The ABC of the Animals, Plants and Nature (APN) Galleries





Presented as part of the Animals, Plants and Nature Week on deviantART, I hope you enjoy the article and the beautiful images

A is for AARDVARK



The Aardvark, sometimes called the "antbear" is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. If you were to submit a photograph of one it should be submitted to the APN > Wild Animals category.


B is for BUMBLEBEE



The Bumblebee is one of our most precious insects for pollination of plants and crops. Did you know that the buzzing sound that the bumblebee makes is produced by the wing muscles and the bumblebee uses these muscles to warm its body up before flight?


C is for CAT



The Cat became domesticated 10,000 years ago but it only became a domesticated animal on deviantART in 2008.


D is for DRAGONFLY



The Dragonfly can be confused with the Damselfly but at rest the Dragonfly wings are normally held open whilst a Damselfly closes its wings above the body. Both are classed as insects and photographs should be submitted to APN > Insects and Arachnids.


E is for ENDANGERED SPECIES



Wildlife conservation and nature conservation begins with each of us - and each of us can make a difference. World Wildlife Organisation and The IUCN Red List are useful reference links


F is for FLOWERS and PLANTS



They are found everywhere bringing with them beauty and colour to brighten up our lives and they have this clever trick of producing oxygen, just as well really . Cut flowers don't produce oxygen and should be submitted to Photography > Still life > Cut Flowers. Trees, on the other hand, are just big plants that live and thrive in APN > Flowers and Plants.


G is for GEOLOGY



Geology is the science and study of the solid matter that constitutes the Earth. Encompassing such things as rocks, soil, and gemstones, Geology studies the composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape Earth's components. It should not to be confused with Landscapes that live in APN > Landscapes or ' pretty ' piles of stones that live in Photography > Miscellaneous.


H is for HORSE



The horse is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the family Equidae. Bet you didn't know that . Sadly there are very few truly wild horses left in the world, and they live in Mongolia, so horse photographs should be submitted to APN > Domesticated Animals unless, of course you live in Mongolia and photograph horses.


I is for INVERTEBRATES



97% of the known animal species are invertebrates and they are spineless (insert groan here). The remaining 3% include fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals which have their own categories. Spineless animal photographs would be submitted to APN > Insects and Arachnids, this does not include naked hedgehogs.


J is for JELLYFISH



Another spineless animal, technically an invertebrate, but much more at home in APN > Aquatic Life. Stunning to look at, they have a bizarre digestive and reproductive system, well worth a look on Google to read just how bizarre. One jellyfish, the Turritopsis nutricula is even considered to be immortal.


K is for KESTREL



A beautiful bird of prey that is commonly seen in the UK hunting along side roads and motorways. In ye olden times it was called the "Windhover" and inspired the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to write "The Windhover". Another K is the kingfisher, one of my personal favorites.


L is for LANDSCAPES



Landscapes are typically wide angle photographs of vast tracts of land. This doesn't mean that you can't include water or sky in them but the prominent feature should be the land. Sometimes it is difficult to say this is a Landscape, or this is a Waterscape but the photographer should know why they took the image and submit the deviation to the appropriate category. For instance the thumbnail illustrating the letter L could of been uploaded to APN > Landscape or APN > Weather, because of the lightning and rainbow. All of these category choices would been absolutely fine. Uploading the photograph into APN > Geology because there are mountain ranges visible would be incorrect.


M is for MANIPULATION

Oops. Photo manipulations and photographs with text/graphics crudely added in MSPaint do not belong anywhere in Photographs > Animals, Plants and Nature. Only photographs processed with the basic photoshop techniques of white balance, levels, curves, saturation and sharpening should be uploaded to any of the Photography categories. The only real exceptions to this are High Dynamic Range (HDR) or Infra Red (IR) photographs which are accepted in the APN categories.


N is for NIGHT TIME



The Astro Photography category is now merged with the Sky category. This photograph could of been uploaded to APN > Weather if the deviant had chosen to do so. It is important to understand that fireworks are not a natural event and should not be submitted to the APN > Sky category as they belong in Photography > Miscellaneous.


