Rhinogradentia

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A rare specimen of a Rhinogradentier ( Emunctator sorbens , German: Schnuzender Schniefling) in the Zoological Museum of the City of Strasbourg

The Rhinogradentia (from the Greek rhis nose and Latin GRADIOR proceed ; German nose border pieces or Naslinge , English Snouters ) are a fictional order of mammals that as a scientific joke of Gerolf Steiner (University of Karlsruhe, Institute of Zoology I) invented and "under the pseudonym Prof. Harald Stümpke ”was published as a monograph in a traditional specialist book publisher under a reputable label. The work " Construction and Life of the Rhinogradentia " describes the Rhinogradentia as a real existing, but recently extinct mammalian order, presents numerous original illustrations and graphics on ancestry and development and does not differ formally from other specialist books. The explanations are inspired by a poem by Christian Morgenstern . They are based on the literarily invented animal " Nasobēm " by Morgenstern .

Soon after the first edition, the rhinogradentia gained great popularity in specialist circles and was repeatedly taken up in subsequent publications or mentioned in the literature list. However, the monograph is entirely fictional and has no real components. All claims are funny, absurd, or biologically impossible. This is in contrast to the strictly scientific presentation of the first edition, which also briefly received serious reviews.

The monograph was used to loosen up lectures and to present "counterexamples". In the monograph, Steiner takes up all the important biological phenomena and presents them to the reader in a humorous way. One learns how absurd the animal world would look if the zoological regularities in nature were violated.

Systematic position

It is a "very likely extinct" order of mammals . However, knowledge of the systematics , anatomy and ecology of these animals is part of the “indispensable compulsory program” for every zoologist . In the remote Pacific Heieiei Archipelago , the Rhinogradentia were subject to an evolutionary radiation that can best be compared with the Darwin's finches on the Galápagos or the development of the marsupials in Australia .

Characteristics and typical types

The characteristic feature of the order and the most important autapomorphy is the diverse design of the nose as an organ of locomotion and for other purposes. It is of particular didactic value as a prime example of homology and analogy in anatomy and evolutionary research.

Archirrhinos haeckelii , which was named as a living fossil after Ernst Haeckel , is considered to be the most original species .

Rhinograde animals have conquered both the ground by mole-like animals and the airspace by Otopteryx volitans . As the scientific name suggests, the latter species developed the ears into wings. The genus Remanonasus is considered an endosymbiont , possibly also a parasite , but in the original it is described as a gutless representative of mesopsammon . There is a pronounced symbiosis between Columnifax lactans and Hopsorrhinus mercator . The largest land predator of the archipelago, also the largest rhinoceros, belongs to the genus Tyrannonasus and shows typical predatory teeth .

Stümpke describes Tyrannonasus as follows:

“Tyrannonasus imperator is particularly remarkable for two reasons: the animal, like all polyrrhine species, is not particularly quick to nose, but at least a quicker strider than the nasobemoids. Since all polyrrhine species, as a result of their intranasal pneumatic apparatus, emit a whistling hiss while walking, which can be heard from afar, Tyrannonasus imperator cannot sneak up on his victims, but must first lie in wait for them - since they are already fleeing from afar - and then follow suit. During this flight and pursuit process, which at first makes a comical impression on the observer because of the noisy effort and the modest speed, Tyrannonasus often has to pursue the intended victim for hours in order to catch up with him, since Nasobema also uses his lasso tail to escape by it puts it upright, curls around branches and lets itself be shuttled over ditches or small bodies of water. Even when the predator has moved up very close to the pursued animal, so that it can no longer escape it by normal flight to the nose, Nasobema often still uses this last resort with success by hanging its tail on a branch. Swings back and forth close to the ground in a circle or in wide pendulum swings until the predator finally becomes dizzy and vomits in his constant attempts to catch the prey. At this moment of the predator's disorientation, the nasobema often escapes. "

Systematics

In general, the rhinoceros are divided into the families Monorrhina (single noses) and Polyrrhina (many noses) according to Stümpke. Stümpke already described the following 26 genera:

  • Monorrhina:

Archirrhinos, Nasolimaceus, Rhinolimaceus, Emunctator, Dulcicauda, ​​Dulcidauca, Columnifax, Rhinotaenia, Rhinosiphonia, Rhinostentor, Rhinotalpa, Enterorrhinus, Holorrhinus, Remanonasus, Phyllohoppla, Hopsorrhinus, Orchopsisidiopsis, Otterorrhinus, Otopter .yopter .y

  • Polyrrhina:

Nasobema, Stella, Tyrannonasus, Eledonopsis, Hexanthus, Cephalanthus, Mammontops, Rhinochilopus.

Since Stümpke's groundbreaking work, three more new genera have been described by other authors: Larvanasus, Rhizoidonasus and Nudirhinus.

Research history (rhinograde dentiology)

Christian Morgenstern had already been inspired to write his poem Das Nasobēm - presumably by a drifted copy - but the animals living on the South Sea island Hi-Duddify (pronounced “Heidadaifi”) were not scientifically processed until 1941. Unfortunately, the entire Hi-Iay archipelago (pronounced “Heieiei”) including all rhinoceros went down in 1957 due to an atomic bomb explosion.

The classic and comprehensive scientific textbook of rhinogradentiology is Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia by Prof. Harald Stümpke from 1957, reprinted several times, most recently in 2001. The book is one of the few modern standard works in zoology that was first published in German before going on Were published in English .

Significance in an interdisciplinary context

Since the book was published, the rhinoceros have assumed the same function in zoology that Friedrich Gottlob Nagelmann has for lawyers . Historically, it has not been conclusively clarified whether Nagelmann dealt with the international legal aspects of the destruction of the rhinogradentia.

For the areas of music- aesthetic and music-sociological research, it is important that Rhinochilopus musicus is said to have resembled an organ due to its high number of noses and was trained to accompany festivals with music. One copy was reportedly even able to perform two organ fugues by the musician Johann Sebastian Bach .

Subsequent editions

Research in Central Europe

After the book was published, there were indications of the occurrence of rhinograde animals in Germany. In an April issue of the journal Seevögel , the Jordsand Association published a treatise on the observation of Columnifax lactans in the Heligoland rock floodplain . The discovery of a semi- aquatic species, Cordorrhinus hydrophilus, was reported from the Max Planck Institute for Limnology in Plön , whose occurrence on Lake Plön is explained by a quote from Theodor Fontane . In 2002, the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald devoted a special lecture to the subject of "Anatomy and Biology of Rhinogradentia" in its 5th Curriculum Anatomy and Pain .

Research worldwide

Modern rhinograde dentiology is not limited to Germany. In 1993 Harold B. White published studies on Molecular Evolution in the Spirit of Snouters . In 1999, a team of French speleologists discovered fossil rhinoceros in the karst . The group even managed to take a photo of Dolichonasus . A presence of Otopteryx volitans has been reported from Wisconsin in the United States .

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to the rules of classical Latin morphology, the order should actually be called "Rhinogradientia" (singular "Rhinogradiens").
  2. ↑ Monika Schmitz-Emans : Encyclopedic Fantasies . Knowledge-conveying forms of representation in literature - case studies and poetics (= Monika Schmitz-Emans [Hrsg.]: Literature - Knowledge - Poetics . Volume 8 ). Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2019, ISBN 978-3-487-15640-8 , pp. 575–576 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

literature

Web links

Commons : Rhinogradentia  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Rhinogradentia  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations