The salmon is the best recorded fish in early modern historical sources. 🐟 There are oh so many records (disproportionate!) from Scotland, Wales, Connacht & SW England but few in the South & Midlands of England - salmon may have become rarer here in the medieval period. #AtlasofEarlyModernWildlife

Do you know the medieval trope of the white pig? It is sometimes thought of as this fragment of pure Celtic folklore, related to the white breed of park cattle, or the hounds of Annwn. But I think that might be wrong... (Sneak peak thread from my new book! 🧵🐗)

Do you know the medieval trope of the white pig? It is sometimes thought of as this fragment of pure Celtic folklore, related to the white breed of park cattle, or the hounds of Annwn. But I think that might be wrong... (Sneak peak thread from my new book! 🧵🐗)

A fascinating history of shipworms in the pacific: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Temple of Horus, Egypt #FunFact: A small fat bird, like the above, is the hieroglyph used in Ancient Egyptian to mean "wicked" or "evil". The phrase above him (the inscription should be read from the top down) is "k s3" or "your son". [1/2]

Today marks the feast day of Melangell. The day celebrates the 6th-century Welsh patron saint of hares, small animals, and the natural environment

This lion is a rare example of ancient Egyptian sculpture in clay. It was found with a cache of royal sculpture in the temple enclosure at Hierakonpolis. In Egyptian mythology, paired lions often served as the guardians of entrances, and sculpted lions performed the same function in temples.

250-500 years ago the huge jewelled sturgeon was an uncommon but well known fish in British & Irish rivers, especially in the Thames, the Severn and the Mersey. Now functionally extinct except for escaped stock - European populations are recovering and may recolonise! 🦈💙 #atlasofearlymodernwildlife

THE LYNX - it's a native species in Britain. How do we know? Our top textual evidence is from 'Pais Dinogad' (Dinogad's Smock). 📑 The trouble is, everyone gets this poem wrong! We need to push our theories about into the 21st century! Let's look at it again... (thread 🧵) (Art by Valériane Leblond 🐱)

From twitter I found out about the Medieval Irish version of the Odyssey: “Merugud Uilix Maicc Leirtis” Which cuts out most of the plot, and adding one new plot point involving a magic box. But the dog doesn’t die in this one, so this isthe best adaptation of the Odyssey.

Some of us will sympathize with Nycticorax, the night-raven, who takes refuge in his tower during the daytime and apparently removes the stairs to his front door just in case. #medievalLatin

I posted this before but I think it deserves 'To be S E E N'. From the 'London Daily Post', 8 September 1736. It's an ad for Ammazoo Snuff that uses the promise to see a rattle snake as its gimmick to get ppl in the door. Or behind the Royal Exchange in this case. #earlymodern

According To An Odd Tale Of Folklore, Alexander The Great’s Horse Fathered A Species Of Unicorns thehistorianshut.com/2020/06/17/a... #history

Analysis of centuries-old Swedish newspapers shows harbor porpoises once ranged widely across the Baltic Sea, highlighting significant declines in their historic distribution. doi.org/hb3rn3

Advanced imaging shows Qing Dynasty tian-tsui featherwork used feathers from multiple bird species and layered pigments, revealing complex techniques behind their vibrant colors. doi.org/hb3rjc

Getting negging emails from the AI overlords about my book before it is even out 😭

Brill #review in 'Egyptian Archaeology' Magazine for 'The Animals of Ancient Egypt: Then and Now - "the book overflows with interesting facts and observations..." Congrats to authors #RichardHoath #SalimaIkram #AnimalsofAncientEgypt #EgyptianArchaeology #Egypttravel

When Foxes Infiltrated Medieval Religion Why do you think two completely disconnected ancient cultures, from Japan and from Europe, both commonly depict foxes and religious clothing? Can you think of any other recurring creatures that appear in folklore from different cultures and time periods?

Weird morning thoughts. Poisonous snakes are not common in the UK Ælla of Northumbria must have imported many for his snake pit. Implying there was a market in 9th century Europe for dangerous and poisonous beasties

Happy #NationalBSLDay! 🥳 It has been a long time since I did my Level 1 Sign Language certificate but I still try to practice! This year I've also been looking at some medieval sources of sign language signs! This is not my area but I thought I'd share some sources I'm excited about... (thread) 😁👋🧵

Happy #NationalBSLDay! 🥳 It has been a long time since I did my Level 1 Sign Language certificate but I still try to practice! This year I've also been looking at some medieval sources of sign language signs! This is not my area but I thought I'd share some sources I'm excited about... (thread) 😁👋🧵

For those of us living in Britain, you can also see an Irish elk/giant deer (𝘔𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘴) skeleton in Warwick's lovely Market Hall Museum ☘️Assembled from bones found in a Co.Limerick peat bog & acquired in 1866 by Warwickshire Natural History & Archaeological Society. 𝘓𝘶𝘪𝘮𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘈𝘣ú !

Out today - I'm on That Shakespeare Life podcast talking about starlings in early modern England! 😻 Come listen to hear about how early modern English people kept starlings as pets, taught them to speak and completely ignored the extermination laws against them! 🐦💚

Depiction of 10th century fish farming in China. From the scroll "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Made was a Chinese painter Zhang Zeduanof the Song dynasty. Showing life in Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng Henan province) during the Northern Song period.

