Zoological Knowledge Research Articles

MARINE BIOLOGICAL REPORT IN THENUḪBAT AL-DAHR FĪ ʿAǦĀʾIB AL-BARR WA-AL-BAḤR

AbstractThe aim of this article is to present a medieval Arabic report regarding six animals from the Gulf of Aden, to provide a zoological identification of five of the animals in question, which may be identified, and to comment on the biological data provided by the report in the light of both contemporary and modern zoological knowledge and, thus, to evaluate the scientific standard of the report.

The effect of plant richness and urban garden structure on bird species richness, diversity and community structure

Urban green areas improve the standard of living in cities and affect people's attitude to nature and conservation. Zoological knowledge may provide data that will help designers to enhance bird diversity in gardens. We studied the effect of plant species richness and structure on bird species richness, diversity and community structure in 25 public gardens in Tel-Aviv city and, neighboring suburbs, Israel. A total of 65 bird species were observed, of which nine were urban, exploiters or alien species. These latter species composed 54% of all individuals seen. Additional 13 bird species, mostly migrants, were observed in gardens further from the observation fixed radius. We found that shrubs species richness positively affected bird species diversity. Most bird species were found where trees and shrubs species richness was high, and trees and lawn cover were medium or low. High trees or high lawn cover attracted only a few bird species, mostly aliens and urban exploiters. Native birds preferred to forage on native trees and alien birds preferred to feed on alien trees. Bird species diversity was higher during spring and fall because of the presence of migrating bird species. Dogs and people had a negative effect on bird presence. Accordingly, we recommend that when planning new gardens, designers will avoid large lawns, prefer diverse and dense shrubberies, native trees, and will create some areas that will not be accessible to dogs and people. Finally, we emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary studies conducted in collaboration between landscape designers and zoologists.

Views of the Cordilleras and monuments of the indigenous peoples of the Americas: a critical edition

In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland set out to determine whether the Orinoco River connected with the Amazon. But what started as a trip to investigate a relatively minor geographical controversy became the basis of a five-year exploration throughout South America, Mexico, and Cuba. The discoveries amassed were staggering, and much of today's knowledge of tropical zoology, botany, geography, and geology can be traced back to von Humboldt's numerous records of these expeditions. One of these accounts, of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, firmly established von Humboldt as the founder of Mesoamerican studies. In Views of the Cordilleras, von Humboldt weaves together drawings and detailed texts to achieve multifaceted views of cultures and landscapes across the Americas. In doing so, he offers an alternative perspective on the New World, combating presumptions of its belatedness and inferiority by arguing that the old and the new world are of the same geological age. This critical edition contains a new, unabridged English translation of von Humboldt's French text, as well as annotations, a bibliography, and all sixty-nine plates from the original edition.

A naturalist of the Northern Enlightenment: Peter Forsskål after 250 years

Peter Forsskål (1732–1763) was the naturalist on the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia (1761–1767), a particularly rich example of the eighteenth century era of scientific exploration and a quintessential project of the Enlightenment. Forsskål is noteworthy for his early writings in philosophy and politics and for his outstanding contributions to the botanical and zoological knowledge of the Middle East, specifically Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, principally Yemen. His biological work stands out for the large number of species identified, its attention to detail, the expansiveness of his descriptions, his knowledge and use of Arabic and his early ideas on plant geography. Forsskål's research in the marine biology of the Red Sea was also pioneering. His publications and collections represent the single greatest contribution to the knowledge of the natural history of the Middle East in the eighteenth century and are still valued by scholars today. His skill in retaining local terminology in Arabic and his respect for the contributions of local inhabitants to this work are also worth noting. When he died of malaria in 1763 in Yemen, the eighteenth-century world of natural science lost a promising and adventurous scientist.

Diagnosing fossilization in the Nordic Renaissance: an investigation into the correspondence of Ole Worm (1588–1654)

Abstract Ole Worm, Professor of Medicine at Copenhagen University 1624–1654, collected natural objects and artefacts with a view to letting students learn through observation and the touch of real things. Among the objects were fossils. Through Worm’s correspondence from 1607 to 1654, his growing understanding of petrifaction and petrifactions (fossilization and fossils) and its circumstantial background in the Nordic Renaissance has been investigated. Worm studied medicine with anatomy, botany and (iatro)chemistry at European universities. He began as Professor Pædagogicus and practising physician in Copenhagen in 1613 and he pursued interests in botany and in Nordic philology supported by King Christian IV. Objects for demonstrative instruction were obtained through his correspondents and were arranged systematically in Worm’s museum. The first fossils were identified chemically as petrified mollusc shells and wood, but without attention to species and original environment. With limited zoological knowledge and little field experience, but well trained in anatomical observation and description, and well read, Worm developed his understanding of fossils. He compared sharks’ teeth and glossopetrae , adding evidence to former comparisons. Christian orthodoxy was a barrier to geological and evolutionary thinking. Worm rejected superstition and prepared the way for the scientific comprehension of fossils in the Nordic cultural sphere.

