Biggest New Animal Discoveries of 2013
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Fawcett, Christina (2014) J.R.R. Tolkien and the Morality of Monstrosity
Fawcett, Christina (2014) J.R.R. Tolkien and the morality of monstrosity. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4993/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] J.R.R. Tolkien and the Morality of Monstrosity Christina Fawcett Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD College of Arts School of Critical Studies English Literature University of Glasgow February 2014 © Christina Fawcett, 2014 ii Abstract This thesis asserts that J.R.R. Tolkien recreates Beowulf for the twentieth century. His 1936 lecture, ‘Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics’ sets the tone not only for twentieth century criticism of the text, but also Tolkien’s own fictional project: creating an imagined world in which ‘new Scripture and old tradition touched and ignited’ (‘B: M&C’ 26). At the core of his analysis of Beowulf, and at the core of his own Middle-earth, are the monsters. He creates creatures that are an ignition of past and present, forming characters that defy allegory and simple moral categorization. -
Sea Monsters and Real Environmental Threats: Reconsidering the Famous Osborne, ‘Moha-Moha’, Valhalla, and ‘Soay Beast’ Sightings of Unidentified Marine Objects
IMAGINARY SEA MONSTERS AND REAL ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS: RECONSIDERING THE FAMOUS OSBORNE, ‘MOHA-MOHA’, VALHALLA, AND ‘SOAY BEAST’ SIGHTINGS OF UNIDENTIFIED MARINE OBJECTS R. L. FRANCE Dal Ocean Research Group Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University Abstract At one time, largely but not exclusively during the nineteenth century, retellings of encounters with sea monsters were a mainstay of dockside conversations among mariners, press reportage for an audience of fascinated landlubbers, and journal articles published by believing or sceptical natural scientists. Today, to the increasing frustration of cryptozoologists, mainstream biologists and environmental historians have convincingly argued that there is a long history of conflating or misidentifying known sea animals as purported sea monsters. The present paper provides, for the first time, a detailed, diachronic review of competing theories that have been posited to explain four particular encounters with sea monsters, which at the time of the sightings (1877, 1890, 1905, and 1959) had garnered worldwide attention and considerable fame. In so doing, insights are gleaned about the role played by sea monsters in the culture of late-Victorian natural science. Additionally, and most importantly, I offer my own parsimonious explanation that the observed ‘sea monsters’ may have been sea turtles entangled in pre-plastic fishing gear or maritime debris. Environmental history is therefore shown to be a valuable tool for looking backward in order to postulate the length of time that wildlife populations have been subjected to anthropogenic pressure. This is something of contemporary importance, given that scholars are currently involved in deliberations concerning the commencement date of the Anthropocene Era. -
Camelot -.: Carton Collector
Mitos y Leyendas - Camelot (236) cartoncollector.cl 001 UR Draig Goch 081 R Levantar Muerto 161 V Paiste 002 UR Clídna 082 R Vampiro de Almas 162 V Dragón del Monte 003 UR Morgause 083 R Alas del Murciélago 163 V Blue Ben 004 UR Arthur Pendragón 084 R Regresar la Espada 164 V Serpopardo 005 UR Duelo de Dragón 085 R Coronación 165 V Glatisant 006 UR Seducción 086 R Excalibur Liberada 166 V Gwiber 007 UR Invocar Corrupción 087 R Torneo 167 V Rhydderch 008 UR Garra de Cristal 088 R Letanía del Rayo 168 V Tlachtga 009 MR Dragón Blanco 089 R Aura Bendita 169 V Ceasg 010 MR Gwyn ap Nudd 090 R Llamar a los Antiguos 170 V Lady Blanchefleur 011 MR Fuath 091 R Licántropos Rampantes 171 V Bugul Noz 012 MR Balin dos Espadas 092 R Yelmo Montadragón 172 V Gancanagh 013 MR Bridei I 093 R Hacha de los Bosques 173 V Guinevak 014 MR Incinerar 094 R Clarent 174 V John de la Costa 015 MR Relámpago Faérico 095 R Primera Excalibur 175 V Korrigan 016 MR Bendición de Armas 096 R Cementerio Dragón 176 V Addanc 017 MR Cortamundos 097 R Isla de Avalón 177 V Wight 018 MR Nido de Uolot 098 R Cementerio Impuro 178 V Cu Sith 019 M Dragón Inferno 099 R Guardia Gozosa 179 V Palamades 020 M Merlín Ambrosius 100 C Cockatriz 180 V Agravain 021 M Sir Perceval 101 C Wyvern Negro 181 V Gaheris 022 M Auberón 102 C Ave Boobrie 182 V Lucán 023 M Oilliphéist 103 C Stollenwurm 183 V Sir Héctor 024 M Lancelot del Lago 104 C Vouivre 184 V Mark de Cornwall 025 M Morgana de la Sombra 105 C Dragón de Dalry 185 V Olwen 026 M Claíomh Solais 106 C Roba Almas 186 V Pellinore 027 M Dullahan -
Book Section Reprint the STRUGGLE for TROGLODYTES1
