On 26 Aug 1996 20:21:44 EDT, pdd@gcc.cc.md.us wrote:
>GM>To me this is evidence of both an artistic and self-conscious
>approach to the world. Fossils are often collected for their beauty
>and curiosity value. Many geologists I work with are heavily into
>mineral collecting also. They do it because the minerals are
>beautiful at least to them. Apparently this Neanderthal also
>thought pyrite and fossils were pretty . This is a HUMAN trait.
PD>When I was out west on vacation, I saw an exhibit of a pack-rat's
>nest. It too must have been human because of the diversity of
>curious and beautiful objects found in the nest! ;-)
[...]
I wonder if Glenn has ever seen a bower-bird's nest? I saw one in
Windjana Gorge (an ancient Devonian coral reef) and the bower-bird
there specialised in "fossils"! ;-)
"BOWERBIRDS, a family, Ptilonorhynchidae, of 18 species of
perching birds noted for the very elaborate sexual displays. They are
found in New Guinea and the surrounding islands, and in north and
east Australia...The bowerbirds are so-called because of the
complicated, and often highly decorated, structures that the males of
some species use when they are displaying. These sometimes take
the form of cleared areas the size of a table-top, containing a domed
tunnel of sticks, decorated with brightly coloured stones, fresh
flowers, spiders' webs and coloured insects' skeletons. Some of these
bowers are so impressive that, WHEN THEY WERE FIRST DISCOVERED, THE
EXPLORERS BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD ONLY BE THE PRODUCT OF HUMAN SKILL
AND ARTISTRY (my emphasis)... In the genus Ptilonorhynchus..The
bower consists of a solid mat of small sticks with a wall of sticks on
each side. The whole structure is painted with a paint made of
vegetable juices and is brilliantly decorated by the male with shells,
flowers, leaves and dead insects....In the four species of the genus
Chlamydera..Each male defends a private bower consisting of two walls of
sticks that are built up parallel to one another and decorated with
fruit, flowers, snail shells fungi, insect skeletons and a wide range
of other brightly coloured objects. " (Holyoak D.T., "Encyclopedia of
the Animal World", Bay Books: Sydney, 1977, 3:250)
God bless.
Steve
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