Many of you are probably familiar with the popular video game and TV series "Pokémon." While I myself never got into it, a few months ago, I did a post about the axolotl, a fascinating little salamander. While I was researching the post (which you can view by clicking HERE), I found that a Pokémon called Wooper was based off of the axolotl. I thought this was pretty funny, as I thought that no one had ever really heard of the axolotl, much less based a video game character after it! The more digging I did, the more I realized that this is a fairly common theme: a great many Pokémon are based off of real animals, both living and dead! So I thought that for the birthday post of my good friend Masaki Kleinkopf, we could look at the Top Ten Pokémon Inspired By Real Animals!
1. Farfetch'd - Duck
According to my Pokémon sources (AKA the Internet), the Farfetch'd is supposed to live in and around water, just like a real duck! It's also supposed to taste pretty good: again, like a real duck!
2. Lanturn - Anglerfish
Probably one of the freakiest animals in the animal kingdom, the deep-sea loving anglerfish bait other fish closer with the so-called "esca" on its head. The little fish swim closer, attracted to the bioluminescence emanating from the esca, and then the anglerfish snaps them up. The name of this Pokémon is clearly an homage to this glowing appendage.
3. Shieldon - Ceratopsian
The ceratopsians are a large group of dinosaurs containing one of the most famous dinosaurs of all time: Triceratops. Although most sources state that Shieldon is based off of Triceratops, the Pokémon differs in that it has no horns. This makes a more likely candidate for the origin of Shieldon another, more primitive ceratopsian called Protoceratops. If you click on the link to a post HERE and scroll down to the second picture, you can see a picture of the skull of Protoceratops.
4. Sandslash - Pangolin
The Pokémon called Sandslash is clearly based off of a funny, but quite fascinating, animal called the pangolin. Sandlash features the dermal armor of the pangolin (a fancy way of saying "armor formed from hardened skin, akin to the armadillo"), as well as the massive claws. The claws, in both the pangolin and, apparently, Sandslash, can be used to attack potential threats, as well as burrowing. The pangolin uses its claws to burrow into termite mounds, consuming them by the thousands. Sandslash can also roll into a ball to defend itself from attack, just like the pangolin: however, I don't think that the pangolin can roll away from its attacker while in "ball mode." For a song about dermal armor that features, amongst many other things, the pangolin, click HERE!
5. Relicanth - Coelacanth
Relicanth is based off of a very unassuming, but entirely fascinating, fish called the coelacanth. For many, many years, conventional wisdom had dictated that the coelacanth went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, along with the non-avian dinosaurs, the pterosaurs, and the massive marine reptiles. This assumed extinction was backed up by the fact that no fossils had been discovered, at least none that had been positively attributed to the coelacanth. It wasn't until 1938, when a live coelacanth was pulled up off the coast of Madagascar, that scientists realized that perhaps the coelacanth wasn't quite as dead as they thought it was. Since then, other sites along the coast of Africa, as well as in Indonesia, have yielded live coelacanths, giving the prehistoric fish a title it very much deserves: a living fossil. According to the Pokédex in the game (a sort of encyclopedia that talks all about the different Pokémon), the Relicanth was also recently discovered, and is also labeled as a "living fossil."
6. Tirtouga - Archelon
So apparently, some Pokémon can evolve, which is another cool and clever way of adding science into video games without making the video games dumb and boring. Apparently, the Pokémon Tirtouga isn't necessarily based off of the massive sea turtle Archelon, but Tirtouga actually evolved into another Pokémon called Carracosta that is based off of Archelon. Tirtouga appears to be based off of either the extant (still living, opposite of extinct) leatherback sea turtle, or perhaps another extinct sea turtle called Protostega. Either way, all three sea turtles look pretty much the same!
7. Archen - Archaeopteryx
It's in the name: clearly, the name Archen is based off of the name Archaeopteryx, a fossil bird that is widely considered to be the missing link (at least the first in a long line of links) between dinosaurs and birds. First discovered in the 1800s, the feathered fossil of Archaeopteryx helped famed naturalist Charles Darwin and his followers to promote his ideas about evolution and natural selection. According to the Pokédex, Archen is not able to fly, leading people to speculate that Archen is also based partly off of other, non-flying feathered dinosaurs, such as Velociraptor or Deinonychus.
