Archiv der Kategorie: Blogposts in English

Visiting Historyland Part I: The Southern Mammoth

Earlier this year, I made a trip to the Netherlands. One of my points of interest was Historyland in Hellevoetsluis, which is located western of Rotterdam. Historyland is an educational theme park which mainly focuses on different historic subjects, from … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Megafauna, Paläontologie, Säugetiere | Verschlagwortet mit , , | Schreib einen Kommentar

Snap-shots of a Live Foodchain – The Seagull that caught a Garfish with a Sprat in its Mouth

We all know depictions of food chains and food webs from books or museums, which show how small herbivores or planctivores are eaten by larger predators which are again eaten by even larger predators. But it´s incredibly rare to see … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter allgemeine Zoologie, Blogposts in English, Fische, Vögel | Verschlagwortet mit | Schreib einen Kommentar

The weird little whales that hide within a cloud of their gut fluid

Many animals have developed amazing anti-predator adaptions, from mimicry to the ability to autotomize certain parts of their own bodies. One of the most bizarre defense mechanisms among mammals is found in the two exant members of the genus Kogia, … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Säugetiere, Wale | 2 Kommentare

A tiny tusk within a broken tusk – just another narwhal oddity

The narwhal Monodon monoceros is almost a real-life fantasy creature. But not only due to its historical connection with the legendary unicorn – after all, a whale with an enormous tusk growing out of its head is much more fabulous … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Anatomie, Blogposts in English, Teratologie, Wale | Schreib einen Kommentar

How Vanuatuan boars grow circle tusks that impale their own jaws

I wrote some time ago about zoological treasures in archeological, ethnological and historical museums. Today I want to share some quite interesting examples of such „treasures“ which I have seen in the Oceania exhibition of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Anatomie, Blogposts in English, Museen, Säugetiere, Teratologie | 4 Kommentare

Reconstructing Basilosaurus, the cetacean Sea Serpent

Basilosaurus was just big in the news when a new study about its feeding habits and the predation on young Dorudons was published. This is probably a good time to feature a new reconstruction of the „king lizard“ that I … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Illustration, Paläontologie, Wale | Verschlagwortet mit , | 3 Kommentare

Picture of the Day: Mammalodon vs. giant Nautilid

Today I want to feature some paleoart by Dominic Grabowski, which depicts the archaic stem-baleen whale Mammalodon attacking one of those awesome but little-known giant post-creataceous nautilids. I feel really honoured that this was directly inspired by my recent blogpost … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Cephalopoden, Paläontologie, Wale | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Huchen – Salmonid King of the Danube

If you are interested in unusual freshwater fish, you have possibly heard about the taimen (Hucho taimen), a very large predatory salmonid which lives in remote parts of Mongolia, Russia and some other areas of North Asia. This species was … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Fische, Megafische | 2 Kommentare

When Giant Tunas roamed the Baltic Sea

In terms of zoological diversity, the Baltic Sea is probably the most boring sea of the world. It has the lowest salinity of all seas and it is only connected with one other sea, the North Sea. As a result … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter ausgerottete Arten, Blogposts in English, Fische, Megafauna, Megafische | 2 Kommentare

The shoulder horn of Dürer´s marvelous Rhinocerus – revealing a 501 year old mystery beast

The woodcut of Albrecht Dürer´s „Rhinocerus“ is certainly one of the most iconic animal depictions of the Renaissance. Dating from 1515, a time when books about natural history still usually showed wild mixes of real animals and fully fantastic beings … Weiterlesen

Veröffentlicht unter Blogposts in English, Kryptozoologie, Populäre Irrtümer, Säugetiere | 6 Kommentare