natans ('swimming new bastard lizard', for its unknown parentage, and the fact that it's not very nice) was not a true nothosaur, and was not even a reptile. It represents the only known member of a lineage of lissamphibians to have developed a coat of scales which makes it able to spend extended periods of time outside of water. It lived in early Triassic lakes across northern Pangaea, which was to become the supercontinent of Laurasia.

Omegaraptor ookleptes ('egg-stealing "O" plunderer') was a large turquoise-coloured oviraptoran closely related to Citipati osmolskae. Like that dinosaur, Omegaraptor had a large and brightly-coloured head, and probably didn't steal eggs. That didn't stop one taxonomist from naming the species ookleptes, because he felt that just because it hasn't been proven, doesn't mean it isn't true.

Piceratops psittacoides ('parrot-like "P" horned face') is a close relative of Psittacosaurus but is much larger. Reaching a maximum of 20 m, Piceratops was easily the largest of the ceratopsians, and dwelled in Late Cretaceous forests in China.

Quinquecornis quintilis ('five horns of July') was the smallest of the ceratopsians, with adults reaching no more than 40 cm in length. Most of that length was taken up by the huge frill. As its name suggests, it has five horns: two small jugal horns on each side of the face; and a single large nasal horn. It lived in late Cretaceous North America. Fossils of Q. quintilis are most often discovered in the month of July.

Rhosaurus reductus ('aloof "R" lizard) was a prosauropod from Late Triassic South Africa. Just like the same region nowadays, South Africa was full of noisy buzzing sounds, but instead of coming from plastic vuvuzelas, Rhosaurus would have contributed to the din. It was a plant eater but was believed to be nocturnal due to its large orbits, but this is now known to be where the buzzing sounds arise from. The nocturnal nature led early palaeontologists to believe Rhosaurus was timid and aloof, hence the specific name.

Sigmacorypha suchophaga ('crocodile-eating "S" neck') was an elasmosaur, a group of long-necked plesiosaurs. It was a significant predator of Cyanosuchus, eating several individuals in one sitting.

Tautherium tragocerum ('goat-horned "T" mammal') was an ox-like ungulate from Miocene Tibet, occupying a similar niche to today's yak (Bos grunniens). It had no external ears, because its ancestors were aquatic and had since lost their pinnae.

Upsilonobatrachus umbrivagus ('shade-dwelling "U" frog') was a large temnospondyl amphibian from Carboniferous Spain. It would have preferred to lurk in the shade of tree ferns and other such plants whilst submerged in the water with its jaws agape, waiting for small fish to approach. Its yellow coloration is believed to be the earliest example of aposematic coloration known.

Virididipennis vorax ('with two green feathers and a huge appetite') was a small tree-dwelling reptile related to lizards and snakes but with large scaly outgrowths on the head which resemble feathers. The rest of the body is not known, but it has been suggested that it could be upto several miles long. It dwelled in Pliocene Thailand.

Woganosaurus williamsi ('Robin Williams's and Terry Wogan's lizard') was an early reptile that defies classification. It was found in Scotland in Carboniferous rocks by members of the BBC Radio 2 crew, and was named after the veteran host Terry Wogan. Robin Williams was honoured in the specific epithet due to the taxonomist's fondness for the movie Mrs. Doubtfire.

Xipteryx xanthypothalassus ('Yellow Submarine "X" wing') was an early primate which experimented with gliding. It had a pair of patagia between the ankle and wrist and would glide from tree to tree in Eocene Europe. The type specimen was discovered by Ringo Starr while touring. The species was named after one of his band's most popular songs, and one of the easiest to translate into Ancient Greek.

Yahoolophosaurus yptios ('upside-down Y.A.H.O.O. crested lizard') was a therapsid discovered in Permian Russia. It was found by members of the Young American Historical Ornithological Organisation who were on a field trip to Russia. The first specimen to be exhibited was mounted upside-down, hence the name, and why all reconstructions of the creature are upside-down.

Zetaornis zaocys ('very fast "Z" bird') was a species of tern (family Sternidae) from Pliocene Alaska. It had disproportionally long wings to power its extremely fast flight. It has been suggested that it could have reached speeds of upto 186,000 miles per second, which is of course the speed of light.

Squamates Part IV

2010-05-30T21:16:00.006+01:00

The final part of the series on squamates consists of the snakes. There are many ways to categorise snakes: traditionally and colloquially this is between the venomous and non-venomous varieties. In reality, the distinction is not so clear cut. There's also constricting and non-constricting snakes, again fraught with the same difficulty.

Boas belong to the family Boidae, often considered a subfamily of the pythons of the Pythonidae. The majority of the snakes belong to the family Colubridae, usually known as rear-fanged snakes or colubrids - these are mostly non-venomous and non-constricting. Members of the Elapidae include the notoriously venomous cobras, taipans, coral snakes, and sea snakes. The Viperidae and Crotalidae (sometimes considered under the same family) include vipers and pit vipers, the latter group including the rattlesnakes. There are many other smaller families of snakes, none of which I have photos of (all photos below: order Squamata; class Sauropsida; phylum Chordata).

Dumeril's boa
Boa dumerili (Jan in Jan & Sordelli, 1860) - Boidae
London Zoo
November 2008

Formerly included in the genus Acrantophis, the Dumeril's boa is a ground-dwelling boid from Madagascar and the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. It is closely related to that other famous boa (I don't mean the feather variety), Boa constrictor, which has the same vernacular name as its scientific one. Boids are native to the Neotropics, that is Central and South America and the West Indies (with a few species in North America), as well as the Old World in parts of Europe, Africa, southern Asia and New Guinea.

Emerald tree boa
Corallus caninus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Boidae
London Zoo
December 2009

There are many species of tree boa of the genus Corallus distributed in the Neotropics. The emerald tree boa is probably the most well known - the adult is green with white bands, while the young are a shocking orange or scarlet in colour. They bear a remarkable resemblance to the unrelated green tree python (see below), an excellent example of convergent evolution.

Green tree python
Morelia viridis (Schlegel, 1872) - Pythonidae
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
April 2009

The green tree python is an arboreal python from Australia and New Guinea, green in its adult stage and red or maroon as a juvenile. The heat pits present in boids and pythons can be seen in the above photograph - these enable the snake to 'see' a thermal image of its warm-blooded prey. This extra sense makes up for the lack of hearing common to all snakes.

Jaguar carpet python
Morelia spilota mcdowelli Wells & Wellington, 1984 - Pythonidae
Natural History Museum
May 2009

This is a beautifully-coloured morph of the coastal carpet python native to eastern Australia. Carpet pythons are closely related to green tree pythons, but are, as their name suggests, mostly terrestrial.

Reticulated python
Python reticulatus (Schneider, 1801) - Pythonidae
Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
May 2008

The reticulated python is a Southeast Asian snake which holds the record for the longest living snake, commonly exceeding 8.7 m (28 feet) in length. The green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is often thought to hold that title, but although it is a bulkier and heavier animal, it rarely gets as long. Note the iridescence on the scales of this beautifully-patterned individual.

Indian python
Python molurus molurus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Pythonidae
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

One of the more commonly kept large snakes belongs to the species Python molurus, but not to the nominate race (see below). The Indian python is less commonly seen in captivity - it is less boldly marked than the Burmese python.

Burmese python
Python molurus bivittatus Kuhl, 1820 - Pythonidae
Jardin des Plantes
January 2010

It is the Burmese python that is a more common pet, with a more easterly distribution in the wild than P. m. molurus. They have become established in parts of southern Florida in recent years as ignorant former pet-owners release their unwanted serpents into the wild.

Ball python
Python regius (Shaw, 1802) - Pythonidae
Linton Zoo, Cambridgeshire
July 2009

The ball, or royal, python is native to western and central Africa and is quite small for a python, making it the ideal pet for someone who wants a python but not a P. reticulatus or P. molurus! They habitually curl into tight balls in defence, giving them one of their common names.

Baron's green racer
Philodryas baroni Berg, 1895 - Colubridae
Jardin des Plantes
January 2010

A classic member of the Colubridae, a large group of rear-fanged snakes, very few of which are any danger to humans. It's not a commonly seen species in captivity, but is kept by a few people, some of whom report that its bite is venomous.

Boomslangs
Dispholidus typus (Smith, 1829) - Colubridae
London Zoo
June 2004

The name 'boomslang' is Dutch for 'tree snake'. It is a tree-dwelling snake, native to Africa, and is notorious as being the most venomous of the back-fanged snakes. It is often confused with the even more venomous green mambas (Dendrophis spp.) of the Elapidae.

Pachyophis woodwardi Nopcsa, 1923 - Colubridae
Oxford Museum of Natural History
July 2008

One of the earliest colubrid snakes, Pachyophis woodwardi was described by Franz Nopcsa, the Hungarian palaeontologist who famously killed himself shortly after killing his lover. Pachyophis is believed to have been a marine snake, as it was found in Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous) marine deposits in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Black mamba
Dendroaspis polyaspis Gunther, 1864 - Elapidae
London Zoo
December 2009

The black mamba is a deeply-feared and infamous snake throughout much of Africa. It's not black, as you can see, more of a pewter-grey, but it is the inside of its mouth which is apparently jet black. I haven't seen that for myself, and one would think that that would be the last fact you ever learn as the mouth clasps around some extremity or another. It is a fast animal for one without any legs, moving at a top speed of 20 km/h (12 mph).

