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Rhinogradentia

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"Snouter" redirects here. For the dog breed, seeSchnauzer.

A mocktaxidermyof a rhinograde, using its "nasorium" tofish,at theMusée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg.

Rhinogradentiais a fictitiousorderofextinctshrew-likemammalsinvented by GermanzoologistGerolf Steiner.Members of the order, known asrhinogradesorsnouters,are characterized by anose-likefeature called a "nasorium", which evolved to fulfill a wide variety of functions in different species. Steiner also created a fictional persona,naturalistHarald Stümpke, who is credited as author of the 1961 bookBau und Leben der Rhinogradentia(translated into English in 1967 asThe Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades). According to Steiner, it is the only remaining record of the animals, which were wiped out, along with all the world's Rhinogradentia researchers, when the small Pacificarchipelagothey inhabited sank into the ocean due to nearby atomic bomb testing.

Successfully mimicking a genuine scientific work, Rhinogradentia has appeared in several publications without any note of its fictitious nature, sometimes in connection withApril Fools' Day.

Background[edit]

Rhinogradentia, their island home of Hy-yi-yi, zoologist Harald Stümpke, and a host of other people, places, and documents are fictional creations ofGerolf Steiner(1908–2009), a German zoologist. Steiner is best known for his fictional work as Stümpke, but he was an accomplished zoologist in his own right. He held a professorship at theUniversity of Heidelbergand later theTechnical University of Karlsruhe,where he occupied the department chair from 1962 to 1973.[1]

Steiner was also interested in illustration, and in 1945 drew a picture for one of his students as thanks for some food. He took inspiration from a shortnonsensepoem byChristian Morgenstern,The Nasobame(Das Nasobēm) about an animal that walked using its nose. He took to the drawing, made a copy for himself, and later incorporated the creatures into his teaching.[2]According toBud Webster,Steiner's motivation for writing a book about them was instructional, to illustrate "how animals evolve in isolation", but Joe Cain speculates that the success of the joke may have led to a teaching and writing career based on that rather than the other way around.[3][2]

Harald Stümpke's account[edit]

Steiner's fictional author, credited as "quondam curator of the Museum of the Darwin Institute of Hy-yi-yi, Mairuwili", provides a very detailed account of the order and individual species, written in a dry, scholarly tone.[4]Michael Ohlwrote that the book is written "in truly amusing attention to detail and using what is immediately recognizable as a practiced scientific patois".[5]The evidently expert voice of the author, his competent writing, and apparent familiarity with conventions of academic literature set the work apart as a rare example at the intersection of fiction and scholarship.[6]Steiner credits himself by name as illustrator of the book, and explains how that role led him to possess the only remaining record of Rhinogradentia.[7]

Discovery and study at Hy-yi-yi[edit]

According to Stümpke, Rhinogradentia were native to Hy-yi-yi, a smallPacificarchipelagocomprising eighteen islands: Annoorussawubbissy, Awkoavussa, Hiddudify, Koavussa, Lowlukha, Lownunnoia, Mara, Miroovilly, Mittuddinna, Naty, Nawissy, Noorubbissy, Osovitissy, Ownavussa, Owsuddowsa, Shanelukha, Towteng-Awko, and Vinsy. The islands occupied 1,690 km2(650 sq mi) and the archipelago's highest peak, 2,230 m (7,320 ft), was on its main island, Hiddudify (Hy-dud-dye-fee).[7]

The first description of Hy-yi-yi published in Europe was that of Einar Pettersson-Skämtkvist, a Swedish explorer who arrived in Hiddudify by chance in 1941, after escaping from a Japaneseprisoner-of-war camp.[7][6][8]Each of the islands was home to distinctive fauna, dominated by Rhinogradentia, the only mammals other than humans and one species of shrew. In the time after the war, a number of scientists took interest in the rhinogrades and began formal research into their physiology, morphology, behaviors, and evolution.[8]

In the late 1950s, nearbynuclear weapons testingby theUnited States militaryaccidentally caused all of the islands of Hy-yi-yi to sink into the ocean, destroying all traces of the rhinogrades and their uniqueecosystem.Also killed were all the world's Rhinogradentia researchers, who were attending a conference on Hy-yi-yi at the time.[7][6]The book's epilogue, credited to Steiner in his capacity as the book's illustrator, explains that Stümpke had sent the book's materials to Steiner to serve as the basis for illustrations in preparation for publication. Following the disaster, it is the only remaining record of the subjects it describes.[4]

