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animalhistories.bsky.social
Animal History Group
@animalhistories.bsky.social
890 followers 940 following 18 posts
The Animal History Group (🌐 animalhistorygroup.org) is an independent international research network for students, academics and other professionals whose work engages with animals in history.
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animalhistories.bsky.social
Animal History Group @animalhistories.bsky.social · Sep 25
Announcing the new Animal History Group seminar series for the 2025-26 academic year! - All seminars held online at 8pm UK time. 🎉 The details are here: animalhistorygroup.org/seminar-seri...
And here is a list for your calendar! 🧵💚
Seminar Series
Term One Our Seminar Series is back for 2025/2026. Seminars will be held at 8pm (GMT). Please sign up using the links below. Joining information will be sent shortly before the event. 15 October 20…
animalhistorygroup.org
Reposted by Animal History Group
sochistnathist.bsky.social
There are still a few weeks left to submit your proposals for our ECR Symposium next year!

We'd love papers from across the field which speak to all aspects of the history of natural history by early career researchers!

Find out how to submit 👇🏻
sochistnathist.bsky.social SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · Sep 12
📢 Call for Papers! 📢

We're excited to announce that in 2026 we will again be hosting an Early Career Researcher Symposium, and that this time it will be a partnership with @linneansociety.bsky.social!🙌🏻

We'd love to hear from all ECRs, so find how to submit a proposal 👇🏻
shnh.org.uk/news/cfp-ear...
A deep green background with white lettering that reads "The society for the History of Natural History Call for Papers" surrounded by historic illustrations of different types od seaweed.
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
animalhistories.bsky.social
For those who couldn't attend last week, here is @s-pooley.bsky.social's excellent talk on their new book DISCOVERING THE OKAPI.
Out now with Johns Hopkins University Press! 📗🦒
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx1Z...
November 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Animal History Group
kidream.bsky.social
My new article is out! A Daoist mountain synced pilgrimages with crane migrations—governing landscapes and conserving biodiversity for centuries. Rethinking nature/culture today. Read open access: doi.org/10.3390/rel1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
kelseygranger.bsky.social
Excited to say that my article on horse names in China's ancient postal system has been published with Early China! 🐎✉️🌿 Meet Skittish Fish, Calm at the Carriage, and, my personal fave, Cinnamon Stick, at the link below:
#animalhistory
www.cambridge.org
November 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
animalhistories.bsky.social
Our second event of the year is next Wednesday at 8pm! Come along to a book release talk for @s-pooley.bsky.social's DISCOVERING THE OKAPI
Attendance is free, all are welcome, sign up on the Eventbrite link below. 📗🦓💚
The book cover for Simon Pooley's Discovering the Okapi. The front cover seems to be an old plate from Proceedings of the Zoological Society 2(1), 1808. There are two okapi on the front cover with giraffe like heads, brown upper bodies and zebra stripes on their legs. The title says: 'Discovering the Okapi: western science, Indigenous knowledge and the search for a rainforest enigma'
November 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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bpduggan.bsky.social
AKC Museum of the Dog, NYC
“Promoting the Dog Through Photography” with Heidi Hudson
Thurs., Nov. 20, 6:00 PM

