Little Dragon: French Tarragon Botanical Illustrations and Photographs

Summary: French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs display forms, not flavors and fragrances, of roots, shoots and unreliable flowers and seeds.

French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa) as a home garden herb; April 25, 2009: Christopher Paquette (PHOTO/arts Magazine), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs authenticate alleged serpent-like roots on the flowering herbaceous perennial even though only actual plant parts avow allegedly anise-like, bittersweet, celery-like, licorice-like and minty flavors and fragrances.

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs broach the fruits, leaves, roots, seeds, stalked inflorescences and stems that proper light, moisture and temperature bring to temperate soils. The names drakon, dracunculus and tarkhum communicate respective Greek, Roman and Arab cultural conveyances of the "little dragon" from central, east, Mediterranean, Russian and Siberian Asia. French tarragon, anecdotal antidote for venom and talisman against dragons and snakes, delivers anise-, celery, licorice-, mint-like dashes to garden displays and salad and soup dishes.

Such flavors and fragrances emerge far less effectively and enduringly from tarragon varieties with duller, lighter, rougher leaves and taller, wider growth habits than French tarragon.

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs furnish growth habits and habitat niches for the Asteraceae aster, composite, daisy, sunflower family member of eight- to 10-year lifespans.

French tarragon gets the scientific name Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa (Artemis's little dragon variety cultivated [not wild-growing]) for reproductive growth by cuttings and division, not seed. It has coiled roots for harboring trace alkaloids and for holding the 1.5- to 3.0-foot- (0.46- to 0.91-meter-) tall and wide mature sub-shrub in well-drained soils. French tarragon, investigated scientifically in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), is intolerant of inundated soils and of pH ranges except neutral 6.5-6.9.

Soil moisture beyond wrung-sponge consistencies in the upper 5-inch (12.7-centimeter) layer and temperatures below 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) jeopardize French tarragon life cycles.

Methyl chavicol inside plant tissue and 2-inch (5.08-centimeter) mulch 2 inches from French tarragon stems to drip lines under stem ends keep away pests and weeds.

Coumarins as blood-thinners and methyl chavicol as cancer-causing estragole limit day-in, day-out lacing of fish, poultry, salads and soups with French tarragon's essential oils-laden, fresh leaves. Dark, glossy, lance-like, smooth, 0.79- to 3.15-inch- (2- to 8-centimeter-) long, 0.79- to 3.94-inch- (2- to 10-centimeter-) broad leaves maximize processed and raw flavors and fragrances. Weak-oiled mid-summer through fall foliage nips nicely into bundles for cool, dark drying; containers for darkened, sealed storage; and dishes as fall through winter holiday condiments.

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs sometimes observe rare occurrences of green-yellow inflorescences June through August and non-viable, 0.024- to 0.039-inch- (0.6- to 1-millimeter-) long seeds.

French tarragon unpredictably produces dense, flat floral clusters, presented botanically as capitula (little head-like objects), each 0.08 to 0.16 inches (2 to 4 millimeters) in diameter.

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs queue each cluster's 20 to 40 green-yellow disk florets, each 0.24 inches (0.6 millimeters) long, on 0.5-inch- (1.5-centimeter-) long stalks. Ever-sterile seeds and oftentimes sterile flowers regale French tarragon with impractical, infrequent, intriguing aesthetics even though reproduction results only from cutting stems or from dividing roots. Success suggests separating serpentine root balls into quarters for late winter soils and slicing stems to 6-inch (15.24-centimeter) lengths for late spring-, early summer-potted sandy soils.

French tarragon botanical illustrations and photographs transmit the standard looks, not the signature flavors and fragrances, of ever-present roots and shoots and rare-occurring flowers and seeds.

