All posts by Michelle Strizever

We at BHL are anxious to find out how our collection and services affect the work of our users at an individual level. With this aspiration in mind, this week we begin a series, BHL and our Users, featuring our users and their testimonials regarding BHL’s impact on their lives and work. So, without further ado, meet Patrick Ives LaFollette, Research Associate in Malacology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and read what he has to say about how BHL has changed the way he works.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone today who has not seen the legendary Jaws movie. The movie defined a generation and solidified sharks as one of the most gruesome and dangerous killers on the planet. But such misconceptions are an injustice to this diverse, and often harmless, order of fish, some of which reach a mature length shorter than that of an average housecat.

So, Halloween’s just around the corner, so we at BHL thought it might be appropriate to highlight a species, and a book, appropriate for the season. Most likely, if you had to associate a single species from the animal kingdom with the spine-tingling glee of the Halloween experience, it would be the spider (unless you are a fan of the recent vampire craze, in which case you’ll likely choose a bat). Most people, when they think of a Halloween spider, probably draw to mind images of Black Widows, or simply enormous, generic, black, eight-legged beasts. However, did you ever think to imagine a spider with horns on its body? If not, well, you’re in luck.

While it’s no secret that birds are amazing creatures, what may not be common knowledge is the role that some birds have played in the development of human technology. Specifically, the role Peregrine Falcons played in the development of jets.The general description of the Falco peregrinus on EOL describes the relationship between the Peregrine Falcon and modern aviation:

If you ever owned a lizard as a pet growing up, chances are good that you owned one of EOL’s featured species, an Anolis carolinensis, or Green Anole, also sometimes called the American Chameleon, although it is not a type of chameleon. This misnomer comes from this species’ ability to turn from green to brown. This species is the only Anole species native to North America, and is found primarily in the southeastern United States.

If you’ve been outside gardening lately, or even simply taking a closer look at the greenery around you, you probably noticed that you were not quite alone. Indeed, the coming of the warm weather also sparks the coming of a plethora of new life, among them insects and spiders. And if you live in the lower 48 states, Mexico or Central America, you may have seen one of the featured species on EOL – Argiope aurantia – the Black and Yellow Argiope.

Illustrations play an integral role in the work of taxonomists, and they lend a depth, beauty, and sometimes pure romanticism to the volumes containing them. Case in point: this week’s book of the week, Our Country’s Fishes and How to Know Them: A Guide to all the Fishes of Great Britain (1902) by W.J. Gordon. This charming book contains over 30 plates illustrating the myriad of ichthyoids found in Great Britain. Furthermore, the lists of these fish are itemized according to their local and popular names. As the author points out, the purpose of this volume is the “ready identification of our native species, whether sea-water, fresh-water, or estuarine…[and] as the number of species found in British waters is not large, space has been found for a series of short notes…” So, take a few moments to look through the colorful plates depicting the many and varied species of fish found in Great Britain, and feel free to keep a copy of these illustrations for yourself by downloading high resolution images of these pages by clicking on the “Download Images” options found in the drop down menu entitled “Download/About This Book” when on the page viewer screen. Enjoy!