The Quokka of Rottnest Island

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez

I started this blog 15 years ago with a basic goal in mind: what would the world look like if conservation was a success? How are we interacting with the healthy population of species that are now our next door neighbors? How do we share the planet? There were places that I knew that were examples of this. Back in 2006, I was able to visit one of those places: Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz in the Galápagos Islands. Now, almost 20 years later, I was finally able to visit another one of those spots. On Monday, I took the ferry to Rottnest Island of the coast off Perth, Australia.

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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 it allow folks to emotionally engage with a long extinct member of the Hawaiian avifauna. Well last year, during the year of the forest bird, Bishop Museum once again did a showcase on native Hawaiian birds and it did not disappoint.

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Macaques in the Philippines

Posted on February 25, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez

I’m still here in the Philippines enjoying my time with friends and family. I did want to highlight another member of the Philippine fauna.

3 lineages of Primates are found in the Philippines. While there’s us humans obviously, there is also a lineage of tarsiers found in the Southern Philippines and a widespread lineage of Unggoy (monkey) found throughout the archipelago.

It doesn’t surprise me that a population of Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fasiculatus) is found here. Hardy and resilient, macaques throughout the Old World have readily adapted to the human landscape. So much so that they have run into that ole Studia Mirabilium problem and are thought to be pests that need to be controlled. While the challenges of living with these monkeys is there, the potential to show how we can share these spaces cannot be underestimated.

Case in point below. My brother was just hanging out in a spot in Tagaytay, when he noticed a monkey just off the trail. Here’s to a peaceful coexistence with our primate brethren!

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Two lined Coral Snake of Mt. Mansilawit

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez

Currently back in the motherlands. Was exploring Palawan when we came across a very pleasant surprise. Our tour guide was leading up the short (but muggy!) hike up Mt. Mansilawit outside of El Nido, when she stopped dead in her tracks. A small brightly colored snake was right in the middle of the path. While she was pretty scared of snakes, I had no such reservation (see my why studia mirabilium and Smithsonian post 😁)

But I wasn’t foolish, as this small and exceedingly gorgeous snakes is a Two lined Coral Snake (Calliophis bilineatus) a quite venomous snake endemic to Palawan. I used my umbrella to gently encourage it off the trail.

As you can see in the short video, part of the snake’s defense mechanism is to flip on its back to expose its warning coloration on the ventral scales. And as it slithered away, you can see the brightly colored red tail.

It was the highlight of my day really. I would have thought I would have come across Palawan’s endemic birds more readily. To happen across this gorgeous native snake randomly of a very touristy hike was a special treat.

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Getting to know your Hawaiian Lobeliads #44 Cyanea pinnatifida

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez
Cyanea pinnatifida

Cyanea pinnatifida

  • Conservation status: Endangered
  • Distribution: Central Wai`anae Mtns
  • Date photographed: 12/26/24
  • Identification: : Form– Shrubs 0.8-3 m tall; stems unbranched or sparingly branched Leaves– pinnately parted, cut 1/2-1/4 the distance to midrib, blades 25-60 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide (between the segments), 8-25 cm wide (across the segments) Flower– hypanthium obconical, 10-12 mm long, 6-8 mm wide calyx lobes triangular, 3-5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide; corolla greenish white, 36-50 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, sparsely pubescent
  • Phylogenetic comments: 2022 update — There is evidence that Cyanea pinnatifida is one of several O`ahu Cyanea spp of hybrid origin between the Grimesiana clade and the Rollandia clade.
  • My notes: 44th lobeliad in the series just in time for my 44th birthday. Yes, I’m slow at uploading :p Cyanea pinnatifida has quite the remarkable tale to me. For many years, only one wild individual was known, growing near the bottom of a gulch. What I thought was remarkable was that it seem to have a very specific extinction factor: Just above the plant was a large boulder which threatened to crush it. This boulder was being held up by a decaying tree. If anything captured the plight of Hawaiian flora, this was it. Luckily, folks from various institution were able to do micro-prop from this individual and hundreds of plants have been outplanted in protected habitat.
  • Additional Photos:
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Let’s talk about: Hibiscadelphus

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez
Hibiscadelphus distans

One of the many plants that I was happy to engage with from my trip to Limahuli last year was this guy: Hau kuahiwi (Hibiscadelphus distans). And I figure now would be a good a time as any to talk about this interesting radiation of native Hawaiian malvaceae. Hau kuahiwi as a whole have suffered greatly from anthropogenic changes but have much potential for restoration to its former glory.

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Kobe Animal Kingdom

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez
A child appreciating nature

Sometimes there is magic in the air. And while a lot of that comes from one’s own perspective, it is a neat feeling whenever it hits you. On our second trip to Japan, my wife and I checked out the Kobe Animal Kingdom. I wasn’t expecting it, but the visit gave me one of the most hopeful visions for the future.

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The Kaka of Maungatautauri

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Sebastian Marquez

Here’s another post from our trip to New Zealand in 2019. My wife and I made a point to check out Sanctuary Mountain, the wildlife reserve situated on Maungatautauri, a dormant volcano just outside Hamilton on the North Island. It was awe-inspiring and all together a wonderful experience.

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Return of the Kings

Posted on December 26, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez
2 large Cyanea grimesiana ssp grimesiana

Let’s talk about the plight of 2 Ko`olau endemic taxa who were both on the very brink of extinction but are now on a tenuous path toward recovery. It’s a tale of destruction and despair but also of compassion and hope. This is the story of Achatinella fuscobasis and Cyanea grimesiana ssp. grimesiana.

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Getting to know your Hawaiian Lobeliads #43 Lobelia oahuensis

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Lobelia oahuensis

  • Conservation status: Endangered
  • Distribution: Ko`olau Mountains, O`ahu
  • Date photographed: 10/2/24
  • Identification: : Form– Stems woody, erect, 10-30 dm long, with a dense apical rosette of leaves. Leaves– elliptic, 40-60 cm long, 4-6 cm wide, upper surface glabrous, lower surface densely grayish or greenish hirsute. Flower– calyx lobes linear, acute, 12-88 mm long, 2-3 mm wide; corolla pale blue, 42-45 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, pubescent or glabrous, the lobes spirally revolute.
  • Phylogenetic comments: 2022 update — L. oahuensis is sister to the L.grayana- L. dunbariae clade.
  • My notes: I actually saw this species about 15 years ago now on a summit hike but couldn’t get a good photo at the time. If I recall it might have been the very same hike I took a picture of the very first lobeliad in this series: T. singularis. Anyway, this species not very common and the PEPP program has done a lot of work to help with the preservation of these beautiful endemics of O`ahu. This is the first time that I myself have seen this in flower which helps me differentiate this between L. hypoleauca.
  • Additional Photos:

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