French tarragon Dracunculus hortensis; Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal (1737), Plate 116, opposite no. 30: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa) as a home garden herb; April 25, 2009: Christopher Paquette (PHOTO/arts Magazine), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/chpaquette/3474154443/

French tarragon Dracunculus hortensis; Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal (1737), Plate 116, opposite no. 30: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/296409; Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/8252797546/

For further information:

"Artemisia dracunculus L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/2723663

"Artemisia dracunculus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 849. 1753." In: Flora of North America: North of Mexico. Flora of North America Editorial Committee, ed. Volumes 19, 20 and 21. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Available @ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200023201

"Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa Besser." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/100397975

Besser, W.S. (Wilibert Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von). 1835. "Dracunculi, Seu de Sectione Quarta et Ultima Artemisiarum Linnaei: [22. Dracunculus] α. sativa (Bess. Monogr. inedit. A. dracunculus hortensis)." Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, tome VIII: 55. Moscou [Moscow], Russia: Imprimérie de l'Université Impériale.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ 40279517

Blackwell, Elizabeth. 1737. A Curious Herbal, Containing Five Hundred Cuts, of the Most Useful Plants, Which Are Now Used in the Practice of Physick. Engraved on Folio Copper Plates, After Drawings, Taken From Life. Vol. I. London, England: Samuel Harding, MDCCXXXVII.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/296117

Linnaei, Caroli (Carl Linnaeus). 1753. "16. Artemisia dracunculus." Species Plantarum, vol. II: 849. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358870

Lust, John. 2014. The Herb Book. Mineola NY: Dover Publications.

Ortiz, Elisabeth Lambert. 1992. The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices, & Flavorings. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley.

Neruda Quadrangle Is 13th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Neruda Quadrangle is the 13th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers middle latitudes longitudinally from 180 to 270 degrees.

A small, younger crater punctuates Neruda Crater's central peaks in an image obtained July 24, 2012, as a high-resolution targeted observation by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Neruda Quadrangle is the 13th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's middle latitudes of 21 degrees south to 66 degrees south latitude, from 180 to 270 degrees west longitude.

As the 13th of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Neruda Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-13 or H13. H signifies Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Neruda Quadrangle's provisional name, Solitudo Persephones, references a dark region on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Solitudo Persephones in the southern hemisphere's polar latitudes, near 70 degrees south latitude, on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Solitudo Persephones ("Desert of Persephone") references Persephone (Greek: Περσεφόνη), daughter of Olympian deity King Zeus and Olympian agricultural goddess Demeter. She became Queen of the Underworld through her abduction by Hades, King of the Underworld. She embodied spring in her annual seasonal return to the world of the living. Persephone shared seasonal and underworld associations with Hermes in his roles as herald of spring and guide of the dead.

Prominent local features conventionally inspire the names of Mercury's quadrangles. Neruda Quadrangle's namesake is Michelangelo Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) themes Mercury's craters after names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters. The crater's name, approved April 8, 2008, honors Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda, pen name and later legal name of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (July 12, 1904-Sept. 23, 1973).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) noted Neruda Crater's ". . . rugged profile of ups and downs . . ." in the high-resolution targeted observation obtained July 24, 2012, by the The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robotic space probe's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS). Puncturing of the crater's central peaks by a young, small crater has yielded the jagged profile.

Neruda Crater is centered at minus 52.66 degrees south latitude, 234.21 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 51.35 degrees south and minus 53.97 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 232.05 degrees west and 236.36 degrees west, respectively. Neruda Crater's diameter measures 112 kilometers.

Neruda Crater is located in southwestern Neruda Quadrangle. The heavily-cratered terrain finds Sher-Gil Crater as Neruda's nearest named northeastern neighbor. The crater's name, approved Nov 20, 2008, honors 20th-century Hungarian-Indian avant-garde female painter Amrita Sher-Gil (Jan. 30, 1913-Dec. 5, 1941).

Sher-Gil Crater is centered at minus 45.26 degrees south latitude, 225.26 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 44.36 degrees south and minus 46.17 degrees south, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 223.97 degrees west and 226.54 degrees west, respectively. Sher-Gil Crater has a diameter of 77 kilometers.

Neruda Crater's other nearest named northern neighbor, Grainger Crater, lies to the northwest. The crater's name, approved Apr 24, 2012, honors Australian-born, later (1918) naturalized American, composer, pianist and British folk music reviver Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; July 8, 1882-Feb. 20, 1961).