Traditional Uses of Animals among Jirels of Central Nepal

Nepal harbors rich biodiversity because of a number of factors. Some of the important factors responsible for it could be attributed to the country' s strategic location and rugged topography. It is situated along the central and eastern Himalayas, encompassing two zoogeographic realms - Palaerctic and Oriental with faunal elements of both the realms. There are diverse and unique assemblages of flora and fauna within a narrow horizontal expanse of less than 200 km. Equally diverse are the people who have been co-existing with these resources forming discrete blocks through ages. According to the government figures, there are fifty- nine ethnic groups in the country and the group Jirel is one of these ancient groups of people. Because of the co-existence with the surrounding faunal resources in continuity for centuries, Jirels have accumulated a rich body of ethno- zoological knowledge. This time tested traditional knowledge is now on the verge of extinction for most of the practices are no more in vogue. Present study attempts to analyze and document the vanishing ethno-zoological knowledge of this community from central Nepal. Tools such as questionnaire survey, structured interview, semi- structured interview, PRA and focus group discussions have been employed to gather data. Jirels have cultivated relationships with animals at cultural, spiritual and material levels. Altogether 49 species of animals with dif ferent ethno-zoological values have been reported. There is erosion of ethno-zoologi cal knowledge among Jirels as younger people harbor less knowledge than the older ones. The paper emphasizes that similar studies be carried out in other ethnic groups of the country.

Iconography of Emblematic Animals in The Album of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas: Readings and Misreadings

The paper concentrates on the iconography of animals in Baroque emblems depicted in The Album of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas in the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia with special attention to selected cases where the iconographical interpretation failed because of different faux pas in the methodological approach. The author draws attention to the actual traps in interpretation while the careful re-reading of the emblems shows that insufficient knowledge of zoology is not the only and often not even the most important reason for misinterpretation.

Mushrooms and Economic Botany1

The tendency to use the word “mushroom” pejoratively persists widely in modern English. To paraphrase the late Stephen Jay Gould, prosperity and the arts “flower” while urban crime “mushrooms.” Many people in the United States are familiar with the schoolyard rhyme, “There’s a fungus among us/And we must stamp it out!!” How different is the sense of awe and wonder expressed in a Nahuatl saying from Morelos, Mexico: Tlateguini, xcaguigan, in moguitlaxcactia in nanagame—“It is thundering, listen you all, the mushrooms are putting on their shoes” (de Avila and Guzman 1980:312). Jared Diamond (1989:19), who has spent years documenting the detailed botanical and zoological knowledge of the Fore people of New Guinea, admits to a sudden sense of apprehension when his hosts served him forest mushrooms:

Bird-spiders (Arachnida, Mygalomorphae) as perceived by the inhabitants of the village of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, Brazil

This paper deals with the conceptions, knowledge and attitudes of the inhabitants of the county of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, on mygalomorph spiders locally known as 'caranguejeiras' (bird-spiders). It is launched here a new filed within ethnozoology: ethnoarachnology, which is defined as the transdisciplinary study of the relationships between human beings and bird-spiders. Data were collected from February to June 2005 by means of open-ended interviews carried out with 30 individuals, which ages ranged from 13 to 86 years old. It was recorded some traditional knowledge regarding the following items: taxonomy, biology, habitat, ecology, seasonality, and behavior. Results show that bird-spiders are classified as "insects". The most commented aspect of the interaction between bird-spiders and inhabitants of Pedra Branca is related to their dangerousness, since they said these spiders are very venomous and can cause health problems. In general, the traditional zoological knowledge of Pedra Branca's inhabitants concerning these spiders is coherent with the academic knowledge.

“Piolho-de-cobra” (Arthropoda: Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) na concepção dos moradores de Pedra Branca, Santa Terezinha, Estado da Bahia, Brasil

This paper deals with the conceptions, knowledge and attitudes of the inhabitants of Pedra Branca county, State of Bahia, on the arthropod known as piolho-de-cobra (millipede) (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha). A new field within ethnozoology is here presented: ethnomyriapodology, defined as the transdisciplinary study of the relationships between human beings and the myriapods. Data were collected from February to June, 2005 by means of open-ended interviews carried out with 24 individuals whose ages ranged from 25 to 86 years old. Some traditional knowledge regarding this millipede taxonomy, biology, habitat, ecology, seazonality, and behavior were recorded. Results show that this centipede is classified as an “insect”. The way it moves was highly commented, as well as the fact that this animal is considered “poisonous”. In general, the traditional zoological knowledge of the inhabitants of Pedra Branca concerning the geophilomorph centipede is rationally coherent with the academic knowledge.

