* "Paradisaea apoda"---The Legless * Beagle Meet Leaf Deer * If Pygmy Elephants Climbed Trees * Home *

Collectors in the late 19th century sent skins of the Greater Bird of Paradise to Europe and the prepared them in the fields of Aru Island without wings or feet. The species was named Paradisaea apoda, or "legless bird of paradise", because people believed they were missing those key body parts. The birds were thought to be rather mythical creatures, floating in the atmosphere by their plumage, females laying eggs on the males back, and only touching earth to die. color-reduction woodcut image size 24” x 24.5” $750 unframed «click here to buy this legless and wingless woodcut»