Out today - I'm on That Shakespeare Life podcast talking about starlings in early modern England! 😻 Come listen to hear about how early modern English people kept starlings as pets, taught them to speak and completely ignored the extermination laws against them! 🐦💚

Edinburgh via history/philosophy of science eyes! Safe to say the National Museum of Scotland has reached their target audience with the Dolly the Sheep pen. And the largest of shoutouts to @neurathic.bsky.social for spotting the Huxley book for me.

#CostaRica may have a long #NatualHistory, but recently many species have gone #extinct in the region due to human activity. We want to help limit further extinctions in these important ecosystems… & YOU can join us - comment “Costa Rica” to learn more! 🏝️ #GroupTrip #Conservation #Paleontology

Little can rival an old Scots pine for sheer force of personality and presence. One of the earlier tree species to colonise Ireland after the last Ice Age, pine was thought to have completely died out due to deforestation, until a small residual population was confirmed in the Burren, Co. Clare.

Meet kungaka – ‘the hidden one’. This ancient lizard could be the rarest reptile in Australia https://theconversation.com/meet-kungaka-the-hidden-one-this-ancient-lizard-could-be-the-rarest-reptile-in-australia-279561 #biology #nature #science #STEM

It’s #NationalPetDay! 🐾 …Are these typical pets? 💦🦜🐅 Enjoy this 1860 depiction of a Dutch woman with a parrot and leopard, by Utagawa Yoshimori I! Held by the Philadelphia Art Museum: www.visitpham.org/objects/249308

Early drones: During World War I, pigeons were outfitted with tiny cameras and released over enemy territory. As the birds flew, the cameras clicked away. Part of an interesting online exhibition at the International Spy Museum. www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-e...

OK I will probably read this. Out in October from Granta.

In honour of #InternationalBeaverDay, here are three medieval British beaver stories which people often get wrong... 1. CANTERBURY TALES In Geoffrey Chaucer's Middle English 'Canterbury Tales', the Merchant character is shown 'high on horse' wearing a beaverskin hat from Flanders (now in Belgium)

Our #ArchiveOfTheWeek are the papers of John and James Taylor, publishers and bankers who were based in London and Bakewell. Amongst them is this spectacular manuscript page by Benjamin Wilson FRS (1721-1788), featuring intricate drawings of animals. #ArchiveAnimals #Archive30

Happy Easter slow worm pals 😸🦎🤎

Today, according to The Voyage of Saint Brendan, the saint and his brothers would have landed on the back of Jasconius the giant fish en route to finding the promised land of the saints. Some manuscripts of this work incorporated planned illustrations, others had enthusiastic readers...

Here are all the records I have of herring gulls, etc from early modern Britain & Ireland. Herring gulls in this period still kept to the coasts and ate herring. The birds were not commonly found inland until around 150 years ago, when they found out about our massive landfill sites. 😻🪽

COMING SOON! #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History #Museums is in Penguin paperback three weeks today, offering an insider’s guide to the unnatural ways museums display nature, [sometimes uncomfortable] stories of how collections were built, & how they help save the world.

Out today - my review of BEASTLY BRITAIN by Karen Jones - 'a joyful reading experience' 😸💚 liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/...

This is just out! A study of the remains of baleen whales in Iron Age contexts from Scania, Southern Sweden, led by Dr Stella Macheridis, to which I have had the great pleasure to contribute, together with Paul Petterson, Mats Rundgren and Sam Greeves. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hello from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Today I'm after some 17th century natural history books which I've heard might have been annotated with some local records. Everyone please think scaly thoughts, I want more old slow worm records! Happy Trans Day of Visibility! #TDOV #nonbinary

I'm on a coach to London today in the #StanduptoRacism coach from south Wales to join the Great @togetheralliance.bsky.social march against the far right. I've heard there will be music! ✊🏻🎶

The shaman of Bad Dürrenberg are the remains of a 25-35 yr old woman, who was burried 8600 to 9000 year ago in Germany. Around her, were the remains of an extraordinary head-dress, made from the bones & teeth of different animals such as deer, wild boar, crane & turtle www.reddit.com/r/Historical...

'We got evidence of boars, deer, bears, aurochs': Ancient DNA reveals sunken realm Doggerland had habitable forests during the last ice age www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

My video about St Kilda Lilt - a Gaelic love song about a lover who caught his sweetheart lots of seabirds, including one which is now globally extinct! 🐧💘

#FrescoFriday Venus Pompeiana, patron goddess of Pompeii, arriving in a chariot drawn by 4 elephants. She holds a sceptre and rudder and is accompanied by Cupid, holding a mirror. But it's the elephants that steal the show with their oddly modern pencil-sketch quality. 📸 me C.1, Pompeii Antiquarium

In ancient Smyrna, Turkey 🇹🇷 this channel once kept a city alive. Today, it still carries water through the agora, and even the local cats know it. Roman #engineering

Book announcement!! 🎉 CREATURES OF STORY AND SONG looks through Britain’s stories and poems to rediscover our lost species. It’s time to remember what people thought about wolves, lynxes, great whales, great auks, sturgeon & more when they were all still here! 🐺🦫🐳💚 @reaktionbooks.bsky.social

Book announcement!! 🎉 CREATURES OF STORY AND SONG looks through Britain’s stories and poems to rediscover our lost species. It’s time to remember what people thought about wolves, lynxes, great whales, great auks, sturgeon & more when they were all still here! 🐺🦫🐳💚 @reaktionbooks.bsky.social

Happy St Patrick’s Day from #Ireland where the only Irish snakes are in museum jars. These are escaped pets. Full story in the link #StPatricksDay www.museum.ie/en-ie/collec...