Knowledge of zoology can help to clarify problems in epidemiology

Recent animal rabies data from Lithuania are of great concern, as cases are increasing. To gain insight into the risk for public health, we can investigate the number of people who have visited a rabies control centre since 1996 after contact with an animal suspected to be infected with rabies

De l'apport de la zoologie en épidémiologie

Knowledge of zoology can help to clarify problems in epidemiology Recent animal rabies data from Lithuania are of great concern, as cases are increasing. To gain insight into the risk for public health, we can investigate the number of people who have vi

Classical Cats. The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Cat

This is the definitive book on classical cats. The cat has played a significant role in history from the earliest times. Well known is its role in the religion and art of ancient Egypt, no less than its association with witchcraft in the Middle Ages. But when did the cat become a domestic companion and worker as well? There has been much debate about the position of the cat in ancient Greece and Rome. Artistic representations are sometimes ambiguous, and its role as a mouse-catcher seems often to have been carried out by weasels. Yet other evidence clearly suggests that the cat was as important to Greeks and Romans as it is to many modern people. This book is the first comprehensive survey of the evidence for cats in Greece and Rome, and of their functions and representations in art. Donald Engels draws on authors from Aesop to Aristotle; on vase-painting, inscriptions and the plastic arts; and on a thorough knowledge of zoology of the cat. He also sets the ancient evidence in the wider context of the Egyptian period that preceded it, as well as the views of the Church fathers who ushered antiquity into the Middle Ages.

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AbstractThe English physian Edward Wotton wrote the first zoological compendium in the time of the Renaissance. As a convinced representative of Renaissance‐Humanism Wotton strictly applied Aristotelian methodological principles to Aristotelian facts. In this way he tried to make Classical Antiquity complete; the Renaissance of ancient zoology is here tantamount to a new beginning. Wotton's achievement is in the first place to have provided a good summary of the whole of ancient zoological knowledge to which he added a few observations of his own. He carried through the Aristotelian concept of differentiation by many distinguishing features more strictly than Aristotle himself and all subsequent authors. In this way he attained the first zoological system, which influenced all later systematic attempts. The main Aristotelian groups are further subdivided and the Zoophyta are separated for the first time as an independent group. Wotton used a practical indexation method and got rid of an excess of detail in the text, adding critical annotations to each chapter. By means of the two indices, one of the names and the other of the parts of animal, Wotton tried to improve the precision of nomenclature and by this the identification of the objects under examination. His critical position on fabulous animals reveals his progressive mind.

Karl Popper, Verifiability, and Systematic Zoology

Kitts, D. B. (Department of the History of Science, and School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019) 1977. Karl Popper, verifiability, and systematic zoology. Syst. Zool. 26:185-194.-Karl Popper maintains that the laws of science are not, in principle, verifiable but only falsifiable because they are formulated in strictly universal statements which refer to an unlimited number of instances. Several taxonomists have apparently concluded that the knowledge of systematic zoology is expressed in these strictly universal statements. It is argued in this paper that the knowledge claims of systematic zoology are formulated in what Popper has called numerically universal statements which are equivalent to conjunctions of a finite number of singular statements and that they are, therefore, in principle, both verifiable and falsifiable. [Systematic zoology; Karl Popper; universal statements; verifiability; falsifiability.] During the past decade a number of authors (see for example: Bock, 1973; Gaffney, 1975; and Wiley, 1975) have attempted to apply Karl Popper's philosophy of science (see especially, Popper, 1959) to systematic zoology and paleontology. In this paper I shall claim that these authors have misunderstood one of Popper's principal claims about the nature of science and that they are also mistaken about the meaning of the statements in which systematic zoological knowledge is expressed. In Popper's view the theories, or natural laws, of science are to be regarded as strictly universal statements. A strictly universal statement, according to Popper, claims to be true for any time and any place and for an unlimited number of individual cases. of this kind are to be contrasted with numerically universal statements which refer to a finite class of elements within a particular spatiotemporal region. Natural laws formulated in strictly universal statements cannot be verified because in Popper's words (1959:63), For the verification of a natural law could only be carried out by empirically ascertaining every single event to which the law might apply, and by finding that every such event actually conforms to the law-clearly an impossible task. Events which conform to a law can never justify its strictly universal claim but just one event which does not conform to the law can falsify its universal claim. It is thus that scientific laws are in principle falsifiable but not verifiable. Popper emphasizes that the process by which laws are tested is deductive. Scientific laws, being strictly universal, do not refer to particular times and places, and therefore do not immediately provide us with events whereby they might be tested. about events which can be empirically tested must somehow be generated. This is accomplished by deducing singular statements describing particular events from the strictly universal statements of the theory together with singular statements describing initial and boundary conditions. If the singular descriptive statement deduced from the theoiy is consistent with the theory then it provides a reason not to abandon it but clearly does not verify it. If the singular descriptive statement deduced from the theory contradicts it then the theory is falsified. It is important to note here that it is only strictly universal statements that can be in principle falsified but not verified. Numerically universal statements, though logically indistinguishable from strictly universal statements, differ from them in an important way. Popper says of numerically universal statements (1959:62): Statements of this latter kind can, in prin-