Sure to be a good one!
Hudson is the author of “Man’s Best Friend – The hidden treasures of The Kennel Club Collection”
#dogphotos #dogs #museum #photography #NYC
November 2, 2025 at 5:12 AM
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julesskotnesbrown.bsky.social
"By using the concepts of pest in foregrounding the philosophy behind species segregation, Segregated Species makes a great contribution to agricultural history, animal history, histories of conservation, and histories of knowledge."
Segregated Species: Pests, Knowledge, and Boundaries in South Africa, 1910–1948
Segregated Species examines how white farmers, the government, scientists, and Africans debated and defined the concept of pests in South Africa between 1910 and 1948 as they sought to create species ...
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:44 PM
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medievalists.bsky.social
The Medieval Frog: From Healing Charm to Cautionary Tale www.medievalists.net/2025/10/medi... #frogs #medieval
The Medieval Frog: From Healing Charm to Cautionary Tale - Medievalists.net
In medieval Europe, frogs were both feared and useful — condemned as unclean yet valued in medical recipes and moral tales. A new study explores how this unlikely creature moved from the healer’s…
www.medievalists.net
October 22, 2025 at 10:31 PM
animalhistories.bsky.social
Fantastic start to the seminar series today - great talk by Miriam!! 🐄
See you all in November! 💚
animalhistories.bsky.social Animal History Group @animalhistories.bsky.social · Oct 8
Our first online Animal History seminar this term is 8pm next Wed:
Miriam Borgia - 'Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry'.
Free entry, all welcome. 🐮💚
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ahg-semina...?
#AnimalHistory #VeterinaryHistory #RuralHistory
"Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry Miriam Borgia, University of Bologna and EHESS-CRH, Paris At the end of the eighteenth century in parts of Italian territory, following the French model, the first veterinary medicine schools were established to address the recurrent epizootics. This constituted not only a hygienic concern, but also an economic imperative. Within this context, and with increasing emphasis throughout the nineteenth century, it became progressively evident that a productive animal, particularly in the case of cattle, was primarily a healthy animal. However, how was one to define a healthy animal? And what was the tension between care and exploitation? In this contribution, I will examine how veterinarians, small-scale farmers, and zootechnics sought to establish this definition through considerations of nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Knowledge and practices concerning animal well-being were experimented with in the stables, with particular attention to illumination, ventilation, and temperature control. They also emerged through veterinary care, administered by empirical practitioners or trained veterinarians, and through the challenges inherent in selecting and improving local breeds. Ultimately, the treatment provided to animals directly influenced the quality of derived products (most notably milk and meat). Throughout the nineteenth century, animal husbandry became distinct from agriculture and by century's end some zootechnics asserted that livestock farming was no longer merely a "necessary evil" – that is, an enterprise fraught with sanitary and economic risks yet essential to agricultural practice – but rather an autonomous economic sector and a legitimate scientific discipline, whose success depended entirely upon the care accorded to animals and the application of knowledge from zootechnical and veterinary sciences."
October 15, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
animalhistories.bsky.social
Our first online Animal History seminar this term is 8pm next Wed:
Miriam Borgia - 'Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry'.
Free entry, all welcome. 🐮💚
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ahg-semina...?
#AnimalHistory #VeterinaryHistory #RuralHistory
"Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry Miriam Borgia, University of Bologna and EHESS-CRH, Paris At the end of the eighteenth century in parts of Italian territory, following the French model, the first veterinary medicine schools were established to address the recurrent epizootics. This constituted not only a hygienic concern, but also an economic imperative. Within this context, and with increasing emphasis throughout the nineteenth century, it became progressively evident that a productive animal, particularly in the case of cattle, was primarily a healthy animal. However, how was one to define a healthy animal? And what was the tension between care and exploitation? In this contribution, I will examine how veterinarians, small-scale farmers, and zootechnics sought to establish this definition through considerations of nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Knowledge and practices concerning animal well-being were experimented with in the stables, with particular attention to illumination, ventilation, and temperature control. They also emerged through veterinary care, administered by empirical practitioners or trained veterinarians, and through the challenges inherent in selecting and improving local breeds. Ultimately, the treatment provided to animals directly influenced the quality of derived products (most notably milk and meat). Throughout the nineteenth century, animal husbandry became distinct from agriculture and by century's end some zootechnics asserted that livestock farming was no longer merely a "necessary evil" – that is, an enterprise fraught with sanitary and economic risks yet essential to agricultural practice – but rather an autonomous economic sector and a legitimate scientific discipline, whose success depended entirely upon the care accorded to animals and the application of knowledge from zootechnical and veterinary sciences."
October 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Animal History Group
julianordblad.bsky.social
I wrote an essay for @mihjournal.bsky.social on two very different books on planetary politics, each enlightening in their own way. Both contribute substantially to the discussion within the planetary turn. The piece can be found here:

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Governing the Miracle | Modern Intellectual History | Cambridge Core
Governing the Miracle
www.cambridge.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
natrevbiodiv.nature.com
In our October issue: Perspective led by Laetitia Navarro (@laenavarro.bsky.social) on historical ecology, which uses various sources of information to study past biodiversity change and human-nature interactions. 🧪🌎
bit.ly/46Qp6Kp
Readcube: rdcu.be/eKYfH
October 14, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
leafyhistory.bsky.social
For #BlackHistoryMonth, here are some thoughts about a source I've read - 'Letters from a Moor at London to his Friend at Tunis' (1736). This is a kind of guide to England, supposedly (uh-oh! 😅) written by a Black traveler from Tunisia, North Africa. 🇹🇳🧑🏽‍✈️
archive.org/details/b330...
Letters from a Moor at London to his friend at Tunis. Containing an account of his journey through England. With his observations on the laws, customs, religion, and manners of the English nation. Lik...
1 unnumbered leaf, 274 pages ; (12mo)
archive.org
October 13, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
thelabandfield.bsky.social
Well, it's official. After our paper last year (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), the Slender-billed Curlew is officially declared Extinct today.

Scientists dream of describing new species, not writing their obituary and epitaph, knowing that they are gone forever #ornithology
October 10, 2025 at 8:54 AM
animalhistories.bsky.social
Our first online Animal History seminar this term is 8pm next Wed:
Miriam Borgia - 'Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry'.
Free entry, all welcome. 🐮💚
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ahg-semina...?
#AnimalHistory #VeterinaryHistory #RuralHistory
"Defining Animal Well-Being: Sciences and Practices of Care in Italian Animal Husbandry Miriam Borgia, University of Bologna and EHESS-CRH, Paris At the end of the eighteenth century in parts of Italian territory, following the French model, the first veterinary medicine schools were established to address the recurrent epizootics. This constituted not only a hygienic concern, but also an economic imperative. Within this context, and with increasing emphasis throughout the nineteenth century, it became progressively evident that a productive animal, particularly in the case of cattle, was primarily a healthy animal. However, how was one to define a healthy animal? And what was the tension between care and exploitation? In this contribution, I will examine how veterinarians, small-scale farmers, and zootechnics sought to establish this definition through considerations of nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Knowledge and practices concerning animal well-being were experimented with in the stables, with particular attention to illumination, ventilation, and temperature control. They also emerged through veterinary care, administered by empirical practitioners or trained veterinarians, and through the challenges inherent in selecting and improving local breeds. Ultimately, the treatment provided to animals directly influenced the quality of derived products (most notably milk and meat). Throughout the nineteenth century, animal husbandry became distinct from agriculture and by century's end some zootechnics asserted that livestock farming was no longer merely a "necessary evil" – that is, an enterprise fraught with sanitary and economic risks yet essential to agricultural practice – but rather an autonomous economic sector and a legitimate scientific discipline, whose success depended entirely upon the care accorded to animals and the application of knowledge from zootechnical and veterinary sciences."
October 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Animal History Group
antiquity.ac.uk
Our October issue is out now! Featuring great #archaeology such as:

