#ethnozoology

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #WorldDugongDay:

Alick Tipoti (Torres Strait: Badhu Island, Kala Lagaw Ya, b.1975)

Kisay Dhangal, 2016

Sculpture, bronze with mother-of-pearl inlay

194 × 202 × 102 cm, 280 kg

Australian National Maritime Museum 00054952

"Inscribed with traditional motifs and pearl shell, Kisay Dhangal reflects the life cycle and feeding patterns of the dhangal (dugong) in the Torres Strait Islands. The dhangal is captured in the position known as San Tidayk, in Kala Lagaw Ya language which marks the moment the mammal flips its tail to dive down and graze on the sea grass beds. A marine dust trail between the tail and figure of the moon emphasize how lunar cycles determine dugong feeding and mating habits."

[ciltilladeltilla]

Let's sail then, guided by the compass of the equivocations, towards the worlds where all worlds be possible.

Celeste Medrano and Valentín Suárez, Neotropical Ethnoprimatology pg 374

[elbiotipo]

Now I want to play Spore... In the tribal stage you can make other creatures your pets and it felt especially satisfying when they really looked like pets, or when it was one of the creatures that came to steal your food and instead of killing it, you domesticated it

It would be so cool if in the civilization and space stage you could see your cities with people walking and playing with the creatures you domesticated

I would also love if you could choose which plants to domesticate too, based on the biomes and environment you're in. And you had to manage food supply and arable land too. (this was in fact, kind of a thing in some of the prototypes, the space one, I think it's still available somewhere)

[aestherians]

A wolf therian can have blue eyes

A wolf is not just a wolf. A wolf therian doesn't have to be any specific type of wolf to be valid.

Not just in the "you don't need to know your subspecies/eye color/life history to be valid" way, but also in the "if you know all these minute details about yourself and they don't match any real wolf, that doesn't mean you're not a wolf" way.

When I first learned about therianthropy, back in '13, I ended up in a group where this was unacceptable. Wolves can't have blue eyes, alpha theory is made up, winged wolves don't exist, wolf packs don't wage war, etc., etc. And it's true, "real wolves" aren't like that. But... who's to say every wolf therian is a "real wolf"?

Set aside all thoughts of reincarnation, psychology, archetypes, etc. Why are you a wolf? What makes you a wolf? Anyone can have a past life or weird psychology or an archetypal connection to wolves, but not everyone who does so is a wolf.

A wolf therian is someone who has dreams of being a wolf, the instincts of a wolf, who pictures a wolf when they try to picture themself. Regardless of their origins, they're a wolf because "being wolf" is what comes naturally to them.

And if 'unreal' wolf traits, like blue eyes, A/B/O, or wings, is part of what comes naturally to them, alongside "wolf," then that doesn't negate their wolfishness. They may not be the same kind of wolf as you, but their core is still "wolf."

You can explain it away with "maybe they're a fictional species of wolf, so really they're fictionkind" or "maybe they're from an alternate universe where wolves have wings" or "it's just psychology, anything is possible," but all those musings are still origin-focused, instead of experience-focused, and they're a distraction from what makes a wolf a wolf.

Therianthropy is messy. It's not bound by Earthly biology. Whether your theriotype can be described as a timber wolf, an ethnozoological archetypal wolf, a fairytale wolf, a fantasy wolf, a scifi wolf, or something else entirely doesn't matter.

If you're a wolf, you're a wolf. Even if your eyes are blue and you howl at the moon.

[hapalopus]

Cryptozoology as an anthropological study instead of a biological study. Cryptozoology as a branch of ethnozoology, rather than "what if creature." Peace and prosperity on planet Earth.

[odkrycia-nauce-i-foldery-online]

Whether scientific research is needed for canidae assemblage?

