The Nature Magpie E-Book

Daniel Allen

• Herausgeber: Icon Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 233

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

A collection of anecdotes, facts, figures, folklore and literature, The Nature Magpie is a veritable treasure trove of humanity's thoughts and feelings about nature. With acclaimed nature writer Daniel Allen as your guide, join naturalists, novelists and poets as they explore the most isolated parts of the planet, choose your side – pineapple or durian – in the great 'king of fruits' debate and discover which plants can be used to predict the weather. Meet the roadkill connoisseurs, learn to dance the Hippopotamus Polka, find out the likelihood of sharing your name with a hurricane – and much more.

Leseprobe

Praise for The Nature Magpie

‘A miscellany that keeps you turning the pages.’

Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape

‘The Nature Magpie is seductively readable, a delightful and constantly surprising compendium of facts about nature.’

Bill Adams, author of Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation

‘A delightful lucky dip of fascinating facts.’

Kate Long, author of The Bad Mother’s Handbook

‘A must-read for those interested in Nature and the world around us. Daniel has collated a wonderful resource of facts and information, written in his own veritable style. I consider Daniel Allen to be the Brian Cox of animal science. A book you can dip into time and time again. Highly recommended.’

Margrit Coates, author of Communicating with Animals: How to Tune Into Them Intuitively

‘If you thought of your spouse with nothing but awe and guilt, how long would the marriage last? A healthy relationship can use a little more, for example some affectionate humour and curiosity. In our relationship with nature, Daniel Allen’s lovely book The Nature Magpie is just what we need to restore the balance.’

Boria Sax, author of Crow

‘Terrific. Full of interesting information, nice anecdotal style. Terrifically informative … and funny.’

Peter Egan, British actor and Animals Asia ambassador

‘A book certain to appeal to everyone with an interest in nature – and a handy reference as well, full of fascinating facts presented in a highly readable style.’

David Alderton, author of Animal Grief

Also available from Icon Books

The Science Magpie

Printed edition published in the UK in 2013 by

Icon Books Ltd, Omnibus Business Centre,

39–41 North Road, London N7 9DP

email: [email protected]

www.iconbooks.net

This electronic edition published in 2013 by Icon Books Ltd

ISBN: 978-184831-534-1 (ePub format)

ISBN: 978-184831-535-8 (Adobe ebook format)

Text copyright © 2013 Daniel Allen

The author has asserted his moral rights.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Typesetting by Marie Doherty

Dedicated to my parents,

Janice and Tim Allen

In memory of Neville Allen (1930–2005)

My Nature Magpie

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Allen is a writer, editor, otter expert, independent scholar and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He writes for a number of publications, including regular columns in Small Furry Pets and Practical Reptile Keeping magazines. Daniel’s first book, Otter, was published in 2010. Virginia McKenna OBE described it as ‘the most brilliant mix of facts ancient and modern about the otter species’.

Daniel comes from an academic background, having gained a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Nottingham in 2006 before going on to lecture at Keele University.

More information about Daniel’s expertise and availability can be found on his personal website:

www.drdanielallen.co.uk

CONTENTS

Endorsements

Also available from Icon Books

Title page

Copyright information

Dedication

About the author

Epigraph

Introduction

The Nature Magpie

In the beginning

Species discoveries

Panda diplomacy

Ships of the desert

Hopping around

Making tracks

What is the difference between a …?

How long do animals live?

Linnaeus set in order

Magpie myths

Eurasian otter facts

Swiftlet saliva

A home away from home

Expensive aliens

Most wanted invaders

Everglades

Python Challenge™

Is it a bird or a plane?

Bats: horrors or heroes?

Red hot chili peppers

King of fruits

Bathroom fruit

Truffles

Daffodils

Oh, bee hive!

Seven natural wonders

New7wonders of Nature

Danger

Schmidt sting pain index

Fear

Most disliked animals

Venom

10 ‘deadliest’ snakes

Snap!

Speaking up for sharks

Ambergris

Heavenly dew

The birth and death of an island

We are not alone

Bats in Britain

Otter spotting in Britain

Platypus

Cracked it?

What’s in a name?