Biological characteristics and behavior[edit]

Hopsorrhinus aureusatMuseum Wiesbaden

Rhinogrades aremammalscharacterized by a nose-like feature called a "nasorium", the form and function of which vary significantly between species.[4][7]According to Stümpke, the order's remarkable variety was the natural outcome ofevolutionacting over millions of years in the remote Hy-yi-yi islands. All the 14familiesand 189 known snouterspeciesdescended from a smallshrew-like animal, which gradually evolved and diversified to fill most of theecologicalniches in the archipelago — from tiny worm-like beings to large herbivores and predators.[4]

Many rhinogrades used their nose for locomotion, for example the "snout leapers" likeHopsorrhinus aureus,whose nasorium was used for jumping, or the "earwings" likeOtopteryx,which flew backwards by flapping its ears and used its nose as arudder.[2]Some species used their nasorium for catching food, for example by using it tofishor to attract and trap insects.[9]Other species included the fierceTyrannonasus imperatorand the shaggyMammontops.[10][11][12][13]

Pettersson-Skämtkvist's early descriptions of the animals he encountered on Hy-yi-yi led zoologists to name them after the title creature in Christian Morgenstern'sThe Nasobame.[5]In the poem, which exists outside of this fictional universe and also served as an inspiration for Steiner, the Nasobame is seen "striding on its noses" (auf seinen Nasen schreitet).[9][14]

Genera[edit]

Stümpke's book classifies 138 species of rhinograde in the following fictitiousgenera:[7][15]

  • Archirrhinos
  • Cephalanthus
  • Columnifax
  • Corbulonasus
  • Dulcicauda
  • Eledonopsis
  • Emunctator
  • Enterorrhinus
  • Hexanthus
  • Holorrhinus
  • Hopsorrhinus
  • Larvanasus
  • Liliopsis
  • Mammontops
  • Mercatorrhinus
  • Nasobema
  • Nudirhinus
  • Orchidiopsis
  • Otopteryx
  • Phyllohopla
  • Ranunculonasus
  • Remanonasus
  • Rhinochilopus
  • Rhinolimacius
  • Rhinosiphonia
  • Rhinostentor
  • Rhinotaenia
  • Rhinotalpa
  • Rhizoidonasus
  • Stella
  • Tyrannonasus

The names generally refer to particular forms or functions of the nasorium of animals in that genus, typically providing vernacular names for clarity.[5]

Publication history[edit]

Steiner's books as Stümpke have been translated into other languages, sometimes crediting other names based on the country of publication. "Harald Stümpke", "Massimo Pandolfi", "Hararuto Shutyunpuke", and "Karl D. S. Geeste" are pseudonyms. Translator names are real.

  • Stümpke, Harald (1957).Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia.Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.ISBN3-437-30083-0.OCLC65616734.
    • Stümpke, Harald (1962).Anatomie et Biologie des Rhinogrades — Un Nouvel Ordre de Mammifères(Trans. Robert Weill). Paris: Masson.ISBN978-2-10-005449-7.OCLC46829688.
    • Stümpke, Harald (1967).The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades(Trans. Leigh Chadwick). Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press.OCLC436148.
    • Pandolfi, Massimo (1992).I Rinogradi di Harald Stümpke e la zoologia fantastica(Trans. Achaz von Hardenberg). Padua: Franco Muzzio.ISBN88-7021-485-0.OCLC875787215.
    • Shutyunpuke, Hararuto (1997).Bikōri: atarashiku-hakken-sareta-honyūrui-no-kōzō-to-seikatsu.Tokyo: Hakuhinsha.ISBN4-938706-19-9.OCLC76500640.
  • Geeste, Karl D. S. (1988).Stümpke's Rhinogradentia: Versuch einer Analyse.Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.ISBN3-437-30597-2.OCLC28345723.

Legacy[edit]

Nasoperforator,a genus "discovered" onApril Fools' Dayin 2012 by theNational Museum of Natural Historyin France.

Rhinogradentia is considered one of the best known biologicalhoaxesandscientific jokesand Steiner's pseudonymous works on the subject continue to be reprinted and translated.[16][17][18][2]The first edition did not explicitly state that it was a hoax.

