Category Archives: Natural History

A Celebration of Hawaiian Forest Birds

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez

The last time I talked about Bishop Museum on this blog was that in-between phase where I wasn’t really posting often. At the time, they had put on display a rare specimen of kioea and I had commented on how … Continue reading →

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Taxa that break my brain

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

First of please check out Gabriel Ugueto’s artwork. He is an amazing paleoartist that brings to life many obscure taxa one hardly finds quality images of. You can check out his twitter here and his facebook page here I made … Continue reading →

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Who let the dogs out? Wolves, Coyotes and the Post-Hemphilian Canis radiation

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Sebastian Marquez

So this post may just be an excuse for me to post more photos from my trip to the Living Desert Zoo and Garden. While wolves and coyotes may look similar enough for the lay person like myself to confuse … Continue reading →

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Legend of the Fall (Ashfall Fossil Beds)

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Sebastian Marquez

Lagerstatten present an interesting, if morbid, paradox. The very processes which leads to exquisite fossil preservation for appreciation and study, while quite fortuitous from our point of view, are also horrible, no good, very bad ones for the object of … Continue reading →

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Snapshot: Old Hawaiian Camping Trip

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Sebastian Marquez

We were given these old photos by a family acquaintance. I remember rummaging through some old photos albums when I saw one that said Koke`e. I can’t remember if the dates were closer to 1910 or the 1920’s. Some of … Continue reading →

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The face that we almost forgot

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Sebastian Marquez

If you are of a particular age cohort, you will remember the sensation that was M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. Lauded, then cliched, for its plot twist, the movie was also known for Haley Joel Osment’s famous utterance: “I … Continue reading →

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1984… and 1884

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Sebastian Marquez

The Bishop Museum just wrapped up their Wonders of Nature exhibit. As great as it was to see the Museum’s collections from throughout the Pacific, I was there for a very specific reason. It was my first real chance to … Continue reading →

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‘Aka’aka’awa refugium

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Sebastian Marquez

I was super excited to finally come across this cool native plant. This is the sole native begonia to Hawai’i: ‘Aka’aka’awa (Hillebrandia sandwicensis). I personally like to say it in the same cadence as the name of a certain young … Continue reading →

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Mahalo Dr. Hume!

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Sebastian Marquez

The long line at the Kapalama post office on a Saturday morning was absolutely worth it; today I received my copies of Hume and Walters’ Extinct Birds. I’ve been reading it all day and it’s wonderful! It is a great primer on … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Species Seekers

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Sebastian Marquez

Another book from my vulturine gleaning of the Border’s collapse is this tale: The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth, by Richard Conniff. Considering all the surveying I’m doing and my general interest in natural … Continue reading →

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