#fantastic zoology

[nogallantstag]

New skateboard deck mock-up: The Jackalope.

[filurig]

ok so i have finally given my tomtar a bit of a Revamp... i was unsatisfied with them just being basically. anthro corvid. now i mean theyre still kind of Anthro birdish creature, but now they arent birds anymore and rather related to harpies and basilisks (whose ancestors are the scansoriopterygids).

ive been pondering some world lore with them and also vätte technology as well as their energy resource so yes they now fit a bit the "dwarvern/gnome tinkerer" archetype hehe...

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Jorge Luis Borges & Margarita Guerrero. Handbook of Fantastic Zoology (Book of Imaginary Beings). Mexico. 1957.

* * * *

“Yesterday, it was reported that eighty-four-year-old actor Dick Van Dyke had fallen asleep on his surfboard in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, drifted so far out that he lost sight of land, woke up to discover his predicament, assumed he was going to die on the open water, but then was guided safely back to shore by a pod of porpoises. Talking to reporters later, the actor is quoted as saying, “I’m not kidding.”

[yakusai89]

bbau stuff

[velvetwyrms]

@fipindustries So happy that marvel expanding the monsterfuckery 🥰💖 anyway this is a personification of the actual real life prehistoric animal from the Cambrian period, 505 million years ago: Hallucigenia!

Scientists weren’t sure which way the animal was facing at first, they thought its spikes were its feet until they realised that it had tentacles for walking on too!

Look at how cute this little guy is 💖

They were one of the first complex animals to exist! Happy for him and his prehistoric paramour, love wins! ✨

aparently in the latest fantastic 4 comics johnny storm has been in a relationship with an alien, and that would be pretty standard affair for marvel heroes, right.

except someone at marvel with fucking balls of steel and the biggest brain in the known universe made the alien look... actually alien

this is the greatest thing ive seen in my life, is almost enough to make me want to read the comic

[bishopsbox]

source: bishopsbox

 Manticore, from The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, (1658, page 344), by Edward Topsell.

Mantícora, del libro The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents (La historia de las bestias de cuatro patas y de las serpientes, 1658, página 344), por Edward Topsell.

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

Book of the Month ‡ March § Physica Curiosa (Physica curiosa, sive Mirabilia naturae et artis libris XII. comprehensa; Mirabilia naturae et artis libris XII. comprehensa) 1667 Gaspar Schott

563G Gaspar Schott 1608-1666 P. Gasparis Schotti Regis Curiani E Societate Jesu, Olim in Panormitano Siciliæ, nunc in Herbipolitano Franconiæ Gymnasio ejusdem Societatis Jesu Matheseos Professoris, Physica Curiosa, Sive Mirabilia Naturæ Et Artis Libris XII. Comprehensa, Quibus pleraq;, quæ de Angelis, Dæmonibus, Hominibus, Spectris, Energumenis, Monstris, Portentis, Animalibus, Meteoris, &c.…

[blueteller]

Do you know how smart Cale actually is? Like- what extent his intelligence can reach?

That's an interesting question! Let's take a look.

From what I know of IQ scores, anything above 120 puts you in top 10% of the population. So I easily see Kim Rok Soo!Cale belonging in that category; of >120 IQ. However, IQ had always felt a little vague to me. It's nice to have a number to put on a scale and all, but what does it actually mean in reality? Let's try this from a different angle.

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences model of divides talent into eight categories, plus one additional one:

Visual-spatial

Linguistic-verbal

Logical-mathematical

Body-kinesthetic

Musical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Existential

Why not try to measure him up against each one, as no person is actually intelligent in every way and not even a fictional character can excel in all of them (unless they're a Mary Sue or something lol).

Visual and spatial judgment stands for easy reading, writing, puzzles solving, recognizing patterns and analyzing charts well. I think Cale is definitely a pro in this category; he does loves reading and he's fantastic at analyzing data.

Linguistic-verbal is for remember written and spoken information, debates, giving persuasive speeches, ability to explain things and skilled at verbal humor. And while I constantly make fun of Cale for not being able to explain himself, he IS good at using the "glib tongue" and being persuasive, so I think he is very skilled in this category as well.

