Category: Taxonomy
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Late in the Acts of the Apostles, Saul “Paul” of Tarsus, afterward St. Paul, is arrested in Jerusalem. He wisely requests a change of venue to Rome. There's a shipwreck on the way, and they are cast ashore in Malta (called Melita in Acts). The “barbarous” Maltese kindly invite the 276 castaways to warm themselves…
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Sometimes people get impatient when you try to identify a species. White-crowned sparrow or white-throated sparrow, really, what's the difference? To a sparrow looking for love, all the difference in the world. Even for humans, it can be important. While reading Red Arctic, by John McCannon, I came across a story demonstrating the value of…
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A tiger's scientific name is Panthera tigris. There are several subspecies, though not so many as there used to be, and one is the South China tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis. It's said to be the “stem tiger,” the one from which other subspecies diverged. (Which doesn't imply that it has stayed unchanged since then.) Sadly…
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I came across the story of the most endangered turtle in the world while researching the question of whether “worm stomping” in Wood Turtles is a cultural behavior. (Alas, no.) In Ronald Orenstein's Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor (2001), I read of Aspideretes nigricans (formerly Trionyx nigricans), the Black Softshell turtle, or Bastami…
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