8. Lileep - Crinoids
Up until last week, I'd never devoted a whole lot of thought to the evolutionary relationships of a fascinating group of creatures called crinoids. In my mind, if they look like plants, they're probably plants! Well, I was wrong: the crinoids are actually echinoderms, just like sea urchins and sea stars, and are actually animals! I also didn't realize that crinoids were still around today: I knew that there were a ton of them in the past, but I didn't realize that some of them had survived to the present day! Many people believe that Lileep is based off of these strange animals, and it's not too hard to see the resemblance!
9. Cranidos - Pachycephalosaurus
Of all of the pachycephalosaurs, Pachycephalosaurus seems like the most likely candidate for the inspiration of the strange Pokémon called Cranidos. The main means of attack of this Pokémon is by head-butting its opponents, a means of combat long attributed to the pachycephalosaurs. This head-butting is currently under a lot of scrutiny, with some paleontologists saying that yes, of course pachycephalosaurs head-butted each other, in the same fashion that bighorn sheep do today. On the other hand, some paleontologists say that there is no way these guys could head-butt each other, as their necks would simply snap after a few impacts. Other paleontologists believe that they did use their heads for head-butting, but not in the way that the previous two groups were hypothesizing: instead of getting a running start and then cracking heads, bighorn sheep style, they would instead just lock heads without the running start, like many types of deer and elk that spar today. Still others propose that maybe these dinosaurs were smacking each other in the side or in the flank. Like many facets of paleontology, we may never know what, exactly, they did with their craniums.
10. Anorith - Anomalocaris
This is the Pokémon that really inspired me to do a post like this. Anomalocaris is one of my favorite animals because it is just so weird looking! Living in the Cambrian Period, about 500 million years ago (MYA), Anomalocaris is definitely one of those animals that does not get a lot of the limelight. Often found amongst the various and assorted crazies from the Burgess Shale in Canada, Anomalocaris is definitely something that I never expected to be in a video game! Nevertheless, here it is!
This was the birthday post of Masaki Kleinkopf! Happy birthday, Masaki! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Xiphactinus: The Inception Fossil
If you were to travel back 100 million years from where I live in Colorado, the face of a very, very different planet would emerge. I suppose emerge isn't necessarily the best word in this context: submerged is more of an adequate description! You see, unlike the mountains you would see in Colorado today, Late Cretaceous Colorado was even flatter than present-day Kansas....and a whole lot closer to sea level! Between about 100 and 70 million years ago (MYA), an enormous seaway stretched northwards from the Gulf of Mexico, and southwards from the Arctic. Within these waters, hundreds, perhaps thousands of animals flourished, many of which we have nothing like today. Massive sea turtles like Archelon slowly swam through the waters, while the long-necked plesiosaurs cruised around, snapping up fish before they even knew they were there. While sharks and mosasaurs were probably the most impressive denizens of the seaway, these massive carnivores fed on fish as well. And the subject of today's post is one of those fish: a 17-foot long beastie called Xiphactinus.
Due to the numerous pictures uploaded to Pinterest by the Best Western Denver Southwest hotel (read more about it HERE), I'm going to be using a lot of pictures from this site! Make sure you check it out by clicking HERE! Unless otherwise noted, photo credit for all of the pictures in this post goes to that Pinterest page!
Why did I call Xiphactinus (pronounced zye-FACT-un-us) "The Inception Fossil?" Well, that's a description that I came up with (don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!) that has to do with one of the most interesting things about Xiphactinus: numerous specimens of the fish have been found with the remains of other fish in its stomach! Just as the premise behind Inception is "a dream within a dream," so too are specimens of Xiphactinus sometimes "fish within a fish!" The specimen below is a thirteen foot Xiphactinus that died with a fish known as Gillicus arcuatus in its stomach!
Unlike sharks, Xiphactinus would have been unable to bite off chunks of flesh from its prey, and instead would have had to swallow its prey whole, which is what makes the Inception Fossils so spectacular! Some paleontologists propose that this lack of chewing may have been what killed some of these Xiphactinus specimens, and that they actually choked to death on their last meal! I suppose it's possible, but I don't actually know enough about these specimens to be a very good authority on them!