Naming tropical storms

Conservation movement

Endangered

Kakapo

Biodiversity hotspots

Most polluted

Biosecurity Britain

TB or not TB

Roadkill

Baiting, fighting, hunting

The voyage of H.M.S. Beagle

A day at London Zoo with Charles Darwin

The Hippopotamus Polka

Jumbo mania

Soft gold

TigerTime

Earth Day

Earth energy

Earthquake fatalities

Volcanic eruptions

Cloud classification

Cloud Appreciation Society

Who Likes the Rain?

Snow

Weather wisdom

Great hippocampus question

Monkeyana

Evolution of evolution

Evolution of vertebrates

The March of Progress

Space race

Extreme expeditions

Identifying individual turtles

Solitude

National parks

Dam hetch hetchy!

Dam

Beaver as national symbol

Grey owl

Go’bbles America

The United States of Animals

Great Lakes

A day in the life of Gilbert White

‘Intestines of the earth’

Dawn chorus

Bird song

Silent Spring

Poison

Deadly delicacy

Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Oz and them

Woolly thinking

Holy cow

Beef

The Cow-Puncher’s Elegy

Antlers

Shed hunting

Healing the mind

Healing horses

Pet nation

Dickin medal

Skinny pigs

Wild at heart

Plant perception

Giants of the forest

Prometheus

Sakura season

The future of tree diseases

Cloning

Extinction

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

‘Nature is a book of many pages and each page tells a fascinating story’

—Andrew Ellicott Douglas (1867–1962)

‘What a book a devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horribly cruel work of nature.’

—Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

INTRODUCTION

‘It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement;

the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest.

It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.’

—Sir David Attenborough

Nature is one of the most widely talked about subjects in the 21st century. Every day, reports about natural disasters, the weather, calls to save endangered species, animal mistreatment, and the threat of virus and disease abound in the news. In these debates, ideas about nature are often multiple and contradictory, but everyone is united in sharing personal experiences with the natural world.

Our past influences our attitudes towards nature – whether it was the first time you looked into the eyes of a captive animal in a zoo, family holidays to exotic places, sleeping beneath the stars in a national park, watching wildlife documentaries, learning how to identify birds and forage with your grandfather or walking in the rain with a girlfriend or boyfriend, everybody has had their special moments with nature.

In childhood, watching Tarka the Otter as a six-year-old very much influenced my approach to the natural world. Expecting a Disney-inspired cartoon with talking animals, a love story and a happy ending, I was met with barking dogs, hunting horns, blood, death and misery. This traumatic experience may have inspired some to become hunt saboteurs in later life – it had a different effect on me. Not only did it ignite my obsession with otters, it influenced my curiosity for the natural world, and started a lifelong inclination of questioning absolutely everything, while respecting the responses, however unsavoury.

I, as your candid corvid guide, am an animal geographer, otter expert, conservationist, pet magazine columnist and animal welfarist. The enormity of nature can be daunting, yet the briefest of moments inspires joy and fear. The Nature Magpie plays on these emotions, picking the choicest morsels from history, literature, philosophy, science and more to bring you a unique, fragmentary but many-sided look at the natural world. I hope you enjoy it.

IN THE BEGINNING

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ are the first words of the Book of Genesis. The Judeo-Christian story of creation is a prominent worldview. Literal interpretations date the earth as 6,000–10,000 years old, and creationists believe every aspect of the natural world was created in six days:

Day 1: God created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light ‘day’ and darkness ‘night’.

Day 2: God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it ‘sky’.

Day 3: God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground ‘land’ and the gathered waters ‘seas’. On day three, God also created vegetation.

Day 4: God created the sun, moon, and stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night. These would also serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years.

Day 5: God created every living creature of the seas and every winged bird, blessing them to multiply and fill the waters and the sky with life.

Day 6: God created animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also created man and woman in his own image to commune with him. He blessed them and gave them every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and cultivate.

Day 7: God had finished his work of creation and so he rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy.

This is just one of many creation myths. Thousands of years ago, humans tried to make sense of the origins of the natural world in which they exist and the ethnic culture within which they are grouped. Here are a few other examples of these sacred symbolic narratives:

Daoist

‘The Way gave birth to unity, Unity gave birth to duality, Duality gave birth to trinity, Trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures. The myriad creatures bear yin on their back and embrace yang in their bosoms. They neutralise these vapours and thereby achieve harmony.’

