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Living in obscurity: Danté Fenolio— life in the dark
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Romero, A. |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | The reduction and/or disappearance of phenotypic features is a biological phenomenon that has intrigued humans ever since prehistoric times. The earliest known anthropological representation of a creature showing the loss of phenotypic features dates back to ca. 22,000 YBP (Upper Paleolithic). It is a carved drawing of a wingless cave cricket, Troglophilus sp., on a bison (Bison bonasus) bone found in the Grotte des Trois Frères (Three Brothers Cave) in the central Pyrénées, France. Since then, we have witnessed how the study of organisms living in lightless environments went through a number of scientific historical periods. First was the age of exploration that characterized the Renaissance (ca. 1450–1650) in Europe and the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in China, followed by the inclusion of these organisms into list of species and Bbestiaries,^ to using them as proof of Lamarckian ideas about Buse and disuse^ (an idea accepted by Darwin himself and his followers, particularly in North America and France), to more modern interpretations espousing evolutionary concepts established during the Modern Synthesis, to the evo-devo explanations being providedmore recently (for a historical study of these biological thoughts see Romero 2009). It is not surprising that the reduction and/or loss of phenotypic features has been perceived as an Boddity^ because the intrinsic belief among many that evolution is a progressive process aimed at increasing complexity (Romero 1985). Yet, that phenomenon can be observed in multitude of organisms belonging to a great variety of taxa found in a great range of environments around the world. In fact, we could even argue that modern humans show some features that are the result of that process when compared with its primate ancestors. Examples include the loss of characters such the tail, body hair, the ability to synthesize vitamin C, and reductions in the size of teeth, the size of the vermiform appendix, the thickness of the skull, as well as the thickness of the bony brow ridges (Diamond and Stermer 1999). Yet, there are no better examples of these processes in action than among organisms living under lightless conditions. Now comes Danté Fenolio with his book BLife in the Dark.^ With more than 200 first-class photographs accompanied by informative texts this author portrays the large diversity of these organisms living in lightless settings as well as pictures of these environments. Readers unfamiliar with most of these examples of fauna living under these conditions will think that many of these creatures are the figment of the imagination of a Hollywood artistic director who used CIG (Computed Generated Images) to produce mirages of creatures that many times can look both bizarre and creepy. Fenolio is a rare combination of someone with a doctorate in biology but who happens to be one of the best wildlife photographers around. Since he was a college student he was already known for his photography of cave animals. For those of us who have tried to take pictures in lightless environments we know how Environ Biol Fish (2016) 99:509–511 DOI 10.1007/s10641-016-0487-8 |
| Starting Page | 509 |
| Ending Page | 511 |
| Page Count | 3 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10641-016-0487-8 |
| Volume Number | 99 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=bb_pubs&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.aromerojr.net/Publications/886.Fenolio.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-016-0487-8 |
| Journal | Environmental Biology of Fishes |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