Grainger Crater is centered at minus 44.09 degrees south latitude, 255.19 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater establishes northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 42.77 degrees south and minus 45.41 degrees south, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 253.39 degrees west and 256.98 degrees west, respectively. Grainger Crater's diameter measures 113 kilometers.

Crater-dominated Neruda Quadrangle shares borders with five neighbors. Tolstoj (H-8 ) and Eminescu (H-9) quadrangles overlap with Neruda Quadrangle's northern border. Michelangelo Quadrangle (H-12) aligns with Neruda Quadrangle's eastern border. The southern polar region's Bach Quadrangle (H-15) reaches Neruda Quadrangle's southern border. Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) neighbors along Neruda Quadrangle's western border.

The takeaways for Neruda Quadrangle as the 13th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the crater-dominated quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, resides in southwestern Neruda Quadrangle; that MESSENGER robotic space probe's high-resolution targeted observation of the crater, obtained July 24, 2012, has revealed the jagged interplay of central peaks with a small, superposed crater; and that Neruda Quadrangle's neighborhood comprises northern neighbors Tolstoj and Eminescu quadrangles, eastern neighbor Michelangelo Quadrangle, southern neighbor Bach Quadrangle and western neighbor Debussy Quadrangle.

Detail of Map of the H-13 (Neruda) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, with Grainger and Sher-Gil as nearest named northwestern and northeastern neighbors, respectively; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

A small, younger crater punctuates Neruda Crater's central peaks in an image obtained July 24, 2012, as a high-resolution targeted observation by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neruda_crater_EN0251577944M.jpg; via NASA-JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17515

Detail of Map of the H-13 (Neruda) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, with Grainger and Sher-Gil as nearest named northwestern and northeastern neighbors, respectively; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/H-13.pdf

For further information:

Antoniadi, E.M. (Eugène Michel). La Planète Mercure et la Rotation des Satellites. Paris, France: Gauthier-Villars, 1934.

Davies, Merton E.; Stephen E. Dwornik; Donald E. Gault; and Robert G. Strom. Atlas of Mercury. Special Publication SP-423. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-423/

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Categories

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Coordinate Systems for Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Target Coordinate Systems.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TargetCoordinates

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Grainger.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14960

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Neruda.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14391

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Sher-Gil.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14520

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Mercury.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MERCURY/target

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA17515: Ups and Downs." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2013-09-30.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17515

Marriner, Derdriu. "Beethoven Quadrangle Is Seventh of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/beethoven-quadrangle-is-seventh-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Borealis Quadrangle Is First of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/borealis-quadrangle-is-first-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Derain Quadrangle Is Tenth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/derain-quadrangle-is-tenth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Discovery Quadrangle Is 11th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/discovery-quadrangle-is-11th-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Eminescu Quadrangle Is Ninth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/eminescu-quadrangle-is-ninth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Hokusai Quadrangle Is Fifth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/hokusai-quadrangle-is-fifth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kuiper Quadrangle Is Sixth of 15 Quadrangles of the Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/kuiper-quadrangle-is-sixth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Michelangelo Quadrangle Is 12th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 2, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/07/michelangelo-quadrangle-is-12th-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Raditladi Quadrangle Is Fourth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/raditladi-quadrangle-is-fourth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Shakespeare Quadrangle Is Third of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/shakespeare-quadrangle-is-third-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Tolstoj Quadrangle Is Eighth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/tolstoj-quadrangle-is-eighth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Victoria Quadrangle is Second of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/victoria-quadrangle-is-second-of-15.html

MESSENGER. "The Beauty of Calibration." The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) MESSENGER > Explore. Feb. 8, 2013.
Available @ https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-1084.html

MESSENGER. "Ups and Downs." The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) MESSENGER > Explore. Sept. 30, 2013.
Available @ https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-1272.html

Grey-Crowned Squirrel Monkey Natural History Illustrations

Summary: Grey-crowned squirrel monkey natural history illustrations depict Central American squirrel monkeys of delightful behavior and look in desirable habitats.

Critically endangered grey-crowned squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus) claim endemic homelands in Manuel Antonio National Park on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast; Quepos, gateway to the park; Thursday, May 29, 2014, 00:39: M M from Switzerland (Padmanaba01), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Grey-crowned squirrel monkey natural history illustrations attest to adult colors that assist in analyzing the second of the two enchanting, endangered, elusive subspecies of red-backed Central American squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica.