—Daodejing, 4th century BC

Midewin

Great Rabbit, the servant of the God Spirit, saw the helpless condition of the original people. He wanted them to overcome starvation and disease. After choosing an otter to communicate with the people, he shared the secrets of the Midewin, handing the animal the sacred drum, rattle, and tobacco for curing the sick. Using his medicine bag he then ‘shot’ a sacred white shell, the mi’gis, into the body of the otter, giving him immortality and the ability to pass on these secrets. The widespread use of otter-skin medicine bags in healing ceremonies was influenced by this myth.

Ojibwe

‘Kitche Manitou, the Great Spirit, had a vision, a dream. He made the earth, the rocks, water, fire and wind. He made the plants, animals, fishes, birds, and insects and then the Original People, Anishinabe, last …

Kitche Manitou then made The Great Laws of nature so that all living things could live in harmony and balance. The Great Laws governed the place and movement of the sun, moon, earth and stars; the powers of wind, water, fire and rock; the rhythm and continuity of life, birth, growth and decay. All things lived and worked by these laws.’

—Native Drums website (http://www.native-drums.ca)

Zulu

‘Unkulunkulu, the Ancient One, is the Zulu creator. He originally broke off from the reeds … It was he who broke off the people from the reeds and then the cattle and other peoples. He also broke off medicine men and dreams. He was really the first man and progenitor of other men. He created everything that is – mountains, cattle, stream, snakes. He taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire with sticks, and how to eat corn. He named the animals for them.’

—David Adams Leeming, Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia (2010)

‘Anyone teaching Historical Geology is faced with students who have already concluded that creationism explains the history of the earth. One of the questions that perplexes me is how such students can conclude that their ethnic or religious group has the complete explanation of the origin of the earth and its life, when so many ethnic or religious groups have so many different accounts of those origins.’

—Bruce Railsback, geologist at the University of Georgia

SPECIES DISCOVERIES

Every year over 19,000 species are discovered and officially named. As you might imagine, this is quite a challenge for the taxonomists involved. In 2008 the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) was set up to help advance the taxonomic process. The public have also been encouraged to take part, by nominating the ‘most exciting and engaging’ finds. These then appear on an annual Top Ten New Species list. Here is the 2012 list of species described in 2011:

A snub-nosed monkey from Myanmar, Burma, that sneezes when it rains Name: Sneezing Monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri)A brightly coloured venomous banded box jellyfish, presumed to make those who first encounter it exclaim ‘Oh boy!’ Name: Bonaire Banded Box Jellyfish (Tamoya ohboya)A nematode measuring just half a millimetre found at a depth of 1.3km (0.8 mile) in a South African gold mine. Name: Devil’s Worm (Halicephalobus mephisto)The first night-blooming orchid. It grows in the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. Name: Night-blooming Orchid (Bulbophyllum nocturnum)A small parasitic wasp that attacks and deposits eggs into unsuspecting desert ants in less than 0.05 seconds. Name: Small Attack Wasp (Kollasmosoma sentum)A sponge-like mushroom which resembles a popular cartoon character. Name: Spongebob Squarepants Mushroom (Spongiforma squarepantsii)A yellow poppy that blooms in the autumn monsoon season. Found hidden away miles into the Himalayan wilderness. Name: Nepalese Autumn Poppy (Meconopsis autumnalis)A millipede found in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains, which is so big it looks like a sausage. Name: Wandering Leg Sausage (Crurifarcimen vagans)A fossil of an extinct creature that may have used its bristly legs to capture prey. Name: Walking Cactus (Diania cactiformis)An iridescent blue tarantula found in Brazil’s Amazon basin. Name: Sazima’s Tarantula (Pterinopelma sazimai)

PANDA DIPLOMACY

Known for delivering information with a gentle authority, British naturalist Chris Packham is ‘excited by everything that slithers, slimes, scratches and stings’. Much to the surprise of the public, the giant panda did not fall into this category. In 2009 he stated:

Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac …Unfortunately, it’s big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into panda conservation … I reckon we should pull the plug. Let them go, with a degree of dignity.