The next three pictures below are pictures that I took of a specimen that I saw a week or so ago. Long story short, my friends Isabel and Sam Lippincott and I had gone to a presentation given by paleontologist Dr. Ian Miller about the Snowmastodon Project a few months back, and he was impressed with Sam's paleo drawings when we showed him after the lecture. He invited us to come on down to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science so that he could show us around behind the scenes, which he very kindly did a few weeks ago! These are pictures I took of the 80 MY old Mancos Shale specimen of Xiphactinus, which was discovered in 1966 by some kids who had been hunting with their dad near Snowmass in Colorado. They had stumbled across the rib cage of the animal, and had notified the Denver Museum. The next summer, the museum excavated the remarkably complete, 13-foot specimen, taking it back to the museum, where it has been stored to this day!
Here are some more cool pictures from the Pinterest page! This is a diorama of paleontologist Charles Sternberg caught in the act of discovering one of his "Inception fossils!"
And here are another pair of reconstructions of Xiphactinus!
Make sure to check out the Pinterest page of the Best Western Denver Southwest by clicking HERE!
Due to the numerous pictures uploaded to Pinterest by the Best Western Denver Southwest hotel (read more about it HERE), I'm going to be using a lot of pictures from this site! Make sure you check it out by clicking HERE! Unless otherwise noted, photo credit for all of the pictures in this post goes to that Pinterest page!
Why did I call Xiphactinus (pronounced zye-FACT-un-us) "The Inception Fossil?" Well, that's a description that I came up with (don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!) that has to do with one of the most interesting things about Xiphactinus: numerous specimens of the fish have been found with the remains of other fish in its stomach! Just as the premise behind Inception is "a dream within a dream," so too are specimens of Xiphactinus sometimes "fish within a fish!" The specimen below is a thirteen foot Xiphactinus that died with a fish known as Gillicus arcuatus in its stomach!
Unlike sharks, Xiphactinus would have been unable to bite off chunks of flesh from its prey, and instead would have had to swallow its prey whole, which is what makes the Inception Fossils so spectacular! Some paleontologists propose that this lack of chewing may have been what killed some of these Xiphactinus specimens, and that they actually choked to death on their last meal! I suppose it's possible, but I don't actually know enough about these specimens to be a very good authority on them!
The next three pictures below are pictures that I took of a specimen that I saw a week or so ago. Long story short, my friends Isabel and Sam Lippincott and I had gone to a presentation given by paleontologist Dr. Ian Miller about the Snowmastodon Project a few months back, and he was impressed with Sam's paleo drawings when we showed him after the lecture. He invited us to come on down to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science so that he could show us around behind the scenes, which he very kindly did a few weeks ago! These are pictures I took of the 80 MY old Mancos Shale specimen of Xiphactinus, which was discovered in 1966 by some kids who had been hunting with their dad near Snowmass in Colorado. They had stumbled across the rib cage of the animal, and had notified the Denver Museum. The next summer, the museum excavated the remarkably complete, 13-foot specimen, taking it back to the museum, where it has been stored to this day!
And here are another pair of reconstructions of Xiphactinus!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Not Enough Bacteria, Too Many Allergies
If you were to hear someone say "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker," you might think they were full of it: initially, it sure doesn't sound like it makes any sense. Interestingly, however, it seems as if this may, in fact, be true: our attempts to make our world a cleaner place, we are slowly and steadily weakening our own immune systems!
It all started yesterday as I was working at the Morrison Natural History Museum, watering and destroying the angiosperms from the Jurassic Garden with "extreme prejudice," as angiosperms do not appear to have inhabited Colorado during the Jurassic Period. I started wondering why there was so much dead plant material around the base of the plants in the garden, and, for lack of a better conclusion, decided that it was probably because the bacteria that would normally digest these plants didn't actually live here. (I still don't know whether that is true or not). The topic of bacteria triggered my brain to start thinking about digestive bacteria: I was quite hungry, you see. It had been brought to my attention in the past that, even if humans were somehow able to miraculously clone a dinosaur, we almost certainly couldn't keep them alive. Each animal on the planet has its own, unique set of bacteria that helps it to digest its food. With the extinction of the dinosaurs, it is almost certain that the bacteria that constantly accompanied them in their digest tracts went extinct, as well.