Black-capped and grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys bear gothic-arched, white-furred masks bordered by black-brown or gray-brown chins, crests and mouths and v-indented between big, dark eyes. A population survey in 2006 calculated 3,500 black-capped Central American squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica and Panama and grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica. The International Union for Conservation of Nature declared black-capped and grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys respectively endangered and critically endangered by deforested, degraded, diminished distribution ranges.

Costa Rica's grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkey populations exist in Cerro de Turrubares Protection Zone and Manuel Antonio National Park and perhaps in Carara Biological Reserve.

Grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkey natural history illustrations furnish distribution ranges, food chains, life cycles and physical appearances for fragmented populations faltering from agroindustry and collection.

Agroindustrialists gather gray-browned Central American scientific monkey habitats up to 1,640.42-foot (500-meter) altitudes above sea level for African oil palm and rice plantations, logging and ranching. Collectors herd black-capped and grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkey populations from Costa Rica's tropical forests for aerospace research, pet trade businesses, scientific laboratories and zoological parks. Their imports no longer inhabit grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkey habitat-friendly evergreen primary, floodplain, humid lowland, lowland scrub, mangrove, mature upland, river-edge and secondary-growth tropical forests.

Grey-crowned squirrel monkey illustrations sometimes juggle monkey-friendly bark, bats, buds, caterpillars, flowers, fruits, grasshoppers, leaves, lizards, nectar, spiders and tree frogs that agroindustry and collection jeopardize.

Agroindustrialists and collectors know the mono tití ("capuchon [family-like] monkey") scientifically as Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus (Anders Sandøe Ørsted's [Dec. 21, 1778-May 1, 1860] lemon-yellow, small monkey).

The scientific name lists the subspecies as lemon-yellow from the pale-limbed specimen looked at in 1904 by Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (Feb. 21, 1858-June 16, 1929). Foraging for berry-like, not citrus-like, fruits under 0.39 inch (1 centimeter) in diameter and invertebrates respectively make up 11 percent and 50-plus percent of daily movements. Eighty-nine percent of their original homelands no longer nurture grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys even though sustainability necessitates 1.55- to 2.61-mile (2.5- to 4.2-kilometer) forages daily.

Grey-crowned squirrel monkey natural history illustrations sometimes observe in annotations August-October breeding season months and February-April birthing season months that offer sexually mature females one birth every 12-24 months.

Adult females and males respectively possess lower- and upper-ranged 10.47- to 11.46-inch (26.6- to 29.1-centimeter) and 14.25- to 15.32-inch (36.2- to 38.9-centimeter) head-body and tail lengths.

Twelve- to 14-month-old females and four- to six-year-old males respectively queue up 24.52-ounce (695-gram) and 29.24-ounce (829-gram) averages from 21.16- to 33.51-ounce (600- to 950-gram) weights. Physically and sexually mature females relocate to 20- to 100-member, mixed-age, mixed-gender non-birth territorial groups even though males remain in mixed-age, mixed-gender, similar-sized birth territorial groups. Alarm-peeping, chucking, twittering, whistling black-capped and grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkeys stay cooperatively, non-competitively together away from predatory coatis, opossums, snakes, spider monkeys, taupirs and toucans.

Grey-crowned Central American squirrel monkey natural history illustrations treat as travelling companions double-toothed kites, grey-headed tanagers, mantled howler monkeys, motmots, red-tailed and variegated squirrels, tawny-winged woodcreepers and trogons.