Gaboon viper
Bitis gabonica (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril, 1854) - Viperidae
London Zoo
December 2009

This is quite a shocking animal - it is a bulky yet short viper with a huge head, huge eyes, and an unbelievably complex pattern on its body. The Gaboon viper is native to west Africa where it lies on the forest floor, blending in perfectly. You can see by the size of its cheeks that it must have a potent amount of venom in its glands, indeed, although it is docile and only bites when absolutely provoked, the venom is indeed very toxic, but not necessarily fatal.

Western diamondback rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox Baird & Girard, 1853 - Crotalidae
London Zoo
June 2007

The rattlesnakes are a specialised group of pit vipers endemic to the New World. They are notorious for the sound they make, produced by hollow scales at the end of the tail which are rattled in warning. The scales are added with each successive moult, indeed hatchling rattlers can't rattle! Rattlesnakes are cryptically coloured in order to prevent their prey, usually small desert rodents, from detecting their presence as they wait for such animals to come into reach (they are detected using heat pits, much like those of boids). However, if the snake senses the presence of a more malicious and less delicious threat, it will shake its tail in warning. Only when this warning fails will it strike, delivering a potent bite of venom.

Aruba Island rattlesnake
Crotalus unicolor Lidth de Jeude, 1887 - Crotalidae
London Zoo
June 2007

Not all rattlers are found in deserts though. The neotropical rattlesnake (C. durissus) is distributed throughout much of South and Central America, including tropical forests, and there are species like the timber rattlesnake (C. horridus) and eastern diamondback rattlesnake (C. adamanteus) from temperate forests of eastern North America. The Aruba Island rattlesnake is often considered a subspecies of C. durissus, and is critically endangered, with less than 230 individuals estimated to survive in the wild on the island of Aruba off the coast of Venezuela.

So that's it for the squamates, onto the crocodylians next!!

Squamates Part III

2010-05-23T10:45:00.006+01:00

The last of the lizards, and a couple of mosasaurs, before I begin on the snakes. Families represented here are the Varanidae, Scincidae, and Mosasauridae (order Squamata; class Sauropsida; phylum Chordata).

Mangrove monitor
Varanus indicus (Daudin, 1802) - Varanidae
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

Monitor lizards are a group of large to enormous Old World lizards, including the largest of them all - the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis - see below). They are found in a variety of habitats, from the most arid deserts to lush tropical rainforests, and take to the trees and water as well as dry land. The mangrove monitor is a widely distributed species from southeast Asia, parts of Australia, and many islands of the western Pacific Ocean. Although the specific epithet is 'indicus', it does not range as far west as India - the name supposedly refers to the Indies, which was the generic name given to most of southeast Asia in colonial times. True to its vernacular, it does frequent mangrove forests, as well as inland freshwater bodies.

Philippine water monitor
Varanus cumingi Martin, 1839 - Varanidae
London Zoo
December 2009

The water monitor (V. salvator) is a large and widely distributed monitor lizard from southeast Asia. Some of its more distinctive races, including V. s. cumingi, were recently split from it taxonomically, becoming species in their own right. This new species, known as the Philippine water monitor, originates from three of the larger Philippine islands, and is known for having more yellow markings than any other monitor.

Peach-throated monitor
Varanus jobiensis Ahl, 1932 - Varanidae
London Zoo
November 2008

Closely related to the mangrove monitor, and it has only recently been separated from it, the peach-throated monitor is native to New Guinea. It is indeed sympatric with the mangrove monitor, meaning that they both occur in the same region and habitat, suggesting that they are taxonomically distinct. Its throat is not always peach, ranging from white through to red.

Nile monitor
Varanus niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Varanidae
Colchester Zoo
June 2009

The Nile monitor is a large monitor lizard distributed throughout much of tropical Africa. They are the largest lizards in Africa, and are among the largest of the monitors.

Komodo dragon (or Komodo Island monitor)
Varanus komodoensis Ouwens, 1912 - Varanidae
London Zoo
December 2009

The largest of the lizards, and one of the most familiar of the monitors, the Komodo dragon is restricted to a few tiny islands in Indonesia. Their huge size has been attributed to the phenomenon known as insular gigantism, whereby animals on islands become larger than their mainland counterparts, due to an available large predator niche which needs filling. The Komodo dragon is the only terrestrial predator on the islands in which it lives.

Juvenile Komodo dragon
London Zoo
June 2007

It was recently discovered that female Komodo dragons can reproduce without having mated. This virgin birth phenomenon is known as parthenogenesis, and until it was discovered in this species, it was previously only known in a few lizards and snakes. The other recent discovery concerning Komodo dragons is the verification that they are venomous - it has been known for a long time that they can bring down animals as large as fully grown water buffalo, but the mechanism involved was thought to be restricted to bacteria present in the lizard's mouth which cause infection. It is now known that they actively produce venom, albeit not in huge amounts, and it takes prey animals several days to die.

Juvenile Bosc's monitors
Varanus exanthematicus (Bosc, 1792) - Varanidae
Crews Hill, Enfield
May 2009

The Bosc's, or savannah, monitor is a fairly large terrestrial species from the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa. It is smaller than the closely related rock monitor (V. albigularis) and the Nile monitor, with which the Bosc's monitor is sometimes confused.

Emerald tree monitor
Varanus prasinus Schlegel, 1839 - Varanidae
London Zoo
December 2009

One of the smallest monitor lizards, the emerald tree monitor is also one of the most striking in colour. There are many similar species under the same complex, grouped together as 'green tree monitors'. This species is restricted to the island of New Guinea, while others are found in surrounding areas.

Australian ridge-tailed monitor
Varanus acanthurus Boulenger, 1885 - Varanidae
Edinburgh Zoo
July 2005

Australia has a great variety of monitor lizards. Most of the mid-sized ones are colloquially called goannas, and the biggest of them all is the perentie (V. giganteus). The ridge-tailed monitor is a small species, never reaching more than around 60 cm (2').

Plioplatecarpus primaevus Russell, 1967 - Mosasauridae
Oxford Museum of Natural History
July 2008

Mosasaurs were a group of mostly very large marine lizards. They were closely related to the monitor lizards, and probably shared a common ancestor during the mid to late Mesozoic era. Plioplatecarpus lived in Laurasian seas, as fossils have been found in both North America and Europe - during the late Cretaceous, these two continents would have been very close together.

Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 - Mosasauridae
Natural History Museum, London
February 2008

This is one of the original specimens of the entire group of mosasaurs. Gideon Mantell, the man who discovered and identified the remains of Iguanodon, named this, the type species of the genus.

Ocellated skink
Chalcides ocellatus Forsskål, 1775 - Scincidae
Jardin des Plantes
January 2010

Skinks are a widespread family of lizards distributed in every continent but Antarctica. There are few species in Europe, many of them having reduced limbs. The ocellated skink is related to the three-toed skink (C. chalcides), which is one of those with very small vestigial limbs, and tiny toes.

Shingleback
Tiliqua rugosa (Gray, 1825) - Scincidae
London Zoo
November 2008

The head of this reptile is on the right: the tail is used for defence by the skink as a decoy. Like other members of the genus Tiliqua, T. rugosa has a dark blue tongue which it flashes at potential threats. It is reputed to have the most vernacular names of any lizard, including bobtail skink, stump-tailed skink, bogeyes, pinecone lizard, and Australian sleepy lizard.

Gidgee skink
Egernia stokesii (Gray, 1845) - Scincidae
London Zoo
December 2009

Another Australian skink, recognisable for its very rough scales and pinecone-like tail. It is found in arid areas of central Australia.

Giant blue-tongued skink
Tiliqua gigas (Schneider, 1801) - Scincidae
Shepreth Wildlife Park, Cambridgeshire
September 2008

This is the only member of the genus Tiliqua not to be found in Australia - it originates from New Guinea. As its name suggests, it is larger than the other species, and does indeed have a blue tongue.

The squamate parade continues with snakes, next time.

Squamates Part II

2010-05-21T20:53:00.005+01:00

Part two of the lizards, featuring members of the families Crotaphytidae, Gekkonidae, Helodermatidae, Iguanidae, Lacertidae, Phrynosomatidae, and Polychrotidae.

Male (above) and female brown anoles
Anolis sagrei Dumeril & Bibron, 1837 - Polychrotidae
Wild in Orlando, Florida
July 2007

Anoles are a group of lizards related to iguanas, indeed they are sometimes placed within the same family. They are distributed in subtropical and tropical parts of the Americas, including most Caribbean islands. The brown anole is native to Cuba and the Bahamas, and has been introduced to the USA. I saw no other species of lizard in my two weeks in Florida in 2007 (except the other alien, see below), but brown anoles abound. The male, as can be seen in the top photo, flashes a colourful dewlap of skin at mates and rivals.