Importantly, most of the canids are poorly known. The priority species and sites are two endangered ones: wild dog of Africa (Lycaon pictus) and dholes (Cuon alpinus). As for the first one, there is a need to pioneer a small project for evaluating ethnozoological status and presence-absence study of this rare creature in West Africa. The most important area is northern Cote D'ivoire, namely Parc national de la Comoé, where the species was recorded historically. Another priority site is located somewhere in Ghana, in the east part of the country. The area of interest is Kyabobo National Park near the border with Togo. Hunters that have lived there for years reported that dog-like carnivores occured in the park. Another canid of interest is dhole, and the ecosystem of Central China. We are keen for pioneer studies or update distribution records in areas covered vast territories, from Daba Shan up to Luoxiao Range. Most interesting is the so-called Shennongjia Sanctuary, an area of mystery of biodiversity. Dhole is rare, pack-hunter recorded in various habitats of Central China. With various local names and a great role in human-wildlife conflict it is a pejorative species. This elusive carnivore has collapsed by decades, due to diseases, depletion of prey base, persecution and a bit by habitat loss. There are of course ideas of small jobs, which are so-called species hunting. Little is known of ecological requirements of Canidae guild in high, wild plateaus of Katanga (south Congo), where explorers have recorded quaint undescribed canid. There is a lack of data about basal data on canidae guild in West Africa in such wild places, as the woodland of Nasarawa (central Nigeria), Kwahu Plateau of Ghana, but there are some studies in Atakora Mountains of Benin near well-known W-Arly-Pendjari Transboundary Park. We would undertake a small camera trapping survey for searching two canids of these lands recorded historically, such as Lycaon pictus and side-striped jackal. Short carnivore survey can be done in Koro-Toro of central Tchad. There are needed for conservation efforts in wild Asia in such wild places as indochinese region called Tonkin Jungle (of Vietnam). In such two regions research and conservation of rare canids are kindly appreciated. Other project can be undertaken in mountains of Central China, where scientists have recorded dholes Cuon alpinus of Szechuan and another canid of the Vulpes genera with shaggy fur, being not yet described by science. It is now believed to be only domestic dog but with lack of proof. Ecological requirements of these canids can be studied in this vast land. Authors of pictures: Aelurodon/paleosleuths.org, atlas of the world/Louis Hansel and Africa part of project/Top Gear. Posted by Tomasz Pietrzak, popular-science author and bachelor biologist from Poland/EU. Contact with @echlleaguescientific. This Q&A abstract is written under Creative Commons Licence.

Redigerat 2022-11-05, 14:33 av league-scientifique

[hapalopus]

Colloquial taxonomy is a valid system of classification, especially with regards to ethnobotany and ethnozoology. I will die on this hill.

"There's no such thing as a fish because you can't define it phylogenetically without also including things that aren't fish"

Man I have bad news for you about lizards. And reptiles in general. And wasps, but I guess that depends on your opinion on wasps. And I don't think you're ready for trees.

[literaturepublisher10]

Journal of Medical Case Reports

Journal of Medical Case Reports accepting case reports in medical science journal, medical case reports journal, journals accepting medical case reports, journals publishing medical case reports etc. Journal publishes methods of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases. The practice of medicine involves multidisciplinary study and application of concepts of several branches of biomedical sciences, genetics, microbiology, immunology etc. Furthermore, practice of medicine also requires a thorough knowledge of pharmaceutical sciences and surgery. It also takes the help of other therapies like physiotherapy, psychotherapy and preventive medicine. Medicine research is therefore, an intricate subject that has multiple facets, each of which needs to be addressed in great detail before a specific diagnostic or therapeutic method is standardized for large scale application.

Journal Homepage: https://www.literaturepublishers.org/

Manuscript Submission

Authors are requested to submit their manuscript by using Online Manuscript Submission Portal:

https://www.literaturepublishers.org/submit.html

(or) also invited to submit through the Journal E-mail Id: editor.cicrj@literaturepublishers.org

American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics: American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics is an open access peer reviewed and monthly published research journal that publishes articles in the field of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics. It is an international journal to encourage research publication to research scholars, academicians, professionals and students engaged in their respective field.

Related Journals: Herbal Medicine: Open Access, Natural Products Chemistry & Research, American Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics

Translational Biomedicine

Translational Biomedicine: Translational Biomedicine is an international open access, peer-reviewed academic journal. The Journal publishes original science-based research that advances communication between the scientific discovery and health improvement. Translational Biomedicine publishes Original research and/or commentary on diseases with implications for treatment Clinical translation where scientific ideas are translated into clinical trials or applications, Nutrition research: the interaction and validation between research and application Perspectives and Reviews on current basic science or clinical science research topics Survey of recent significant published findings. Journal Highlights Includes: Translational Biomedical Research, Translational Research and Clinical Intervention, Translational Stroke, Translational Neurology, Translational Oncology, Translational imaging, Translational Psychiatry, Orthopedic Translation, Stem Cell Translation Medicine, Translation Proteomics, Translational Neuroscience, Translational Cancer Research, Discovery Biology, Medical Biotechnology.

