Instead, they sifted through 724 ancient poems. “We’re connecting 2,000 years of Chinese culture with biodiversity ... only freshwater porpoise. These animals were once found all along ...

making it a "preferred choice among ancient Chinese for enhancing their eyebrows". The researchers also found evidence that the mineral cinnabar was mixed with animal glue to make lipstick.

Mentions of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise in ancient Chinese poetry have revealed missing information about the habitat of the world’s only freshwater porpoise Almost 300 ...

After the animal was killed ... Priests also butchered cattle and sheep as part of ancient Chinese rituals of sacrifice to heaven. By the time of the Ming dynasty, the annual ritual sacrifice ...

They found 724 poems that mentioned the animal, of which half noted ... in particular. “Chinese poetry, this ancient art form, can be a serious scientific tool,” he says.

Ancient Chinese poetry is often nonfiction ... observer than a foreign explorer likely to misidentify similar-looking animals. That’s why the study authors researched each poet’s background ...

So Liu and colleagues searched databases of ancient Chinese poems for references to ... that mentioned the animal. The Yangtze finless porpoise and the baiji are highly deceitful, splashing ...

And while previous studies primarily focused on land-dwelling animals with high economic value ... poetry and painting — as alternative scientific data sources. “Chinese poetry, this ancient art form, ...