This line of thought made me think about the passing of bacteria from the parents to their offspring. How is it done? I assumed that they weren't born with it, but I wasn't sure. I ended up thinking that perhaps, in animals that regurgitate food into the mouths of their young (like penguins), perhaps this was how the bacteria was passed. With perfect timing, out came Matt Mossbrucker, the director and curator at the Morrison Museum. I asked him whether it was, indeed, regurgitation that passed the bacteria on, and he said yes: partially. You know how many animals (such as your dog and cat at home) will eat poop? That's at least part of the reason: they're trying to get bacteria from the poop to help them digest their food!
After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that humans (most of us, anyways) neither regurgitate our food for our young 'uns, nor do we eat each others poop. So I asked Matt whether humans get this bacteria through breast milk: turns out, we don't. So how do we get the bacteria?
According to recent research, humans aren't getting enough bacteria to digest their food. Much of this research seems to indicate that perhaps this is the reason why so many humans have digestive issues, allergies, and the like. Matt also said that, just like I said in the introduction, "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker." Still sound paradoxical? Well, ultimately, humans are trying so dang hard to sterilize their world with hand sanitizer, bleach, alcohol, and soap, that we aren't being exposed to as many pathogens. While in some cases this is a good thing, in other cases, our immune systems, just like the six-pack of someone who doesn't exercise, slowly weaken. And, of course, a weak immune system is good for no one!
So is the moral of the story to stop washing your hands? No, of course not. It's to go out there and eat poop. See you later, everyone!
It all started yesterday as I was working at the Morrison Natural History Museum, watering and destroying the angiosperms from the Jurassic Garden with "extreme prejudice," as angiosperms do not appear to have inhabited Colorado during the Jurassic Period. I started wondering why there was so much dead plant material around the base of the plants in the garden, and, for lack of a better conclusion, decided that it was probably because the bacteria that would normally digest these plants didn't actually live here. (I still don't know whether that is true or not). The topic of bacteria triggered my brain to start thinking about digestive bacteria: I was quite hungry, you see. It had been brought to my attention in the past that, even if humans were somehow able to miraculously clone a dinosaur, we almost certainly couldn't keep them alive. Each animal on the planet has its own, unique set of bacteria that helps it to digest its food. With the extinction of the dinosaurs, it is almost certain that the bacteria that constantly accompanied them in their digest tracts went extinct, as well.
This line of thought made me think about the passing of bacteria from the parents to their offspring. How is it done? I assumed that they weren't born with it, but I wasn't sure. I ended up thinking that perhaps, in animals that regurgitate food into the mouths of their young (like penguins), perhaps this was how the bacteria was passed. With perfect timing, out came Matt Mossbrucker, the director and curator at the Morrison Museum. I asked him whether it was, indeed, regurgitation that passed the bacteria on, and he said yes: partially. You know how many animals (such as your dog and cat at home) will eat poop? That's at least part of the reason: they're trying to get bacteria from the poop to help them digest their food!
After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that humans (most of us, anyways) neither regurgitate our food for our young 'uns, nor do we eat each others poop. So I asked Matt whether humans get this bacteria through breast milk: turns out, we don't. So how do we get the bacteria?
According to recent research, humans aren't getting enough bacteria to digest their food. Much of this research seems to indicate that perhaps this is the reason why so many humans have digestive issues, allergies, and the like. Matt also said that, just like I said in the introduction, "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker." Still sound paradoxical? Well, ultimately, humans are trying so dang hard to sterilize their world with hand sanitizer, bleach, alcohol, and soap, that we aren't being exposed to as many pathogens. While in some cases this is a good thing, in other cases, our immune systems, just like the six-pack of someone who doesn't exercise, slowly weaken. And, of course, a weak immune system is good for no one!
So is the moral of the story to stop washing your hands? No, of course not. It's to go out there and eat poop. See you later, everyone!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Whales In Music: An Interview With Alex Shapiro, Composer
So a month or two ago, I went down to Greeley, Colorado to see my good friend Masaki Kleinkopf perfom in the All State Concert Band. One of the songs that they played there was a piece by composer Alex Shapiro entitled "Immersion." One of the movements in the piece was entitled "Beneath," and it was particularly interesting! In it, the band played with one of the most musical animals in the world: the whale! I was very interested in this piece and the work that went into it, so I contacted the composer and asked her a few questions, and she was kind enough to oblige! I found her answers very, very interesting, and I hope you guys find them as interesting too!
