Evolving Art Series 17 Cryptobiology* in Driftwood Art: Are there descendants of the Styracosaurus?

               Evolving Art Series 17  

   Are there descendants of the  Styracosaurus?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Fierce-looking remnants of a tree in the likeness

     of a lost dinosaur millions of years ago;

call it pseudo-science to believe if it's really so,

     and list it down in the Book of Guinness

Styracosaurus had spikes on its head. 

Fossil of the Styracosaurus (Internet)

Cryptobiology: Study of creatures around myths and beliefs 

*Cryptobiology is the study of cryptids, creatures around which myths exist but whose current existence has never been verified. Some famous cryptids include bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, and the chupacabra. Cryptids are elusive creatures that dance on the fringes of human perception, whose existence has not been proven by science, but has been reported by many eye-witnesses. Modern science has proved the existence to creatures that existed only in imagination and fantasy.

Evolving Art Series 16: Cryptobiology* in Driftwood Art

   Evolving Art Series 16

Cryptobiology* in Driftwood Art

Re-constructing the likeness of the extinct dinosaurs in driftwood.

 (Triceratops, Monoclonius, and Protoceratops)

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Once I dug a stump of an old tree,

    its roots like forked limbs in three,

its trunk splayed also into three,

    appearing like a fossil to me.

Years later when I was in college,

    I returned here at the forest edge;

like a book I turned page by page

    to realize how li'l is my knowledge.

It's not all science we believe in,

    but also the side for not winning,

that humbles us into believing,

    of a Power since the beginning. - avr

Triceratops had two horns above its eye, while Monoclonius

had only one, against a landscape mural, both artworks

of the author, at the Living with Nature Center, 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

 

Re-constructed Triceratops from fossil (Internet)

"Which first appeared, last to disappear -

     fossil reading limits us to Carbon 14,

beyond the laboratory we only dare

     to blame a Comet no one had seen.

It is test of faith that keeps our sanity,

     our enduring link with our ancestors,

richness of our culture, its continuity,

     quaintness of life, and all its favors." - avr 

   

Protoceratops had a tough bony collar to protect its neck.

Reconstructed Protoceratops from fossil (Internet)

* Cryptobiology is the study of cryptids, creatures around which myths exist but whose current existence has never been verified. Some famous cryptids include Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, and the Chupacabra, the great dinosaurs, . Cryptids are elusive creatures that dance on the fringes of human perception, whose existence has not been proven by science, but has been reported by many eye-witnesses. Modern science has proved the existence to creatures that existed only in imagination and fantasy.

Evolving Art Series 13 Cryptobiology* in Driftwood Art Birds - Descendants of the Archaeopteryx.

 Evolving Art Series 13 

Cryptobiology* in Driftwood Art

Birds - Descendants of the Archaeopteryx. 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), nature's art in driftwood -

a lucky find among uprooted and burned madre de caacao trees, 

waste of swidden or kaingin farming in woodlands. 

Into the sky this giant among Aves,

rises with all its strength sublime,

enthroned in wood gone to waste. 

Look, it's our own eagle in its prime!

In the likeness of an eagle or hawk, I mounted these pieces 

of driftwood against a background depicting its natural habitat. 

Darwinian evolution, Part 2, or is it? 

It's beyond this world to comprehend,

where superstition and science meet,

and debate continues without end. 

It resembles the Philippine hawk or lawin flying majestically in the sky. 

 I found this rare piece of wood cum bark of an old talisay (Terminalia 

catappa) uprooted by a typhoon on our homelot in San Vicente,

 Ilocos Sur, circa 2012 

A legendary bird for children,

singular pride of our nation;

 but we'll be losing this long time friend, 

now at the brink of extinction.

Archeopteryx reconstructed from fossil

Cryptobiology: Study of creatures around myths and beliefs 

*Cryptobiology is the study of cryptids, creatures around which myths exist but whose current existence has never been verified. Some famous cryptids include bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, and the chupacabra. Cryptids are elusive creatures that dance on the fringes of human perception, whose existence has not been proven by science, but has been reported by many eye-witnesses. Modern science has proved the existence to creatures that existed only in imagination and fantasy.