Logical-mathematical means having excellent problem-solving skills, the ability to come up with abstract ideas and conduct scientific experiments, as well as computing complex issues. Cale is an incredible strategist able to change his plans in an instant, so he is definitely a genius in this field.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is a fun one, because I think it's the hardest one to judge, considering that he literally changed bodies. It of course stands for sports, dancing, craftmanship, physical coordination, and remembering better by practice rather than learning theory. Cale... does not like that. However, it doesn't mean he's BAD at it. If he was a genius in this field, however, I believe he would like it a bit more. Thus – I suspect he was average. In the past he was forced to exercise for the sake of survival, but once he was given the option of taking it easy, he quit instantly. He is capable, but does not have any particular predisposition for it.

Musical Intelligence drives me nuts, because we literally do not know, and I dearly wish I did. There was not a single mention of it in the whole series. As much as I want to believe in a cool headcanon of KRS being an unrealized musical genius... I think he was probably average or below average in this.

Interpersonal Intelligence stands for communication, conflict-solving, perception and the ability to forge connections with others. And while you might have some doubts about Cale, I say he IS a total pro in this. Those are all leadership skills, and Cale is one HELL of a great leader.

However...

Intrapersonal Intelligence is where Cale is severely lacking. It could be partially due to trauma, but I think at least some of it comes through his natural personality. It stands for introspection, self-reflection, the ability to understand one's motivation and general self-awareness; and that is Cale's biggest weakness, one that might actually cost him his slacker life dream in the end, due to all the misunderstandings he causes.

The last two, Naturalistic and Existential Intelligence types, are also not really Cale's forte. The first is for things like botany, biology, and zoology, paired with enjoyment of camping and hiking – none of which Cale actually does for pleasure, only because he has to. And yeah, farming is in that category too, but it's not like Cale is actually a real farmer just yet. And the second is for stuff like philosophy, considering how current actions influence future outcomes, the ability to see situations from an outside perspective and reflections into the meaning of life and death – and Cale is REALLY not interested in this type of self reflection.

Which leaves Cale with 4 types of intelligence he excels at, 2 which he is REALLY BAD at, 1 where he's below average and 1 he's probably average, with 1 left completely unknown.

Does this make Cale a genius? Pretty much, yes. Does it also make him stupid in very specific ways? VERY MUCH, YES.

[stickyfrogs]

Today some Roundpoles and Longpoles have gone to their new home at the fantastic Zoology Centre at Lilydale High School! Some of their new friends include Crucifix Frogs, Green and Golden Bell Frogs, Magnificent Tree Frogs, and Frilled-Necked Lizards!

[mybeingthere]

The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents (1658)

“Never was there so complete a History of the Creatures as this since the daies of Solomon, who writ the Story of Beasts and Creeping things”, claims John Rowland in his dedicatory epistle to Edward Topsell’s 1658 History, which brings together his earlier work on four-footed beasts (1607) and serpents (1608). Published more than thirty years after its author’s death and considered the first major illustrated work on animals printed in English, this epic treatise on zoology exceeds a thousand pages, exploring ancient and fantastic tales of real animals, as well as those at the more legendary end of the spectrum, including the “Hydra” (with two claws, a curled serpent’s tail, and seven small mammalian heads), the “Lamia” (with a cat-like body and woman’s face and hair), and the “Mantichora” (with a lion’s body and mane, man’s face and hair, and a grotesque grin, filled with multiple rows of teeth).

Topsell was not a naturalist himself (he in fact was a clergyman) and so heavily quotes the observations of others, in particular Thomas Moffett and Konrad Gesner — the Swiss scholar from whom Topsell reproduced the book’s brilliant woodcut illustrations — who, in turn, relied on classical authorities like Aristotle, Ovid, and Pliny. On utilizing the works of others, Topsell writes: “I would not have the Reader . . . imagine I have . . . related all that is ever said of these Beasts, but only so much as is said by many”. This approach leads him to repeat some wonderful cock-and-bull stories: elephants are said to worship the sun and the moon with their own rituals, apes are terrified of snails, and “the horn of the unicorn . . . doth wonderfully help against poyson”. Although it abounds with such fanciful ideas, Topsell’s work, as John Lienhard explains, “was actually an early glimmer of modern science. For all its imperfection, it represents a vast collection of would-be observational data, and it even includes a rudimentary rule for sifting truth from supposition.”