Subspecies name for grey-crowned squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus) recognizes pale yellow limb coloration: Monkey Tuesday @Monkey_Tuesday, via Twitter Sep. 30, 2012

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Critically endangered grey-crowned squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus) claim endemic homelands in Manuel Antonio National Park on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast; Quepos, gateway to the park; Thursday, May 29, 2014, 00:39: M M from Switzerland (Padmanaba01), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quepos,_Costa_Rica_(14115806920).jpg; M M (Padmanaba01), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/43423301@N07/14115806920/

Subspecies name for grey-crowned squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus) recognizes pale yellow limb coloration: Monkey Tuesday @Monkey_Tuesday, via Twitter Sep. 30, 2012, @ https://twitter.com/Monkey_Tuesday/status/252657208528076800

For further information:

Gold, Kenneth C. "Red-Backed Squirrel Monkey." In: Michael Hutchins, Devra G. Kleiman, Valerius Geist and Melissa C. McDade, eds.. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 14, Mammals III: 108-109. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003.

Monkey Tuesday ‏@Monkey_Tuesday. 30 September 2012. "#MonkeyOfTheWeek pic: a grey-crowned red-backed squirrel monkey relaxing in a tree. Photo: Adrian Hepworth /nhpa.co.uk." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Monkey_Tuesday/status/252657208528076800

Thomas, Oldfield. “New Forms of Saimiri, Saccopteryx, Balantiopteryx, and Thrichomys From the Neotropical Region: Saimiri Oerstedi citrinellus, subsp. n.” The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Including Zoology, Botany, and Geology vol. XIII (seventh series), no. LXXVI: 250-251. London, England: Taylor and Francis, 1904.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108336

Wong, G.; A.D. Cuarón; E. Rodriguez-Luna; & P.C. de Grammont. "Saimiri oerstedii." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T19836A9022609. doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T19836A9022609.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19836/0

Apollo 15 Imaged Full Length and Cobra Head of Vallis Schröteri

Summary: Fourth lunar-landing mission Apollo 15 imaged the full length and cobra head of Vallis Schröteri in the near side’s northwestern quadrant.

Oblique view shows Vallis Schröteri (center right) winding toward dark-floored Herodotus Crater (upper right) and away from bright-floored Aristarchus Crater (upper left); photograph by automatically operated Fairchild Mapping (Metric) Camera, SIM (Scientific Instrument Module) Bay, Apollo 15 Service Module; July 31-Aug. 2, 1971); NASA ID S71-44666: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Video Library

Fourth lunar-landing mission Apollo 15 imaged the full length and cobra head of Vallis Schröteri (Schroter’s Valley), a sinuous rille (German: “groove”) on the Aristarchus Plateau in the near side’s northwestern quadrant.

Apollo 15 launched Monday, July 26, 1971, as the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo spaceflight program. The mission made 74 lunar orbits before returning to Earth for a North Pacific Ocean splashdown Saturday, Aug. 7, 1971. Command Module Pilot Alfred “Al” Merrill Worden (born Feb. 7, 1932) and the automatically operated Fairchild Mapping (Metric) Camera in the Service Module’s SIM (Scientific Instrument Module) Bay are credited with photographing Vallis Schröteri while Commander David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) and Lunar Module Pilot James “Jim” Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930-Aug. 8, 1991) explored the lunar surface Friday, July 30, to Monday, Aug. 2.

Vallis Schröteri winds across the Aristarchus Plateau, an elevated rocky rise in the northwestern Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) lies to the plateau’s northeast.

Vallis Schröteri classifies as a sinuous rille, one of the three types of channels that cleave the lunar surface. Sinuous rilles, which have an ancient riverbed-like appearance, are thought to be the remains of collapsed, ancient lava tubes. Vallis Schröteri ranks as the moon’s largest sinuous rille.

Vallis Schröteri is centered at 26.16 degrees north latitude, minus 51.58 degrees west longitude. The sinuous rille’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to 26.32 degrees north and 24.16 degrees north, respectively. The rille marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 49.28 degrees west and minus 53.63 degrees west, respectively. Vallis Schröteri’s diameter spans 185.32 kilometers.

Vallis Schröteri begins in the Aristarchus Plateau’s southeastern part and ends on the northwestern part’s western edge. The lava channel broadens at its head into a distinctive shape known as the Cobra Head and narrows, snakelike, toward its toe.

Vallis Schröteri’s head hovers to the north of Aristarchus Plateau’s prominent craters, Aristarchus and Herodotus. The Cobra Head lies northwest of Aristarchus and north-northeast of Herodotus.