Alex Shapiro: Interestingly, the choice wasn't pre-meditated; the song found me, and I welcomed it in unexpectedly. To back-track for a moment, BENEATH-- for symphonic wind band and prerecorded electronics-- was originally a far more intimate piece for contrabass flute and that very same prerecorded electronic track, titled BELOW. Anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
Around the same time that I was beginning to think about a commission from the wonderful flutist Peter Sheridan for what ended up becoming BELOW, I happened to be poking around on the NOAA Vents Program website (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/index.html), fascinated by the sounds from our oceans. If I weren't a musician, I might have become a marine biologist, and I also have a fascination with the geology of the ocean floor. I found-- and ended up using to open and close the piece-- a recording of a volcanic eruption from the floor of the Pacific. Perusing the NOAA website, I clicked through to the area with whale songs (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/sounds_whales.html) and from there, I found my way to many other websites with marine mammal audio files. And that's how I discovered the whale who I realized would be a perfect duet partner with Peter. The song was so haunting, I just had to use it as the centerpiece of the music.
TNW: What specific whale did you choose?
AS: The recording I use is that of a male Pacific Humpback whale; I'm told that they're the ones who do the best singing. I actually listened to a couple of hundred whale songs from seven or eight different kinds of whales before I came across this heart-wrenchingly beautiful song. I became adept at hearing the differences in the vocalizations of each species, and could identify a Minke from a Blue from a Sperm just from the audio. Orcas-- the most familiar whales where I live on San Juan Island, Washington, are easy to discern because, as members of the dolphin family, they make high-pitched chirps. Like the Orcas, many whales don't have a song that lends itself as well to human composition needs when it comes to melody (I place the blame for this on the limitation of our musical language, not theirs!). Too many short blasts, pulses, and other non-linear sounds (all of which are great for rhythm, though!). But the Humpback really does sound much more like a human voice, and when I found this particular song, I was mesmerized. I went over to my piano and began improvising with it. Amazingly, the whale was perfectly pitched with my well-tempered instrument, and I immediately found harmonies that worked beautifully (thus making it a whale-tempered piece!). The only audio editing I needed to do was to use filters and equalization to "clean up" the sound of the audio file, so that the blanket of low-humming water noises picked up by the hydrophones that recorded the animal, didn't overpower the higher pitch of the song itself.
TNW: Are you planning on incorporating nature motifs into any later pieces?
TNW: Where did you get the idea to do a piece about Wyoming? Have you already come up with the ideas for the sounds you are going to use?
AS: The piece is an upcoming commission for wind band and prerecorded electronics, commissioned in part by a grant from The Biodiversity Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, to be premiered by conductor Bob Belser and the University of Wyoming Symphonic Band, that will entail me returning to Wyoming to capture the sonic essence of the environment. U of Wyoming gave a beautiful performance of IMMERSION last year (the piece that includes BENEATH, with the whale), and and you can imagine, this new piece is a perfect fit for me!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Shapiro for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with me! Hopefully we can ask a few more questions for her once her Wyoming piece is released! I feel as if I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to hearing more from her in the future, both blog-wise and music-wise!
 |
| Alex Shapiro! Photo Credit: Paul Chepikian |
The Natural World: What made you decide on including whale song in the piece?
Alex Shapiro: Interestingly, the choice wasn't pre-meditated; the song found me, and I welcomed it in unexpectedly. To back-track for a moment, BENEATH-- for symphonic wind band and prerecorded electronics-- was originally a far more intimate piece for contrabass flute and that very same prerecorded electronic track, titled BELOW. Anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
Around the same time that I was beginning to think about a commission from the wonderful flutist Peter Sheridan for what ended up becoming BELOW, I happened to be poking around on the NOAA Vents Program website (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/index.html), fascinated by the sounds from our oceans. If I weren't a musician, I might have become a marine biologist, and I also have a fascination with the geology of the ocean floor. I found-- and ended up using to open and close the piece-- a recording of a volcanic eruption from the floor of the Pacific. Perusing the NOAA website, I clicked through to the area with whale songs (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/sounds_whales.html) and from there, I found my way to many other websites with marine mammal audio files. And that's how I discovered the whale who I realized would be a perfect duet partner with Peter. The song was so haunting, I just had to use it as the centerpiece of the music.
TNW: What specific whale did you choose?