Fruiting Lychee in Lagro QC - a Rare Phenomenon

 Fruiting Lychee in Lagro QC - a Rare Phenomenon 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

This is a series of photographs my son and I made on a rare fruiting lychee  (Litchi chinensis,  Family Sapindaceae) in Lagro subdivision, not far from the boundary of La Mesa Water Reservoir in Quezon City. The tree was planted from seedling by the homeowner and friend Ms Elvie Machate. When she invited me and my family to harvest her lychees, I could hardly believe her, until I saw the fruit laden lychees tree right in her backyard. It's so full of fruits, the branches sagged which made picking easy. Which we did on the roof of her house where we had direct access to the bunches of fruits.

Lychees is a temperate tree. That's why it grows best above the Tropic of Cancer such as in China. I have yet to see fruiting lychees in the highlands. Surprisingly here on the lowland where temperature reaches 36 degrees Celsius in summer, this tree has broken all known adaptive notions about this plant. I had a lychee at home, also in Lagro, and waited for fifteen years. It did not fruit. And yet it was just a block away from this miracle tree. There is another lychee standing at Don Antonio Heights in Quezon City. It must be twenty years, and it too, has not produced a single fruit.

What could be the explanation to this rare phenomenon? I venture two likely reasons.

First, it is a variety or cultivar that had undergone prior acclimatization. Meaning its introduction to a new place was gradual, and not just a single transfer.

Second, it is a mutant that luckily turned out to bear fruits - and of commercial quality at that.

A third, if I may add, it must have been planted by one with green thumb.

Whatever the reason is, it shows nature's way to transfer and spread out species in different places - and given enough time and proper care - will successfully adapt to the new home.

I got some seeds which I am going to plant. I hope I'll be successful this time. 

Closeup of the fruits of lychee, also called lichee
or litchi (plural, litchis); pronounced locally, lichiyas.

This lychee tree is in a backyard not far from the La Mesa
Eco Park in Quezon City

Acclimatization is an adaptation process for exotic species or varieties of plants in places outside their known habitat. The technique is not new. The early settlers introduced grapes, oranges, apples, apricot, and other plants to the New World from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Their success made us think these plants are native to the place. This actually is a traditional practice since man settled down as farmer.

A dramatic event is recorded in Mutiny of the Bounty, when a ship carrying breadfruit seedlings (rimas) PHOTO (Artocarpus altilis)  to be planted in British island colonies failed because of a mutiny. Wheat was introduced to the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the eighties wheat was introduced in our ricefields after the rice is harvested. It was about to take off as a regular crop when the program was overtaken by the Edsa Revolution.

Perhaps the most successful of recent plant introductions is the dragon fruit. It is a hanging cactus (epiphytic) found in the jungles of Vietnam. During the war, the cactus was dislodged from its host tree and began growing on fertile soil. With prop to support it upright it began to bear large fruits each weighing up to a kilogram. In less than a decade dragon fruit can be found in several countries, Israel being the most successful that it is a now major exporter of dragon fruit.

There are many other cases. 

• Our avocado came from Mexico through the Galleon Trade. 
• Corn is perhaps the most adaptable crop - it can grow in tropical and temperate areas . 
• Rice follows to a lesser extent. The japonica rice extends up north beyond the limit of indica rice. 
• Wheat, through overwintering, can grow in very cold countries like Siberia - particularly now that ice is retreating as a result of global warming. 
• 
• In southern Cebu I found fruiting loquat  (PHOTO) which is  native to northern China. It is a small tree that bears fruits like the lychee, only that the color of the fruit is dull yellow, and the taste is different. 
• There are fruiting trees of lanzones, durian, and rambutan in least expected places.

Surprise? I estimate half of our local plants to be products of acclimatization over the years, and with proper selection and successful breeding, have become native to the Philippines. With today's science and technology, and the current shifting of climatic patterns, we expect more cases of successful acclimatization - whether these are transient or long lasting. ~

------

* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid  (People's School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Twenty Philosophies of Ageing Gracefully

 Twenty Philosophies of Ageing Gracefully

“Aging is the knowledge and maturity is the wisdom.” 

― J. Tisa

“Aging is the divine and maturity is the blessing.” 