The RELICT HOMINOID INQUIRY 6:33-170 (2017) Book Section Reprint THE STRUGGLE FOR TROGLODYTES1 Boris Porshnev "I have no doubt that some fact may appear fantastic and incredible to many of my readers. For example, did anyone believe in the existence of Ethiopians before seeing any? Isn't anything seen for the first time astounding? How many things are thought possible only after they have been achieved?" (Pliny, Natural History of Animals, Vol. VII, 1) INTRODUCTION BERNARD HEUVELMANS Doctor in Zoological Sciences How did I come to study animals, and from the study of animals known to science, how did I go on to that of still undiscovered animals, and finally, more specifically to that of unknown humans? It's a long story. For me, everything started a long time ago, so long ago that I couldn't say exactly when. Of course it happened gradually. Actually – I have said this often – one is born a zoologist, one does not become one. However, for the discipline to which I finally ended up fully devoting myself, it's different: one becomes a cryptozoologist. Let's specify right now that while Cryptozoology is, etymologically, "the science of hidden animals", it is in practice the study and research of animal species whose existence, for lack of a specimen or of sufficient anatomical fragments, has not been officially recognized. I should clarify what I mean when I say "one is born a zoologist. Such a congenital vocation would imply some genetic process, such as that which leads to a lineage of musicians or mathematicians. -
Regional Rail Service the Vermont Way
DRAFT Regional Rail Service The Vermont Way Authored by Christopher Parker and Carl Fowler November 30, 2017 Contents Contents 2 Executive Summary 4 The Budd Car RDC Advantage 5 Project System Description 6 Routes 6 Schedule 7 Major Employers and Markets 8 Commuter vs. Intercity Designation 10 Project Developer 10 Stakeholders 10 Transportation organizations 10 Town and City Governments 11 Colleges and Universities 11 Resorts 11 Host Railroads 11 Vermont Rail Systems 11 New England Central Railroad 12 Amtrak 12 Possible contract operators 12 Dispatching 13 Liability Insurance 13 Tracks and Right-of-Way 15 Upgraded Track 15 Safety: Grade Crossing Upgrades 15 Proposed Standard 16 Upgrades by segment 16 Cost of Upgrades 17 Safety 19 Platforms and Stations 20 Proposed Stations 20 Existing Stations 22 Construction Methods of New Stations 22 Current and Historical Precedents 25 Rail in Vermont 25 Regional Rail Service in the United States 27 New Mexico 27 Maine 27 Oregon 28 Arizona and Rural New York 28 Rural Massachusetts 28 Executive Summary For more than twenty years various studies have responded to a yearning in Vermont for a regional passenger rail service which would connect Vermont towns and cities. This White Paper, commissioned by Champ P3, LLC reviews the opportunities for and obstacles to delivering rail service at a rural scale appropriate for a rural state. Champ P3 is a mission driven public-private partnership modeled on the Eagle P3 which built Denver’s new commuter rail network. Vermont’s two railroads, Vermont Rail System and Genesee & Wyoming, have experience hosting and operating commuter rail service utilizing Budd cars. -
Passeriformes: Cisticolidae: Orthotomus) from the Mekong Floodplain of Cambodia
FORKTAIL 29 (2013): 1–14 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F1778491-B6EE-4225-95B2-2843B32CBA08 A new species of lowland tailorbird (Passeriformes: Cisticolidae: Orthotomus) from the Mekong floodplain of Cambodia S. P. MAHOOD, A. J. I. JOHN, J. C. EAMES, C. H. OLIVEROS, R. G. MOYLE, HONG CHAMNAN, C. M. POOLE, H. NIELSEN & F. H. SHELDON Based on distinctive morphological and vocal characters we describe a new species of lowland tailorbird Orthotomus from dense humid lowland scrub in the floodplain of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers of Cambodia. Genetic data place it in the O. atrogularis–O. ruficeps–O. sepium clade. All data suggest that the new species is most closely related to O. atrogularis, from which genetic differences are apparently of a level usually associated with subspecies. However the two taxa behave as biological species, existing locally in sympatry and even exceptionally in syntopy, without apparent hybridisation. The species is known so far from a small area within which its habitat is declining in area and quality. However, although birds are found in a number of small habitat fragments (including within the city limits of Phnom Penh), most individuals probably occupy one large contiguous area of habitat in the Tonle Sap floodplain. We therefore recommend it is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. The new species is abundant in suitable habitat within its small range. Further work is required to understand more clearly the distribution and ecology of this species and in particular its evolutionary relationship with O. atrogularis. INTRODUCTION and its major tributaries (Duckworth et al. -