AS: The recording I use is that of a male Pacific Humpback whale; I'm told that they're the ones who do the best singing. I actually listened to a couple of hundred whale songs from seven or eight different kinds of whales before I came across this heart-wrenchingly beautiful song. I became adept at hearing the differences in the vocalizations of each species, and could identify a Minke from a Blue from a Sperm just from the audio. Orcas-- the most familiar whales where I live on San Juan Island, Washington, are easy to discern because, as members of the dolphin family, they make high-pitched chirps. Like the Orcas, many whales don't have a song that lends itself as well to human composition needs when it comes to melody (I place the blame for this on the limitation of our musical language, not theirs!). Too many short blasts, pulses, and other non-linear sounds (all of which are great for rhythm, though!). But the Humpback really does sound much more like a human voice, and when I found this particular song, I was mesmerized. I went over to my piano and began improvising with it. Amazingly, the whale was perfectly pitched with my well-tempered instrument, and I immediately found harmonies that worked beautifully (thus making it a whale-tempered piece!). The only audio editing I needed to do was to use filters and equalization to "clean up" the sound of the audio file, so that the blanket of low-humming water noises picked up by the hydrophones that recorded the animal, didn't overpower the higher pitch of the song itself.
TNW: Are you planning on incorporating nature motifs into any later pieces?
AS: Absolutely! I'm often recording the sounds around me-- from nature, and even from my travels through and across nature, such as last week when I was on the ferry from Friday Harbor to Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island, and used my iPhone to capture a hypnotic rhythmic passage created by the boat engine that I'll use in an upcoming work. And one of my upcoming 2014 symphonic wind band commissions will be centered around recording the sounds of the state of Wyoming, and using them in the digital audio track I create to accompany the band. The possibilities are endless, and inspiring.
AS: The piece is an upcoming commission for wind band and prerecorded electronics, commissioned in part by a grant from The Biodiversity Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, to be premiered by conductor Bob Belser and the University of Wyoming Symphonic Band, that will entail me returning to Wyoming to capture the sonic essence of the environment. U of Wyoming gave a beautiful performance of IMMERSION last year (the piece that includes BENEATH, with the whale), and and you can imagine, this new piece is a perfect fit for me!
And again, anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Shapiro for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with me! Hopefully we can ask a few more questions for her once her Wyoming piece is released! I feel as if I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to hearing more from her in the future, both blog-wise and music-wise!
Friday, May 24, 2013
The First Zoo
Where and when was the first zoo? Of course, depending on your definition of the word "zoo," different people might have different answers to this question. The oldest known zoological collection has been excavated at Hierakanopolis in Egypt, dating to around 3500 B.C. So far, the remains of numerous animals have been uncovered there. According to one source, 112 different animals have been found, including elephants, wildcats, hippos, cows, hartebeest, baboons, dogs, and an Aurochs, the subject of an Animal Spotlight awhile back! (Click HERE to check it out!) Since my source is a few years out of date, it is entirely possible that more discoveries have been made there since then! Despite all of this, most scientists don't believe this is the first "zoo," at least not by modern definitions, a place where anyone can come and look at these animals. It is thought that the site at Hierakanopolis is more of a private collection kind of thing.
Most people seem to agree that the first public zoo was created by Queen Hatshepsut, a zoo that people today would define as a zoo. Not a lot of data (at least not that I can find) exists to tell us what sort of animals Hatshepsut kept in her zoo. Some of the animals that we do know were imported include rhinos, cattle, giraffes, leopards, monkeys, and hounds. Presumably, some of the other animals that we mentioned before made it into the zoo, as well.
What other animals could have made it into the zoo? A lot of this is speculation on my part, but based on the animals of the surrounding area, here are some animals that I think likely made it into these zoos:
This was the birthday post of Grace Albers! Happy birthday, Grace! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Most people seem to agree that the first public zoo was created by Queen Hatshepsut, a zoo that people today would define as a zoo. Not a lot of data (at least not that I can find) exists to tell us what sort of animals Hatshepsut kept in her zoo. Some of the animals that we do know were imported include rhinos, cattle, giraffes, leopards, monkeys, and hounds. Presumably, some of the other animals that we mentioned before made it into the zoo, as well.