Blue spiny lizard
Sceloporus serrifer cyanogenys (Cope, 1885) - Phrynosomatidae
London Zoo
December 2009

Spiny lizards are related to the horned toads - not toads, but they are somewhat reminiscent of those amphibians. I'm not sure if the spiny lizards can do this, but the horned toads are able to squirt blood from around their eye into the face of a potential predator, which is supposedly enough to deter most of them.

Juvenile Schreiber's fringe-toed lizard
Acanthodactylus schreiberi Boettger, 1878 - Lacertidae
Wild at Alagadi Beach, North Cyprus
April 2009

The fringe-toed lizards of the genus Acanthodactylus ('thorn finger') are distributed in arid habitats in parts of northern Africa, southern Europe, and southwest Asia. This species is found in Cyprus and adjacent parts of Turkey and the Near East. It is abundant, although it is classed as Endangered by the IUCN. Juveniles have bright red tails which fade as they mature; their striped bodies also fade. They aren't difficult to spot, but they are hard to approach. More pictures available on the ARKive website (submitted by myself!).

Snake-eyed lizard
Ophisops elegans Menetries, 1832 - Lacertidae
Wild at Geçitköy Reservoir, North Cyprus
April 2009

Although outwardly quite similar to the Schreiber's fringe-toed lizard, the snake-eyed lizard is less abundant, and just as shy. The eye is likened to that of a snake because it appears to lack eyelids, but they are really just clear and fused together, forming a protective 'spectacle'. As well as being found on Cyprus, it is distributed throughout much of the Middle and Near East, and as far east as India.

Troodos lizard
Phoenicolacerta troodica (Werner, 1936) - Lacertidae
Wild in Kyrenia, North Cyprus
April 2009

This species is endemic to Cyprus, but has close relatives in mainland Turkey and the Near East. It was until recently considered a member of the genus Lacerta, but this widespread genus has been broken down into several genera. The Troodos lizard bears similarities to the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) and green lizards (Lacerta spp.), and the male in the breeding season has a blue, green, and rufous coloration.

Utila spiny-tailed iguana
Ctenosaura bakeri Stejneger, 1901 - Iguanidae
London Zoo
December 2009

This is a critically endangered, medium-sized, tree-dwelling iguana endemic to the island of Utila off the coast of Honduras in Central America. Its tail has encircling bands of spines, hence the name.

Rhinoceros iguana
Cyclura cornuta Bonnaterre, 1789 - Iguanidae
Colchester Zoo
June 2009

There are many large species of iguanas found on islands: the marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is the only sea-dwelling lizard, and there are pink land iguanas on the Galapagos Islands, and blue ones in the Cayman Islands. The island of Hispaniola, shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean Sea, is home to the rather large rhinoceros iguana. They are vulnerable to extinction, but thankfully are doing well in captive breeding programmes worldwide.

Male green iguana
Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758) - Iguanidae
Wild in Everglades National Park, Florida
August 2007

I spotted this individual in a tree while walking along the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades. I did not expect to see this. It is well known that stupid people set their pets free (I once did this, I am ashamed to admit... it too involved illegal aliens, American bullfrogs - Lithobates catesbeiana... oops!), so it should be no surprise that all sorts of exotic creatures can be found in the subtropical climes of the Everglades.

Male (foreground) and female Fijian banded iguanas
Brachylophus fasciatus (Brongniart, 1800) - Iguanidae
Manchester Museum
July 2008

There are three species of iguana native to the islands of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean, all of the genus Brachylophus. They are all severely threatened with extinction; one species, B. bulabula, was only described in 2008. The Fijian banded iguana differs from the similar crested iguana (B. vitiensis) by its shorter crest and bluer coloration.

Mexican beaded lizard
Heloderma horridum Wiegmann, 1829 - Helodermatidae
Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
September 2009

There are two species in the family Helodermatidae - the Gila monster (H. suspectum - see below), and the Mexican beaded lizard. Both are notorious for being the only North American lizards with a venomous bite. They also share this beaded texture to their scales, giving this species its name.

Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum Cope, 1869 - Helodermatidae
London Zoo
June 2007

The Gila (pronounced "hee-la") monster is not as monstrous as its name suggests. It is a placid animal and will only bite if provoked. Indeed, because it uses its venom to subdue and kill its prey, it will not waste it on stupid humans unless absolutely necessary. It has been discovered that certain compounds in the venom of Heloderma lizards have anti-diabetic properties - this is something which has earned the Gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard some good form of notoriety.

Madagascar giant day gecko
Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis Gray, 1870 - Gekkonidae
Natural History Museum, London
May 2009

Geckos are another type of lizard familiar to most people - they are widespread in most warm parts of the world, some make excellent pets, and are reknowned for their ability to climb walls and ceilings with ease. The day geckos of the genus Phelsuma are found in Madagascar, so called because of their diurnal activity.

Leopard gecko
Eublepharis macularius Blyth, 1854 - Gekkonidae
Cambridge Zoology Museum
May 2009

Most geckos have no true eyelids - the scales which form the eyelid have fused (see snake-eyed lizard above). The eublepharines are a subfamily of geckos which possess true eyelids. They also lack the adhesive pads on their toes. The leopard gecko is a very popular pet - it originates from arid and semi-arid regions of southern Asia.

Male collared lizard
Crotaphytus collaris (Say, 1823) - Crotaphytidae
Crews Hill, Enfield
May 2009

Collared lizards are rarely seen in the pet trade, but are common in arid habitats in the west of the USA and Mexico. Males have the triple black collar on the neck which gives the species its vernacular and specific names. The colours become bolder and brighter during the breeding season.

More lizards (and perhaps some mosasaurs!) coming up soon...

Squamates Part I

2010-05-20T16:13:00.005+01:00

The order Squamata ('scaly ones') contains the lizards and snakes. The group used to be split into Sauria (the lizards) and Serpentes (the snakes), but this is not a natural grouping - snakes are legless, hypercarnivorous lizards. Since this is such a huge group (approaching 6000 species), with many interesting members, I shall break up the squamates into several arbitrary groups. The first contains the Agamidae, Anguidae, Chamaeleonidae, Cordylidae, and Corytophanidae (all order Squamata; class Sauropsida; phylum Chordata).

Male plumed basilisk
Basiliscus plumifrons (Cope, 1876) - Corytophanidae
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
April 2009

The lizard called the basilisk should not be confused with the beast of the same name famed in mythology, and another similar one from the world of Harry Potter. This creature is very much real, and can't kill its prey with a single stare. It does do one rather remarkable thing though: it can run on water on its hind limbs. I bet Nagini couldn't do that.

Giant plated lizard
Gerrhosaurus validus Smith, 1849 - family Cordylidae
Colchester Zoo
June 2009

Plated lizards and sungazers are chunky, well-armoured African lizards of the family Cordylidae. They are popular pets, but not so popular as bearded dragons (see below). There are six species in the genus Gerrhosaurus, and this species can grow up to 69 cm in length.

Panther chameleon
Furcifer pardalis Cuvier, 1829 - Chamaeleonidae
Manchester Museum
July 2008

Chameleons are a very well-known group of Old World lizards reknowned for many things: their eyes which can move independently of one another; their extremely long sticky tongue used to ensnare their invertebrate prey; and most famously, their ability to change colour. The panther chameleon is a large Madagascan species (the island has a huge diversity of chameleons, from the tiny leaf chameleons of the genus Brookesia to the Oustalets' chameleon - Furcifer oustaleti) with large spots on its body which change colour accordingly dependent on the animal's surroundings and mood.

European chameleon
Chamaeleo chamaeleon Linnaeus, 1758 - Chamaeleonidae
Wild in eastern Cyprus
October 2008

There are two species of chameleon in Europe: this one occurs in Greece and many of the Aegean islands, as well as Cyprus and elsewhere. The African chameleon, C. africanus, also occurs in Greece. We spotted this individual crossing the road in the vicinity of Famagusta on the eastern coast of North Cyprus. I found it retreating into the undergrowth and attempted to catch it but it put up a fight, hissing and rocking its body from side to side as only pissed off chameleons know how to do. I had to make do with a few fuzzy photographs, and this one which captures its mood perfectly I think.

Scheltopusik
Ophisaurus apodus Pallas, 1775 - Anguidae
London Zoo
December 2009

There are several families of legless lizards - many people in Britain and Europe are familiar with slow worms (Anguis fragilis), a legless lizard which is oft mistaken for a snake. The scheltopusik is a Eurasian species, also called the glass lizard. This name originates from the common behaviour strategy amongst many lizard groups to shed their tail when stressed - a phenomenon known as caudal autotomy. This is also the origin to the specific name of the slow worm - fragilis - something which many people realise when they pick up a lizard by the tail and are left with a wriggling tail and a look of shock on their face.