Aristarchus Crater is centered at 23.73 degrees north latitude, minus 47.49 degrees west longitude. The bright crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 24.39 degrees north and 23.07 degrees north, respectively. Aristarchus obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 46.77 degrees east and minus 48.21 degrees east, respectively. Its diameter measures 39.99 kilometers.

The Cobra Head, which more closely approaches Herodotus than Aristarchus, appears to be flicking its tongue toward Herodotus. British selenographer Thomas Gwyn Elger (Oct. 27, 1836-Jan. 9, 1897) traced the beginning of Vallis Schröteri’s to within Herodotus. “On the N. there is a gap through which the well-known Serpentine cleft passes on to the floor” (page 84), Elger noted in describing Herodotus in his tour of the lunar near side, The Moon: A Full Description and Map of its Principal Physical Features, published in 1895.

Elger elaborated after detailing the rille’s traversal of Aristarchus Plateau: “. . . N. of Aristarchus . . . it swerves slightly towards the S., becoming wider and wider, up to a place a few miles N. of Herodotus, where it expands into a broad valley; and then, somewhat suddenly contracting in width, and becoming less coarse, enters the ring-plain through a gap in the N. wall, as before mentioned” (page 85).

In their contribution to The Geological Society of America Special Paper 477, published in 2011, planetary volcanologists William Brent Garry and Jacob Elvin Bleacher considered possible origins of the fan-shaped feature uniquely positioned on Herodotus crater’s north inner wall and extending to the floor. Barry and Bleacher suggested an association with the Cobra Head’s formation or with wall degradation.

Herodotus Crater’s dark, lava-flooded floor contrasts with the crater’s bright neighbor, Aristarchus. Herodotus is centered at 23.25 degrees north latitude, minus 49.84 degrees west longitude. The thin-rimmed crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes touch 23.85 degrees north and 22.66 degrees north, respectively. Easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach minus 49.19 degrees west and minus 50.48 degrees west, respectively. Herodotus Crater has a diameter of 35.87 kilometers.

The IAU approved Vallis Schröteri as the crater’s official name in 1961, during the organization’s XIIth (12th) General Assembly, held Tuesday, Aug. 15, to Thursday, Aug. 24, in Berkeley, California. The name honors German astronomer Johann Hieronymus Schröter (Aug. 30, 1745-Aug. 29, 1816). The lunar and planetary astronomer’s accomplishments included an early study on lunar topography, Selenotopographische Fragmente zur genauern kenntniss der Mondfläche (Selenotopographical Fragments Intended to Promote a More Accurate Knowledge of the Moon’s Surface), published in 1791.

In their 1977 article, “The Aristarchus-Harbinger Region of the Moon,” planetary geologist Stanley Harris Zisk and six co-authors credit Christiaan Huygens (April 14, 1629-July 8, 1695) with the first recording and sketch of the most conspicuous lunar rille, made in 1686 (page 73). Retired physicist Jim Mosher noted in The Moon-Wiki that the Dutch astronomer-mathematician may have recorded Vallis Schröteri “as early as May 1686.”

Craters Aristarchus and Herodotus received official name approval in 1935, during the IAU’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, held Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17, in Paris, France. Aristarchus honors Aristarchus of Samos (ca. 310-ca. 230 BCE). The ancient Greek astronomer-mathematician is credited with the first known heliocentric model of the solar system. Herodotus Crater’s namesake is Herodotus of Halikarnassus (ca. 484-408 BCE). The ancient Greek historian is known as The Father of History, a title conferred on him in the first century BCE by assassinated Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (Jan. 3, 106-Dec. 7, 43 BCE).

The takeaways for Apollo 15’s images of the full length and Cobra Head of Vallis Schröteri are that the lava channel ranks as the moon’s largest sinuous rille (German: “groove”) and that the Cobra Head begins near or in dark-floored Herodotus Crater.