― J. Nedumaan

                         

Dr Domingo Tapiador (right) former FAO official, Mr Dell H

Grecia (center) veteran journalist, and author, examine a

jeep-ferry model for Laguna Bay invented by Dr Tapiador.

1. Ageing like good wine; it becomes mellow with age. But only good wine becomes mellow with age. And the longer ageing is, the better is the quality of the wine. We can compare it also with wood. “A seasoned timber never gives (up).” A seasoned teacher is wise.

2. Ageing is like knowledge – distilled into wisdom. It’s the ripening of fruits on the tree. Knowledge is not all useful; it leaves a lot of wastes. Which I call infollution (information pollution). Like the so many flowers and developing fruits of a huge mango tree, those that fall are useless knowledge; those that do not ripen are knowledge that can’t stand by themselves. Only those that remain full and ripe at the end are like wisdom. Wisdom is tested by timelessness and universality.

3. Old age is harvesting what you planted in youth. The man is the child of yesterday. Start early in life to plant the seed of success, more so, the seed of service. Monuments are not built for no reason at all. And even without a monument a good deed is monumental in the hearts and minds of those you serve and those who believe in you – especially those you have changed their lives.

4. Ageing physically and physiologically - this is inevitable. But don’t let the mind and the heart age prematurely and uselessly. Like faculty, practice makes them alive and full. Reason, thoughts, imagination, love, compassion should not go to waste by chronological age.

5. The child in you must always live. That Little Prince that rules over the grownup in you that says “a matter of consequence is not only those that are urgent and important,” is also preserving the ideal. Idealism must live together with realism.

6. There are those who are late bloomers; they bloom with age. Catalyze the blossoming of the beautiful things – how late they may come in life. It is better to bloom in old age than to blossom early – and the blossom just fades away. You’ll even regret it because it could mean to you as failure.

7. In old age don’t lose your trophies and medals - because of one false move, worst, if deliberate. Or because of a persistent habit you thought you can get away with even in old age. There is nothing more regretful if you fall into disgrace in old age – you don’t have a second life to amend for it.

8. Hold your horses. Stop, look, listen. Getting older adopts “slow but sure” attitude towards situations and decisions. “Quick to think, but slow to act,” may be appropriate in old age. That is why in traditional societies, decision makers are old people, village elders.

9. Make your assets grow for others, as you prepare to leave the world. Have the philanthropic heart. You can’t take your riches to your tomb. The Egyptians never did. The young pharaoh Tutankhamen left his belongings for the afterlife in his tomb, now in the Egyptian Museum. . Economics does not work well with each one of us holding a treasure chest and locking it up. Imagine if the world is dominated by Madoff et al - even with their alleged generosity.

10. Older societies are more peaceful than younger societies. Make peace as you grow older. Old men don’t go to war. It is the brave who dies young. “Where have all the flowers gone?” speaks of the youth cut down in their prime. All wars – ancient, religious, political – the young is the sacrificial lamb. People as they grow older can’t simply be made easy tools for power and greed.

Jules Verne, author of science fiction novels (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Eighty Days Around the World) lived to a very ripe age.

Rip van Winkle, character of the short story of the same title by Washington Irving, slept for twenty long years. When he woke up the world had greatly changed, and did not even know who he was, (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia)

11. Expanded family ties; three generations not in a row, but in a chain. For the first time in the history of man that three generations live under one roof. And soon four generations - as longevity increases. While in the city the family is getting small, agrarian families are expanding because of longer life span.

12. Scientific and technological thrusts are toward aging, longevity: rejuvenation, on-site cloning of tissues and organs, ergonomics (designing tools and materials that fits well to the comfort of the user) - geriatrics, gerontology (all about the science and caring of the aged.)

13. Extension of retirement, active retirement – this is the trend today for old people. Soldiers become security guards; teachers become professor emeritus, executives as consultants, professions doing odd jobs. Age of retirement is not after all boring. So when does one really retire?

14. Foster, adopt, and have the needy, the homeless, the orphaned, the abandoned as your own children especially if you are childless. Even then, by the time you are very old, your children shall then be on their own. Be like Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie who have adopted children of different color. Sponsor scholarships for the deserving but are unable to pursue their studies.