Saharan uromastyx
Uromastyx geyri Muller, 1922 - Agamidae
Shepreth Wildlife Park, Cambridgeshire
September 2008

Uromastyx lizards, also called dab lizards, mastigures, or spiny-tailed lizards, are desert-dwelling reptiles from north Africa and the Middle East with fattened spiny tails. These tails are used as a fat source and a defence against would-be predators.

Philippine sailfin lizard
Hydrosaurus pustulatus (Eschscholtz, 1829) - Agamidae
Colchester Zoo
June 2009

A large tree-dwelling agamid with two conspicuous sails on its back and tail, the Philippine sailfin lizard will escape predators by plunging into the water below the tree in which it will otherwise be resting. They are good swimmers and, like the basilisk, can run on water, but quadrupedally rather than bipedally.

Frilled lizards
Chlamydosaurus kingii Gray, 1827 - Agamidae
Crews Hill, North London
May 2009

One of the best known of the agamids, the frilled lizard or frilled dragon is familiar to most people for its threat display. The fold of skin which almost completely encircles its neck is erected, the mouth is opened, and the lizard runs on its hind legs towards its attacker. This is usually enough to deter its predators, which in the Australian outback would include dingos, monitor lizards, quolls, and birds of prey. The frill around the neck also features on the Dilophosaurus in the first Jurassic Park movie - there is no evidence for this, nor its ability to spit venom in the faces of dinosaur DNA thieves.

Agama
Laudakia stellio (Linnaeus, 1758) - Agamidae
Wild at Bellapais Abbey, North Cyprus
April 2009

The family Agamidae is distributed in the Old World, with many species found in Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It is represented only by Laudakia stellio in Europe, and only marginally at that. It is one of the most common reptiles in Cyprus, and large and small individuals abound wherever there is a sunny spot to bask. It is also the largest lizard present on the island.

Juvenile agama
Wild at Bellapais Abbey
October 2008

Young agamas are more brightly patterned than the adults, as the above individual shows. They commonly have a diamondback pattern and a banded tail.

Bearded dragon ("Mr. Gibbs")
Pogona sp. Storr, 1982 - Agamidae
Photographs courtesy of Jason Kay

The bearded dragon is probably everyone's favourite agamid... it certainly is a popular pet, and rightly so. It can be a charming, friendly, and inquisitive companion, isn't very demanding in its needs, and gets to a manageable size. Best of all, you can handle them - you can't do that to amphibians.

There are seven species in the genus Pogona, and most them do appear in the pet trade from time to time. Since they differ only in very small ways, it can be difficult to tell which species any given individual is. The majority probably belong to P. vitticeps (Ahl, 1926), the inland bearded dragon, which is the most common in the wild, although Lawson's dragons - P. henrylawsoni Wells & Wellington, 1985 - are popular too.

It has been observed that some species, including P. barbata, have vestigial venom glands from the ancestral squamate from which all lizards and snakes evolved. Not only is venom present in snakes, but also in two groups of lizards - the monitors and the beaded lizards - it could be found to be present in other lineages too. Of course, bearded dragons are completely safe to handle - the venom glands are not ducted and they do not have fangs.

More lizards to come...

Caudata

2010-05-19T19:43:00.005+01:00

Yesterday we had the anurans (frogs and toads). Now its the turn of the newts and salamanders to take the spotlight. Order Caudata; Class Amphibia; Phylum Chordata

Alpine newt larva (about 2 days old)
Ichthyosaura alpestris (Laurenti, 1768) - Salamandridae
Hatched from eggs at home
June 2008

This species has gone through a couple of significant name changes in the last couple of years. For a long while it was lumped into the genus Triturus with all other European newts, but was placed into its own genus, Mesotriton, a couple of years ago. It turns out that the generic name Ichthyosaura was erected for this species some time before Mesotriton, so that name gets priority. Taxonomy is weird, I told you.

Male palmate newt (top) and male smooth newt
Lissotriton helveticus Razoumousky, 1789 / L. vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Salamandridae
Wild caught in Epping Forest, Essex
March 2009

The main difference between these two native British species can be seen clearly in this photograph. While smooth newts occasionally have enlarged feet during the breeding season, they are never black, unlike the male palmate newt.

Male great crested newt
Triturus cristatus (Laurenti, 1768) - Salamandridae
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

Don't try this at home. You need to have a licence or be in the company of someone with a licence to hold a great crested newt in the UK (I was the latter). Their alternate name of 'warty newt' is quite apt, as they are distinctly lumpy to the touch. They are the biggest of the British newts, and by far the most impressive.

Japanese fire-bellied newt
Cynops pyrrhogaster (Boie, 1826) - Salamandridae
London Zoo
December 2009

This species, and its close relative from mainland Asia, the Chinese fire-bellied newt (C. orientalis) are popular pets, although this species is larger and apparently more aggressive, and the two species should not be kept together.

Immature smooth newt
Lissotriton vulgaris
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

I dug up this little guy in the undergrowth, probably just rousing from its winter hibernation. Smooth newts are the most common of the newts in the southeast of England and in much of the UK and western Europe.

Himalayan crocodile newt
Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson, 1871 - Salamandridae
London Zoo
December 2009

A bit of an exaggeration to liken a salamander to a crocodile, but here's the crocodile newt. There are other members of the genus, distributed in parts of Asia, with bright orange markings.

Male smooth newt
Lissotriton vulgaris
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

The male smooth newt has an orange belly and jagged crest in the breeding season, but neither feature is as pronounced as in the great crested newt.

Male palmate newt
Lissotriton helveticus
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

The male palmate newt in the breeding season has the black hind feet and filamentous ending to the tail. The crest is lower than the smooth newt's and the belly is pinker and with less spots.

Female smooth newt
Lissotriton vulgaris
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

Female smooth newts have orange bellies with black spots - this individual has a pea mussel (Pisidium sp.) stuck to its right forelimb.

Female palmate newt
Lissotriton helveticus
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

Female palmates are hard to tell from smooths, even during the breeding season, but the throat is pink and with very few spots.

Male alpine newt
Ichthyosaura alpestris
At home in Enfield
June 2008

I tried keeping alpine newts for a brief spell a couple of summers ago. Alpine newts like cool water, and while creating a heated environment in a tank is easy, cooling an aquarium is not. The pair of newts weren't eating, despite having all the bloodworms they could ever want. I gave them back to the pet shop I acquired them from, and stuck to axolotls, xenopus frogs, and catfish.

Female alpine newt
Ichthyosaura alpestris
At home in Enfield
June 2008

I keep typing 'Ichthyostega' instead of 'Ichthyosaura'. That blue stuff on the female above is the tissue paper that the male is sitting on in the previous photo.

Giant salamander skeleton
Andrias scheuchzeri (Holl, 1831) - Cryptobranchidae
Natural History Museum, London
September 2009

Does this look like a human skeleton to you? No, me neither. But early palaeontologists believed the remains of a giant salamander - closely related to todays giant salamanders of China and Japan, and the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleghaniensis) of North America - to be those of the humans who lived before the great flood of biblical times. It was given the scientific name Homo diluvii testis, translating as 'evidence of a diluvian human'. When it was realized that it is infact an amphibian, not a human, it was given the new generic name Andrias, meaning 'image of man'.

Wild type axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum (Shaw, 1789) - Ambystomidae
Temporary aquarium at home
March 2007

I kept axolotls for a period of four years. At one point, I had three, living together in harmony in the same aquarium - Slash, my golden axolotl (photo below), George who was white with dark eyes and red gills, and Mildred, the wild type who appears above. Mildred began to take chunks out of the other two - George lost most of three of his limbs and much of his gills and died a few months later; Slash's wounds were mostly superficial and healed well. When it became known to me that Mildred was a man-eater, I isolated her, and decided to sell her. Poor thing, she was a beauty really.

Golden axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
Aquarium at home
January 2005

Slash was my first axolotl, and the last to leave. Axolotls, in case you didn't know, are an excellent example of neoteny. This is commonly known as Peter Pan syndrome, where adults of breeding age take on physical characteristics of juveniles. In the case of the axolotl, it is basically a giant tadpole. They have some characteristics of tadpoles, such as gills and a fin on the tail, and others of adult salamanders, such as partial lungs, and legs. They can be forced to metamorphose into adults through hormonal injections.

I think I'll do squamates (lizards and snakes) next. Stay tuned!

Anuran overload

2010-05-18T19:56:00.006+01:00

Here's a selection of photos of frogs and toads (order Anura; class Amphibia; phylum Chordata) from my portfolio. Enjoy!

Pool frog
Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882) - Ranidae
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

Once thought to be an invasive species in eastern England, the pool frog was exterminated, before realising it is in fact native, as there are subfossil remains. D'oh! It's back in the wild in the UK now.

Marsh frog
Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771) - Ranidae
Crews Hill, Enfield, North London
June 2008

Hybridises with the pool frog to create the edible frog (Pelophylax kl. esculenta), so called because it is the type most often used to create the French delicacy, frog's legs. Or grenouille if you're French.

Levantine frog
Pelophylax bedriagae (Camerano, 1882) - Ranidae
Wild at Geçitköy Reservoir, North Cyprus
April 2009

Very similar to the marsh frog, which doesn't occur in southwestern Asia.