The illustrations seem to infuse these animals with the properties that are attributed to them: the hedgehog looks positively petrified, perhaps due to its habit of drinking wine; the shrew seems to snicker, for it “beareth a cruel minde, desiring to hurt anything” (you may kill them with shovels, notes the text, or bury them as Egyptians do); and the mimick, or Getulian dog, which is said to have once called England home, appears to plot its next feat of deception. This final creature was so good at aping the behavior of humans that “in many poor mens houses they served instead of servants for diverse uses”, and were known for their capacity to put on plays, acting out several roles at once. The book’s index is almost as evocative as its illustrations — highlighting the myriad medicinal properties attributed to animals in this period — and shocks the contemporary reader at almost every turn. Choosing a letter at random, “v” points to pages on “venomous beasts driven away”, “vertigo”, “virgins breasts great”, “voice weak”, and “vomit”.

Topsell compiled his book to “delight the reader, whereinto he may look on the holiest deities”. And indeed, a sense of natural wonder — maintained for millennia — courses through this treatise. Yet much of the enchantment here is infused with “Topsell’s belief that his animals have human intrinsic worth and moral qualities as well as a hatred of mankind”, writes Helen Westhrop. Even when they lack the human expressions of Lamias and Mantichoras, the animals that come before the clergyman’s eye cannot escape their fate to serve as screens on which to project our species’ virtues as well as vices.

https://publicdomainreview.org/.../the-history-of.../...

[markscherz]

Hi Dr Scherz, what were your favourite subjects back when you were studying undergraduate zoology? 🍀

Totally different than what I expected! I thought the core zoology courses would be my favourites, but in the end, I think my favourite courses were Molecular Phylogenetics, Evolutionary and Ecological Genetics, Evolution of Sex and Breeding Systems, Evolution of Parental Care, Developmental Biology, and Parasite Biology. I can attribute 80% of my enjoyment of those courses to the fantastic lecturers that we had at the University of Edinburgh, who conveyed both deep knowledge of and enthusiasm for the subject matter.

My least favourite courses were also the courses I fared worst in, i.e. Medical Biology, Principles of Ecology, and Population and Community Ecology. Surprise surprise, I am no ecologist. I should by rights also probably have failed Biological Chemistry in my first year, but somehow I scraped by with a tolerable mark.

[owlchimedes]

I'm sooo glad to find an envi sci studyblr!!! It feels like it's so rare.

yess!! there are like none of us out here! possibly it has to do with the venn diagram of tumblr users and people who go outside being separate circus tents, but that said, I'll list some cool people I follow if you want more env sci on your dash.

i was in parasocials with mallaidh-ann when he was working with seals and now he's doing salmon fishery work? swoon

headspace-hotel does environmental rage like no one else and also insanely good poetry

@hellsitegenetics is new and very funny

MC does fantastic work with @reasonsforhope to promote good environmental and human rights stories

@memecology makes me laugh, though they've been afk for a bit

@deadnaturalhistories is a natural history PhD candidate

@ecologie-txt is an ecology PhD candidate

@botanyshitposts is what is says on the tin (also, very smart)

@fatehbaz does anticolonial ecology 👌🏼

@weird-ecologies does wildlife conservation and scicomm

I really liked my friend's blog eco-filth but I think our upcoming master's thesis ate them...

mutuals with @endless-forms who's a science journalist

@wilder-thyme does archaebotany (wow!)

@moon-thestars is/was a biodiv conservation student, may be afk

nollectquest posts some foraging/homesteading content that I really enjoy

gallusrostromegalus likewise has an excellent #The Garden At The End Of The Universe tag

wild-west-wind is a park ranger

I've tagged those who are studyblrs and simply linked to those who are more personal blogs so as not to bother them too much. The best advice (imo) for finding envsci people on this hellsite is to hover around the solarpunk/tolkien/hozier/gardening/trc/justice tags and reblog-hop until you find somebody cool.