Chaotic Descriptor Table
Castle Oldskull Supplement CDT1: Chaotic Descriptor Table These ideas would require a few hours’ the players back to the temple of the more development to become truly useful, serpent people, I decide that she has some but I like the direction that things are going backstory. She’s an old jester-bard so I’d probably run with it. Maybe I’d even treasure hunter who got to the island by redesign dungeon level 4 to feature some magical means. This is simply because old gnome vaults and some deep gnome she’s so far from land and trade routes that lore too. I might even tie the whole it’s hard to justify any other reason for her situation to the gnome caves of C. S. Lewis, to be marooned here. She was captured by or the Nome King from L. Frank Baum’s the serpent people, who treated her as Ozma of Oz. Who knows? chattel, but she barely escaped. She’s delirious, trying to keep herself fed while she struggles to remember the command Example #13: word for her magical carpet. Malamhin of the Smooth Brow has some NPC in the Wilderness magical treasures, including a carpet of flying, a sword, some protection from serpents thingies (scrolls, amulets?) and a The PCs land on a deadly magical island of few other cool things. Talking to the PCs the serpent people, which they were meant and seeing their map will slowly bring her to explore years ago and the GM promptly back to her senses … and she wants forgot about it. -
Amphibia: Gymnophiona) Is Not Lungless: Implications for Taxonomy and for Understanding the Evolution of Lunglessness
Zootaxa 3779 (3): 383–388 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3779.3.6 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:594529A3-2A73-454A-B04E-900AFE0BA84D Caecilita Wake & Donnelly, 2010 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) is not lungless: implications for taxonomy and for understanding the evolution of lunglessness MARK WILKINSON1,4, PHILIPPE J. R. KOK2, FARAH AHMED3 & DAVID J. GOWER1 1Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK 2Biology Department, Amphibian Evolution Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium and Department of Vertebrates, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 rue Vautier, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium 3Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK 4Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract According to current understanding, five lineages of amphibians, but no other tetrapods, are secondarily lungless and are believed to rely exclusively on cutaneous gas exchange. One explanation of the evolutionary loss of lungs interprets lung- lessness as an adaptation to reduce buoyancy in fast-flowing aquatic environments, reasoning that excessive buoyancy in such an environment would cause organisms being swept away. While not uncontroversial, this hypothesis provides a plausible potential explanation of the evolution of lunglessness in four of the five lungless amphibian lineages. The ex- ception is the most recently reported lungless lineage, the newly described Guyanan caecilian genus and species Caecilita iwokramae Wake & Donnelly, 2010, which is inconsistent with the reduced disadvantageous buoyancy hypothesis by vir- tue of it seemingly being terrestrial and having a terrestrial ancestry. -
Lake Champlain Coordinates: 44°32′N 73°20′W from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Lake Champlain Coordinates: 44°32′N 73°20′W From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lake Champlain (French: lac Champlain) is a natural, Lake Champlain freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States (states of Vermont and New York) but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of Clinton County and Essex County. Most of this area is part of the Adirondack Park. There are recreational opportunities in the park and along the relatively undeveloped coastline of Lake Champlain. The cities of Lake Champlain near Burlington in early twilight Plattsburgh and Burlington are to the north and the village of Location New York / Vermont in USA; and Ticonderoga in the southern part of the region. The Quebec portion is located in the regional county municipalities of Le Quebec in Canada Haut- Richelieu and Brome–Missisquoi. Coordinates 44°32′N 73°20′W Primary Otter Creek, Winooski River, inflows Missisquoi River, Lamoille River, Contents Ausable River, Chazy River, Boquet River, Saranac River 1 Geology Primary Richelieu River 1.1 Hydrology outflows 1.2 Chazy Reef Catchment 21,326 km2 (8,234 sq mi) 2 History area 2.1 Colonial America and the Basin Canada, United States Revolutionary War countries 2.2 War of 1812 2.3 Modern history Max. le ngth 201 km (125 mi) 2.4 "Champ", Lake Champlain Max. width 23 km (14 mi) monster Surface 1,269 km2 (490 sq mi) 2.5 Ecology area 2.6 Railroad Average 19.5 m (64 ft) 3 Natural history depth 4 Infrastructure 122 m (400 ft) 4.1 Lake crossings Max. -