Female common frog
Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758 - Ranidae
Wild in Epping Forest, Essex
March 2009

The most common frog species in the wild in Britain and much of western Europe. This is a female in prime breeding condition, and on the lookout for mates.

Albino xenopus frog, or African clawed toad
Xenopus laevis Daudin, 1802 - Pipidae
Aquarium at home
September 2008

I had two albino xenopus frogs for a couple of years, named Elaine and Kitchener - here's one of them (sorry I can't tell from that angle!) with a mouthful of spaghetti... nope, they're chironomid larvae (bloodworms).

Tomato frogs
Dyscophus antongilii Grandidier, 1877 - Microhylidae
Manchester Museum
July 2008

Bright orange frogs from Madagascar.

Argentine horned frog
Ceratophrys ornata Bell, 1843 - Leptodactylidae
Natural History Museum, London
June 2009

This rather obese-looking individual was appropriately named 'Sumo', and was resident in the Natural History Museum's Darwin exhibit and followed by the butterfly exhibit last year. The horned frogs are popular pets, and are often known as Pacman frogs, for obvious reasons.

Giant leaf frog
Phyllomedusa bicolor (Boddaert, 1772) - Hylidae
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

This large tree frog exudes a waxy substance which it spreads around its entire body using only its feet. Also called the waxy monkey frog.

Golden poison-dart frogs
Phyllobates terribilis (Myers, Daly, and Malkin, 1978) - Dendrobatidae
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

Amongst the most dangerous of all animals. Its poison is reputed to kill from secondary contact through another medium. It is completely harmless in captivity, as it extracts the batrachotoxins from some sort of prey animal, which is as yet unknown. That insect would probably be the most toxic animal of all time.

Skeleton of South American common toad
Rhinella margaritifera (Laurenti, 1768) - Bufonidae
Galeries de Paléontologie et Anatomie comparée, Paris
January 2010

Look at those crests! Closely related to the much-maligned cane toad (R. marina), a native of South America introduced to Australia for pest control, and it has ironically become a pest in its own right.

Rococo toad
Chaunus schneideri Werner, 1894 - Bufonidae
London Zoo
December 2009

This really is one huge mother of a toad.

Panther toad
Amietophrynus pantherinus Smith, 1828 - Bufonidae
Crews Hill
June 2008

A southern African species which turns an amazing leopard-like pattern in the breeding season.

Male common toad
Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) - Bufonidae
Wild in Epping Forest
March 2009

Male common toads are smaller than females... this and the nuptial pads on the hands (for gripping onto the female during coitus) are the best way to tell apart the sexes. Unless you hold a male and give him a squeeze (Ooh! Matron!) ... if he makes a release call, he's basically telling you to back off and leave him to making babies.

Immature common toad
Wild in Enfield
August 2008

I found this toadlet (newly metamorphosized, but still very tiny, toad) in my garden and decided to keep it for a little while. I successfully fed it on aphids, but it ignored ants. I set it free after a couple of weeks because I was struggling to find any food for it.

Green toad
Pseudepidalea viridis (Laurenti, 1768) - Bufonidae
Crews Hill
June 2008

One of the more common toad species in continental Europe, but absent from Britain. Was formerly included in the genus Bufo, but that huge genus was split into several huge genera and a few smaller ones. The other British toad, the natterjack (Epidalea calamita), got its own genus.

I'll come round to the Caudata (newts and salamanders) next time.

Phoenicopteridae

2010-05-18T17:41:00.005+01:00

Who doesn't know flamingos? The combination of long neck, long legs, and pink and red plumage make them amongst the most easily recognized of birds alive today. They make up the family Phoenicopteridae (from the Ancient Greek words for 'crimson wing'... although you could interpret the root word 'phoenix' - Φοῖνιξ - as the mythical bird of the same name), and most taxonomists place this family in its own order, the Phoenicopteriformes. Others include it in the same order as storks, herons, and ibises, the Ciconiiformes, but since that order sometimes includes falcons and other seemingly unrelated fowl, that's no surprise.

There are six (sometimes five... why is taxonomy so confusing?) species in three genera (sometimes one genus!). The genera all share the root 'Phoenico-', but have different suffixes. Modern day flamingos are distributed in southern Europe, much of Africa, southwestern and southern Asia, the West Indies, and Central and South America. South America boasts the most species, whilst only one is found in Europe.

Greater flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The greater flamingo is, as its name suggests, the largest of the six extant flamingos. It is distributed across southern Europe and Asia, as well as most of Africa. It is an inhabitant of coastal and interior wetlands, either permanent or temporary, taking advantage of concentrations of water during dry seasons to find their food. Like all flamingos, greater flamingos have a specialised bill with lamellae (flat plates) which act as a filter to separate small aquatic invertebrates and algae from the water, much as baleen whales do.

Greater flamingo
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

The colour of wild flamingos varies, but there is usually some pink or red present in the plumage of all adults. Greater flamingos have the least red in their plumage, although their wing coverts are a stunning crimson, hence the generic name. The specific name, 'roseus', means 'pink', which describes the effect of red and white feathers in close proximity rather well.

Immature greater flamingo
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

Young flamingos are born with a grey/brown plumage, not acquiring their distinctive coloration until adulthood. The parents of a flamingo chick will feed their young on a regurgitated fluid, similar in colour and texture to milk, which is produced in the crop (the forepart of the stomach used to hold food before regurgitation). This is not unique to flamingos amongst birds; pigeons are also known to produce 'milk', and who knows, perhaps some non-avian dinosaurs did too?

Caribbean flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus, 1758
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The Caribbean, or American, flamingo, is a very colourful bird. It is not so much pink as hot pink - the specific name, 'ruber', is Latin for 'red'. It is often considered to belong to the same species as the greater flamingo, but this species does not occur in the Old World. It lives on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, many Caribbean islands and the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural occurrence in Florida is debated: it is often considered an iconic bird of that state, although it probably only occurs there as escapees or vagrants from Cuba and other islands.

Caribbean flamingo
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

Like the greater flamingo, Caribbean flamingos are pretty much restricted to coastal environments, with a preference for strongly saline waters where their preferred food, the brine shrimp (Artemia - most familiar to lay-people as the sea monkeys you can buy as dried eggs, or to fish-keepers as a common food for tropical fishes).

Chilean flamingo
Phoenicopterus chilensis Molina, 1782
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The third and final member of the genus Phoenicopterus is the most southerly distributed of them all. The Chilean flamingo occurs in temperate wetlands of southern South America, right to the tip of the continent. It is about the same size as the Caribbean flamingo, but much more muted in plumage colour. It is more pink, however, than the greater flamingo, and can be differentiated from its congeners by its grey legs with red 'knees'*, and bill, of which the terminal half is black.

* The part of the leg which appears to be the knee is in fact anatomically the ankle: the part which looks like the shin is the foot, while the 'foot' is really just toes. The thigh (femur) is obscured by the bird's feathers. Think of a chicken drumstick, which is the tibia and fibula, the part of the leg above the 'knee'. Sorry if I have completely confused you.

Chilean flamingos
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

The preferred habitat of the Chilean flamingo is brackish lakes from sea level up to about 4500 m into the Andes Mountains. Chilean flamingos have become established in parts of Europe, as the climate of continental Europe most closely matches that of its native land than any of the other species.

Andean flamingo
Phoenicoparrus andinus Philippi, 1854
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The genus Phoenicoparrus ('crimson bird of ill omen') contains two species endemic to the mountains of South America. The larger of the two is the Andean flamingo, found in the alpine plateau known as the puna shared between Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Its pale yellow legs and bill distinguish it from the puna flamingo. The colour of the Andean flamingo's plumage is a rosy pink, which reminds me of raspberry milkshake.

Andean flamingo
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

The two flamingo species of the genus Phoenicoparrus have narrower bills which are believed to aid in finding smaller food items than the other species. Food must be scarce in the alpine deserts of South America, and being able to filter out the smallest of nutrients from the brine must be advantageous to the Andean and puna flamingos.

Puna flamingo
Phoenicoparrus jamesi Sclater, 1886
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The puna, or James's, flamingo is the smallest of the South American flamingos, growing up to less than a metre tall (approximately three feet). It is restricted to the puna grassland of the high Andes, and are often found in mixed groups with the previous two species. In order for this to occur successfully in such a harsh habitat, they must be able to exploit different food sources. Being the smallest of the trio, the puna flamingo has the smallest bill, and thus is able to extract the smallest of diatoms (single-celled plants) from the brine.

Puna flamingo
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

The puna flamingo has bright red legs and a black-tipped banana-yellow bill with a dark red face. It is amongst the most threatened of the flamingo species due to its remote location and small populations. It was once believed extinct, until a small breeding population was located in the 1950s. It is now considered 'near threatened' by the IUCN, but we all know that doesn't mean it's out of the woods yet.