Enunciados nomológicos y condicionales contrafácticos

Resumen

Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science

A giant of nineteenth-century natural history study, Louis Agassiz made major contributions to modern knowledge of geology, paleontology, and zoology. Agassiz's fame in America was largely as a popularizer of natural history and teacher of advanced students. Founding the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard was his lasting teaching and research achievement, and the Smithsonian Institution and National Academy of Sciences benefited from his impulse to professionalize science. A life-long opponent of the theory of evolution. Agassiz affirmed the magnificence of God's plan to all who would study nature, not books.

Chair of Zoology at University College, Cardiff: Prof. James Brough

AT the opening of the present session, Prof. James Brough entered upon his new duties as professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in University College, Cardiff, a post upon which distinction had been conferred by the personality and prosperous tenure of the late Prof. W. M. Tattersall. The appointment is an interesting one, because Brough's honours degree, taken at Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, was in geology, and his published researches are almost entirely palæontological. But he he used his geological knowledge with the avowed and persistent aim of interpreting the evolutionary history of the bony fishes, and his researches have already thrown new light on that difficult problem and have proved to be of fundamental importance for the study of the Palæoniscids. To further these studies he has travelled far and wide, adding to his material by collecting in South Africa and Rhodesia, in the Austrian Alps, in northern Italy and in Spitsbergen, studying in London and Edinburgh, in Stockholm, Paris, Frankfort and Milan. His zoological knowledge, reinforced by his palæontology and his own vivid personality, gave verve and imagination to his teaching in the Department of Zoology in the University of Edinburgh, from which he proceeded to Cardiff, and in his earlier post in the University of Manchester. During the War, he has assisted the Ministry of Food by acting as insect infestation inspector for the south-east district of Scotland. Dr. Brough's interest in educational methods and his researches, with which must be linked the studies in the early history of the Amphibia so successfully followed by his wife (Dr. Margaret Steen), promise well for the continued prosperity of the Department of Zoology at Cardiff.

Scientific Work in India

In the August number of Discovery, Sir Lewis Fermor gives an interesting account of the history and development of pure and applied science in India. It is well known that India possesses a very ancient culture and civilization. As regards ancient science, the Hindus made important contributions to mathematics, and, as Sir Lewis points out, they possessed a considerable knowledge of zoology, medicine and chemistry. Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray's book on the “History of Hindu Chemistry” from the earliest times up to the middle of the sixteenth century A.D. provides valuable information concerning this branch of science. The conquests of Alexander the Great gave India an important stimulus to intercourse with Europe, but, as Sir Lewis observes, much ancient Indian science antedates this Greek influence. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that when the Arabs brought science to Europe, their knowledge derived from Indian as well as Greek sources. Although in its earlier days the East India Company did not employ scientific men as such in India, it is a striking fact that James Prinsep, one of the Company's official assayers, deciphered in 1838 the ancient Brahmi script used in the rock-cut inscriptions or edicts of the Indian Buddhist king, Asoka (died circa 237 B.C.).

Outlines of Entomology

THERE was a time, perhaps it is not entirely past, when entomology was among the least of the biological sciences ; when the cockroach was held to epitomize the class ; and when a specialist on the Ctenophora might be credited with a knowledge of zoology, but scarcely a specialist on the Insecta. Yet insects have provided the material for most of the biological theory of the past fifty years: sex determination, biological races and species formation, mutation and heredity, bioluminescence, mechanisms of behaviour, biological oxidations, the inheritance of acquired characters, adaptive coloration, theories of population, the physiological action of genes- these are a few of the subjects which owe much to the diversity of insects and the unrivalled opportunities they offer for studying the workings of the living organism. The utilization of this material in many fields of physiology and biochemistry has scarcely begun. Much of insect physiology still consists in confirming upon insects what is already known from studies of higher animals. But the tissues of insects are so accessible, and experiments can be made upon them with such facility, as to encourage the hope that there are many more fundamental problems in biology the analysis of which may be pressed further and with greater ease upon insects than upon other forms. Outlines of Entomology By Dr. A. D. Imms. Pp. vii + 184. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1942.) 12s 6d. net.