Renaissance painting captured bat eating a bird 400 years before scientists documented the behavior
By
Bethany Brookshire
Summary
A Renaissance painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder from 1611 depicts a greater noctule bat snatching a bird mid-air, a behavior that scientists only documented and confirmed in the wild in recent years. The article explores how the artist's keen observation of nature captured a predatory behavior that predated scientific documentation by over 400 years, highlighting the intersection of art and natural history.
Source
Key quotes
· 3 pulledLast fall, scientists documented the greater noctule bat snatching songbirds out of the air for a snack.
But while this was a finding relatively new to science, a Renaissance artist knew enough to include the behavior in one of his paintings.
Air, a 1611 allegorical painting by the Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Elder, depicts...
You might also wanna read

Jan Brueghel the Elder's Scientific Accuracy Revealed Through Bat Depiction in 17th-Century Painting
This article explores how 17th-century Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Elder meticulously depicted animals in his works, including a surpri

Cómo una pintura del siglo XVII pudo adelantarse 4 siglos a un descubrimiento sobre comportamiento animal
Brown rats documented hunting bats mid-flight in German caves for the first time
Researchers in northern Germany have documented brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) actively hunting and catching bats mid-flight — the first kno
Brown Rats Observed Hunting and Eating Bats in Northern Germany Using Two Different Strategies
Researchers in northern Germany have documented brown rats using two distinct hunting strategies to catch and eat bats at urban hibernation
Yale Biologists Document Geese Eating Tools in Groundbreaking Discovery
Biologists from Yale University observed Canada geese eating tools, a behavior previously undocumented in birds. The discovery, described as

Study finds bird masturbation is natural behavior, not caused by captivity stress
A study on masturbation among birds, particularly parrots, finds that the behavior is natural and more common in the wild than in captivity.

Comments
Sign in to join the conversation.
No comments yet. Be the first.