Oblique view, photographed by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden, captures Vallis Schröteri’s Cobra Head (upper center) with dark-floored Herodotus Crater (center left) and bright-floored Aristarchus (lower center); NASA ID AS15-88-12002: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Video Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Oblique view shows Vallis Schröteri (center right) winding toward dark-floored Herodotus Crater (upper right) and away from bright-floored Aristarchus Crater (upper left); photograph by automatically operated Fairchild Mapping (Metric) Camera, SIM (Scientific Instrument Module) Bay, Apollo 15 Service Module; July 31-Aug. 2, 1971); NASA ID S71-44666: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-S71-44666; NASA, Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/S71-44666

Oblique view, photographed by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden, captures Vallis Schröteri’s Cobra Head (upper center) with dark-floored Herodotus Crater (center left) and bright-floored Aristarchus (lower center); NASA ID AS15-88-12002: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as15-88-12002

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Garry, W. (William) Brent; and Jacob E. (Elvin) Bleacher. “Emplacement Scenarios for Vallis Schröteri, Aristarchus Plateau, the Moon.” Pages 77-94. In: William A. Ambrose and David A. Williams, eds., Recent Advances and Current Research Issues in Lunar Stratigraphy. The Geological Society of America Special Paper 477. Boulder CO: The Geological Society of America, 2011.
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Two-Headed Thelmaandlouise Turtle and Mature Wild Texas River Cooters

Summary: How would the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle have looked and where would she have lived with wild Texas river cooters?

Thelmaandlouise, a two-headed Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana), favor fresh duckweed (Arum spp.) and romaine lettuce at their birthplace, the San Antonio Zoo: Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook Oct. 4, 2013

Acquaintance with the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle asks for answers to questions about habitat aspects and physical appearances had the 13-month-old's life cycles advanced past July 29, 2014, into adulthood.

The two-headed Texas river cooter bore a leftward head called Louise and a rightward head named Thelma because of her embryo not breaking into two bodies. The four-legged, short-clawed, short-tailed captive of Richard Friedrich Aquarium, San Antonio Zoo, Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas, conducted basking, feeding and swimming within an indoor tank. Testudine experts and turtle enthusiasts deliver 1- to 2-foot (0.31- to 0.61-meter-) deep filtered aquarium and shaded pond waters at 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.88 degrees Celsius).

Wild counterparts, like the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle, expect basking, body-length sites at 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.44 degrees Celsius) to dry rot-prone, wettened shells.

Greek words, pseudes ("false") and emys ("turtle"), and taxonomic Latin, texana ("of Texas"), furnish the Emydidae marsh turtle, pond turtle and terrapin family member's scientific name.

Biogeography and Georg Hermann Carl Ludwig Baur (Jan. 4, 1859-June 25, 1898) in 1893 give two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle common nomenclature and scientific classification. Total populations of 10,000 to 100,000 Texas river cooters have 7.722.04- to 77,220.43-square-mile (20,000- to 200,000-square-kilometer) habitats in Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe and San Antonio river drainages. They inhabit clean, cobble- and gravel-bottomed, freshwater, shallow, somewhat shaded canals, creeks, lakes, marshes, ponds and rivers with rooted aquatic plants and impoundments and irrigation ditches.

Basker-plinkers, collectors, roadkills and severe habitat fragmentation, loss and pollution jeopardize wild Texas river cooters whose populations the International Union for Conservation of Nature judges sustainable.

The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle and wild Texas river cooters know May through July breeding seasons that kindle two to four clutches per year.

Sexually mature six- to seven-year-old mothers-to-be with 8.78- to 12.99-inch- (22.3- to 33-centimeter-) long carapaces (upper-shells) leave 4- to 22-egg clutches for 80- to 150-day incubations. Hatchlings move from ground-level, shallow nests near water in broadleaf forests, mixed forests, grasslands, savannahs and shrublands and transitional forests and grasslands in Texas's coastal plain. Hatchlings and juveniles need omnivorous ("everything-eating") diets of crayfish, earthworms, insects, snails and tadpoles whereas adulthood necessitates herbivorous ("plant-eating") regimes of eelgrass (Vallisneria) and Elodea species.

Male Texas river cooters observe sexual maturity as two-year-olds with 3.54-inch- (9-centimeter-) long upper-shells and maximum physical maturity with 7- to 13-inch (17.78- to 33.02-centimeter) upper-shells.

