Ornate Box Turtle

Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)

U.S. Postage Stamp ~ 2003

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Two Critters, Toe to Toe

Texas ~ April 13, 2007

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

In an earlier post, I showed another bird from the same mosaic.

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Byzantine Lion of Ravello

Ravello, Italy ~ April 22, 2004

Byzantine Lions (1272) hold up one of the mosaic-decorated pulpits in this remarkable church on the Piazza Vescovado.

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Extinct Horned Turtle and Atlas Lion on the Dodo Carousel

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

The Dodo Carousel

of Extinct and Endangered Animals,

Jardin des Plantes

I want to focus on two animals today: the Horned Turtle (Meiolania sp.) and the Atlas Lion (Panthera leo leo), also known as the Nubian or Barbary lion. While some animals on the Dodo Carousel became extinct thousands of years ago, the last wild Atlas lion was shot and killed in 1922. This is terribly sad. Extinction was not due to a natural process, but was brought about by our thoughtlessness or uncaring behavior, and could have been prevented. It was later discovered that there were some "possible" descendants of this lion in zoos or circuses, but I believe that to this day the ancestry has not been proven or is mixed. The former range of this lion subspecies was Africa from Morocco to Egypt, and it may have been the heaviest of the lion species, although some experts believe the weights found in literature were exaggerated.

Poignantly, a few living species such as the gorilla and giant panda are also included on this carousel, and we can only hope they don't disappear under our stewardship.

Meiolania horned turtles survived in New Caledonia until about 2,000 years ago.

Click the keyword link below for more images of the Dodo Carousel.

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Rockin' Cat

Bend, Oregon ~ May 31, 2010

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Thematic Trout at Tapiola

Astoria, Oregon ~ May 20, 2010

Tapiola Park

In a town where so much of the history and economy is about fish, the playground has done a beautiful job of incorprating local elements, including this approachable trout in the toddlers' section.

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Bronze Elephant Man

San Diego, California ~ November 5, 2009

San Diego Zoo

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Wings, Horns, Antlers, Hooves

Tacoma, Washington ~ May 23, 2004

Tacoma Art Museum

Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the sign explaining who, what, when. I only captured the sign that said not to touch. What a necessary pity - I'll bet it feels amazing.

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The Beautiful Money of Belize Includes Lots of Animals, Even a Tapir

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A Lion in an Iron Gate

London ~ February 15, 2010

Marble Arch

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Embera Basket Animals

Panama ~ January 7, 2006

An Emberá village on the Chagres River

near Panama City

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Crocodiles of Paris

Paris ~ October 14, 2008

Cuvier Fountain, Rue Linne and Rue Cuvier

For more about the fountain and its location, check out this post on my personal blog. For more crododiles in Paris, take a look at Jacob's Paris post from the Musee d'Orsay.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.