Lesser flamingo
Phoeniconaias minor Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1798
Phoenicopteridae; Phoenicopteriformes; Aves; Chordata
Colour pencil drawing
May 2010

The lesser flamingo is the sole member of the genus Phoeniconaias ('crimson nymph'), and is found in saline lagoons across east Africa and southern Asia. It is the smallest flamingo, standing at under a metre tall. Flocks of lesser flamingos are reputedly a shocking sight; they are amongst the most numerous of birds in the Rift Valley of Africa, concentrating where the water yields the most planktonic food.

Lesser flamingo amongst other species
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

Lesser flamingos have somewhat more crimson plumage in the wild than most of the other species, but in captivity, due to a lack of carotenes (red, orange, and yellow pigments in foods which give the birds metabolise to create their own pigment) in their food, are a more muted pink. The eye is yellow, the bill is dark red and black, and the legs are crimson. Lesser flamingos are known to revel in the caustic lakes of the African Rift Valley, such as Lake Natron (so called because of its very high concentrations of sodium salts, including natron itself, which is a carbonate) - these waters support no other life except the prey items and the flamingos themselves. The brine is caustic enough to dissolve human flesh - with this in mind, the flamingo must be one of the most resilient of all birds.

Invasive Species: Grey Squirrel

2010-05-02T20:35:00.001+01:00

Eastern grey squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788
Sciuridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Wild in London Zoo
December 2009

Britain’s native squirrel is the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). It is now only “common” (very much reduced in number) in far flung corners of Great Britain, including the northern portion of Scotland, Cumbria, Merseyside, Anglesey in North Wales, and Norfolk, as well as the Isle of Wight. Elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, the grey squirrel reigns supreme. They are as ubiquitous as rats in urban parks, suburban gardens, and other types of open space.

The eastern grey squirrel was first introduced into the UK in 1876 to a park in Cheshire in the northwest of England. The first Irish grey squirrels appeared in 1911. The spread was rapid, as grey squirrels are less picky in their food sources and habitat requirements, pushing the red squirrels to areas the greys would rather not go.

Eastern grey squirrel
Wild in Oxford Botanic Gardens
July 2008

Grey squirrels are a pest species, and are classed as such. Just like the brown/Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and black/ship rat (R. rattus), it is perfectly legal to kill them. In fact, according to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (God, it’s a long time since I’ve quoted British environmental legislature...), it is illegal to release a trapped grey squirrel. I haven’t kept on top of this legislature, it may have changed in the last five years (it’s been that long since I did UK Nature Conservation at uni? Crikey.). Obviously, humane dispatch is encouraged, as it should be with other animals classed as vermin.

What damage do grey squirrels do anyway? Apart from their direct responsibility for the exile of the red squirrel to tiny pockets of suitable habitat, which are ruthlessly defended by conservationists to prevent grey squirrels from becoming established, they are direct competitors with birds for food at bird tables, and cause damage to saplings and other plants by biting.

Invasive Species: Canada Goose

2010-04-20T21:15:00.002+01:00

Canada goose
Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Enfield Town
May 2009

Apart from the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), the most ubiquitous anseriform (the term used to refer to ducks, geese, swans, and their kin) in British ponds, lakes, rivers, canals, and reservoirs is the Canada goose. The mallard is a native bird, but the Canada goose, as its name suggests, is North American in origin. It is a large bird, close in size to the smaller swan species, and is a vocal one too: gaggles (or skeins if they’re airborne, don’t forget that!) honk loudly.

Canada geese
Verulamium Park, St. Albans, Hertfordshire
July 2009

Canada geese were first introduced to Britain in the late 17th Century to St. James’s Park in London. Today, the park still boasts an impressive array of exotic waterfowl, including pelicans, but back then it was at the wishes of King James II to own flocks and gaggles of birds from other lands. The Canada geese escaped and bred, and they spread to all parts of Great Britain in decades.

Canada goose gosling
Original photograph taken in Enfield Town in June 2006
Popart version created in 2006

I was unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) enough to witness a young coot (Fulica atra) being drowned by a Canada goose. The goose was most likely being protective of its own offspring, a chain of eleven goslings taking up the rear of the two parent birds. If this happens on a regular basis, the geese could be responsible for declines in the population of other birds. I reported my concern to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) at the time, but they said there was nothing that could be done with relation to culling the goose population, despite them being detrimental to other, native, bird species. It is now legal (since last year) to shoot Canada geese without a license, as well as several other invasive species.

Cackling goose
Branta hutchinsii (Richardson, 1832)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
September 2009

Occasionally, the odd truly wild Canada goose enters the UK, within groups of migratory geese. Some of these belong to a different species (some consider it just a subspecies), the cackling goose, which is recognised by being smaller and with a white ‘collar’ at the base of the neck. The cackling goose is native to arctic Canada and Alaska, spending the winter further south towards Mexico. The British populations of Canada goose are non-migratory.

Invasive Species: Harlequin Ladybird

2010-04-19T19:59:00.002+01:00

Red succinea morph of harlequin ladybird
Harmonia axyridis Pallas, 1773
Coccinellidae; Coleoptera; Insecta; Arthropoda
Hyde Park
October 2007

This is hopefully the first in a series of posts about species of animal and plant that are not native to the British Isles but have become an established part of the flora and fauna, at least in certain specific localities. Harmonia axyridis goes by many names: its most common name in the UK is the harlequin ladybird, because of its black, white, and red or orange coloration which resembles a clown’s make-up. Elsewhere, it is known as the Asian lady beetle, or Japanese ladybug.

A native of eastern Asia, and with close relatives in Australasia, the harlequin ladybird has invaded many other parts of the world, most notably North America and western Europe. It was introduced to North America as a form of biological pest control, but numbers quickly grew out of control. It was first found in the UK as recently as 2004, where it was first found in East Anglia. Since then, the spread has been rapid, reaching Scotland in 2007, and the species is now ubiquitous in the southeast of England. They are often a cause for alarm when large numbers congregate in sheds, outhouses, and even indoors during the autumn into winter, and as they become active once the weather becomes warmer, they make their presence known by flying around and bumping into windows. We have an invasion of harlequins at the Bruce Castle Museum where I work, in at least two of the rooms, one being a toilet.

Harlequin ladybird larva
Enfield, North London
June 2008

The lifecycle of the ladybird consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago (adult). There are few people who can’t recognise an adult ladybird (identifying them to species is another story altogether though), but the larvae, looking so different to the adults in shape and coloration, are less well known. The eggs look like small orange balls, and the pupae like a smoothed-over version of a larva, often found stuck to a leaf, where its warning pattern of black and orange is enough to deter would-be predators.

Orange succinea morph of harlequin ladybird
Hyde Park
October 2007

There are three recognised colour morphs of the harlequin ladybird in the UK. The above photo is of the succinea morph, which has a red or orange background and many black spots. The spectabilis morph has four red spots on a black background, and the conspicua morph has two large red spots on a black background, Other morphs are present in the native and North American populations, but these are the only ones present so far in Britain.

Mating red succinea morph harlequin ladybirds
Enfield
June 2008

The advice I was given a few years ago as to what to do if I found a harlequin ladybird (then quite a rare occurrence, I didn’t see my first one until 2006, I think) was to humanely despatch it. Usually that involves the heel of a shoe. I’m now seeing so many, and they are breeding so rapidly, that it’s proving impossible to do such a thing to all of them. Squashing a few ladybirds in the centre of the area they have spread from is hardly going to be effective.

New Pop Art

2010-04-14T20:05:00.003+01:00

Turquoise-browed Motmot
Eumomota superciliosa (Sandbach, 1837)
Momotidae; Coraciiformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photograph of stuffed specimen taken at Natural History Museum, London, March 2008
Popart version created in April 2010

Pterodactylus antiquus

Pterodactylus antiquus in black and white

Pterodactylus antiquus in acid green and black

Pterodactylus antiquus (von Sömmerring, 1812)
Pterodactylidae; Pterosauria; Sauropsida; Chordata
Original photograph of specimen cast taken at Cambridge Zoology Museum, May 2008
Popart versions created in April 2010

I felt inspired to create some more pop art. The Pterodactylus took me about 7 hours in all... recolouring them only takes a couple of minutes. Anyone got any ideas for other colour combinations that would look cool?

I might give a tutorial one day on ART Evolved, if anyone's interested in seeing how I do this using only primitive Windows technology ... does that sound like a good idea?

More Pop Art

2010-04-08T18:48:00.003+01:00

Spectacled Owl
Pulsatrix perspicillata (Latham, 1790)
Strigidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at London Zoo, August 2004
Popart version created in 2006

Marbled Teal in purple
Marmaronetta angustirostris (Ménétries, 1832)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at London Wetland Centre, January 2006
Popart version created in 2006

Male Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at London Wetland Centre, January 2007
Popart version created in 2008

Magpie Goose
Anseranas semipalmata Latham, 1798
Anseranatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at London Wetland Centre, January 2008
Popart version created in 2008

King Penguin
Aptenodytes patagonicus (Miller, 1778)
Spheniscidae; Sphenisciformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at Edinburgh Zoo, June 2005
Popart version created in 2006

More to follow; I'm glad people like these.

