#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

[srlgemstone]

Potamon sp. Crab Fossil; Pleistocene Epoch (2.58 - 0.012 MYA)

[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]

Tiny curio collections in walnut shells! Debuting at the demon Kitty Designs booth at the Cincinnati World Oddities Expo on Saturday (1/10/25) and coming soon to my Etsy (check link in bio!)

[mispelled]

That build-a-bear guy

[lady-0f-the-wood]

[ancientsstudies]

Natural History Museum by crazycatladyldn.

[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.

[srlgemstone]

Stromatolite fossil 

The greatest witnesses to the formation of the earth. Spectacular formation.

[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!

[tiny-glued-things]

Herbarium tour room box. 1:18 scale.

I wanted to make this piece because I kept making miniature herbarium specimens and I wanted a way to display them. What better way than to lay them out like we do for tours or open houses on the counter tops.

The box is a separate fruit box, and the herbarium cabinets were also made from smaller fruit boxes. The inside lid and sides are covered with some of my favorite specimen labels.

Here's a full-scale counter top with specimens for reference:

[katarinanavane]

Another new batch of walnut curio cabinets! (I keep making more because a bunch have sold! Stocking one at a time in my Etsy, but message me if you're interested in more than one, or a custom one)

[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)

[llyfrenfys]

So I'm gonna come out and say I'm working on a Mari Lwyd related project right now. I have no idea how it's going to turn out but I'm having fun doing it!

Picture of a genuine horse skull I own for tax:

[ancientsstudies]

Natural History Museum by awildflowerinlondon.