12 Incredible Historical Illustrations of Sharks

Published by Ocean Conservancy

Historical illustrations give us a glimpse into the scientific research of the past—and they can be very cool to look at!

We can view thousands of historical illustrations of marine life thanks to the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). The BHL is the largest open-access digital library for biodiversity archives. They work with libraries around the world to offer millions of books dating back to the 15th century for free. The library is not only an incredible source of data for scientists—it brings scientific art into the homes of people around the world.

Previously, we dug through the BHL archives to bring you some of our favorite ocean illustrations from the 18th and 19th centuries. Now, in honor of the annual summer celebration of sharks, we’re bringing you our favorite shark illustrations from the BHL!

You can explore the BHL too, by visiting their website and Flickr page.

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From “A History of the Fishes of the British Islands”, 1862-65 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Iacobi Theodori Klein Historiæ piscium naturalis Gedani”, 1740-49. © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Ichthyologie; ou, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons”, 1796 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Ichthyologie; ou, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons”, 1796 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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© COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Ichthyologie; ou, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons”, 1796 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Studi comparativi sui pesci fossili coi viventi dei generi Carcharodon, Oxyrhina e Galeocerdo”, 1881 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “A history of the Fishes of the British Islands”, 1862-65 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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© COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen”, 1841 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY
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From “Naturgeschichte in Bildern”, 1819-1826 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY

And a bonus, very scientific, illustration depicting the famous social shark.

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From “Fish Stories Alleged and Experienced”, 1909 © COURTESY OF BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY

The post 12 Incredible Historical Illustrations of Sharks appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

Read the full article at: https://blog.oceanconservancy.org/blog/2020/08/06/12-historical-illustrations-sharks/

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