A bird that changes colour without moulting: how the wîskicâhk (Canada Jay, Perisoreus canadensis) tricked the taxonomists

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Dan Strickland ◽  
Stéphanie M. Doucet
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
North America ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Colour Change ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Museum Specimens ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Perisoreus Canadensis ◽  
Animal Colouration

Avian and mammalian colours are thought to be constant in life and in museum specimens, but several early 20th-century taxonomists singled out the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1766)) as having unstable feather pigments and warned against using old museum specimens for taxonomic purposes. One such error was Brisson’s (1760) original naming of the species as “the Brown Jay of Canada”. Another was Ridgway’s (1899) naming of the “Gray Jay” as a new subspecies, Perisoreus (canadensis) griseus, through inappropriate comparison of fresh grey specimens with old brown ones. We discovered that browning of initially grey plumage also occurs between annual moults in living individuals of the Canada Jay’s Pacific morphotype. We documented this change using photographs and re-sightings of colour-banded individuals and through spectral analysis of year-old (brown) and incoming (grey) rectrices collected from the same moulting individuals. To assess the distribution of this colour change, we compared September vs. May eBird photographs from across North America. We showed that seasonal colour change is normal in the Pacific morphotype but rare in the two other morphotypes. Collectively, these data have important implications for the taxonomy of the Canada Jay and are a cautionary tale for taxonomists studying animal colouration.

scholarly journals Runyoga: Från arisk blodsmystik till nyandlig självutveckling

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 69-89
Author(s):  
Fredrik Gregorius
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Ethnic Background ◽  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Alternative Spirituality ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Racial Supremacy

Rune yoga is a spiritual practice based on the idea that the Runic alphabet can be used for spiritual and magical purposes. Based on an interpretation of the Runes where every letter in the alphabet is considered to contain within it a source of mystical powers Rune Yoga uses techniques inspired by Indian yoga to channel these forces. While contemporary Rune Yoga has become a part of Heathen and Alternative Spirituality that attracts people from a variety of Ethnic background the origin of the practice lies within the Ariosophical movement, a racial form of Esotericism that developed in Germany and Austria in the early 20th century. In this article the origin of Rune Yoga within the Ariosphical movement is presented, how it was integrated in ideas about Aryan racial supremacy. The article continues to show how Rune Yoga later migrated to North America and became a practice used within a non-racial milieu and what aspects remained from the original Ariosophical movement. The article argues that while some aspects of Ariosophical thinking remains within Rune Yoga the racial aspects have ceased to be important. Rather than focusing on race modern Rune Yoga focus in self-improvement for the individual and there is a lack of collectivist goals.

scholarly journals Early 20th-century Arctic warming intensified by Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (24) ◽  
pp. 6227-6232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Tokinaga ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Hitoshi Mukougawa
Keyword(s):  
Phase Shift ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Interdecadal Variability ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Positive Phase ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Arctic Warming ◽  
The Pacific

With amplified warming and record sea ice loss, the Arctic is the canary of global warming. The historical Arctic warming is poorly understood, limiting our confidence in model projections. Specifically, Arctic surface air temperature increased rapidly over the early 20th century, at rates comparable to those of recent decades despite much weaker greenhouse gas forcing. Here, we show that the concurrent phase shift of Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal variability modes is the major driver for the rapid early 20th-century Arctic warming. Atmospheric model simulations successfully reproduce the early Arctic warming when the interdecadal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is properly prescribed. The early 20th-century Arctic warming is associated with positive SST anomalies over the tropical and North Atlantic and a Pacific SST pattern reminiscent of the positive phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation. Atmospheric circulation changes are important for the early 20th-century Arctic warming. The equatorial Pacific warming deepens the Aleutian low, advecting warm air into the North American Arctic. The extratropical North Atlantic and North Pacific SST warming strengthens surface westerly winds over northern Eurasia, intensifying the warming there. Coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations support the constructive intensification of Arctic warming by a concurrent, negative-to-positive phase shift of the Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal modes. Our results aid attributing the historical Arctic warming and thereby constrain the amplified warming projected for this important region.

scholarly journals Some Thoughts on Biography and the Historiography of the Twentieth-Century Arab World1

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Laila Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
North American ◽  
English Language ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
English Speaking World

The number of English-language biographies of Arab subjects is tiny compared to the number of English-language biographies of North American and European subjects. I argue that this discrepancy is due to three main factors: the preponderance of historians of Europe and North America in history departments in the English-speaking world; the limited crossover market for serious biographies of Arab subjects; and difficulties arising from access to, and the style of, the Arabic sources. A fragment from the life-story of Fawzi al-Qawuqji, an early-20th-century Arab nationalist and soldier, is introduced as a way of pointing to the challenges of using Arabic memoirs to craft a biographical narrative in English.

Recovery of mitochondrial DNA for systematic studies of Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): successful PCR on early 20th century dry museum specimens

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2748 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
JERZY A. LIS ◽  
DARIUSZ J. ZIAJA ◽  
PAWEŁ LIS
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Museum Specimens ◽  
12S Rdna ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic

First molecular studies on museum specimens of five families of pentatomoid bugs, namely Cydnidae, Dinidoridae, Parastrachiidae, Tessaratomidae, and Thyreocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea), are presented, as a preliminary approach to molecular phylogenetic analyses of these families. Forty-eight pin-mounted museum specimens representing 46 pentatomoid species collected in the late 19 th and the 20 th century (more than 15 years old, the oldest specimen collected in 1894) were analyzed; and the acquisition of PCR amplifiable mitochondrial DNA (16S and/or 12S rDNA fragments) was successful from 10 specimens, i.e., 2 specimens (2 species) of Cydnidae, 4 specimens (4 species) of Dinidoridae, 1 specimen (1 species) of Parastrachiidae, 1 specimen (1 species) of Tessaratomidae, and 2 specimens (2 species) of Thyreocoridae. The oldest PCR amplifiable mtDNA sample was extracted from Strombosoma impictum (Stål) (Thyreocoridae) collected in 1932 in Zaire.

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