A New Zealand Book of Beasts

A New Zealand Book of Beasts PDF

Author: Annie Potts

Publisher: Auckland University Press

Published: 2014-03-01

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1869407725

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Touching on indigenous Maori relationships with the now-extinct, flightless moa; the attitudes of Pakeha, or European, settlers toward sheep; the iconography of whales and dolphins; the problems of pest-control; and the pleasures of pet-keeping, this modern-day bestiary is a fascinating study of human–animal relations. In the book’s four parts, the authors unravel the contradictory ways New Zealanders nurture and eradicate, glorify and demonize, cherish and devour, and describe and imagine animals. The study brings together insights from New Zealand’s arts and literature, popular culture, historiography, media, and everyday life to describe and analyze their interactions with nga kararehe and nga manu, the beasts and birds of the land. In doing so, it illuminates fundamental aspects of New Zealand society: how New Zealanders understand their own identities and those of others; how they regard, inhabit and make use of the natural world; and how they think about what they buy, eat, wear, watch, and read. Rich, multifaceted, and engaging, A New Zealand Book of Beasts satisfyingly explores how culture both shapes and is shaped by the “beasts” of Aotearoa.

Signifying Animals

Signifying Animals PDF

Author: Roy Willis

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-09-02

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1134866364

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A fresh assessment of the workings of animal symbolism in diverse cultures. Reconsiders the concept of totemism and exposes common fallacies in symbolic interpretation.

Hidden Animals

Hidden Animals PDF

Author: Michael Newton

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2009-09-10

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0313359075

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A global survey of unknown creatures reported by thousands of eyewitnesses—creatures that have either been verified, refuted, or are still being examined by scientific researchers. Hidden Animals: A Field Guide to Batsquatch, Chupacabra, and Other Elusive Creatures welcomes readers into the fascinating world of cryptozoology—the scientific pursuit of legendary creatures that sometimes reveals hoaxes and sometimes identifies real, previously unknown species. Compiled by Michael Newton, author of the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, it is the first comprehensive guide covering the crossroads of zoology and folklore written for both the young and the young at heart. Organized by type of creature type, such as giant animals, missing links, and living fossils, Hidden Animals surveys various beings reported and pursued worldwide from ancient times to the present, in every corner of the globe. In the process, it relates classic myths and legends to identified flesh-and-blood animals. Readers will be captivated by both the scientific evidence supporting the existence of specific cryptids and the exposure of notorious frauds or cases of mistaken identity.

Bigfoot to Mothman

Bigfoot to Mothman PDF

Author: Margo DeMello

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2024-01-25

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1440877262

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This one-volume encyclopedia introduces readers to the world's cryptids-those hidden or secret animals believed to exist at the margins of human society-including Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Mothman. Comprehensive in its scope, this book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to know more about well-known creatures of myth and legend, such as the Chupacabra and the Jersey Devil, and discover lesser-known animals, such as the Bunyip of Australia and the Mamlambo of South Africa. Rather than purport to prove or deny the existence of these creatures, however, this volume classifies them within their respective cultural, historical, and social contexts, allowing readers to appreciate cryptids as cultural artifacts important to societies around the globe. Finally, this book goes beyond the study of the unknown to investigate who believes in cryptids, why they do, and why the study of cryptozoology is as much about understanding cryptids as it is about understanding ourselves.

A Gap in Nature

A Gap in Nature PDF

Author: Tim Fridtjof Flannery

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780871137975

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A short description of the extinct animal along with a color drawing.

Last of the Giants

Last of the Giants PDF

Author: Jeff Campbell

Publisher: Zest Books ™

Published: 2019-08-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 154158189X

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Today, an ancient world is vanishing right before our eyes: the age of giant animals. Over 40,000 years ago, the earth was ruled by megafauna: mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed tigers and giant sloths. Of course, those creatures no longer exist, and there is only one likely reason for that: the evolution and arrival of the earth's only tool-wielding hunter, the wildly adaptive, comparatively pint-sized human species. Many more of the world's biggest and baddest creatures—including the black rhino, the dodo, giant tortoises, and the great auk—have vanished since our world became truly global. Last of the Giants chronicles those giant animals and apex predators pushed to extinction in the modern era. The book also highlights those giant species that remain—even though many barely survive, living in such low numbers that they are on the brink of leaving this world within the next few decades. However, there is hope, for many endangered species can still be saved. As it profiles each extinct and endangered animal, Last of the Giants focuses on the conservation efforts that are trying to preserve the world's remaining charismatic species before they are lost forever.