Feel free to add recs or nominate your own blog if you fall into any kind of botany, environmental science, zoology, conservation gig! Love to extend the circle!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Image Prompts for the Signs

Aries / Taurus

Gemini / Cancer

Leo / Virgo

Libra / Scorpio

Sagittarius / Capricorn

Aquarius / Pisces

If this prompt inspires you in any way, do tag me or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

Artwork by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526 – 1593)

Born into a family of painters in the northern Italian city of Milan.

Remains best known for the highly original “portraits” he composed by imaginatively arranging objects, plants, animals, and other elements of nature.

The Seasons

In The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), created in 1563, Arcimboldo combined plants associated with a particular season to form a portrait of that time of year.

The series was extremely popular in the Habsburg court, and Arcimboldo reproduced it several times so the emperor could send versions to friends and important political figures.

The 4 Elements

Three years later he completed a series on the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water).

The Professions

Arcimboldo also made witty composite portraits of different professions, such as a librarian, jurist, cook, and vegetable gardener, using objects associated with each occupation.

In these innovative works, Arcimboldo fills the paintings with dense details that come together harmoniously to create a human form.

A Fusion of Art & Science

When Arcimboldo arrived at the court of Emperor Maximilian II, he found his new patron was passionately interested in the biological sciences of botany & zoology.

The study of flora and fauna grew as a result of the voyages of exploration and discovery that were undertaken to the New World, Africa, and Asia in the sixteenth century.

Explorers returned with exotic plants and animals that created an explosion of European interest in the study of nature.

Maximilian transformed his court into a center of scientific study, bringing together scientists and philosophers from all over Europe.

His botanical gardens and his zoological parks with elephants, lions, and tigers caused a sensation.

As court painter to the emperor, Arcimboldo had access to these vast collections of rare flora and fauna.

His nature studies show his skill and precision as an illustrator and his knowledge as a naturalist — but Arcimboldo went beyond illustration by building fantastic faces out of the natural specimens he observed.

His paintings not only demonstrate a unique fusion of art and science, but they also provide an encyclopedia of the plants and animals that Maximilian acquired for his botanical garden and menagerie.

[infiniteaugends]

Hello all!

I have once again been met with derision, confusion, and horror for admitting that I’ve never read any Harry Potter book all the way through. Now this is primarily because I was introduced to Harry Potter fanfiction before anyone ever told me to read the books.

You may be asking your self “Wouldn’t that make you want to read the books more?” NO! NO! The problem with Harry Potter is that is a universe with more potential than to be good than it is actually good. So before I picked up the original books I’d read some of the most heart wrenching, fascinating stories full of moral dilemmas, and interesting characters and relationships. Once I tried to read the originals I just couldn’t get into them.

I want to be clear I don’t think the original books are bad. I think there are a lot of great things about them and the characters for the most part seem complex and thought out.

Once I’d read fanfics about Harminoe restructuring the government, and Harry over coming the trauma of being led to slaughter by a morally grey (the end justifies the means) Dumbldore, and Ron bascically being a general in the war with strategies that change the tide of who lives and dies, a Draco who is both villain and victim the original books just pair in comparison. I love a firey Ginny who overcomes her hero worship of Harry to be a key player in a war she really is too young to fight. Luna finding acceptance and admiration. The books just didn’t give me the character arcs that I felt the characters deserve.

I wanted to like the books, but honestly the fanfics always seemed to have less predictable characters with more interesting storylines.

Also fantastic beasts had so much potential and as someone who was majored in zoology I was so excited. Again the execution did not meet the potential of the world and story. It ended up being rather lackluster.

Long story short I think Fanfic is so important because it is directly influenced by the fandom community as a whole, but also because it is not for consumers there can be more unique and revolutionary storylines.

