For #GuineaPigAppreciationDay, the two earliest examples I've found of guinea pigs in the European visual record:

1. Painting attributed to Giovanni da Udine, n.d., artist active early 1500s to death in 1564

2. Drawing from the Felix Platter album, collected sometime between 1546-54

Attributed to Giovanni da Udine (Italian, 1487–1564) Head of a Guinea Pig oil on canvas laid on panel 6.5 x 7 in. (16.5 x 17.8 cm.) From Duke's Fine Art Auction catalog, 11th April 2013, Lot 215

Drawing collected by Felix Platter, to be used in Gessner's Historiae animalium. The drawings were made by several artists, mostly anonymous, and were collected between 1546 and 1558 (this one must date to no later than 1554 as it served as a reference for Gessner's woodcut published that year). Bijzondere collectie Universiteit van Amsterdam collection.

Happy Fern Friday!

Two fabulous ferns from James Britten's European Ferns (1879-81). On the left is the Hart's Tongue Fern (Asplenium scolopendrium), and on the right is another spleenwort (Asplenium sagittatum).

These ferns were commonly called "spleenworts" because they were thought to treat disorders of the spleen based on the "Doctrine of Signatures", which held that plants that resembled the shapes of body parts were meant to treat ailments of those body parts.

View more in Biodiversity Heritage Library with thanks to Harvard University Botany Libraries for digitizing.

After #Tetzoocon, on my flight home, I wondered how it would be to own a bunch of little Crystal Palace figures to build a nativity scene with. I don't have such figures but I can paint them. So I did. And now they are on Redbubble, in rectangular and round. The two people here are Benjamin W. Hawkins and David T. Amsted, who designed the geological illustrations. Owen is very much absent here on purpose. Read more in Mark Witton's and Ellinor Michel's new book for the reasons why.

Links below!

Round stuff https://www.redbubble.com/de/shop/ap/134349853?asc=u

Rectangular stuff https://www.redbubble.com/de/shop/ap/134347215?asc=u

Historical SciArt@HistSciArt·

Gladiolus  by James Andrews for The Floral Magazine, Vol. 2 (1862). View more in the @BioDivLibrary

Have a great weekend High Desert! #brooktrout #brooktroutart #fishart #watercolor #watercolorplate #scientificillustration #sciart #naturalhistory #naturalhistoryillustration #trout #salmonoid #michiganstatefish #painting #paint #naturalist (at Historic Apple Valley Inn) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChfqoSHPZ0F/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A common thread between the arts and the sciences is storytelling. In both scenarios you’re building worlds, and creating an understanding of the mechanisms that make the system work (or not work), and the relationships within that bubble.

Eleonora Moratto is the Biology Ballerina. She is a freelance professional ballet dancer, and is currently completing her PhD in plant pathogen interactions. Join us as we speak about Eleonora’s work exploring electrical fields and plant immune systems, and her journey as a sciartist.

About Eleonora Moratto

Eleonora Moratto is The Biology Ballerina. She is completing her PhD in plant pathogen interactions at Imperial College, London. She is a freelance professional ballet dancer currently working with the Ballet Dream Arts company and is involved in SciArt projects, women in STEAM activities, long hair modelling, and historical reenactment.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/eleonoramoratto Instagram: @eleonoramoratto Twitter: @eleonoramoratto LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/eleonora-moratto-a57391130

Watch or listen on your favourite platform.

Show Notes

[00:01:08] Eleonora's path to biology. [00:03:30] Researching plant pathogen interactions, specifically Phytophthora palmivora. [00:05:22] Looking for novel solutions that prevent the spread. [00:07:33] Exploring electric fields around plants and pathogens. [00:11:47] Looking to her future in academia and biological interactions. [00:13:52] The wider applications of research in interactions and electrical fields. [00:15:17] The Biology Ballerina. [00:17:02] A SciArtist's dream. [00:19:00] The balance of the arts and sciences for Eleonora. [00:22:41] Freelancing as a ballerina. [00:25:15] SciArts in the wild. [00:28:37] Encourage the polymaths and multihyphenates. [00:30:25] Passion is interesting. [00:31:45] What advice would you give someone who'd like to do what you do, and what advice should they ignore? [00:34:05] Find out more about Eleonora and her work.

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There are some unique and beautiful illustrations in this Russian pathology book from 1897 that I picked up recently. I would love if any Russian speakers could help me translate the cover @rid.bio #historic #pathology #медицина #анатомия #medicalillustration #textbooks #antiquebook #publication #surgical #textbook #medicalart #sciart #scienceillustration #medicalschool #medschool #physiciansassistant #neuro #bypass #neuroscience #medicine #generalsurgery #carotid (at Phoenix, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/COfpQUlHsJb/?igshid=1shu90olkzm4h

Bioluminescence - Question, Hypothesis, Experiment Oil, 30 x 20 inches Here's the painting that was in the Forbes article last week! It's part of a seven person group show at Rehs Contemporary next month in NYC. The light of life and the natural world. Of all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. This point of light and inspiration stands in contrast to the lanterns and lights that are historically thought to be sources of illumination but are now dimmed; mythologies and superstitions humans have created as we struggled in the dark of ignorance to understand our world. But the process of science has revealed a luminous, living planet, more intricate and amazing than we could have ever imagined. Let us embrace the light of life in everyone, kindled over billions of years, and combine our efforts to light a brilliant future. #birds #bioluminescence #oilpainting #birdpainting #naturalism #secular #secularism #humanism #humanist #sciart #scienceart #scientificmethod #science #birdart #boldbrush https://www.instagram.com/p/CFPsA0nFIYQ/?igshid=ui7s4bgqolbm