Related Journals: Translational Cancer Research, Orthopedic Translation, Translational Proteomics, Translational Biomedical Research, Translational Neuroscience, Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, Molecular Therapy, Stem Cell Translation, Translational Biomedical Research, Translational Clinical Research

American Journal of Ethnomedicine

American Journal of Ethnomedicine: American Journal of Ethnomedicine is an open access, peer-reviewed, bimonthly, online journal that aims to promote the exchange of original knowledge and research in any area of ethnomedicine.

American Journal of Ethnomedicine invites research articles and reviews based on original interdisciplinary studies on the inextricable relationships between human cultures and nature/universe, Traditional Environmental/Ecological Knowledge (TEK), folk and traditional medical knowledge, as well as the relevance of these for environmental and public health policies.

Specifically, the journal will cover the following topics: ethnobotany, ethnomycology, ethnozoology, ethnoecology (including ethnopedology), ethnometereology/ ethnoclimatology, ethnoastronomy, ethnopharmacy, ethnomedicine, ethnoveterinary, traditional medicines, traditional healthcare in households and domestic arenas, migrant healthcare/urban ethnobiology, pluralistic healthcare in developing countries, evidence-based community health, visual ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, gender studies and ethnobiology, as well as other related areas in environmental, nutritional, medical and visual anthropology. Botanically-centered manuscripts must clearly indicate voucher specimens and herbaria.

Journal of Biomedical Sciences

Journal of Biomedical Sciences: Journal of Biomedical Sciences is an international, peer reviewed journals which publishes high quality of article and novel research contribution to scientific knowledge. The Journal of Biomedical Sciences is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that encompasses all fundamental and molecular aspects of basic medical sciences, emphasizing on providing the molecular studies of biomedical problems and molecular mechanisms. The Journal of Biomedical Sciences gives an area to share the information among the medical scientists and researchers

Journal highlights includes: Cognitive and neurosciences, Biochemical engineering, Molecular biology, Gas transport and metabolism, Cardiac assist devices, Vascular autoregulation, Protein science, Structural biology, Biomedical ultrasound, Neuroengineering, Heart mechanics, Biomedical science, Genetics

Related Journals: Biomedicine Journal, Biomedical Science and Engineering Journal, Medicine Journal, Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, Journal of Biomedical sciences and Research, Journal of Biomedical Research, Neurology Journal, Biomedical Engineering Journal, Cellular Biology Journal, Alzheimer?s Disease Journal, Clinical Immunology Journal, Genetics and Genomics Research Journal, Archives of Medicine Journal, Journal of Clinical & Biomedical Sciences, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience Journals, Behavioral Sciences journal, Journal of Neuroscience & Cognition,  Journal of Psychology, Journals of Gerontology 

Journal of Regenerative Medicine

Journal of Regenerative Medicine: Regenerative Medicine journal covers wide range of topics such as regenerative medicine therapies, stem cell applications, tissue engineering, gene and cell therapies, translational medicine and tissue regeneration etc. The journal provides hybrid access platform to publish the original research articles, review articles, case reports, short communications, etc and provides the rapid dissemination of significant research in various disciplines encompassing all areas of stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Journal Highlights: Cell and Organ Regeneration, Cell Engineering, Cellular Therapies, Diagnostics and Imaging, Ethical and Legal Issues, Gene Therapies, Human Pathological Conditions, Immunotherapy, Models of Regeneration, Nanoscaffolds in Regenerative Medicine, Regenerative Biology, Rejuvenation, Stem Cell Transplantation, Stem Cell Treatments, Stem Cells, Tissue Engineering, Tissue Repair and Regeneration, Translational Medicine, Translational Medicines, Translational Science, etc.

Related Journals: Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Journal of Regenerative Medicine & Tissue Engineering, International Journal of Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy, Stem Cell Biology and Research, Biomaterials, Cardiovascular Journals, Cell Biology Journals, Hematology Journals, Liver Journals

[man-creates-dinosaurs]

If you listened to my Monster Talk interview on the cryptozoological adventures of American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson you would have heard me mention marine biologist Robert L. France's recent work on the mystery of the Gloucester Sea Serpent; perhaps the most famous sea serpent case in the history of cryptozoology. Shortly after that interview I was delighted to be presented with the opportunity to review France's new book on the topic: DISENTANGLED: ETHNOZOOLIGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPLANATION OF THE GLOUCESTER SEA SERPENT. You can check out my review here.

[embraceyourfandom]

[DISCLAIMER: this post contains strong language and cannot be recommended for anyone]

On the  journey to a new language it helps to have themes one works with. Because I’m a biologist, one theme when trying to expand my vocabulary is of course nature and especially animal names. Oh my, what fun things I learned on the side.