15. Resurrection and immortality are myths. Humans will always remain mortals. More than a hundred corpses of rich Americans are in cryonics tanks waiting for the time to resurrect them. DNA extracted from cadavers and human fossils will never make a living replica of the departed or deceased.

 

Old man (Spencer Tracy) in Ernest Hemingway's Nobel Prize winning novel, 

The Old Man and the Sea. (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia) 

16. Life cycle biologically - that is a universal given to everything, living or non-living. But with man’s rationality we can plot our life cycle, so with socio-economic matters. The late Justice Secretary Ordoñez wrote a book, Life Cycle. He said the inevitable is biological, but the way we live our lives, is within much under our control and will. “Men choose to live long which they have no control of, yet refuse to live nobly within their will.” So said the great Roman Philosopher Cicero.

17. Nature is selfish within your lifetime – you care so much for those close to your genes, to the point of dying for them. But nature, after you are gone is altruistic; it distributes your genes to where they will most fit in the name of evolution through which a species should be best equipped in order to survive. We can hardly trace our family tree beyond the third generation. Where are the offspring of the pharaohs, of the King of Siam?

18. Kindness is key to fulfillment; it is also the Golden Rule. “Treat an old man as you wish men to treat you when you are old,” say Geoffrey Chaucer in The Pardoner’s Tale. But be kind yourself as an old man or woman. And that kindness must be unconditional. ARK in Evan the Almighty means – Act of Random Kindness. That’s the way to change the world, so said God in that film.

19. Don’t just pass people along the way. Stop, help them, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, comfort the lonely, and heal the sick. In Matthew 25, Christ said, “What you have done to the least of my brother, you have done it to me.” Indeed this is the most meaningful act of human to humanity. You deserve a place in heaven.

20. Facing death is a beautiful thing to one who has reached old age. It’s like a candle in its final brightness. Angelus to the old who is dying unifies the family, gathers the broken fragments of relationships. Bonding is strengthened. It’s time for the living to say the kindest things about the departed. Let the occasion be a memorable and lasting one. Dying is leaving to the living a new hope, renewed love, and a new beginning. ~

The Old Man*

By AV Rotor

He is old now

    and the cataract is but a spring.

He touches the spring -

    where have all the waters gone?

Yes, he sighs with relief,

    his gaze takes him far away;

And there the last drops of his waterfall

    meet the sea;

And the sea roars in gladness,

    roars a thousand cheers. ~

* Dedicated to the late Secretary of Justice Sedfrey Ordoñez, an adviser and friend of the author.

Evolving Art Series 12: Nature's Message in Cryptobiology

  Evolving Art Series 12 

           Nature's Message in Cryptobiology

 Cryptobiology is the study of cryptids, creatures around which myths exist but whose current existence has never been verified. Some famous cryptids include bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Abominable Snowman, the Kapre,* and not the least, the biblical Dragon.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Cryptobiology items on display at the Living with Nature Center,

 San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Organisms are alike or different.  It's biological and natural, but man has taken evolution into his hands, playing the role of God through science and technology, creating Dolly the Sheep, and many more Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs.  

Strange creatures when we first see them, tame them the second time around, re-creating them next on film and on screen in the likes of Godzilla and King Kong, and now through robotics and make-believe versions for more entertainment and profit. 

 

Author (center) and guests from the teaching profession display "Nature's Trophies" made of driftwood at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

We are changing the conditions of life on earth, polluting the air, land and water, in effect modifying the way organisms live through induced mutation, forced migration, disturbing their natural interactions in the food web, worst their very existence as species.   

Dimorphism in Nature

  Phenomenon, not the least,    

past and present,

plant or animal or protist,

same though different.     

Sea Urchin Tree

Take a close look at the thorny cherry;

it's a sea urchin, part of tree,

a hybrid creature you may not agree;  

a living specimen to see.  

Womb of a Tree

Si Malakas at Maganda in Philippine mythology

is a popular folktale and children's story;

the tree as habitat in the realm of biology, 

now twisted into false and horror movie.   

*Kapres are said to dwell in big trees like acacia, bamboo, and the balete. Some say they are the spirits of trees, protecting them in effect.