Inktober day 29: Tsavo lions, mounted at the Field Museum. (See, I go places that aren’t AMNH sometimes! It was awesome.) Sciart x official prompt: Historic x coat. Bite-sized science fact: The Tsavo man-eaters were two male lions who killed around 30 railroad workers in Kenya/Uganda over 9 months in 1898. This is, of course, an incredibly rare behavior. Based on examinations of the lions’ skulls, researchers believe tooth infections may have left the lions unable to hunt their normal prey. Instead they took the risk of human contact, as we are admittedly much squishier, slower, and weaker.

Historical SciArt

Giant Amazon Waterlilies with short-tailed emerald hummingbirds (Chlorostilbon poortmani) from Gould's Monograph of the Trochilidæ, Vol. 5 (1861) (via Twitter: Historical SciArt)

For #WorldBudgieDay, here is the 1st published image of a Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) for its scientific description by George Shaw (as the “Undulated Parrakeet") in The Naturalist's Miscellany of 1804-5.

(Yes, it appears unnaturally elongated, likely due to Shaw working from a skin rather than a living bird.)

Via BHL

"Fungi at Home"

Fly agarics, red-banded polypores, and boletes, OH MY! These fungi are certainly at home in a densely wooded forest.

Fungi used to be included in the taxonomic Kingdom Plantae, but in 1969, through scientific research and peer review, fungi became their own Kingdom. Historical scientific books prior to this date, therefore, include fungi in their study of plants.

SciArt by Ernst Friedrich Heyn (1841-1894) for The Natural History of Plants, Vol. 2 (1895) by Anton Kerner von Marilaun, translated from the original German by Francis Wall Oliver with the assistance of Mary Frances MacDonald and Marian Busk.

#Repost @canvasofthewild @download.ins --- Meet our first characters on our journey through #wildflorida 👉 Swipe to see them all! 🦜 The Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) was social, petite, colorful, and the only parrot native to the eastern US before its extinction in the 1900s. Once found across the region in large flocks, they mainly inhabited old-growth forests near rivers or wetlands. 🦋The Schaus’ Swallowtail butterfly (Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus), was once found from Miami to the Florida Keys weaving between mangroves and thick coastal forests. Over the last century, its population declined rapidly due to urbanization and the high use of insecticides. 🦩 Flamingos are indeed native the #Florida ! Once a common migratory species, their Florida population declined rapidly due to unsustainable hunting for the feather trade in the early 1900s. Thankfully, this species exists across the Caribbean, with an estimated 80,000 adults in the wild! Once thought gone forever from the Florida wetlands, today, small flocks of the wild Caribbean birds are returning to their historical migration feeding grounds in southern Florida! Excited to share the drawing lessons with you tomorrow! 😙 . . Illustrations by @kellyofthewild . . #keepflwild #lovefl #wildflorida #floridalife #floridaexplored #floridahome #floridalife #floridastories #floridahike #floridian #floridanews #floridawild #archboldstation #pathofthepanther #scientificillustration #illustration #floridatrails #floridatrail #scientificillustration #sciart #science #illustrations #parrot #flamingo #butterfly #digitalart @nflandtrust @stpeteaudubon @audubon_fl @fl_wildcorridor @floridastateparksfoundation @leef.florida @floridamarinescience @1000friendsofflorida https://www.instagram.com/p/CZPO-AKuoP8/?utm_medium=tumblr

Green-tailed jacamars (Galbula galbula). by John Gerrard Keulemans

Historical SciArt@HistSciArt

Traditions are not always good, sometimes they need to change! 🔄 . Shark fin soup is considered an important tradition for Chinese culture, adamantly linked with cheerful celebrations like a wedding or anniversary banquet. But is that a good reason to not look critically at it? 🧐 . Traditions have great importance for preserving cultural identity but they're not always meant to be forever. Women's feet binding has been a century long tradition, but somehow people realised that it is not right anymore (or has never been for that matter) 😢 . Animal or human sacrifices, taking advice from oracles, burning wives alive together with their husbands, untouchable prestige of royal families... People around the world saw these historical traditions as absolutely crucial. And yet they're no longer around as completely out of place today! 👌 . Why can't shark fin soup become one of these obsolete traditions? It CAN! It's all about education, learning about the horrifying procedure of shark finning and telling as many people as you can! 📣 . Additionally, once in a while you even have an amazing opportunity to change the legislation about shark fin trading! If you're a European citizen, head to @stopfinningeu and find out more! 🇪🇺 . 👉 Follow @freshnsaltyeco to get a clue in the blue! . . . #freshnsalty #clueintheblue #oceandecade #stopfinningeu #stopsharkfinning #sharkfinsoup #sharkfinning #protectthesharks #sharkfin #sharks #oceandecade #sharkeducation #sharksarefriends #sharksofinstagram #savethesharks #oceaneducation #marinewildlife #animaleducation #protecttheocean #oceanawareness #savetheseas #marinelifematters #savemarinelife #oceanconservancy #oceanminded #oceanconservation #sciart #oceanlovers #oceanlife #marinelife https://www.instagram.com/p/CPQjkbLhSgY/?utm_medium=tumblr