Interestingly, the word animal (สัตว์, saht /sat̚˨˩/) itself is an insult. As such, when directed at a person, it translates to something like asshole, shithead or bastard, but especially when combined with a super rude pronoun อี / ไอ้  (ee / âi  = you for woman and for man respectively, please never use these), it really conveys contempt.   

Porsche calls Kinn สัตว์ already in the first episode, (not with badterrible pronouns at least, but the pronouns he uses are lacking common decency, even if they are not in-your-face offensive)

(I have to say that the more I learn Thai, the more I am rolling my eyes at these two being total jerks to each other in the beginning. I mean… I was told about this, but still… Seriously guys, where are your manners? Your mums would be so ashamed of you!)

Anyhow, back to animals.

Animal names are fun to learn because living things are a good conversational topic (that also happens to interest me a great deal), but also because many Thai people are named after animals.

Thai nicknames (ชื่อเล่น chuu len, literally name play) are unofficial, but they are the names people use the most and it is normal that for example at school or workplace this is the only name people know of a person. Usually the nickname is given by parents and it can be short for the official first name (Kinn, Khun), but way more often it is a descriptive word or food or animal or (especially for girls) a plant, flower or fruit, but it can be anything. And I mean anything. It is very popular to give a child an English nickname that just sounds nice. So we get Barcode, Bible,  Job and so on… 

Self evident amongst animal names are the fluffycute or big and strong, like: cat แมว (maew - yes it's meow-sound), deer กวาง (kwaang), bird นก (nók), baby chicken เจี๊ยบ (jíap), tiger เสือ (sĕua) etc

[sidenote: เสือ is also a common name for the whole genus Panthera - “big cats”, so name for most of them in Thai starts with เสือ - for example leopard is เสือดาว (sĕua dow - star tiger), animals in Thai in general have a lot of names like this: bird this, bird that, fish this, fish that, which is familiar to English speakers, but somewhat special to my Finnish ear.]

More interesting animals people are named after:

pig หมู (mŏo) — pigs are considered very nice and valuable animals in Thailand, so this is not at all a bad name, but a cute one given to a much loved boy. To be fair, หมู  can be used to call someone chubby, or gently scolding them for eating too much, but it isn’t offensive, really, unless combined with expletives.

Mouse/rat หนู (nŏo), frog กบ (gòp), tadpole อ๊อด (ót), shrimp กุ้ง (gûng), ant มด (mót)... all of these being obviously suitable names for a tiny, adorable child.

----

I decided to save you (for now) from my terribly rambly, long ethnozoological ponderings I've had while digging into the creepy crawly nomenclature. It is pretty fascinating, though. No wonder - Thailand is a tropical country and consequently the invertebrate diversity there is breathtaking. I’m so jealous.

----

In my opinion a very misunderstood animal is Asian water monitor Varanus salvator. Its name is เหี้ย (hîia /hia̯˥˩/), which is also one of the most vulgar, profane, insulting thing you can say to anybody in Thai. DO NOT USE. 

How did this poor animal end up being a terrible insult? Asian water monitor, like most members of Varanidae, is a generalist predator that eats whatever it can catch or find, including carcasses. But instead of being praised as a valuable, free cleaning aid, it is seen as a dirty animal because of this (fine, they also can predate on farm animals – a monitor in a chicken coop equals bloodbath). Them living in the murky, muddy places isn’t helping their public image. Historically, they are considered bad luck and that killing them definitely causes bad things to happen. Even saying the name is considered unlucky, so many people call them ตัวเงินตัวทอง - “silver and gold” instead.

Sure, water monitors are big, surprisingly fast and they can give nasty, easily infected bites, and claw and hit hard with their tails, but they are also important, interesting and kinda derpy animals. Asian water monitors are kept as pets even, although they require a lot of room as they can grow up to 3 metres long (in average 1,5 m). They can be tamed and they learn all kinds of things. I think they are cute and I would love to meet a pet monitor someday and give it belly scratches (wild animals I prefer to observe from a respectful distance away, but it would be supercool to see one).

Regardless, เหี้ย is a Profanity. Linguistically, it can be used pretty flexibly much like ‘fuсk’ as a noun, adjective, adverb, comma, full stop, exclamation mark… But do not use it - it really is much worse word than even 'сunt', especially combined with  อี / ไอ้ ( ee/âi). 

And that is exactly how Kinn uses it here, calling Vegas a water monitor.

