In Mexico, a country full of symbolism and magical realism, hummingbirds — long associated with good luck when they cross your path and flutter around you — are captured and then “prepared” to reach the heart of the loved one. The shocking practice has become popular in recent years. It consists of carrying the small bird, dead and dry, inside your shirt pocket. This, we are assured, will let us find a partner for life. But so far, the only objectively measurable thing it has achieved is to put 39 of the 57 species that inhabit Mexican territory at risk of extinction, according to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
51 points (93.2% liked)
Biodiversity
1332 readers
1 users here now
Welcome to c/Biodiversity @ Mander.xyz!
A community about the variety of life on Earth at all levels; including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi.
Notice Board
This is a work in progress, please don't mind the mess.
2023-06-16: We invite our users to contribute resources for the sidebar.
2023-06-15: Looking for mods!
About
Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.
Over generations, all of the species that are currently alive today have evolved unique traits that make them distinct from other species. These differences are what scientists use to tell one species from another. Organisms that have evolved to be so different from one another that they can no longer reproduce with each other are considered different species. All organisms that can reproduce with each other fall into one species. Read more...
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Be kind and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
Quick Links
Resources
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (UN)
- The Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Maps of the World's Biodiversity
- Ecosystems and Human Well-Being (free e-book)
- Falling Fruit: Map of the Urban Harvest
Bypass Paywalls
- On Ethics 1 2 3 4
- WaybackMachine (archive.org)
- Behind the Overlay Browser Extension
- ladder
- Anna's Archive
- Bypass Paywalls Browser Extension (see readme for Chrome & mobile options.)
Similar Communities
Sister Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
Plants & Gardening
Physical Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Memes
Find us on Reddit!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
So, if it works, you're now married for life but will have no good luck because you killed the hummingbird. That's a stupid choice.
Some powerful and influential witch needs to turn this around. They could denounce it as an error in reading the sacred texts, it's really mosquitoes that you have to kill and put their bodies in your pocket. That way you get love and fewer vector-borne diseases
Haha yeah I used to be always told that when I was a kid.
People believe in my country that if you
grind up the dessicated body of a hummingbird and the girl pees on it, she'll fall in love with you.
Jesus Christ. You gotta wonder how that started
Same as all the crap that gets sold today. Some scammer, recognizing the inherent gullibility or natural cognitive biases of people invents a product or service or story, claims expertise and success, and gains some combination of wealth, power, and fame.
For example Gwyneth Paltrow makes bank by selling all kinds of crap on her Goop website.
Humans are easy to fool because our brains don't work the way we think they do and other humans exploit that for their own gain. Some, like Penn and Teller, do it honestly for entertainment, others, like Sylvia Browne, do it dishonestly by claiming powers they don't have.
Severe mental illness