Speaking of That. . .

The previous post touched on a few of the pleasures in observing nature recorded in art. One aspect I did not mention was that of discovery, of seeing something previously unknown--or unknown, at least, to the viewer.  While there is no dearth of new material for the amateur, who can, to speak from experience, happily reinvent the wheel of discovery every weekend, we seem to have landed in an age when there is not a good deal of the natural world that is truly new to science. At least there is not the same prodigality of fresh discovery as there was in, say David Douglas' time.

But of course that doesn't mean that new species aren't found and catalogued. There was, for convenient example, a brand-new trap door spider that ended up in the Sacramento news this very week. I took a great delight in the mention of it, partly because it had the wonder of something previously unknown, or at least unnamed, and partly because it was discovered in a place that occupied mythical status in my childhood memories. There was a further intriguing twist--the gentleman who ended up having to wait 20 years to complete his report on the creature has asked for help in choosing its scientific name.

If you are slightly interested, you can read the flash here on the local CBS13 channel; that gives you the bare bones of the story, a picture of the spider, and an email address to send your best shot at naming. But if you have a bit more time, this video posted on the UC Davis website, an interview with Professor Jason Bond, the man who tracked down this particular spider, is a leisurely, pleasant watch.