He continues here. Now adverbial use, so not directed at person. Less offensive, still pretty mean tone.

(I cannot believe this man had the audacity to tell Porsche off for his language...)

There are my uncivilised musing for now.

[a-book-of-creatures]

I’m going to guess lack of support and/or interest. Seems to have been a stretch.

However, history/folklore/ethnozoology grad students, if you’re looking for a paper to work on…

Chinese influences on European dragons in the early Middle Ages

Yesterday, I read a chapter about the Parisian saint Marcellus from the book  “Time, Work & Culture in the Middle Ages” by French historian Jacques Le Goff. In it, he alludes to the hypothesis, that dragon depictions from the Merovingian era have been influenced by Chinese motives that have come to Europe through cultures from the Central Asian steppe.

That certainly makes sense to me, since the Huns have had a presence in Europe up until the 5th century, but I’ve never heard of this hypothesis before. Le Goffs sources are all in French (for example “La Civilisation mérovingienne d'aprés les sépultures, les textes et le laboratoire” by Edmond Salin), which I can’t read, and a quick search in Google Scholar didn’t bring up anything interesting.

Does anybody know if this hypothesis is still considered? The book is from the late seventies, so maybe it’s something that never caught on or has been discredited since then, but I haven’t found anything on that, either.

[luke-o-lophus]

When We Feel Young (Steven Grant/Reader) ch.1

Summary: At an academic conference in USA, you meet an admirer of your work, Steven Grant of the University of London. But you seem to admire more than his work. Will this meet-cute between two people neck deep in their careers blossom into something more, or remain one of the nameless dozens you meet at every event? Maybe this time, you'll take a chance.

Writing based on prompt by @dopeqff

Warnings: Academia, dialogue-heavy

You stand at the line in the cafetaria, smiling politely at passing people you had met earlier in the day. It's your first time in the United States, and the first time presenting your research at a conference on this scale. It is a dream come true, as it is nerve wracking. And the man a couple ahead of you in line turning back again and again to glace at you is not helping. You wait for your order at the counter, tilting your chin up to reassert your confidence. Now it's just him ahead of you, you send a polite smile his way as you'd been doing to everyone.

He returns a tight lipped smile before he shakes his head and turns to you,"Sorry, but...I gotta ask. Are you Dr. ....did you write the paper of Ethnozoology of the Eastern Himalayas?" Your polite smile breaks into a genuine one at the recognition. "Yeah, that's me..hello!", you say with a tiny awkward wave. The man seemed to enamoured to note your shyness, and he rambled on excitedly,"It's so great to meet you! Your work, spending so much time with the community...wow! And the things you wrote about, and just...the way you wrote it, it's like reading a story, not a scientific paper...and I mean that in a good way..very good way!" You preen under the praises, mumbling thank you-s under your breath.

"Bollocks", he curses in a low voice. "I didn't introduce myself. My name's Steven Grant...with a V...research scholar in the department of History.."

"...University of London?", you finish his sentence and he nods, a bit baffled. "You wrote the piece on relevance of ancient Egyptian mythology to modern way of life" His eyes go wide at that,"You...have read it?"

"Oh yeah, thrice", you giggled, eyes shining. "It was insightful... relatable... emotional... and funny? The way you wove theories and literature with evidence, it was like poetry. Can't wait for more work from you!"

"I..umm..thank you", he is blushing quite vividly. The tips of his ears are red, and he bites his lip in a shy smile. He's attractive, but it's like he isn't really aware. Your eyes sweep his figure quickly. He's actually put effort into dressing for the occasion, in a formal shirt and dress pants and a tie, a pen tucked into his breast pocket. He was clean shaven and had these big, smart eyes framed by lines that highlighted his smile. With a head of dark curly hair lightly peppered with some grey, he was hands down handsome. But the way he carried himself wasn't the cocksure gait many men who looked as good followed. His stance is relaxed, peaceful. He cheerfully thanks the server who returns with your and his coffee order quite late.

"Actually I've been meaning to ask you some things about your work, I may be referencing some of your work in my next study", you pipe up when he hands you your drink. "I thought I'll mail you but never got around to...would you mind...sometime, if that's okay..?"

"Oh yeah sure!", he is beaming. "On ancient Egypt? I'll talk your ears off if'ya let me." That makes you chuckle, and you warn him,"I have to admit, I'm the same way about my work." You sip your coffee and look around the seating area. "If you're not busy now then, if you are though by all means..."

