Scientific Illustration

biomedicalephemera:

Faces of Lorises

1. Nycticebus tardigradus malayanus (Nycticebus coucang spp.- Sunda slow loris. Note: possibly Nycticebus javanicus - the Javan slow loris)
2. Nycticebus tardigradus hilleri (Nycticebus coucang coucang - the Sunda slow loris, type species)
3. Loris gracilis typicus (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus - Gray slender loris)
4. Loris gracilis zeylanicus (Loris tardigradus - Red slender loris)

All lorises are endangered or vulnerable due to the pet trade and their use in traditional “medicine”. While these small and nocturnal critters tend to be much more adaptable when humans encroach upon their habitat than other species of primate (making due in the trees humans transplant as opposed to their native foliage, and dealing with the human presence in stride, for example), they’re still all too often thought to “cure” various ailments with their body parts (especially the slow lorises), and traded as pets throughout their native habitat of Southeast Asia, and when they’re successfully smuggled to the rest of the world.

Seriously, people. Their cuteness is so much cuter in the wild. Lorises are freaking adorable, and the hunting strategies of the various species and subspecies are so varied and fascinating that they deserve to stay in a protected natural habitat. I mean, among other reasons to preserve them, obviously…they’re just such cool little omnivores!

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1904.

alesales:

Dipsacus Sylvestris, Herts (1904)

biomedicalephemera:

Skull of Gorilla gorilla - The Western Gorilla. Front view.

Unlike many of the other Great Apes, gorillas rarely (if ever) consume non-insect meats, and even insects are a rarity in their diets. The majority of their required proteins are found in tiny quantities in their other foods, but given that an adult gorilla can consume up to 18 kg of food a day, it adds up quickly.

Though they tend to be innate conservationists in that they don’t consume enough to over-exploit an area before moving on (if they did that, it would not produce more food, and what’s the good in that?), the adult males have been observed many times completely tearing apart full-grown banana trees with their immense strength and vicious jaws, just to get at the juicy pith of the trunk. Juicy, juicy pith. Nom. 

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1904.

jomobimo:

Kunstformen der Natur (1904), plate 85: Ascidiacea

jomobimo:

Medusa (Geryonia proboscidalis), Kunstformen der Natur, 1904 (Earnst Haeckel)

biomedicalephemera:

Siphonophorae

Siphonophores are members of the order Hydrozoa, and include species such as the Portuguese Man ‘o War. Though they appear to be similar to jellyfish in form, they’re actually composed of many smaller organisms, grouped together in specialized colonies.

You can see the full colony of Physophora hydrostatica in the center of this illustration. At the top left and top right, the specialized gas bladders are isolated and viewed from above. On the bottom left and right, the “body” (center trunk) of the colony is shown without any polyps attached, viewed from top and from bottom.

Kunstformen der Natur [Plate 37]. Ernst Haeckel, 1904.

jomobimo:

medusa & gastroblasts: Kunstformen der Natur, 1904 (Earnst Haeckel)

jomobimo:

Kunstformen der Natur, 1904 (Earnst Haeckel)

biomedicalephemera:

Birds! 

Whether food, hunting partner, deity, or impending death, humans and birds have been intertwined since long before recorded history. We share mutualistic, commensal, and parasitic relationships with them, and have raised the Red Jungle Fowl and its descendents for at least 7500 years. Pigeons delivered our messages as early as 1 CE, parakeets have been kept as pets since at least 200 BCE, and the caged finches and songbirds of royalty go back even farther.

Let’s learn about birds!

I’m no ornithologist, but I love birds. There’s gonna be lots about the 29 orders of Neornithes (modern birds) coming up today, so…I hope you don’t have orthinophobia?

Center Image: “Kunstformen der Natur von Ernst Haeckel”, 1904.

biomedicalephemera:

C’mon down to the Isle of Pines! We’ve got cocoa beans!

The Isle of Pines was indefinitely leased to the US in the Platt Amendment, the same amendment that cordoned off the area that Guantanamo Bay is now located in.

However, unlike Guantanamo Bay, the Isle of Pines was reclaimed by the Cuban government when the new Cuban Constitution was drafted in 1940. It’s now called Isla de la Juventud. Despite its extremely good soil for planting and its ideal climate for tropical fruits, the Tropical Development Company never turned a profit from their developments there.

Prospectus of the Tropical Development Company, Founders of the American City and Colony of McKinley Isle of Pines. 1904.