There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed. To truly understand, we have to go to the very beginning. Check out Part 3 of my pre-kick-off series to my new zoology series, Class, and get oriented with the development of animal life.

Link to the amazingly spectacular video I mentioned

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There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed—rules with deep roots. Check out Part 2 of my pre-kick-off series to my new zoology series, Class, and get oriented with the basic body patterns of animal life.

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Support at www.patreon.com/devonbowker

From the biggest elephant to the littlest fly. From every fish in the sea, to all the birds in the sky. 

Animals are all around us.

Dolphins are animals. Just like owls, salamanders, and the anoles in the tree. 

A salamander may not look like an owl, and an owl definitely doesn’t look like an elephant. Yet, even still, you can tell they are animals just by looking at them.

But why? What could all of these things possibly have in common? What makes an animal an animal?

What is an animal?

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The Largemouth Bass is a freshwater fish of the Black Bass genus named for—you guessed it—its large mouth. The Largemouth Bass is different than the equally common Smallmouth Bass in that it does in fact have a larger mouth. Who knew? Depending on your location, this fish is known by a variety of other names such as green bass, black bass, bucketmouth bass, big mouth bass, largies, or Steven Tyler—the last of which I just made up.

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The Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish is found in the coastal river drainages of the Sunshine State, Florida, over to southern Georgia. They can be found in areas of dense vegetation in the drainage portions of rivers along the coasts of where they live off of a diet of small invertebrates such as worms, insects, and tiny crustaceans.

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How fast can fish really be? Faster than you’d probably expect.

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The Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish may not look like much, but their impact is inarguable. They feed heavily on corals essential for building reefs, the marine equivalent of a metropolis. When these starfish have a boom in their population, the result is a significant loss of live coral. The damage has a higher impact on the reef’s health and resilience than bleaching and disease combined. The incredible diversity of other species dependent on that coral face sharp declines in turn. And it’s not just wild lives that are affected. These reefs act as natural barriers or shields protecting coastal cities. Without those barriers, coastal plants and beaches are at risk. Plus, reef-dependent industries face significant losses. Now, scientists think they may have found a solution---a Trojan Horse.

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If you’ve ever been down to Cozumel, Mexico, you’ve been to one of two places (the other being Glover’s Reef in Belize) on earth where this species of fish can be found. I was there in 2011—on land, granted—but had I gone out snorkeling near any coral outcrops I may have had the opportunity to see the spectacular Splendid Toadfish.

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This episode was originally written in October 2015 as a reflection essay

I acknowledge there is nuance to these issues which are not fully expressed in this essay

In The New York Times article “Shooting a Lion”, University of Cambridge professor and acclaimed writer, Helen Macdonald, details her recent safari at Kruger National Park in South Africa. Her visit was just a few short months after the Minnesota dentist, Walter Palmer, killed Cecil the lion just outside the very same park. Cecil’s killing was met with international uproar and “a white-hot debate over the morality of big game hunting”.

But there’s another kind of exploitative shooting of lions happening, only this kind isn’t with a gun, but a camera. 

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In 1917, the American poet Wallace Stevens published a poem called 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. In truth, 13 is a major understatement, with just as much variation in “why” as their is in “how”. Whether you’re a life “lister”, a casual admirer, or anywhere in between, at some point each and every one of has had a moment where we saw a bird and thought to ourselves, “what is that?”

In the past, this has been the moment that separates the bird watchers from the bird seers. It takes a certain kind of intrigue and drive to tear into a field guide, piecing together evidence to find the right ID, the kind that the casual observer might have balked at. Now, with increasing developments in technology, answering that question has never been easier and more accessible. All you need is a smartphone!

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