"No...no", he smiles, grabbing his wrap was just served. "Now is good." You both nod to each other glancing at an empty table and take your seats. There's an air of shyness between the two of you. You aren't an extroverted person by any means, but in professional settings you were almost never shy. But again, this wasn't a shyness that made you self conscious, or small. It made you feel seen, under doting attention that you weren't used to. He looks expectantly at you as you sip your coffee, and you ask him about his thoughts on development of philosophy in the middle eastern world as opposed to western culture. Soon that evolved to comparing notes and experiences from each of your on-ground experiences. Over another round of coffee, you told him stories from your stint in the Himalayas while he listened with rapt attention, gasping and sighing at the exciting bits. He was so attentive, so vocal, you were almost struggling to believe that he wasn't faking it.

"So...that's about it from me", you end sheepishly. "Long story short, take more alcohol with you than you think you'll need."

"You should write a book!", he sounds excited, earnest. "All these stories, I mean I thought your paper was great..and it is! But come on, a run-in with terrorists, living with hunters, local elephant gods, bears! It's like some Indiana Jones meets Jungle Book kinda..wow!"

"Yeah I doubt anyone's gonna want to read that", you laugh dismissively.

"They'd be missing out", he asserts like it's the most obvious thing.

"I have a question for you though", you change the topic. "Did you have a say in the art of God Khonshu that was published with your writing?" He hums in agreement,"Yeah, I gave the artist some basic descriptions."

"Right, okay!", you sounded excited. "How did you arrive at the descriptions...like, did you have any particular bird in mind..or do the texts...?"

"Not exactly", he shuffles in his seat, suddenly conscious, eyes quickly darting to a corner of the room and back. "It's a bit complicated, but you could say there were...multiple sources I triangulated from.''

You nod in understanding,"So yeah, I ask because it doesn't really match a bird? On the net it said falcon, or vulture, but the beak is way too big...You know what matches close though..well the beak isn't curved like his but..."

"What is it?"

"A Marabou Stork", you almost giggle. "Wait I'll show you" You fish out your phone, quickly type and hold it out for him to look at a photo. Steven's looking at it for a moment, two, then he throws his head back in a laughter.

"That is accurate", he laughs. "Gosh even the expression, yeah he wouldn't be happy"

"You think I'll be at the receiving end of his 'wrath that he called real justice' now?", you ask, quoting his writing.

Steven recognizes the reference, eyes shining in pride,"Nah, you're good. His fist of vengeance would agree with you." "Charming", you chuckle. "So hey, I need to head for my presentation, but can I have your number? ...In case I have more questions."

You stand to shake his hands then, his number saved on your phone, and he gives his own awkward little wave. As you head back, your heart is thrumming excitedly as if it knows something you don't.

[demi-shoggoth]

2022 Reading Log, pt 12

School’s out, so I should have more time to read!

56. A Salad Only the Devil Would Eat by Charles Hood. A collection of essays about the author’s experiences and views on the natural world. The title comes from a description of the plants found in his hometown, on the edges of the Mojave Desert. Other topics include why he gave up birding, his love/hate relationship with taxidermy in natural history museums, whale watching and how much he loves palm trees. Pleasant enough, but easily forgotten. So much so that I didn’t remember that I had read this until I was going through my library piles!

57. The Golden Rhinoceros by François-Xavier Fauvelle, translated by Troy Tice. This is a collection of short essays about the history of Africa during what, in Europe, would be the Middle Ages. The introduction discusses how this has simultaneously been called a Dark Age, because we have very little records from it, and a Golden Age, because it seems like people were doing alright for themselves. Most of the essays are about the writings of Muslim traders, who were writing with agendas in mind, or the archaeological record, which is often spotty and difficult to coordinate with the written record from foreigners. The book ends with discussing the coming of Western Europeans to Africa, and how they were more muscling out traders from the Muslim world more than creating entirely new networks. This is especially apparent in a great historical irony that I didn’t know about until reading this book. During Vasco de Gama’s expedition around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean, the East Africans didn’t think much of their appearance, because they thought that they were from India!

58. Anthropology and Cryptozoology: Exploring encounters with mysterious creatures, edited by Samantha Hurn. This is a collection of academic essays from an anthropological perspective about mystery animals, monsters and gods. It will probably piss some people off how broadly the terms “cryptozoology” and “cryptid” are applied here, both from the cryptozoology end and the folklore end of the spectrum. There’s multiple entries about snakes appearing in dreams and hallucinations that are referred to as “cryptids”, for example! Some of the other topics include an ethnozoology of cat classification in Zanzibar and Flores, the growing concern about wolf people in post-communist Mongolia, and a discussion of the ganka, an animal that only exists as a prank played on New Jersey shark fishermen (a hyper-regional version of the snipe, basically). Interesting, but definitely not a traditional “cryptozoology” book by any means.