Although he later apologised, these comments did raise debate, which Packham insists was always the intention. His point, however undiplomatic, also remains valid. There are just 1,600 pandas in the wild and 328 in captivity. Over the past 30 years the Chinese authorities have reintroduced just ten captive-bred pandas to the wild. One died, another was killed by wild pandas, and six lost so much weight they were sent back to the Chengdu Giant Panda Field Research Centre.

Pandas have become more than an endangered species. Their presence puts a zoo on the global conservation map, bringing worldwide publicity. As Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of The Panda (2010), explains: ‘The real value of captive pandas lies not in their identity as pandas but in the colossal symbolic importance we humans have invested in this remarkable species.’ Giving up on the panda would save money, but admitting defeat on the most high-profile endangered species would be far more costly for global conservation.

‘Well-run zoos are an aid to animals and are not detrimental to their well-being … indeed, in many cases, zoos will turn out to be the last refuge of numerous species in a human-being-infested world.’

Gerald Durrell, TheStationary Ark, 1976

SHIPS OF THE DESERT

Ungainly, uncomfortable, bad-tempered, smelly creatures with a propensity to spit is how most holiday makers remember their encounters with camels. When Jacqueline Kennedy, the US First Lady, visited Pakistan in 1962 she reluctantly had a ride, sitting on a heavily gilded two-seat howdah. ‘A camel makes an elephant feel like a jet plane,’ Kennedy later remarked.

Of the two species of camel, it was the two-humped bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) from central Asia that Kennedy rode. The one-humped dromedary (Camelus dromedaries) is native to the Middle East and Africa. Alongside geographic location, another useful way of distinguishing which has one hump or two is in the first letter of the respective names: B has two humps, D has one.

Most of the world’s 14 million camels are domesticated. Of these, 90 per cent are Dromedaries. Historically, these desert dwellers have been highly valued as transportable wealth, much like the horse and cow in more temperate environments. Their roles, as Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History author Eric Chaline points out, include ‘beasts of burden, war mounts, milk producers and meat animals’. Without them, surviving the extreme desert conditions would be impossible.

These camels have adapted perfectly to the dry, hot, cold, sandy conditions of desert life. The hump is a prime asset. Contrary to popular belief, this is not full of water. It is a mound of fat internally consumed as an emergency food supply. Dromedaries can drink 113.5 litres (30 gallons­) of water in ten minutes, and prevent sweating by varying their body temperature from 34 to 41.7ºC. Their bodies are water-saving units that can go without water for up to seven days in the hottest of temperatures. Even their urine is highly concentrated and their dung dry.

As well as being able to carry four times the weight (up to 650lbs/295kg) of most packhorses, these ungulates have wide, tough, leathery feet designed not to sink. Moving both legs on the same side of the body together makes them more stable on the sand. During sandstorms their vision is also protected by thick, long eyelashes. These qualities made this animal vital to cross-desert trade over the centuries, connecting the Middle East with North Africa and Europe.

Camels may not be the most comfortable of rides, or the friendliest of animals, but they did help shape the history of the world, allowing international trade to cross continents, making nations powerful and merchants rich.

Camels are even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) – hoofed animals whose weight is spread equally on the third and fourth toes (‘ungulates’ are simply mammals with hoofs). Other animals in this group include the antelope, cow, deer, goat, giraffes, hippopotamus, sheep and pig. Odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla), which have one or three toes, include the horse, rhinoceroses and zebra. The Smithsonian Institution recognises 257 modern ungulates. A hoof is a modified toenail.

HOPPING AROUND

If you happen to be in Tasmania and see wallabies hopping in circles around fields with a little more bounce than normal, it’s OK, trust your eyes. It’s highly unlikely you are hallucinating. The wallabies, on the other hand, may well be. As the world’s largest producer of legally grown opium, Tasmania has an unlikely mob of drug-fuelled marsupials. In June 2009 the then Attorney General of the State, Lara Giddings, announced, ‘We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles. Then they crash.’ Giddings continued, ‘We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high.’

