#natural history collection

[sassafrasmoonshine]

James Bolton, illustrator (British, 1735-1799) • Northern Wheatear, Bilberry and Camberwell Beauty and Pupa • Illustration for The Natural History Cabinet of Anna Blackburne • 1768 • Watercolor and gouache over graphite on parchment • Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut

[amnhnyc]

On this day in 1936, the last known thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. The animal’s passing marked the extinction of its species. Also known as the “Tasmanian wolf,” the thylacine was Australia’s largest marsupial predator. It sported a dog-like form, with distinctive stripes, and a jaw that could open up to 80 degrees—one of the largest gapes of any mammal.

The thylacine fed primarily on small mammals and birds. Nocturnal and shy, it was seldom seen by humans. However, beginning in the 19th century, settlers believed the animals threatened their livestock and, spurred on by a bounty offered by the government, hunted them relentlessly. Attempts at protecting the species in the wild came too late: Despite numerous unconfirmed reports of sightings in recent decades, no definitive sightings have occurred since the 1930s.

[thoodleoo]

they really should warn you before you start studying history that it's going to turn you into a complete freak about at least one historical figure like. somebody should give you a heads up that someday youll be reading cicero's letter to some other ancient roman about his weeklong episode of explosive diarrhea from eating mushrooms ar a dinner party and still go online to post about his consular senussy

[katarinanavane]

Three new dollhouse curio cabinets! I didn't make the cabinets themselves but just found and arranged the contents.

[srlgemstone]

Pseudomorph Tube Agate

Like little memory chambers in the brain. It's a marvelous pattern.

[markscherz]

Those stuffed Ceratophrys blues

[mispelled]

That build-a-bear guy

[lady-0f-the-wood]

[ancientsstudies]

Natural History Museum by crazycatladyldn.

[birbbones]

Stillborn African Lion (Female, Captive bred) and a little 4-month-old Domestic Kitten (Skull and skeleton I am cleaning and will be articulating!)

[dead-dogs-still-fetch]

A Trip to the Field Museum

Some past photos from my previous trip to the Field Museum last year during a free day. The museum has an amazing collection of specimens and fun temporary exhibits. The one they were hosting when we visited was the Blood Suckers exhibit.

The museum offers free admission days serval times a month for residents or students in Illinois.

[victorianvampyr]

Finally got the last of the fawn remains put together. Time for other projects! Cause I am sure burned out!

This fawn was a challenge from the start. @bigolbuzzard was the one to find it, her intentions are to taxidermy them and she very kindly gifted me the skeleton to articulate. The poor thing was hit by a car, it’s head was ruined. But fortunately, or unfortunately, I had found my own deceased fawn months prior, and I had kept its head.

In taxidermy, it’s common you keep the feet bones- so I also had to find a replacement for the feet(which are mummified). Luckily a kind soul on Reddit sent me the feet of a roadkill fawn they ran into and were pelting.

Once I had managed to clean the bones- I had to spend hours just gluing the skull/destroyed bones/and caps on the bones back together. When an animal is younger, the bones aren’t fused- so they fall apart when cleaned.

Anyway. I am going to call this skeleton “Frank” due to the fact I had to “Frankenstein” all the fawn pieces together. I know it’s not perfect, but I am proud with the end result! Off to the Nature Center they go for display!

[amnhnyc]

What can we learn from a dinosaur feather preserved in amber? Let’s go behind the scenes of the Museum’s collection of amber fossils to find out!

[uwmspeccoll]

A Pigeon-fluencer Feathursday

This week’s post was inspired by a recent Guardian article on the rise of Pigeon-influencers on TikTok and their role in reviving the popularity of the oft-derided and underestimated birds.  

Throughout history, pigeons have provided sustenance (“squab”), labor (in the form of the “pigeon post”), and companionship to human populations. Though these days we may typically associate the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia, otherwise known as the common pigeon) with other animals classified as “pests” in urban landscapes, they are in fact understood to be the world's oldest domesticated bird. Historical documentation of pigeons can be found in hieroglyphic texts and art dating back as far as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. According to Colin Jerolmack, professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at NYU and author of The Global Pigeon, pigeons “have been in cities as long as we’ve had cities” and, prior to the technological innovation of the telegram, were “the most reliable messaging system in the world”. While “fancy” pigeons (like Frillbacks, English Magpies, Jacobin, and Archangel pigeons) were bred and kept as prized pets in the Victorian era, the North American Passenger Pigeon (or “wild pigeon”) was hunted to the point of extinction in the early 20th century.

To illustrate the complexity of our love-hate relationship with the birds we've selected a variety of illustrations and text from our collection and featured them alongside some images from outside sources.

The engravings in images #2 & #8 from The Illustrated Natural History: Birds (London: George Routledge & Sons) were created by the Brothers Dalziel, a wood engraving shop in Victorian London founded in 1839 and operated by George and Edward Dalziel. Image #1 from Birds of America; Fifty Selections (with commentaries by Roger Tory Peterson) (New York: Macmillan) is a reproduction of a hand-colored lithograph produced by the shop of J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia from a painting by naturalist and artist John James Audubon in the early 19th century.

--Ana, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Other image sources:

#3: Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata) in TMII Birdpark - Western crowned pigeon - Wikipedia

#4: Keyla Rose with Tony, her pigeon, on a walk in New York. Photograph: Alaina Demopoulos/The Guardian. August 23, 2024.

#5-6: from City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness Pigeons (poem) by Chicago-based Puerto Rican poet and community activist David Hernandez, DH+BH (image of tattoo) by Camilo Cumpian.

#7: Ceiling Fragment Depicting Pigeons in Flight | New Kingdom | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org) (ca. 1390–1352 B.C.)

#9: a Memorial to the extinct Passenger Pigeon at Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin (1947)

#10: from Nikola Tesla's Obsession with Pigeons, Electricity, and a Plan to Wirelessly Connect the World (nautil.us)

[katarinanavane]

Tiny curio collection pendants! I try to put as many interesting tiny things in each of these as possible, so if you like tiny things you've come to the right place

Possible contents include: fossils, tiny bones, opal chips, emu eggshell pieces, preserved seaweed, sea urchin spines, barnacle feeding feelers shells, 17 year cicada wings shell legs or claws, jewel beetle shell pieces, coral pieces, ancient Egyptian beads, gears, and more!

These will be available first at the Detroit oddities expo July 13-14 (2024 in case you're reading this in the future) but I'll list them online after that. I also messed up half the batch (not pictured) so if you're interested in a "second" at a discount let me know (the glue wasn't completely dry between the resin layers before the second pour so some items have a milky-looking aura.)

[srlgemstone]

Agate Pair