Following the publication of the French translation,George Gaylord Simpsonwrote a seemingly serious review which extended the hoax in a 1963 issue of the journalScience,taking issue with the way Stümpke named the animals as "criminal violations of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature". Simpson also noted that Stümpke neglected to include an unrelated mathematical concept, a "rotated matrix".[5]

Since the book's original publication several scientists and publishers have written about Rhinogradentia as though Steiner's account were true, though it is unclear how many of those who continued and popularized the joke did so intentionally.Wulf Anklewrote that the order "is not a poetic invention, but has really lived".[9]Rolf Siewing'sZoology Primerlists them as an order of mammal, noting that their existence is doubted.[5]Erich von Holstcelebrated the discovery of "a completely new animal world".[9]Timothy E. Lawlor's widely read textbookHandbook to the Orders and Families of Living Mammalsincludes an entry for Rhinogradentia that does not acknowledge its fictional nature.[16][19][20]The East GermanLiberal Democratic Newspapertook note of the nuclear demise of the rhinogrades, writing that they would still be alive "had we, the peaceable powers, managed in time to implement widespread disarmament and prohibit the production and testing of nuclear weapons."[5]

Hyorhinomys stuempkei,a real species of shrew rat named for Stümpke

Prior to the publication of Leigh Chadwick's English translation, an abbreviated version ran in the April 1967 edition ofNatural History,a magazine published by theAmerican Museum of Natural History.It comprised material from the book's introduction, first chapter, selected descriptions of genera, and the epilogue, and was presented as the lead story, without qualification, by the normally serious publication.[13][21]The following month,The New York Timesran a story about the snouters on the front page, based on theNatural Historyarticle. According to the magazine's editorial director, they had "received more than 100 letters and telegraphs about the snouters, most of them from people who forgot that the article was published on April Fool's Day."[13]Natural Historyprinted several letters to the editor in its June–July issue, and conveyed to theTimesthe content of several more, ranging from skeptical to fascinated and continuations of the joke.[13][21]One reader, entomologistAlice Gray,expressed thanks for the article, which enabled her family to identify an animal-shaped metal bracelet from the South Pacific as having been modeled after a "Hoop Snouter", and included a drawing to preserve the record because, she said, it had been melted down with some toy soldiers and a spoon by a young cousin with a new casting set.[13][21]

Decades later, papers are still published purporting to continue Stümpke's research or otherwise paying homage to Steiner's hoax. In a 2004 paper in theRussian Journal of Marine Biology,authors Kashkina & Bukashkina claim to have discovered two new marine genera:Dendronasusand an as yet unnamed parasitic taxon.[22][23]TheMax Planck Institute for Limnologyannounced a new species discovered inGroßer Plöner See.[5]OnApril Fools' Dayin 2012, theNational Museum of Natural Historyin France announced the discovery of a wood-eatingtermite-like genus,Nasoperferator,with a rotating nose resembling adrill.[24][25]

Rhinogradentia has been included in a number of museum exhibitions and collections. The National Museum of Natural History'sNasoperferatorannouncement was accompanied by a two-month exhibit honoring the animals, featuring purported stuffed specimens in its gallery of extinct species.[26]Mocktaxidermiesof rhinogrades have also been included in an exhibit at theMusée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel,[27]and in the permanent collections of theMusée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourgand theSalzburgHaus der Natur.[28][29][2]