59. Hard Men: Violence in England Since 1750 by Clive Emsley. This book is coming off of a citation in Violent Victorians, which has a similar thesis: England prides itself on being less violent than its Continental European neighbors and American descendents, but this is only because they willingly discount a lot of things as being “violent”. Crime statistics are one thing, but contact sports, police brutality and capital punishment were all seen as properly English at one point or another (or still). There are entire chapters on domestic abuse, labor unrest and people being acquitted for crimes against foreigners, so it’s not exactly a light, cheery read. I’m surprised that it didn’t include a discussion of England’s colonial enterprises—violence done by the state surely includes the various brutalities against occupied people.

60. Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World edited by Elizabeth Morrison. This is the book of a museum exhibit—a collection of bestiaries and art with bestiary inspired iconography displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum. I’ve read a number of books about medieval bestiaries, but this is the first to treat them as art objects primarily, instead of being more interested in the texts and the symbolism. Essays in the book talk about the origins of bestiaries, the design links between different surviving texts, a few bestiaries where the artists screwed up, translations into the vernacular and books written post-bestiary (like the Bestiary of Love, wherein the Christian symbolism is stripped out and replaced with allegories about love, lust and sex). Some of the essays seem a little short, like they get cut off right as they’re reaching the point. But the book is lovely and has excellent reproductions, which is its primary goal.

[elbiotipo]

This is just a very tiny part of the collection I'm cataloguing, they are archeology books the big ones in the corner are about Perú and the Andes the rest are from all over the Americas and I still haven't gotten to Mesoamerica and the rest of the world...

There are at least 20 full shelves of books about, from I could gather; history, anthropology, archeology, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, ethnobiology in general, folklore, mythology, ethnology, physical anthropology, travel logs, poetry, religion, geography, agronomy, astronomy, sorcery (no, really), legends, and everything you can imagine from all over the world: from Brazil to Zimbabwe to China and Russia... Even Antarctica.

The doctor who donated the collection lived until 94 and bought books until the day he died. And from what I can tell he read most of them because I find notes, receipts, etc. In many of the books. I'm actually working in his former desk... So yeah.

It's amazing.

[youthforourplanet]

Saya M. Khairul Ikhwan, umur 24 tahun. Pada bulan April 2019, saya, bersama Herdhanu Jayanto, Vassilisa Agata, Rona Mentari dan Azil Agustino, datang dari tempat asal kami masing-masing menuju Sentani. Kedatangan kami ke sana adalah untuk melaksanakan kegiatan dongeng konservasi. Kami adalah tim yang sebelumnya secara satu persatu tidak pernah bertemu secara langsung. Saya dan Herdhanu Jayanto adalah rekan kerja untuk riset ethnozoology pada tahun 2018 yang dilaksanakan di Pegunungan Cyclops, Kabupaten Sentani, Provinsi Papua, Indonesia sedangkan Azil Agustino adalah kawan saya sejak SMA. Sebelum ke Sentani, saya belum pernah bertemu secara langsung dengan Rona Mentari dan Vassilisa Agata, komunikasi yang kami lakukan hanyalah via Skype/WhatsApp.

I am M. Khairul Ikhwan, 24 years old. In April 2019, I, together with Herdhanu Jayanto, Vassilisa Agata, Rona Mentari and Azil Agustino, came from our respective places of origin to Sentani. Our visit there was to carry out conservation tales. We were a team that had never met in person before. Me and Herdhanu Jayanto were partners for ethnozoology research in 2018 conducted in the Cyclops Mountains, Sentani Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia while Azil Agustino was my friend from high school. Before going to Sentani, I had never met in person with Rona Mentari and Vassilisa Agata, the communication we did was via Skype / WhatsApp.

Kami percaya dengan dongeng, nilai-nilai konservasi bisa di salurkan kepada generasi penerus bangsa. Pada tahun 2018 saya dan Herdhanu Jayanto mendapatkan sesuatu yang menarik di perdesaan sekitar pegunungan Cyclops, kami menyadari bahwa mereka warga di sana memiliki cerita adat/rakyatnya sendiri tentang alam, nilai-nilai yang ditanamkan sama dengan tujuan akhir upaya konservasi yakni dapat hidup berdampingan tanpa merusak alam. Pada saat itu hewan yang menjadi target riset kami adalah echidna moncong panjang (Zarglossus brujini). Riset yang dilakukan adalah bagian dari penelitian Ph.D Paul Barnes dari Imperial College London (ICL)/Zoological Society of London (ZSL) yang didanai oleh Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE). Walaupun sejak sekitar tahun 1960 keberadaan nya tidak pernah ditemukan, tetapi masyarakat adat masih percaya satwa tersebut masih hidup karna masih banyak lubang bekas galian echidna di sekitar cagar alam Cyclops.

