The sac nicte’ flower was respected by the Classic Maya for thousands of years. The wonderful aroma of these flowers late at night was very attractive, as were the bright colors of several color variants.
Our goal at FLAAR is to find, photograph, and document as many locations throughout the entire Republic of Guatemala where Plumera rubra is wild. These large shrubs or often small trees are native to Guatemala, Mexico and surrounding countries. Another species is in Belize and elsewhere. All wild Plumeria rubra are white with small middle area of yellow. Most that grow in gardens are red, maroon, pink, pure yellow or dark colors (these colors are never wild; only in gardens, but these colors were already in gardens of the Maya when the Spanish arrived).
Since we did field work in the swamps of the Caribbean area of Guatemala one-week-each-month two years ago, for this year’s Santa Claus sleigh we show NiCLAUS in his sleigh in a mangrove swamp pulled by three different species of crocodilians native to Guatemala (Crocodylus acutus is in the Caribbean brackish water areas; Crocodylus moreletii is in-land (in the areas of Peten where we are doing research for our five year 2021-2025 project. Caiman crocodilus is in the mangrove swamps of the Pacific Ocean coast. We thank Valeria Avilés for this nice drawing.
Klaus (or Claus for Santa Claus) is the nickname of Nikolaus, the German (originally Greek) spelling of Nicholas.
On Sept. 27, 2022 Nicholas Hellmuth, assisted by Belén Chacón Paz, will present full-color photographs of wetlands of Izabal, Guatemala and seasonally inundated areas of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM, Peten).
This will probably be one of the few presentations using aerial photos (with DJI Mavic 2 Pro) and macro photos by our team of photographers. Usually six to eight people are on each field trip. Since there is no funding for all 21,600 square kilometers of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM), we are focusing on Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (PNLT), Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo (PNYNN) and the La Gloria concession area of the Municipio de San Jose (west of Uaxactun). We have found awesome seasonally inundated grassland savannas, sawgrass cibales, and tasistal palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii) savannas. 90% of the areas that we hike to have never been studied by any professor or student. This project is in coordination and cooperation with CONAP, the forestry agency of Guatemala.
Tonight the presentation will mention the jaguar hide and feather headdress found in Tikal Burial 196, so includes ethnozoology (obviously the feathers were just dust imprint but segments of leather of the jaguar were still preserved, and the claws).
For botany mentions cacao or other beans found inside one of the ceramic vases. Plus the wood used to roof the tomb (yes, the ceiling was wooden poles rather than vault capstone). We show the entire sequence of construction of this 8th century royal tomb chamber.
The main part of the presentation will be the architecture of the Str. 5D-73 pyramid: identical in every aspect to the pyramid of Temple I except smaller (Hellmuth also excavated the northeast corner of Temple I the month before excavating the entire pyramid of Str. 5D-73).
Discussion of the offerings in the burial (more ceramics than any tomb of Tikal or Uaxactun) documents that some of the pots were decorated, literally, by children or if adults, individuals who were not artists whatsoever. We also show the same for offerings in the tomb under Temple I (excavated by Trik several years earlier). Just as the pyramids were identical, many offerings in Tikal Bu. 116 (Temple I) and Tikal Bu. 196 (Str. 5D-73) were identical.
So lots to see, lots to learn about Classic Maya civilization, Sept. 19, 8pm EST, which is 6 pm in Guatemala.
FLAAR Mesoamerica team, prepared a wide workshop about the Municipio de Livingston, which is a great place to immerse in a tropical paradise. The main goal is to introduce students, researchers, and travelers to the Flora, Fauna, and biodiversity of the Caribbean. We have made eight presentations that includes videos and a wide variety of photos to get to know Livingston, and its rich nature.
Here is the video of the first presentation that was held in June 8, 2022. It was presented by
Sergio Jerez and it was about "Herbs, Vines and Epiphytes.
You can find the Spanish version of each workshop on our YouTube channel.
Do you want to know more about the mammals and the five felines of Guatemala? These conferences are what you were looking for.
We are waiting for you on Wednesday, May 25th and Thursday, May 26th via Facebook Live or ZOOM at 6:00 pm (Guatemala Time). *CONFERENCE FOR ALL PUBLIC.
Presenters:
MSc. Pilar Negreros - Knowing the Mammals
Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth - The five felines of the Mayan Culture: Attributes and physical differences.
Moderators:
Vivian Hurtado
Victor Mendoza
Organized by: FLAAR Mesoamerica, MayanToons and FLAAR USA
Video of Nicholas Hellmuth discussing a previously never-before-studied biodiverse fragile ecosystem in a remote area deep in the rain forests of the Maya Lowlands of Guatemala.
Tasistal-Savanna #30 is a savanna of about half a million tasiste palm trees, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, in clusters forming a solid mass of palms the extent of several football fields. This is one of 35 savannas in the far southeast part of Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (Jaguar Lagoon National Park) of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM). The RBM is the entire northern half of the departamento de Peten, Guatemala. FLAAR has a project of coordination and cooperation with CONAP for the RBM area.
These seasonally inundated tasistal savannas are surrounded by seasonally inundated bajo forest swamps (that we hike through in the dry season to explore the savannas).
FLAAR aerial video allows you to see from the air a part of the Maya Lowlands of Peten literally never before seen on video: Tasistal-Savannas #22, open grassland Savanna #25 and surrounding bajo forests.
How in the world were each different kind of savannas used for thousands of years by the Classic Maya. First step is to find, then explore, then document these remarkable tasistal palm areas and also the open grassland savannas.
Whatever concept you have for “the Mayan areas” will be changed when you see kilometer after kilometer in good resolution from the FLAAR drone, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, with experienced drone pilot Haniel Lopez doing the video photography.
For a quick look at never-before-studied tasistal savanna of Parque Nacional Laguna de Tigre (PNLT) of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM), Peten, Guatemala, this video is a quick view from FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala).
When you see this video you too will ask “how did the Classic Maya utilize these biodiverse open grassland savanna habitats? Every month we dedicate a week to driving 1000 km round trip to a base camp in the rain forest, and from the base camp we hike for many kilometers to reach a savanna in the Maya Lowlands that has never ever previously been shown on video (for sure not with a licensed drone).
Our project of Aug-2018-July 2019 (for Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo) and now our 5-year research project 2021-2025 with CONAP are to find, photograph, research, document, and publish Neotropical flora, fauna and ecosystems of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM) of Peten, Guatemala. Lots of national parks and biotopos are within the 5-million acres of the RBM.
If you prefer FLAAR reports in pdf format on these savannas, here is the link.