Three real species have been named after Steiner and Stümpke:Rhinogradentia steineri,asnout moth,[30]Hyorhinomys stuempkei,a shrew rat also known as the Sulawesi snouter,[31][32]andTateomys rhinogradoides,the Tate's shrew rat.[33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Development of Biology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (University of Karlsruhe)".Karlsruher Institut für Technologie. 10 July 2015.
  2. ^abcdeImbler, Sabrina (3 September 2019)."Zoology's Favorite Hoax Was an Island Rat That Hopped on Its Nose".Atlas Obscura.Retrieved5 July2020.
  3. ^Webster, Bud (June 2003)."Curiosities: The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades by Dr. Harald Stümpke (1967)".Fantasy & Science Fiction.
  4. ^abcdStümpke, Harald (1981).The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades.Translated by Leigh Chadwick. Chicago, Illinois:University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-77895-2.
  5. ^abcdefgOhl, Michael (2018).The Art of Naming.Translated by Elisabeth Lauffer. Cambridge, Massachusetts:MIT Press.ISBN9780262037761.
  6. ^abcGemidopoulos, Nikos (17 March 2016)."La Asombrosa Historia de los Rhinogrades".Escapando de la Caverna(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon 11 September 2016.Retrieved28 August2016.
  7. ^abcdefStümpke, Harald (1961) [First published 1957].Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia.Stuttgart: Fischer Verlag.ISBN3-437-30083-0.
  8. ^abGendron, Robert P. (31 October 2010)."Caminalcules, Snouters and Other Unusual Creatures".Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Archived fromthe originalon 2 August 2012.
  9. ^abcd"Nasobem - Schneuzender Schniefling - Forschung".Der Spiegel.24 January 1962.
  10. ^Naish, Darren(2007-04-01)."At last, the rhinogradentians (part I) – Tetrapod Zoology".ScienceBlogs.Retrieved2014-07-12.
  11. ^Naish, Darren(2007-04-01)."When snouters attack (or... rhinogradentians part II) – Tetrapod Zoology".ScienceBlogs.Retrieved2014-07-12.
  12. ^Gehring, Walter J. (January 1998).Master Control Genes in Development and Evolution: The Homeobox Story.New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.pp. 30–32.ISBN0300074093.
  13. ^abcdeLyons, Richard D. (17 May 1967). "The Origin of a Fabulous Species: The Origin of a Most Fabulous Species, the Snouter".The New York Times.pp. 1, 28.
  14. ^Morgenstern, Christian (1905). "Das Nasobēm".Galgenlieder.Berlin: Bruno Cassirer Verlag.
  15. ^Pereda Superbiola, Xabier; Bardet, Nathalie (Fall 1998)."El arca de Noé de los seres extraordinarios".El Esceptico(in Spanish).
  16. ^abLewin, Ralph A. (April 1983). "Humor in the Scientific Literature".BioScience.33(4): 266–268.doi:10.2307/1309040.JSTOR1309040.
  17. ^Cain, Joe.""You must be joking!" Pranks, Jokes, and other Silliness in Science ".University College London. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-08-31.
  18. ^Sabater, Valeria (7 November 2015)."La asombrosa historia de los Rhinogrades".Supercurioso(in Spanish).Retrieved30 August2016.
  19. ^Lawlor, Timothy E. (1979).Handbook to the Orders and Families of Living Mammals.Eureka, CA: Mad River Press.ISBN9780916422165.
  20. ^Simons, Paul (December 22–29, 1983). "Science Jokers".New Scientist:949.
  21. ^abcStümpke, Harald (April 1967)."The Snouters".Natural History.76(4): 8–14.hdl:2246/6474.
  22. ^Kashkina, M. I. (2004). "Dendronasussp. -- a New Member of the Order Nose-Walkers (Rhinogradentia) ".Russian Journal of Marine Biology.30(2): 148–150.doi:10.1023/b:rumb.0000025994.99593.a7.S2CID42790315.
  23. ^Bukashkina, V. V.New Parasitic Species of Colonial Rhinogradentia.Vol. 30. p. 150.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  24. ^Dumas, Cecile (1 April 2012)."Nasoperforator, le mammifère" termite "".Sciences et Avenir(in French).
  25. ^Ferard, Emiline (4 April 2012)."Le nasoperforator: un mammifère unique mangeur de bois".Gentside Découverte(in French).
  26. ^Chevalier, Mathilde (12 April 2012)."Les rhinogrades à l'honneur au Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle".Linternaute(in French).
  27. ^"Des animaux et des hommes".Musée de Neuchâtel(in French). Archived fromthe originalon 18 February 2003.
  28. ^"Le Reniflard chuintant".Musée Zoologique de Strasbourg.University of Strasbourg. Archived fromthe originalon 12 February 2007.
  29. ^Hutchinson, John R. (3 September 2012)."Mix and Match Anatomy: Chimeras, Jenny Hanivers and More".What's in John's Freezer.
  30. ^"Rhinogradentia steineri".Encyclopedia of Life.
  31. ^"Hyorhinomys stuempkei: New Genus, Species of Shrew Rat Discovered in Indonesia".Sci News.6 October 2015.
  32. ^Esselstyn, Jacob A.; Achmadi, Anang Setiawan; Handika, Heru; Rowe, Kevin (September 2015)."A hog-nosed shrew rat (Rodentia: Muridae) from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia".Journal of Mammalogy.96(5): 895–907.doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyv039.
  33. ^"Tateomys".Animalia — Etymology of animal names.29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016.Retrieved17 March2018.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

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