Evening or vesper bats, La Noctule and La Serotine. Engraving created in 1700s for French naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), from a drawing by French wildlife artist, Jacques Henri E. De Sève (). The engraving appeared in Buffon’s influential work on natural history, the 36-volume 'Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière …’, published between 1749 and 1788. This illustration, later coloured by hand, comes from the rare 1780 French edition of the ‘Histoire’.
Hand-coloured antique engraving from a drawing by the French wildlife artist and illustrator, Jacques Henri E. De Sève. It depicts two bats, a noctule and a serotine or brown bat, and was created for the influential 36-volume 'Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière …’, published by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, between 1749 and 1788. This page, later tinted skilfully by hand, comes from the rare 1780 French edition of the 'Histoire'. Bats are any member of the only group of mammals capable of flight. Noctules and serotines are vesper bats, also called evening bats, which all have small eyes and well-developed tails. Noctules, found in Asia and Europe, are any of about six species of vesper bats. Serotines, found in North America and Europe, are any of 23 species of vesper bats. Frequently the name 'serotine' is used for Old World members of the genus and 'brown bat' is used for New World members. Jacques Henri E. De Sève () is one of the most influential natural history artists of all time. He created hundreds of animal images, many of which now seem fantastical, but an interesting feature is his inclusion of wildlife habitats; he did not merely depict animals, but rather placed them in an appropriate environment. His work was widely copied in engravings by others for later editions of Buffon's books. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was a French naturalist remembered for his comprehensive work on natural history. He was appointed keeper of the Jardin du Roi (royal botanical garden) in Paris and charged with cataloguing the royal collections in natural history. He produced an account of the whole of nature, which became the 'Histoire’.
Size: 7801px × 10401px
Location: In natural habitat
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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