Across the world the media had fun with the story. Happy hops damaging poppy crops, high wallabies making crop circles, more trippy than Skippy, opiate-crazed pouchers. The bizarre behaviour was not a laughing matter for everyone. During the previous financial year, a total of 2,280 poppy heads were stolen. Deer and sheep had also been known to snack on the nutritious narcotics. The field operations manager of Tasmanian Alkaloids, Rick Rockliff, told The Mercury:

As growers we try our best to try and stop this sort of consumption, particularly by livestock, due to concerns about the contamination of the meat. There is also the risk to our poppy stocks, so growers take this very seriously but there has been a steady increase in the number of wild animals and that is where we are having difficulty keeping them off our land.

These concerns are understandable. The land of the two Tasmanian pharmaceutical companies licensed to take medicinal products from poppies covers an enormous 49,420 acres. That’s an awful lot of wallaby-proof fencing. So how do you stop wallabies from hopping into your land? A 2010 report by the Tasmanian Institute for Agricultural Research gave the following advice: ‘Wallaby-proof fencing is a long-term option that usually needs to be integrated with other control methods such as shooting, poisoning and trapping, both at establishment and over time.’

MAKING TRACKS

Identifying birds by song can take years to master; identifying mammals by tracks is much easier. You just need a bit of guidance and plenty of practice.

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) do not keep to regular trails. Their four-digit tracks are very similar to those of dogs, but far more compact. The outer toes curve towards the inner ones. There is also space for a horizontal line to separate the upper and lower toes.

Badgers (Meles meles) generally keep to well-worn trails within the territory around their sett. Look for five-digit prints with a large kidney-shaped pad. The digits almost appear in a line, the fifth not always registering. In soft mud the claw prints also show. Another clue nearby can be their coarse white-tipped hair, which often gets caught on the bark of trees and barbed wire fencing.

Otters (Lutra lutra) are always on the move. Any warm, empty shelter close to the water can become their holt for the day. They leave behind five-toed impressions with a rounded pad. Sometimes the webbing can be seen. Spraints (otter droppings) are also strategically deposited to mark their territory.

Mink (Neovison vison) tracks are sometimes mistaken for those of otters. Mink do leave behind five-toed impressions but they are smaller in size and have a star-shaped appearance. Imprints of long sharp claws are often visible, as is slight webbing. The heel pad, or interdigital, has four lobes, the largest two in the middle. Weasel (Mustela nivalis) prints are similar but much smaller.

Mink:

Weasel:

Water voles (Arvicola terrestris) live in waterside burrows. Each forefoot has four digital pads with distinct claws, giving the impression of the toes being pointed. Each hind foot has five digital pads, with similar claws. A well-formed print looks like a miniature human hand.

Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) tracks are similar to those of water voles in shape and size, although the hind foot leaves a longer and narrower heel pattern. Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) tracks also resemble this but on a smaller scale.

Brown rat:

Wood mouse:

Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) have similar size prints to rats but can leave a complicated series of pad and claw marks. Those of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) are smaller. The jumping movement of squirrels also groups their tracks, with hind prints appearing ahead of front ones.

Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) leave quite different tracks from the fore and hind feet, which can be confusing. The forefeet have five toes, but the thumb-like digit is often faint. The hind feet are narrower and longer with three toes in a row and two set further back. There are also three fused interdigital pads, and two heel pads on all feet.

Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are easy to identify, with four digits on each foot and no heel pads. Their hind legs also leave long exaggerated impressions.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A …?

Similarities in appearance between certain species mean that mistaken identity is a common occurrence. Here are some tips to help see the differences.

House sparrow and tree sparrow:

House sparrows (Passer domesticus) have black and brown feathers, light grey breast and cheeks, a short, thick beak and grey crown. Females are much lighter in colour.

Tree sparrows (Passer montanus) have all chestnut brown crowns, white cheeks and collar and a contrasting black cheek spot.

House sparrows are noisy and gregarious. Tree sparrows are slightly smaller and shyer.

Remember: House sparrows have a grey crown like a slate roofed house; tree sparrows have a brown crown like trees in the winter; hedge sparrows are not sparrows at all, look for their slender, sharp beaks.

Song thrush and mistle thrush

Song thrushes (Turdus philomelos) have rich brown arrow-shaped marks on their cream under-body.

Mistle thrushes (Turdus viscivorus) have rounded blotches on their under-body, with distinctive white tail edges.