Pop Art

2010-04-07T17:06:00.003+01:00

Lilac-breasted Roller
Coracias caudatus Linnaeus, 1766
Coraciidae; Coraciiformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at London Zoo, August 2004
Popart version created in 2006

Himalayan Monal
Lophophorus impejanus (Latham, 1790)
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at Edinburgh Zoo, June 2005
Popart version created in 2006

Herring Gull
Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763
Laridae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken in Falmouth, Cornwall, July 2006
Popart version created in 2006

Burchell's Zebra
Equus burchellii Gray, 1824
Equidae; Perissodactyla; Mammalia; Chordata
Original photograph taken at Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, August 2005
Popart version created in 2006

Black-necked Aracari
Pteroglossus aracari (Linnaeus, 1758)
Ramphastidae; Piciformes; Aves; Chordata
Original photo taken at Newquay Zoo, Cornwall, July 2006
Popart version created in 2006

A series of popart-style illustrations for you, created some years ago. I used to really enjoy creating these, using nothing more than a digital photograph and MS Paint, and plenty of patience. If these are popular, I'll post some more.

Penguins everywhere

2010-03-22T18:48:00.003Z

Northern rockhopper penguin
Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921
Spheniscidae; Sphenisciformes; Aves; Chordata
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
April 2009

I've just seen the mass of penguins in Darren's latest post at Tetrapod Zoology, and I thought I'd remind people of the series of posts I created in 2008 where I featured all of the world's extant penguin species with original illustrations. The links are here:

Emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri) and king (A. patagonicus) penguins
Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and chinstrap (P. antarctica) penguins
Gentoo (P. papua) and yellow-eyed (Megadyptes antipodes) penguins
Northern (Eudyptes moseleyi) and southern (E. chrysolophus) rockhopper penguins
Erect-crested (E. sclateri) and Fiordland crested (E. pachyrhynchus) penguins
Macaroni (E. chrysolophus) and royal (E. schlegeli) penguins
Snares crested (E. robustus) and little blue (Eudyptula minor) penguins
Jackass (Spheniscus demersus) and Galapagos (S. mendiculus) penguins
Magellanic (S. magellanicus) and Humboldt (S. humboldti) penguins

it looks like a circus tent...

2010-03-21T09:19:00.002Z

Sorry I've been neglecting this blog, I've not worked on anything new in ages, and the 'island project' is still taking a while. For now though, have a Majungasaurus:

Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Depéret, 1896)
Abelisauridae; Saurischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Colour pencil illustration
January 2010

I created this monstrosity for Draw a Dinosaur Day back in January, but completely ruined it with this colour scheme. Wasn't too proud of it, hence why I never mentioned it until now.

Door of Death

2010-03-13T17:14:00.002Z

As you both kindly requested, enjoy this sketch of me running from the door of death. I appreciate the ghost doesn't look like a ghost, live with it :p

New job

2010-03-12T18:57:00.004Z

Some of you probably know I've started a new job. I am officially a museum support officer for Bruce Castle Museum. You are forgiven if you've never heard of it, I live less than seven miles from the place and had never visited it before this year.

Bruce Castle has existed in some form or another since the 16th Century, when it used to be known as Lordship House. Before then, there was a building on the site, probably dating back to the 11th Century, but little is known about that. King Henry VIII, the notorious misanthropic Tudor king, regularly visited the Castle. The building has been modified several times: in the 17th Century it was home to the Lord Coleraine family. It is said that the upper floors of the museum are haunted by one of the Lady Coleraines' ghosts.

During the 19th Century, Sir Rowland Hill owned the building, turning it into a boarding school for boys. It was reknowned as a progressive, very liberal, school, as Hill did not believe in corporal punishment, which was rife throughout the country at the time. This trait was apparently admired by many people; notably both Dickens and Darwin were fans of the school. Rowland Hill is most famous for inventing the postage stamp: before the Penny Black was invented, the postage system worked on a pay-upon-receipt basis, which needed reform.

Due to this link with the beginnings of the Royal Mail and the postage system in general, the Museum has a large collection of specimens relating to postal history. One of my many jobs so far has been to catalogue documents on this subject, from philately (that's stamp collecting) to the use of various forms of transport to deliver mail, to the role of the Post Office during the First World War. It's a vast departure from my usual interest in natural history, but it's not too bad; there's much to find interesting. The sheer age of the building, the age of the documents I have been working through, and sometimes just the titles of the works are enough to alleviate any looming tedium. A particularly funny one: "My experiences as a camp postman", published in The Stamp Lover in 1919. It is of course about the role of a postman in a World War I army camp.

The Museum holds not only items related to postal history, but other relics, from Roman and Saxon ruins found on site and elsewhere in the London Borough of Haringey, through to some examples of taxidermy and animal bones (I haven't seen anything apart from the stuffed polecat, rabbit and hedgehog on display... if I see more I will certainly blog about it!), into First and Second World War memorabilia. The nose and part of the body of an unexploded bomb which fell on a house in Wood Green from a German bomber is on display; thankfully it was dismantled. It amazes me, as it must do others, to see what life was like for the British public during the War, as there are exhibits on the daily allowances of food and other household items, showing quite literally just how little was allowed to make wartime rations go a long way. There is even an exhibition about Tottenham Hotspurs, the local football (soccer to you Americans!) team.

No doubt I will return with anecdotes and photos as I work my way through stacks of documents and get to see more of the Museum. Who knows, I might even meet Lady Coleraine... whilst working as a librarian at the Natural History Museum, I was nearly killed by a falling door in a dark, deserted corner of the Museum after most sensible people had gone home... it might sound absurd but I had heard that part was haunted...

Can you bear it?

2010-02-26T21:02:00.004Z

The family Ursidae is one of the most instantly recognisable of the carnivoran families: there are (arguably) eight species alive today, split into three subfamilies: Tremarctinae, consisting of the extinct short-faced bears and the only South American member of the family, the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus); Ailuropodinae, containing only the extant giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and extinct relatives; and the Ursinae, containing the remaining three extant genera. It is this subfamily that this post is about.

Skull of Asiatic black bear
Ursus thibetanus (Georges Cuvier, 1823)
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

The Asiatic black bear is distributed across much of southern and eastern Asia, from Iran to Japan, in temperate climates. It is a shaggy-furred animal, usually marked with a wide crescent-shaped creamy-white patch on its chest, giving it the alternative name of 'moon bear'. It is placed in the subgenus Selenarctos, which has often been given generic status. Another one of its distinctive features is the small rounded ears, giving it a very teddy bear-like look. It is a herbivorous animal, like most other bears, mostly eating plant and animal matter much smaller than itself. Despite this, they are of course still bears, and are capable of killing large ungulates up to the size of a water buffalo. It goes without saying, therefore, that they could easily kill a human. An unusual threat to the Asiatic black bear's survival comes from deep within its viscera: the bile is valued in eastern medicine, and bears in China and Vietnam are often hooked up to a tap in order to obtain the substance without killing the animal. That is the intention: of course, if the catheter site becomes infected, the bear would die of horrific secondary infection anyway.

American black bear skull
Ursus americanus (Pallas, 1780)
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

This is a familiar bear to most people, especially as one of its alteregos: Winnie the Pooh was an American black bear, as is the traditional teddy bear. Like the teddy bear, the American black bear comes in a variety of colours: as well as the typical black, there are brown, cinnamon, blue, cream and white 'black' bears, some of which are restricted to certain areas. The Kermode bear, also known as the spirit bear, is one of those pure white animals, found only in certain parts of British Columbia, western Canada. The bear, in all its colour morphs, is distributed throughout North America from Canada to Mexico, and is much more common and widespread than its larger relative, the grizzly.

Grizzly bear skull
Ursus arctos horribilis (Ord, 1815)
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

The grizzly is the typical North American representative of the brown bear species. In general, any brown bear from continental North America, apart from parts of Alaska, will be known as a grizzly. In Alaska and across Eurasia, they are known as brown bears. It's probably the most well known of the bears, and there isn't much to say about it that isn't already common knowledge. Grizzly bears are most likely the direct ancestor of the polar bear: they have hybridized successfully, even in the wild where the ranges of both species overlap.

European brown bear
Ursus arctos arctos Linnaeus, 1758
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
April 2009

Brown bears differ in size across their range, the smallest races being from southwest Asia (U. a. syriacus) and Europe (U. a. arctos), the largest from Alaska (U. a. gyas and U. a. middendorffii). That said, the European bears are still bloody huge!

Polar bear skull
Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

Polar bears are the most carnivorous of the ursines: their diet is almost exclusively meat-based, being mostly seals and other marine mammals. They will of course opportunistically take other items, like fish and berries, but these make up an infinitesimal part of the diet. It is placed in the subgenus Thalarctos, but that seems unlikely, seeing that it appears closer to U. arctos than other members of Ursus.

Female polar bear, 'Mercedes'
Edinburgh Zoo
June 2005

The animal in the above picture was moved last year, from Edinburgh Zoo to the more suitable Highland Wildlife Park further north in Scotland, and remains the only captive polar bear in the UK.

