banner
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia
@bhl-au.bsky.social
550 followers 440 following 240 posts
Digitising Australia's biodiversity heritage literature to provide free #openaccess online (the Australian branch of @biodivlibrary.bsky.social; a collaboration with the Atlas of Living Australia @csiro.bsky.social).
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · Dec 12
Hi, we're the Australian branch of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the largest online repository of biodiversity literature & archives. We work with Australia's natural history organisations & libraries to make their collections freely accessible online www.biodiversitylibrary.org/collection/b...
1 5 37
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 5h
Tonight we observe #NautilusNight!

This image features the Nautilus pompilius which can be found near reefs in Australia as well as in sites in Micronesia and Japan. The beauty of their shells puts them at risk: they are threatened due to overfishing.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40430192
4
Reposted by BHL Australia
biodivlibrary.bsky.social
Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · 1d
Did you know that BHL has #FullTextSearch? You can search for scientific names, places, etc, but you can also find all the things that "Alfred Russell Wallace" found "delicious" in his travels (search for "delicious" and then narrow search results by author). #ILoveBHL www.biodiversitylibrary.org 🧪
12 24
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 1d
We’re back on the Ross Expedition to meet the Leopard Seal!

Expect to find more leopard seals in the Antarctic than in Australia—they are pagophilic—but vagrants do stray north into Southern Australian waters.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6957532

Contributed by to BHL by MBLWHOI library
3
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 1d
Happy #WorldOctopusDay!

Alongside the Octopus Furvus, this illustration shows the Octopus Tetricus—the common Sydney octopus or “Gloomy” octopus. This octopus ranges along the eastern coastline of Australia and can also be found in Northern New Zealand.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32033245
7
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 2d
New this week! Among our recent uploads to BHL are the 1953-1955 volumes of the “Records of the South Australian Museum”. Included here is the introduction of the spotted stingaree to the scientific record by Trevor Scott in 1954.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/65114357
1 6
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 3d
We’re hopping into #MarsupialMonday to appreciate the agile #wallaby 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴. A resident of Australia’s north, this wallaby can also be found in southern New Guinea.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/62576010

Contributed to BHL Australia by Museums Victoria
1 8
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 4d
We love “Harmonia ruralis” by #JamesBolton (1735-1799), an English naturalist & illustrator. Here focuses on the songbirds of Britain and their nests and eggs. His primary interest was fungi, but this late work was popular enough to be reprinted.

➡️ www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/63894402
1 3
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 6d
This #FloralFriday we’re admiring the botanical observations of the Ross Expedition in “The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H. M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839-1843” by Joseph Dalton Hooker, illustrated by W. H. Fitch.

➡️ www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13448423
1 5
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 7d
This #ThreatenedThursday we're highlighting the Norfolk Island golden whistler (#2). In 2005, it was estimated there were 535 breeding pairs. This small population & restricted range leave the subspecies vulnerable to shifts in environmental conditions.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45925327
3
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 7d
October is #BatAppreciationMonth!

In that vein, meet the #GhostBat! The ghost bat preys on large vertebrates including birds, reptiles and other mammals—it is the only Australian bat to do so!

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28522650

Via the Natural History Museum Library, London
1 7 21
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 9d
New this week! #Entomology enthusiasts can catch up on the first quarter of 2020’s “The Australian Entomologist”. This includes the then-newly described Clicking Ambertail, or 𝘠𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘦 as pictured here.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/65083592 via Entomological Society of Queensland.
2 7
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 9d
We’re glad these small marsupials caught Hooker’s eye during this long voyage. They have a small part in a big history.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6957568

Contributed to BHL by MBLWHOI
2
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 9d
Joseph Dalton Hooker took charge of collecting specimens; the son of a famous botanist, William J. Hooker, Joseph himself was no slouch, founding the field of geographical botany. From this voyage, Hooker also authored Flora Antarctica. He was later the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
1 1
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 9d
This image is from “The zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus & Terror, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, during the years 1839 to 1843". Before the Ross expedition reached the Antarctic they made their way to Australia, picking up specimens for study as they did so.
1 1
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 9d
This #MarsupialMonday we bring you a trio of critters: the fat-tailed dunnart, the yellow-footed antechinus and the red-tailed phascogale.
2 5 20
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 13d
Happy #WorldCassowaryDay! We love these images of the Southern cassowary! This Cassowary is now considered a single species, but as you can see in these portraits from “A monograph of the genus Casuarius”, there can be a lot of variation.

➡️ www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15139771
1 16
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 14d
This #ThreatenedThursday meet the Bizart River shark. This rare shark is found in northern Australia and New Guinea. A river shark, it can also be found in marine waters near the shore.

From Müller and Henle’s Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6353138
3 12
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 15d
We’re just flying by with a #SquirrelGlider today!

“The Naturalist’s Library” is always worth consulting. This little cutie was drawn by William Dicke and engraved by W. H. Lizars.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57254827

Contributed to BHL by Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
1 6
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 16d
New this week!

The 1873 “Report of the Secretary for Agriculture” is available now! Included in the report are these #insect illustrations—budding entomologists feast your eyes!

Explore this volume here: www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/65063623

via the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
1 4
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 17d
This #MarsupialMonday we’re pleased to present the Tasmanian #pademelon!

Who could resist a mini macropod? The Tasmanian pademelon is abundant across Tas, but no longer found on the mainland.

From Gould’s “A monograph of the Macropodidae” via Museums Vic

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42174455
3 7
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 18d
We love these images from “Antarctic days; sketches of the homely side of polar life, by two of Shackleton’s men”. James Murray & George Marston give a whimsical view of their voyage, including their encounters with biodiversity along the way.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42625854
1 7
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 19d
This #Baturday we’re reflecting on the future of the Christmas Island flying fox. The Guardian recently reported on scientists' fears that this bat could be “one cyclone away from extinction.” These bats are important seed dispersers and pollinators.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24862810
1 6 14
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 20d
We’re delighted by this image of the “Lophius monopterygius” or the “Depressed Blackfish Lophius” (actually the coffin ray) from Shaw's "Naturalist's Miscellany". This illustration, though simple, is a plausible rendering of this electric ray!

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/44515801
2
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 21d
This #ThreatenedThursday we’re highlighting another small creature first described by Baldwin Spencer: the #kowari. The kowari is a small marsupial of the gibber desert. Its distinguishing feature is its tail, with those black hairs at the end. Stylish!

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57973468
4 14
bhl-au.bsky.social
BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · 22d
Want to know what ails your lemon tree? Consult mycologist Daniel McAlpine’s “Fungus diseases of citrus trees in Australia, and their treatment”! These illustrations are by fellow mycologist C. C. Brittlebank, who later became McAlpine’s assistant.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/59532240
5