All posts by Gilbert Borrego

We really love trying new things and using new tools to help provide more access to the literature contained in BHL. From Flickr to iTunes U, we are constantly working at meeting our vision of “Inspiring discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge.” We have now dipped our toe into a new venture…e-books!

Where were they going? That is what the majority of the 44,000 soldiers and sailors on 400 French ships must have been thinking up until they landed near Alexandria on July 2, 1798.

Synopsis of the Extinct Batrachia, Reptilia and Aves of North America by Edward Cope, published in Volume 14 of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, is arguably the most famous item either paleontologist published, not due to its academic qualities but because it exemplifies and magnifies how the competition between the two men and the rush to publish led to major errors by both.

Montes de Oca worked as a naturalist on the Mexican-Guatemalan Boundary Commission and collected many plant specimens which are now in the herbarium of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (MEXU). He collected throughout Mexico, including Soconusco (Chiapas), Oaxaca, Puebla and Xalapa (Veracruz). However, it is his work with Mexican hummingbirds that gained him popularity among the scientific and artistic communities.

To kick off the new year, we here at BHL are starting a new monthly series titled “My Life as a BHL Staffer.” Each month, we will showcase a different BHL staff member and give an overview of what tasks and duties that person performs.

If you’re active in social media, chances are you’ve already discovered our presence on a variety of platforms, including Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest and Twitter (for a list of all of our social media accounts, visit our public wiki). You can now also see linked icons to each of our social media platforms on the lower left-hand side of BHL’s home page.