Sloth bear skull
Melursus ursinus (Shaw, 1791)
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

If you read The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, or watched its Disney adaptation, as a child, you will instantly remember Baloo, the friendly bear. Seeing as the story was set in India (I always hated the fact there was an Indonesian orang-utan in an Indian forest in the film!), it's most likely that the bear was a sloth bear. These bears are the most widespread ursine in the Indian subcontinent, also being found in Sri Lanka. When first described by George Shaw in 1791, he placed it in the genus Bradypus. Its resemblance to a sloth was so influential that he essentially named it 'bear-like sloth' instead of the other way around. We now know better, that it belongs in its own genus, Melursus, within the Ursidae.

Sri Lankan race of the sloth bear
Melursus ursinus inornatus Pucheran, 1855
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
London Zoo
April 2007

Like the Asiatic black bear, the sloth bear has a crescent-shaped mark on its chest, but it can be differentiated based on its much shaggier fur and prehensile lips. It uses these to create a vacuum with which it uses to such termites out of mounds. These are its most usual food: those claws come in handy for breaking open the mounds, as well as defending themselves from tigers, leopards, other bears and humans too.

Skull of young Bornean sun bear
Helarctos malayanus euryspilus Horsfield, 1825
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

The sun bear is the smallest of the ursines, being only 4 feet (120 cm) in length as an adult. It is so called because of the yellow to orange chest patch, contrasting nicely with the moon bear. Despite its size, it is a feisty and brave creature, breaking open beehives with its long curved claws, inserting its monstrously long tongue into the nest to extract larvae and honey, probably its favourite food. A sun bear was famously kept as a pet by Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of both Singapore and the Zoological Society of London. His pet bear would often sit at the same dinner table, also shared by a clouded leopard (!)

Ventral view of a sun bear skull
Ursidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Galerie de Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
January 2010

In this wonderful view of a sun bear skull, you can see some of the features that make carnivorans what they are. Although not incredibly well developed in the bears, having reverted to an omnivorous dentition, the upper carnassial teeth can be seen. These are the large teeth near the centre of the photo, unique to carnivorans, ideal for cutting meat. Just watch a cat chew its meat and you'll see the carnassials at work. The auditory bullae, the round knobs of bone towards the rear of the skull, are where the inner ear lives, and the structure of these differs from family to family among the carnivorans.

That's it for the extant ursines: I will continue with three extinct European species of Ursus: U. fossilis, U. deningeri and U. spelaeus.

Water Rails and other critters

2010-02-19T18:16:00.005Z

Water rail
Rallus aquaticus Linnaeus, 1758
Rallidae; Gruiformes; Aves; Chordata
Tewinbury, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Today I saw my first ever water rail, from a newly constructed hide by a patch of wetland. Usually, I see no more than mallards, coots and egrets, but today, as well as about eight teal (Anas crecca), I caught a glimpse of this elusive bird. It was starting to get dark, so the lighting isn't fantastic in the above photo, but you can clearly see its brown-and-black mottled upper parts, grey face, neck and throat and black-and-white striped sides. The long, red bill can also be seen. I was extremely happy to have seen this bird. I look forward to my next visit: water voles (Arvicola amphibius) and bitterns (Botaurus stellaris) are said to be found there.

Other weird and wonderful birds can be seen from the comfort of a pet shop/garden centre. There is this bizarrely interesting place just outside Hertford (the county town, or 'capital' if you like, of Hertfordshire, most famous to naturalists as the birthplace of Alfred Russel Wallace): it has a restaurant, bar, specialist cookware store, pet accessories store and outdoor garden centre selling flowers, seeds, shrubs, garden furniture and ducks. Yes, I said ducks...

Male mandarin duck
Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Riverside Garden Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

White-faced whistling-duck
Dendrocygna viduata (Linnaeus, 1766)
Dendrocygnidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Riverside Garden Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Fulvous whistling-duck
Dendrocygna bicolor (Vieillot, 1816)
Dendrocygnidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Riverside Garden Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

As well as a few pairs of call ducks (a small breed of domestic duck used by hunters as 'decoys' while shooting wild ducks), the above three species of wildfowl are available to buy (but only in pairs) from the garden centre, and I was surprised to find out the centre stocks many other species and varieties of wildfowl, for as little as £40 a bird, on their website. Looks like I may have to start collecting ducks now... Interestingly, the restaurant attached to the garden centre goes by a different name, 'Whistling Duck', which at first I thought was just a cute name, with the owners maybe not being aware that there is such a thing, not just a farmyard duck that can whistle a tune. This was until I saw the two species of whistling-duck in the adjoining garden centre that I realised how apt the name really was.

A place I love to visit when funds are low and I'm itching to take more wildlife shots is the Van Hage Animal Centre in Ware, also in Hertfordshire. Also attached to a garden centre, there is a menagerie of typical farmyard fare, like ducks, turkeys, chickens, pygmy goats and rabbits, as well as more unusual child-friendly animals, like a striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), a pair of ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua), meerkats (Suricata suricatta), a raccoon (Procyon lotor), an African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata), a pair of barn owls (Tyto alba) and even Richardson's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii). So, to end with, I give you...

Meerkat
Suricata suricatta (Schreber, 1776)
Herpestidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Van Hage Animal Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Male Edwards' pheasant
Lophura edwardsi (Oustalet, 1896)
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Van Hage Animal Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Degu
Octodon degus (Molina, 1782)
Octodontidae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Van Hage Animal Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Leucistic (not albino) Siberian chipmunk
Tamias sibiricus Laxmann, 1769
Sciuridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Van Hage Animal Centre, Hertfordshire
February 2010

Vegetarian Vultures

2010-02-17T00:35:00.003Z

Palm-nut vulture
Gypohierax angolensis (Gmelin, 1788)
Accipitridae; Falconiformes; Aves; Chordata
Jardin des Plantes, Paris
January 2010

Most birds of prey are exactly that, birds of prey. There are those which are primarily fish-eaters, like the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and fish eagles (Haliaeetus spp.), but they are still technically carnivorous, preying upon fish which they catch themselves. There are also those, notably vultures, which rely mainly upon carrion (these are the Old World vultures of the family Accipitridae, not, I repeat, not, the condors and American vultures of the family Cathartidae/Ciconiidae, which are more closely related to storks than other vultures). One vulture, however, is a maverick, being almost totally vegetarian.

Meet the palm-nut vulture, a black-and-white bird found in most of Africa below the Sahara Desert. Crucially, it is found only in close proximity of its favourite food source, the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Oil palms are notorious in topical environmental conversation: humans exploit the palm for the fat-rich fruit for use in cosmetics, food and as biodiesel. The vultures, however, just eat the damn things. Palm-nuts make up the majority of this bird's diet, which it supplements with carrion, like other vultures, and have been known to catch fish in the wild. Interestingly, captive birds have been fed on meat, but prefer palm nuts when offered them. This suggests that the vulture in the wild would be an adaptable bird, only living on palm nuts because they are plentiful; should there be a deficit of oil palms, for example because of deforestation, the birds could change their diet accordingly, either to other plant species, or to meat, fish or carrion.

Vultures the world over are well known for having bald or almost bald heads, supposedly to prevent feathers becoming caked in blood. The palm-nut vulture has a reduced area of naked skin just around its eyes.

The connection is...

2010-02-14T23:18:00.003Z

... all of the animals/situations featured in the last blog post are different compositions from Le Carnaval des Animaux by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnrDNoy4_9U (Me attempting to play the double bass theme from The Elephant on piano, with one hand.)

There are 14 compositions:

Introduction and royal march of the lion (represented by male African lion, Panthera leo)
Hens and cocks (represented by, well, hens and cocks, Gallus gallus)
Wild asses (skeleton of kulan, Equus hemionus kulan, to represent this)
Tortoises (a pair of radiated tortoises, Astrochelys radiata)
The elephant (African savannah elephant, Loxodonta africana)
Kangaroos (stuffed and mounted Doria's tree kangaroos, Dendrolagus dorianus)
Aquarium (an aquarium with Canara pearlspots, Etroplus canarensis)
Characters with long ears (obviously supposed to be a donkey, so represented by Poitou donkey, Equus asinus)
The cuckoo in the depths of the woods (a stuffed and mounted common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus)
Aviary (the three galliforms in the cage being a rooster, a male blue peafowl, Pavo cristatus, and a male pheasant, Phasianus colchicus)
Pianists (represented by myself)
Fossils (trilobites, specifically Calymene niagarensis)
The swan (a mute swan, Cygnus olor, with a seemingly-crooked neck)
Finale (a mixture of many of the above animals)

I wasn't sure if anyone would get the connection, it's just that I've been listening to this a lot lately and was inspired to set up a little quiz.

What's the Connection???

2010-02-07T12:01:00.007Z

So, what's the connection between the following animals?

A clue: don't concentrate too much on identifying the species, especially for a few of them, where the situation is more important. When the correct guess has been made, or it's been ages and no-one's guessed correctly in the comments, I'll reveal the answer.