O is for OSTRICH



The Ostrich is a large flightless bird native to Africa (and formerly the Middle East). It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at speeds of about 65 km/h (40 mph), the top land speed of any bird, it is typically found with its head in the sand OR in APN > Birds . The Ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest egg of any bird and it takes about 40 minutes to hard boil one .... the egg NOT the Ostrich.


P is for PENGUIN



Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. They are a sod to classify on deviantART but it is recommended that they are submitted to APN > Birds although APN > Aquatic would also be reasonable if they were in the water. They should not be submitted to APN > Wild Animals.


Q is for QUETZAL



Quetzals are strikingly colored rare birds found in tropical regions of the Americas. The word "quetzal" was originally used for just the Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, the famous long-tailed quetzal of Central America, which is the national bird of Guatemala. The Quetzal is thought to be the only bird that takes off backwards from a perch to avoid damaging its long tail feathers.


R is for RAVEN



Ravens have high intelligence and are perhaps the smartest of all birds. Their intelligence might be on par with canids such as wolves. I was 'adopted' by one for a few weeks, when I was much younger and he/she use to sit on the handlebars of my push bike when I was riding around. An obsolete collective noun for a group of ravens (or at least the Common Raven) is an "unkindness" and it would be an unkindness to put them anywhere but the APN > Birds category.


S is for SKY



The sky is where mother nature really shows us how to create art. This is another category which could be used for photographs of the weather but the predominant feature of the photograph should be the sky.


T is for TORTOISE



The tortoise is the perfect subject to practice your panning technique on The biggest difference between tortoises and turtles is that the tortoise is unable to swim; indeed, they cannot float, whereas turtles can. I would not recommend throwing one into water to see if it is a turtle or a tortoise, but I would suggest putting either of them into APN > Reptiles & Amphibians.


U is for UNDERWATER



This category is now called Aquatic life and focuses on all aspects of life in the water. Photographs of divers and swimmers would not normally be accepted in APN > Aquatic life. The thumbnail, in this instance, shows when it would be acceptable as the diver forms a small part of the overall photograph.


V is for VENOMOUS SNAKE



There are three types of venomous snakes: Opisthoglyphs, Proteroglyphs and Solenoglyph. They are categorized by how their fangs function, either rear, fixed or moveable front fangs. Here, on deviantArt it is simpler, they should be submitted to APN > Reptiles & Amphibians.


W is for WEATHER



Some photographs of weather can just as easily be submitted to APN > Landscapes or APN > Sky and it is for you, the deviant, to decide why you took the photograph and therefore where it should be submitted. Lightning and Rainbows are also features of weather and should typically be submitted to APN > Weather.


XOF rof si F



A Xof is just a foX looking in a mirror (insert another groan here). I could of said Xenops which is the genus name and common name for a group of nuthatch-type birds native to Central and South America but I couldn't find a thumbnail of a Xenops and I like foxes


Y is for YAK



The wild yak was domesticated about 2,000 years ago. Unfortunately, the number of wild yak is decreasing very quickly, due to uncontrolled hunting, and by their pastures being taken over by domesticated yak. There are probably only a few hundred wild yak left, and they have been categorized by the IUCN as endangered. Wild yak are now officially protected in China. Their dried dung is used as heating fuel, which is very important in the treeless regions where they live.


Z is for ZORILLA

The African polecat will spray an aggressor with a foul-smelling fluid from its anal glands but I would still put photographs of it into APN > Wild Animals, however, I probably wouldn't use a macro lens to photograph it.


I've learnt a lot preparing this article and hopefully it wasn't too much of a bore to read as I did try my best to be just a bit amusing and even educational in places


This News article forms part of the Animals, Plants and Nature Week on deviantART

Please refer to the main APN Week Diary which will be updated all week to keep up with any changes.


best regards
^KevLewis
Gallery Director for
Animals, Plants and Nature