Mysterious Creatures [2 volumes]

Mysterious Creatures [2 volumes] PDF

Author: George M. Eberhart

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2002-12-17

Total Pages: 772

ISBN-13: 1576077640

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A comprehensive guide to cryptozoology—the quest to identify animals that have not been officially catalogued by science and to place these unknown animals into their proper zoological categories. In this fascinating two-volume encyclopedia, author George M. Eberhart provides a comprehensive catalog of nearly 1,000 cryptids—unknown animals usually reported through eyewitness accounts and not yet described by science. Cryptids are the stuff of folklore, hoaxes, and genuine scientific breakthroughs. There are 400 now-classified cryptids once considered either extinct or pure fantasy. The cryptozoologist's job is to strip away the myth, misidentification, and mystery—and separate fact from fiction. Mysterious Creatures covers everything from dinosaurs and the emala-ntouka, an elephant-killing dinosaur-like animal of central Africa, to searches for the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, and other cryptozoological hoaxes. Entries about specific animals include the derivation or meaning of each cryptid's name, its scientific name, variant names, a physical description, behavior, description of tracks, habitat, significant sightings, present status, and possible explanations. Illustrations and photographs accompany many entries. The book also includes resources and references for further information.

Palaeobiology of Giant Flightless Birds

Palaeobiology of Giant Flightless Birds PDF

Author: Delphine Angst

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2017-11-16

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0081011431

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The fossil record of giant flightless birds extends back to the Late Cretaceous, more than 70 million years ago, but our understanding of these extinct birds is still incomplete. This is partly because the number of specimens available is sometimes limited, but also because widely different approaches have been used to study them, with sometimes contradictory results. This book summarizes the current knowledge of the paleobiology of seven groups of giant flightless birds: Dinornithiformes, Aepyornithiformes, Dromornithidae, Phorusrhacidae, Brontornithidae, Gastornithidae and Gargantuavis. The first chapter presents the global diversity of these birds and reviews the tools and methods used to study their paleobiology. Chapters 2 to 8 are each dedicated to one of the seven groups of extinct birds. Finally, a conclusion offers a global synthesis of the information presented in the book in an attempt to define a common evolutionary model. Focuses on the giant flightless birds that evolved independently in different parts of the world since the Cretaceous period Covers a number of different families with different evolutionary histories, providing a source of interesting comparisons Provides emphasis on the palaeobiology of these birds, including their evolution, adaptations, mode of life, ecology and extinction

Ghost Eagle Still Flies Ghost Skies

Ghost Eagle Still Flies Ghost Skies PDF

Author: Terence George Craddock

Publisher: Balboa Press

Published: 2020-01-24

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1504320549

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This is a volume of poetry which will appeal to lovers of both simple poetry and poetry of depth and complexity. Craddock writes nature beginning his volume of verse with simple short poems, laced with poetry exploring nature, then extends into human interaction with nature and aspects of human nature probed in contemporary and historical context. Craddock has revisited themes of nature, time, cosmic consciousness, which he explores and pursed in Eagles Soar On High Thermals, while extending ideas found in the esteemed volume of poetry, Leaves of Grass, by Walt Witman into contempory scientific discoveries. Craddock has weaved links in nature crossing between nature and the natural world and the nature of society, descending down through various cultures countries and societies. Brushstroke echoes of William Wordsworth, Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath will intermix the beauty of nature with romantic or current issues including pollution, global warming and land rape of prestine wilderness areas. A gothic tribute to Poe's poem annabel Lee is made with a Scottish highland twist. A must read for inquisitive minds desiring to pursue poetic expression, thoughs engaging with insights into enduring mysteries of life and nature.