What other animals could have made it into the zoo? A lot of this is speculation on my part, but based on the animals of the surrounding area, here are some animals that I think likely made it into these zoos:
- Dromedary camels
- Jackals
- Hyenas
- Crocodiles
- Cheetahs
- Lions
- Jungle cats
There are many reports of other important Ancient Egyptians possessing captive lions, and it seems like captive lions would be a pretty impressive display of one's power. I find it very likely that both cheetahs and jungle cats were members of the zoos, as well, as cheetahs (generally fairly docile around humans, especially compared to other large African cats like lions and leopards) have been domesticated a number of times throughout history. These domestic cheetahs were used by many people, including Akbar the Great of India (who was thought to have around 9,000 cheetahs: not to be confused with Admiral Ackbar), for hunting, both for sport and for sustenance. Jungle cats, too are reported to have been domesticated by the Ancient Egyptians in order to hunt water birds. Mummified remains of the jungle cat are sometimes found in ancient tombs, put there by the burial people. (I don't actually know if they have a special name or something).
This was the birthday post of Grace Albers! Happy birthday, Grace! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Animal of the Day: Viscacha
Today's Animal of the Day is the viscacha and, in my opinion, the viscacha is one of the cutest animals in the world! There are five species of extant (still living, opposite of extinct) viscacha, composing two genera. The viscachas live in the South American Andes, with one species, the plains viscacha, inhabiting the Pampas of Argentina. The plains viscacha can apparently live in warrens (groups of interconnected burrows) of up to around one hundred individuals!
Now what exactly is the viscacha, anyways? Except for the long tail, it sure looks like a rabbit, now, doesn't it? Well, the rabbit-like features of the viscacha actually evolved through a fascinating biological process called convergent evolution, in which organisms evolve a similar adaptation to other organisms, but did not receive the adaptation from a common ancestor. For example, the antlers of the elk and the moose are not an example of convergent evolution, as the common ancestor of the two animals both had antlers.
However, the saber-teeth in the Chinese water deer and the musk deer DID evolve via convergent evolution, as their common ancestor did not have these features. And yes, that picture of the Chinese water deer to the right is a real picture. We'll talk about these fascinating animals at some point in the future.
Tangents aside, I never actually answered the question: what are the viscachas related to, if not rabbits? Rabbits, along with hares and pikas, are members of the order Lagomorpha, or the lagomorphs, contrary to the belief of many people, who (understandably) think that the rabbits are actually rodents. If you were to say that the viscacha was a rodent, however, then you would be correct! The viscacha is indeed a member of the order Rodentia, and are fairly closely related to the chinchillas, one of which is pictured off to the left. The chinchillas, just like the viscachas, are also native to the South American Andes. The chinchillas, despite being a very popular pet (I remember my preschool had one when I went there), are not doing too hot in the wild: both extant species, the short- and long-tailed chinchilla, are labeled as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN.
This was the birthday post of Isabel Lippincott! Happy birthday, Isabel! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
The Skull of the Otter: Alien Vs. Predator
So it's 2:20 in the morning, our Carbon monoxide alarm is going off, and the fire department is are their way. So that says to me it's time for another blog post! For a long time now, I have been struck at how creepy looking the skull of the otter is! Specifically the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis): it looks just like the head of the alien from the Alien movies! Don't believe me? Take a look below to see for yourself!
Now, not all otters have this terrifyingly creepy skull: the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and a few of the other otters all have fairly normal looking skulls. Their skulls all look more or less like the sea otter skull, pictured below.
There are some more otters that have that creepy Alien-looking skull going for them, though! These otters include the marine otter (Lontra felina)....
....the southern river otter (Lontra provocax).....
....the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra).....
....the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana)....
....and last, but not least (and in my opinion, the most), the most Alien-looking of the bunch, the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis)!
These animals would have the elongated skull so that they are more streamlined when swimming in the water. Their relatives, the weasels (also Mustelids), are often burrowing animals, or animals that have to squeeze through tight confines. For these guys, too, the Alien-like head makes sense!
Now, not all otters have this terrifyingly creepy skull: the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and a few of the other otters all have fairly normal looking skulls. Their skulls all look more or less like the sea otter skull, pictured below.
There are some more otters that have that creepy Alien-looking skull going for them, though! These otters include the marine otter (Lontra felina)....
These animals would have the elongated skull so that they are more streamlined when swimming in the water. Their relatives, the weasels (also Mustelids), are often burrowing animals, or animals that have to squeeze through tight confines. For these guys, too, the Alien-like head makes sense!
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