Ash-Tastic!

Hieroglyphic Flat (Odina hieroglyphica ortina), family Hesperiidae, Singapore

Southern Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta), family Ramphastidae, Colombia

Tit-like Dacnis (Xenodacnis parina), male, family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Peru

Abduction

Otsuki Fields in Kai Province from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) 

White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides), family Meropidae,

Audubon’s Oriole (Icterus graduacauda), male, family Icteridae, order Passeriformes, South TX, USA

Rabbit fish or “Sea Monster” (Chimaera monstrosa), as it was called in “The natural history of British fishes” (published in 1802).

This species has given name to this whole group of cartilaginous fishes, the chimaeras or ghost sharks. Chimaeras separated from the branch leading to sharks, rays and skates over 400 million years ago. It’s no wonder these enigmatic phantoms of the deep sea have names that evoke both mythological monsters as well as cuddly lagomorphs.