We believe with fairy tales, the values ​​of conservation can be channeled to the next generation of the nation. In 2018, Herdhanu Jayanto and I got something interesting in the villages around the Cyclops mountains, we realized that the residents there have their own customary / folk stories about nature, the values ​​that are inculcated are the same as the ultimate goal of conservation efforts namely to be able to coexist without destroying nature. At that time the animal that was the target of our research was echidna long snout (Zarglossus brujini). The research carried out is part of the research of Ph.D. Paul Barnes of Imperial College London (ICL) / Zoological Society of London (ZSL) funded by Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE). Although since around 1960 its existence has never been found, but the indigenous people still believe that the animal is still alive because there are still many ex-echidna pits around the Cyclops nature reserve.

Di tahun 2019, kami kembali lagi dengan kawan baru yang luar biasa. Indonesia adalah bangsa yang gemar bertutur. Informasi dari generasi ke generasi dilanjutkan melalui cerita yang mendarah daging sehingga tertanam sebagai nilai-nilai kebaikan. Cerita rakyat yang ada kami dapatkan pada tahun 2018 dibuat lebih interaktif dengan bantuan pendongeng professional dari Ayo Dongeng Indonesia, Vassilisa Agata dan Rona Mentari. Desa yang menjadi target utama kami adalah Yonsu Desoyo dan Yonsu Spari.

In 2019, we returned again with a wonderful new friend. Indonesia is a nation that likes to speak. Information from generation to generation is continued through ingrained stories so that they are embedded as good values. Our folklore that we got in 2018 was made more interactive with the help of professional storytellers from Ayo Dongen Indonesia, Vassilisa Agata and Rona Mentari. Our target villages are Yonsu Desoyo and Yonsu Spari.

Keramahan warga di Papua selalu ada di setiap langkah kami berjalan. Pada saat itu di kedua lokasi tersebut baru saja mengalami bencana banjir yang menyebabkan kerusakan cukup besar pada desa Yonsu Desoyo dan kerusakan kecil di desa Yonsu Spari. Disaat bersamaan kami pun membuka penggalangan dana untuk membantu kebutuhan masyarakat di desa tersebut. Terima kasih kawan-kawan yang sudah membantu.

Friendliness of residents in Papua is always there at every step we walk. At that time in both locations had just experienced a flood that caused considerable damage to the village of Yonsu Desoyo and minor damage in the village of Yonsu Spari. At the same time, we opened a fundraiser to help the needs of the people in the village. Thank you, friends, who have helped.

Kami berharap dengan dongeng konservasi, adik-adik yang ada di kedua desa bisa kembali mengingat nilai-nilai yang sudah ditanam oleh nenek moyang mereka di masa globalisasi saat ini karna pada saat kami bertanya hewan apa saja yang ada di sekitar mereka jawabannya adalah; beruang, singa dan monyet yanh hewan-hewan tersebut tidaklah hidup di tanah papua. Ancaman di depan mata untuk tanah mereka, karna terdapat pembangunan jalan baru yang bisa berpotensi menyebabkan efek tepi ke wilayah cagar alam Cyclops. Cagar alam Cyclops dianggap sebagai ibu oleh masyarakat di sekitar sana karna menyediakan sumber air untuk kehidupan layaknya air susu ibu dan harus dijaga untuk generasi berikutnya. Dengan anggapan seperti itu, satwa-satwa di dalamnya menjadi terjaga, termasuk echidna moncong panjang.

We hope that with conservation tales, the younger siblings in both villages will be able to recall the values ​​that have been planted by their ancestors in the current era of globalization because when we asked what animals were around them the answer was; bears, lions, and monkeys that do not live in the land of Papua. Threats in front of their eyes to their land, because there is the construction of new roads that could potentially cause edge effects to the area of ​​the Cyclops nature reserve. The Cyclops nature reserve is considered a mother by the people around there because it provides a source of water for life-like breast milk and must be maintained for the next generation. With such an assumption, the animals in it become awake, including echidna long snout.

For the similar story in English