The race to describe the species

The bird seems all too real. In 1800, this crow was even described scientifically by Daudin, a French zoologist. He called it Corvus octopennatus, or, ‘eight-feathered crow’. Levaillant, another famous collector and ornithologist – the official word for bird scientist – also described the bird, and recorded it in the form of a beautiful drawing. Daudin, Levaillant and later also Temminck, the first director of Naturalis, who acquired the bird, – all of them respected ornithologists – had been successfully fooled. And yet, that wasn’t strange or unprofessional at all at the time.

At the start of the 19th century, scientists described new species all the time. Curiosity cabinets were filled with exotic animals collected on expeditions to faraway places. This was the ultimate way to imagine the world back then. Scientists couldn’t always collect animals in the wild by themselves, and often had to resort to buying them at auctions. And yes, sometimes, it turned out they were in for a rather unpleasant surprise. And that’s what happened here.

But, fake doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hold on to a bird like this one…