[fixaidea]

I by and large swore off HP and so I'm *mostly* done lamenting the unrealised potential of the Fantastic Beasts series, but honestly I'll never stop yearning for a story where the wizard equivalent of Gerry Durrell fights the local Dark Lord with a halfbrick-inna-sock simply because the latter keeps letting their henchmen trample all over the breeding grounds of some critically endangered species.

Also, Dark Lord needs a qilin for Nefarious Purposes?

Dark Lord actively looks down on zoology, magical or otherwise and thus know jack shit about it? Only knows they want a one-horned beast with a vaguely ungulate build that knows right from wrong?

Well - the world's Dark Lord problem gets very quickly (and messily) solved when he gets shipped a xiezhi instead.

[we-keep-odd-hours]

tagged back by @hex6rcist! Thank you!

under a cut since I also rambled.

1. How are you!? I hope your day is going well.

ehhhh. I'm working not a great job, but its from home and if everyone is going to be insufferable, every single second i get of downtime I'm going to be on tumblr to stay sane.

2. What are you currently working on? Any little projects of any kind you’re excited to share?

I have an original novel in the works, I'm in the brutal final stages of tying off the loose ends of the rough draft (while this advice is some that I struggle to accept, to all writers I'd like to share this: the only thing that a first draft has to be is done.), I have two on-going fics (an Aliens one that's posted anonymously but tbh you could probably find it easily) and one of Diamondback's origin story.

Her origin story is more or less done (posting new chapters as I edit) except for a few plot points I'll make my decision on as I get to them in editing. There's details from my next project, a full follow up to the movie, that I kind of want to include in an epilogue to her story, since they're scenes/plot threads tied on her character arc.

3. What have you been watching lately? I just finished Righteous Gemstones and I need a new show lol.

I'm halfway through my rewatch of Hannibal right now, and I SHOULD rewatch West World next so I can finally watch the last season, but I've been itching to rewatch X-Files for a year now....the only problem being that X-Files is nine seasons, a mini series, two seasons of Millennium (IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND), and one season of Lone Gunmen (ALSO IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND). I never technically finished Millennium either, because they [spoiler] and it made me so angry at Chris Carter that I rage quit.

4. (A Near Dark one because how can I not) what’s your favorite small detail in the movie that other people might overlook?

When they first walk into the bar, Jesse kind of surveys the layout, but Diamondback immediately looks over to her right--at the bartender and the waitress, she then smiles, holds onto Jesse's arm and sets her head on his shoulder--and looks over the waitress again. Between that and her grin when the woman walked over, that whole weird thing seemed like some continuation of whatever game they were playing when she kissed the hitchhiker, which....guys, get a room. Homer and Mae are right there.

There are others, but this is the first one that came to mind.

5. What blog should I follow right now?

I'm bad at this; most people I've followed on here for literal years, or else picked up along the way when we had the same media obsession of the day.

6. Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I said it above already, but THE FIRST DRAFT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE GOOD, IT JUST HAS TO BE DONE.

7. If you could add one fantastical element to the real world and have it be a commonly accepted and known about thing what would it be? (Ie make Santa real)

This is asking for trouble: I believed in fairies at an age that was much, much too old to do so. I think it would be fun, or at least interesting if the fair folk were commonly known to exist. Dangerous, unwise, but fun.

8. What’s the last book you didn’t just read, you DEVOURED?

In the Valley of Sun by Andy Davidson. It was nasty, infuriating, full of characters I didn't like for but occasionally felt bad for, and it's about a wandering killer turned vampire living in an old RV just outside of Waco, TX in the 1980s. Yeah, that's what I thought too.

It was a break-neck paced mystery, not exactly of ''who'' did it, but of what happened, how did they do it, and are they going to get caught?

9. What are you most passionate about?

Art, literature, zoology. The order of those items changes frequently.

10. What do you think is your best quality?

oh I hate this question. Passion, I guess? It's not easy to get interested in something, but when I am, I can learn fast, pick up on details, and make weird connections. I'm literal minded and frequently get over-detailed on things, but I can think on multiple tracks at once and have caught things that even our Risk department at work didn't notice because they disrupted something.