🐴 The medieval taboo of horse consumption
🦁 The Chinese origins of Venice's iconic Winged Lion statue
🧊 Tattooed ice mummies of the Siberian Altai

& much more! 🏺

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cover of the October 2025 issue of Antiquity, featuring archaeologists excavating at an unmarked grave site.
October 7, 2025 at 7:15 AM
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chloeahmann.bsky.social
📣 Friends, sharing a new collection on “Everyday and Emergent Ecofascisms” – edited with Zeynep Oguz for @societyandspace.bsky.social – that we hope folks find useful in These Times. Together, we “tend to the mundane ways ecofascist tenets organize the everyday...

t.co/JUowfqw7cB
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02637758251374876
t.co
October 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
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krishbohra.bsky.social
Day 66/100 of Cool Indian Wildlife History

Sumatran rhinos were generally considered to have gone extinct in India by mid-20th century. In 1996, Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhury went for research in the far-northeast of India along the border with Myanmar and discovered local reports from the region.
October 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
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disabilitystor1.bsky.social
There is a particular place in my heart for this category of historical photographs: the ones where not even time and/or the medium can stop the dog’s goofy and/or loving personality from shining through
I collect these whenever I can get them.
October 2, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Animal History Group
chrismanias.bsky.social
A sadly never-realized Pleistocene animal park in La Plata, Argentina. Article from from Fray Mocho (9 August 1912)

The animals were designed by Josef Pallenberg, who also did the dinosaur sculptures at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg

(more info in this article: doi.org/10.31048/185... )

#FossilFriday
Double page spread from an Argentinian magazine from 1912. Shows models of prehistoric animals, including a Toxodon, Macrauchenia, Mylodon, Megatherium, Mastodon, Glyptodon and sabre-toothed cap. The central image is an illustration of all the creatures standing in a landscape.
September 26, 2025 at 10:54 AM
animalhistories.bsky.social
Announcing the new Animal History Group seminar series for the 2025-26 academic year! - All seminars held online at 8pm UK time. 🎉 The details are here: animalhistorygroup.org/seminar-seri...
And here is a list for your calendar! 🧵💚
Seminar Series
Term One Our Seminar Series is back for 2025/2026. Seminars will be held at 8pm (GMT). Please sign up using the links below. Joining information will be sent shortly before the event. 15 October 20…
animalhistorygroup.org
September 25, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Animal History Group
dollyjorgensen.bsky.social
Any recommendations for key scholarship at the intersection of productive gardens/agriculture and health institutions like sanatoriums, leprosariums, and convalescent homes?
September 22, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Animal History Group
friendsofdarwin.bsky.social
23-Sep: On this day in 1832, young Charles Darwin made an important discovery at Punta Alta, near Bahia Blanca in Argentina: the fossil remains of what he took to be a species of rhinoceros. It was actually an extinct species of giant ground sloth, or Megatherium… #histsci
23-Sep-1832: Darwin discovers a ‘rhinoceros’
…for which, read ‘giant ground sloth’ or ‘Megatherium’.
friendsofdarwin.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
animalhistories.bsky.social
📣 Join us online on Wednesday 16 April for a reading group led by @leafyhistory.bsky.social on the #AnimalHistory of South Africa!

All welcome, register via our website: animalhistorygroup.org/seminar-seri...
Advert with archive image of a quagga in black and white, overlaid with white text: AHG Reading Group. On the right, blue text on a white background: Reading Group. Animal History in South Africa. Led by Dr Lee Raye, The Open University. 16 April. Online 7pm (UK time).
April 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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lenaferriday.bsky.social
Our special issue on Sensory Histories of the Environment is out now! With articles on moles, bats, miners, wind and wine, it's a very varied bunch 🍇 #envhist
eandhwhp.bsky.social Environment and History, White Horse Press @eandhwhp.bsky.social · Apr 3
Environment and History 31.2 is available online now! This is a special issue entitled 'Sensing the World: Exploring Sensory Histories of the Environment,' edited by @gpetrick.bsky.social & @gfitz.bsky.social liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/toc/whpeh/31/2 #envhist @eseh.bsky.social
April 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM