If you traveled back 250-500 years what #wildlife could you see near you? After a four year research project, I can tell you the answer in Britain and Ireland and it is quite exciting! (🐺🐆🐰🦈🦐🐍)!
My Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife will be published in June, but I have special permission to share some of my findings before that, so I will be releasing one map each month here. Here is a list of previously released ones: https://historyandnature.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/atlas-maps/
#gis
December's historical wildlife map is of the (harbour/grey) #seal! According to my research, seals were widespread around Britain and Ireland 250-500 years ago! 🐕🧜♀️
Interestingly, seals started to decline after the end of the #EarlyModern period due to increased hunting. Around 1900 they had become so rare that they had to be legally protected. They have recovered pretty well since, and it's now pupping season, so look out for them if you walk on the coast this winter! 🌊🔭 #histodons #mammals
Happy #SaveTheEaglesDay!
Where I live now, eagles seem impossibly mythic birds, but according to my research, just 250-500 years ago White-tailed Eagles (or Sea Eagles) were widespread around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The last native White-tailed Eagle was only shot in 1918! 🌬
But this is not the end of the story. The eagles are reintroduced on Mull, Wester Ross and Fife in Scotland, Killarney NP in Co Kerry and now the Isle of Wight in England. Please post pics if you see one! 🦅💚
Next Wednesday evening (1900 GMT+0) I'll be giving a free academic seminar on my soon-to-be-released book (The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife)! I'll be covering why Britain and Ireland's pre-industrial natural history data is so reliable, how I map historical records, and how you can tell the difference between when a species was unrecorded and when it was truly absent. Come nerd out with me! 
😻 Register here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ahg-seminar-introducing-the-atlas-of-early-modern-wildlife-tickets-422495384067
#histodons #archaeology #gis #EarlyModern #wildlife
