Scientific Illustration

biomedicalephemera:

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

Can you believe that this incredible nuisance of a bird was once on the verge of extinction - and not in the distant past? Hunting and slaughter by farmers in the late 1800s led to the critical endangerment of the entire Branta canadensis species, until the International Migratory Birds Treaty was passed in 1918.

While the species as a whole began a slow recovery process at that point, several of the subspecies were still on a rapid decline due to habitat loss, and by 1962, both the Aleutian and Giant Canada Goose were believed to be functionally extinct. However, the discovery of a wintering flock of Giant Canada Geese in Rochester, MN, that year, and the discovery of two small Aleutian Canada Geese flocks the next year, kicked off a conservation movement to restore the habitat and flyways for the entire species.

Well, the movement worked, obviously. In less than 40 years, all seven subspecies have been removed from the endangered species list, and the species as a whole is now considered a nuisance bird in many areas.

As they prefer open spaces with water, they’re often present in the same area as humans: around beaches, airports, and golf courses; their toxic droppings (not to mention their big ol’ engine-clogging bodies) have caused many problems over the past decade or so. In fact, they were the cause of the birdstrike that resulted in the “Miracle on the Hudson” a few years back. So far, culling and extermination efforts have only had limited effects on the overall population.

Voegel, aus Asien, Africa, America, und Neuholland in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Carl Wilhelm Hahn, 1818.

dendroica:

Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis) by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Ornithologia neerlandica..
‘s-Gravenhage,M. Nijhoff,1922-35..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36090082

Lymphatic vessels of a Goose by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Annales des sciences naturelles :.
Paris :Crochard.
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5755900

Goose beaks by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

The geese of Europe and Asia;.
London,R. Ward, Ltd.,1905..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39632002

biomedicalephemera:

Comparison of Skeletons of Red-Blooded Animals

Cuvier’s last words were supposedly “Nurse, it was I who discovered leeches have red blood.”

Linnaeus’s classification of species was highly dependent upon blood color and whether or not they were cold-blooded. Mammals, birds, amphibians [he included reptiles with amphibians], and fish all had red blood. Insects and “Vermes” (mollusks & related species) had white blood and no vertebrae. 

Cuvier discovered that leeches had red blood early in his career, and this influenced his belief that Linnaeus’s system was far too simplistic, and that it was important to NOT focus on each group/species individually.
He believed that investigating the differences and similarities between groups and species was far more important than isolating everything in neat little capsules. Everything was related to everything else in some way. This was against everything that the prominent naturalists of the time believed, but eventually influenced a young Charles Darwin…what a cool guy.

Elementaire de l’Histoire Naturelle des Animaux par G. Cuvier, de l’Institut National de France. 1798.