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Sea Swine
The Sea Swine (a.k.a. ''Porcus Marinus'') was the name given to a variety of sea-dwelling or mythological creatures throughout history. The earliest mention of a 'sea swine' can be traced to ancient Greece. In this context, the name has been interpreted to mean 'porpoise', as a porpoise and pig have similar round body shapes. However, this is disputed by some classical scholars who believe that the 'porcus' section of the name referred instead to grunts emitted from fish in question, not any physical similarities to the pig. The creatures appeared in the '' Carta marina'', and were depicted in accompanying wood carvings, as fantastical beasts with four dragon's feet and a single eye at the navel. The map placed the creatures as living in the waters south of Iceland. Additional accounts from the 16th and 17th century delineated the sea swine from more mundane sea creatures. The animals were described as ''"headed like a Hog, toothed, and tusked like a Boar"''. The ''Sea Hogs'' w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacob Van Maerlant
Jacob van Maerlant (c. 1230–40 – c. 1288–1300) was a Flemings, Flemish poet of the 13th century and one of the most important Middle Dutch authors during the Middle Ages. Biography Jacob van Maerlant was born near Bruges and initially worked as a sacristan in Maerlant, located on the island of Oostvoorne. He later became a Sexton (office), sexton, which earned him the surname "de Coster." Afterward, he moved to Damme, near Bruges, where he is believed to have served as the town clerk. In the beginning, Jacob focused on translating French language, French romance (heroic literature), romances into Middle Dutch. However, his most significant work in the realm of romance poetry was his ''Historie van Troyen'', composed around 1264. This epic poem, consisting of approximately forty thousand lines, was a translation and expansion of Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie. From this time Jacob rejected romance as idle, and devoted h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pigs
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of ''Sus scrofa'' (the wild boar or Eurasian boar); other authorities consider it a distinct species. Pigs were domesticated in the Neolithic, both in China and in the Near East (around the Tigris Basin). When domesticated pigs arrived in Europe, they extensively interbred with wild boar but retained their domesticated features. Pigs are farmed primarily for meat, called pork. The animal's skin or hide is used for leather. China is the world's largest pork producer, followed by the European Union and then the United States. Around 1.5 billion pigs are raised each year, producing some 120 million tonnes of meat, often cured as bacon. Some are kept as pets. Pigs have featured in human culture since Neolithic time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porpoise
Porpoises () are small Oceanic dolphin, dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and Beluga whale, belugas than to the Oceanic dolphin, true dolphins. There are eight extant species of porpoise, all among the smallest of the toothed whales. Porpoises are distinguished from dolphins by their flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins, and lack of a pronounced beak, although some dolphins (e.g. Hector's dolphin) also lack a pronounced beak. Porpoises, and other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates. Porpoises range in size from the vaquita, at in length and in weight, to the Dall's porpoise, at and . Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism in that the females are larger than males. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Porpoises use Animal echolocation, echolocatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Chinese dragon, Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, Snake, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of Reptile, reptilian, mammalian, and Bird, avian features. Etymology The word ''dragon'' entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French , which, in turn, comes from Latin (genitive ), meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from , (genitive , ) "serpent". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the region's westernmost and most list of countries and dependencies by population density, sparsely populated country. Its Capital city, capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents (excluding nearby towns/suburbs, which are separate municipalities). The official language of the country is Icelandic language, Icelandic. Iceland is on a rift between Plate tectonics, tectonic plates, and its geologic activity includes geysers and frequent Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions. The interior consists of a volcanic plateau with sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, and many Glacial stream, glacial rivers flow to the sea through the Upland and lowland, lowlands. Iceland i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ray
John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (November 29, 1627 – January 17, 1705) was a Christian England, English Natural history, naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him". He published important works on botany, zoology, and natural theology. His classification of plants in his ''Historia Plantarum (Ray book), Historia Plantarum'', was an important step towards modern Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Ray rejected the system of dichotomy, dichotomous division by which species were classified by repeated sub-division into groups according to a pre-conceived series of characteristics they have or have not, and instead classified plants according to similarities and differences that emerged from observation. He was among the first to attempt a biological definition for the concept of ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