The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle and wild Texas river cooters possess dark-dabbed, flat, green, oval, pale-rimmed, scuted (scaled), yellow-marked upper-shells with flared, serrate-edged posteriors.

Long claws, limbs and tails and pinkish and reddish tinges qualify as respective hallmarks of mature males and of mature occasional predators of crustaceans and invertebrates. Webbed feet and toothlike cusps on both sides of the upper jaws' notched middle respectively result in fast diving and swimming and in optimal bite-and-shred feeding. Home territories that supply basking logs and rocks, breeding, foraging, overwintering and sheltering sites, burrowing and nesting grounds and moderate-flow, shallow freshwaters sustain Texas river cooters.

Captives such as the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle and wild Texas river cooters team up as keystone species that transmit verification of environmental well-being.

Thelmaandlouise passed away June 29, 2014; the two-headed Texas river cooter made a splash locally and globally: Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook July 29, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Thelmaandlouise, a two-headed Texas river cooter, enjoy fresh duckweed (Arum spp.) and romaine lettuce in their birthplace, the San Antonio Zoo: Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook Oct. 4, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/170679326469183/

Thelmaandlouise passed away June 29, 2014; the two-headed Texas river cooter made a splash locally and globally: Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook July 29, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/273751446161970/

For further information:

Baur, G. (George). 1893. "Notes on the Classification and Taxonomy of the Testudinata. Read . . . May 5, 1893: Pseudemys texana, sp. nov." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. XXXI (January-December 1893): 223-224. Philadelphia PA: Printed for the Society by MacCalla & Company, 1893.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7219903
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofamep31amer#page/223/mode/1up

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Available @ https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/SA-Zoo-s-two-headed-turtle-dies-5654753.php

Ettinger, Jared. 27 June 2013. "Two-Headed Turtle Born at San Antonio Zoo, Probably Not a Ninja." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/two-headed-turtle/

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 August 2014. "Two-Headed River Cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle Artwork June 2014." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/two-headed-river-cooter-thelmaandlouise.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 August 2014. "Two-Headed Texas River Cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle Ambassador." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/two-headed-texas-river-cooter.html

San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo. 17 June 2014. "Not only will we be celebrating the Spurs' championship win tomorrow...we'll be celebrating a VERY special birthday! . . . ." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/SanAntonioZoo/photos/a.417991171538.212061.406923321538/10152444970256539/

San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo. 26 June 2013. "Thelma and Louise were part of a quartet of Texas cooters hatched at the Zoo on June 18, 2013." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/SanAntonioZoo/photos/a.10151689796811539.1073741831.406923321538/10151689797151539/

Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle. 29 July 2014. "The San Antonio Zoo is saddened over the loss of Thelma and Louise." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/273751446161970/

Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle. 30 July 2013. "Thanks to Paul Garcia for this photo!" Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/152697078267408/

Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle. 4 October 2013. "Thanks to Paul Garcia for this new picture of Thelma & Louise. Looks like they are in 'stealth mode' in a fresh batch of duckweed. Look out crickets!" Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/170679326469183/

Tickle, Glen. 29 July 2013. "Everyone Loves a Two-Headed Turtle, But Now You Can Like One on Facebook." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/double-turtle-facebook/

Tickle, Glen, 29 July 2014. "Two-Headed Turtle 'Thelma and Louise' Dies at San Antonio Zoo After Living More Than a Year." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/thelma-and-louise-now-dead/

Virata, John. 27 June 2013. "Two-Headed Texas River Cooter Born at San Antonio Zoo." Reptiles Magazine > News > 2013/06/27.
Available @ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-News/2013/06/27/Two-Headed-Turtle-Born-At-San-Antonio-Zoo/

Virata, John. 1 August 2014. "Two-Headed Turtle Thelma and Louise Dies." Reptiles Magazine > Turtles & Tortoises > Information & News.
Available @ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Turtles-Tortoises/Information-News/Two-Headed-Turtle-Thelma-and-Louise-Dies/

Wilke, Hartmut. 2009. Aquatic Turtles. A Complete Pet Owner's Manual. Hauppauge NY: Barron's Educational Series Inc.