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ERNST HAECKEL: ART FORMS IN NATURE
ACANTHOPHRACTA: Wunderstrahlinge (Protozoa: Radiolaria)
More than 4000 species of Radiolaria were collected on the Challenger Expedition. These specimens were sent to Haeckel who spent the next ten years compiling his comprehensive illustrated reports. In the process, he identified more than 3000 species never described before, including the specimens shown in this plate. Radiolaria are minute creatures, 1/1000 of an inch in diameter. Haeckel produced thousands of drawings of these infinitesimal animals, looking through his microscope with one eye, pen in his hand. The radial geometry of these creatures, with their perforated shells and emerging pseudopods, gives them a modern Star Wars quality
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Curated by Ann Weissmann, Exhibitions Curator MBLWHOI Library
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