The Nikki Heat Novels by “Richard Castle”
The Nikki Heat novels by “Richard Castle” Heat Wave [2009] of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his athletes and shamed politicians. This new explosive case brings death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy on the heat in the glittery world of secrets, cover-ups, and wife with a past survives a narrow escape scandals. from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls, with no shortage of reasons to kill, trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip Heat Rises [2011] of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the The bizarre murder of a parish priest at a New wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden York bondage house opens Nikki Heat’s most in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light. thrilling and dangerous case so far, pitting her against New York’s most vicious drug lord, an Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the arrogant CIA contractor, and a shadowy death wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest squad out to gun her down. And that is just the tip of the character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, iceberg that leads to a dark conspiracy reaching all the way to professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads the highest level of the NYPD. -
Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) from Myanmar
Zootaxa 3785 (1): 045–058 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3785.1.4 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7EF35A95-5C75-4D16-8EE4-F84934A80C2A A new species of striped Ichthyophis Fitzinger, 1826 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) from Myanmar MARK WILKINSON1,5, BRONWEN PRESSWELL1,2, EMMA SHERRATT1,3, ANNA PAPADOPOULOU1,4 & DAVID J. GOWER1 1Department of Zoology!, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK 2Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin New Zealand 3Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., Cam- bridge, MA 02138, USA 4Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 41809, USA 5Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] ! Currently the Department of Life Sciences Abstract A new species of striped ichthyophiid caecilian, Ichthyophis multicolor sp. nov., is described on the basis of morpholog- ical and molecular data from a sample of 14 specimens from Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. The new species resembles superficially the Indian I. tricolor Annandale, 1909 in having both a pale lateral stripe and an adjacent dark ventrolateral stripe contrasting with a paler venter. It differs from I. tricolor in having many more annuli, and in many details of cranial osteology, and molecular data indicate that it is more closely related to other Southeast Asian Ichthyophis than to those of South Asia. The caecilian fauna of Myanmar is exceptionally poorly known but is likely to include chikilids as well as multiple species of Ichthyophis. -
SARE, Vol. 58, Issue 1 | 2021
SARE, Vol. 58, Issue 1 | 2021 Making Space for Myth: Worldbuilding and Interconnected Narratives in Mythspace Francis Paolo Quina University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City, the Philippines Abstract The comics medium has long proven to be fertile ground for worldbuilding, spawning not only imaginary worlds but multiverses that have become international transmedial franchises. In the Philippines, komiks (as it is called locally) has provided the Filipino popular imagination with worlds populated by superheroes, super spies, supernatural detectives, and creatures from different Philippine mythologies. The komiks series Mythspace, written by Paolo Chikiamco and illustrated by several artist-collaborators, takes the latter concept, and launches it into outer space. Classified by its own writer as a “Filipino space opera” consisting of six loosely interconnected stories, Mythspace presents a storyworld where the creatures of Philippine lower mythologies are based on various alien species that visited the Philippines long ago. The article will examine the use of interconnected narratives as a strategy for worldbuilding in Mythspace. Drawing from both subcreation and comic studies, this article posits that interconnected narratives is a worldbuilding technique particularly well-suited to comics, and that the collaborative nature of the medium allows for a diversity of genres and visual styles that can be used by future komiks creators to develop more expansive storyworlds. Keywords: comics studies, subcreation studies, storyworlds, Mythspace, the Philippines The comics medium has long proven to be fertile ground for worldbuilding. It has spawned not only storyworlds in the pages of comic books and graphic novels but given birth to multiverses of storytelling across several media.