Black carrion crow and rook

Black carrion crows (Corvus corone) have feathers covering their face and the top of their thick beak.

Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) have bare faces, revealing a grey-white skin at the base of the beak.

Black carrion crows nest as one pair, and are fairly solitary.

Rooks nest in colonies (rookery), and are usually seen in flocks. They are often seen together with jackdaws (Corvus monedula) – distinctive by their grey nape and silvery white eyes.

Remember: As the old saying goes, ‘If there’s more than one crow they are rooks, if there is only one rook it’s a crow.’

Grey wolf and coyote

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) have a large blocky face and muzzle, and shorter rounded ears.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) have a narrow pointed face and muzzle, and taller pointed ears.

Grey wolves are larger, approximately 2ft 6ins (76cm) tall at the shoulder and 6ft (1.8m) in length. They also hunt in packs.

Coyotes are generally shorter and smaller. They primarily hunt alone or in pairs.

Remember: Wolf pups in midsummer closely resemble coyotes.

Grizzly bear and black bear

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) have relatively long hair, usually with grizzled lighter tips, and a distinct shoulder hump.

Black bears (Ursus americanus) often have a lighter patch on their chest, and lack a shoulder hump.

Grizzly bears have a depression between the eyes and the end of the nose, and short rounded ears.

Black bears have a straight profile from forehead to nose, and larger pointed ears.

Grizzly bears have long claws, measuring 2–4in (5–10cm).

Black bears have shorter claws at around 1.5in (4cm).

Remember: If attacked by a grizzly bear, be silent and play dead. If attacked by a black bear, be loud and fight back.

HOW LONG DO ANIMALS LIVE?

Questions about animal longevity are common, but near impossible to answer. What, for instance, is the average life expectancy of humans? There are so many variables. With animals our knowledge also constantly changes in relation to observational research and scientific developments.

The 1940 edition of Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia provided a now well-known summary of average animal ages, illustrated with a colourful ‘Isotype’ by Otto and Marie Neurath. At the time it was considered an authoritative, albeit broad estimation, but it is now considered factually dated.

The lifespan of a crocodile was listed as 20–25 years. We now know that saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus­) generally live to 65, and have been known to exceed 100.

Elephants, listed as living 55–60 years, in fact live up to 70 years in Africa (Loxodonta africana) and Asia (Elephas maximus). In captivity, Asian elephant Lin Wang (1917–2003) of Taipei Zoo reached the record-breaking age of 86.

The life expectancy of whales remains a mystery. It is thought the world’s largest animal, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), lives for 80–90 years. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) far exceed that. In the 1980s, Inuit whalers found harpoon points which had not been used for over a century embedded in the blubber of a recent kill. Scientists studying the eye tissue of bowhead whales have since revealed that the species can reach 200. This would make them the longest living mammals on the planet.

At the time of writing, the oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Louise Calmont (1875–1997) from France. She lived 122 years and 164 days. Her secret to longevity: olive oil, fencing, port, chocolate and cigarettes. Calmont gave up smoking at 120.

LINNAEUS SET IN ORDER

‘I have fundamentally reorganised the whole field of Natural History, raising it to the height it has now attained,’ wrote Swedish botanist and zoologist Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778). ‘I doubt whether anyone today could hope, without my help and guidance, to make any advance in this field.’ Linnaeus was right. His intellect and influence in the natural sciences were unsurpassed in the late 18th century and his system for classifying life would continue to be used by scientists three centuries later.

A page about this pioneer on the website of the Natural History Museum explains that ‘Linnaeus was driven by a lust for nature and a desire to understand how it worked’. As an empiricist he wanted to see everything with his own eyes, describing and drawing the differences and similarities of individual plants, animals and minerals. He found that there were two common problems at the time. First, there was confusion over certain species, as one plant could have many names. Second, there was the unnecessarily complex naming system for species. The tomato, for example, was a mind boggling nine-word Latinised mix: Solanum caule inermi herbaceo, foliis pinnatis incisis, racemis simplicibus.

Linnaeus decided to divide nature into groups based on shared physical characteristics. This led to the development of his classification system. Plants, animals and minerals became kingdoms. These were divided into divisions, then classes, then orders, then genera, and