Illustrating tropical forest cryptic organisms

For a long time naturalists have described species using a detailed written descriptions and illustrations to fully present their observations. Before the availability of photographic technologies, naturalist depend on detailed drawings to described microscopic organisms that otherwise will have been impossible to illustrate. In the current modern world high quality photography of organism macroscopic and microscopic features have added a new way for scientific illustrations. Despite of modern photographic devices available, natural history artworks are far from disappearing due to the beauty they enclosed in the details.

An example of beautiful scientific artwork are in the work of the German Biologist, naturalist, philosopher and physician, Ernst Heinrich Haeckel. He illustrated how various microscopic organisms’ forms appear through brilliant colorful and detailed drawings and watercolors. These cryptic organisms would not have been regarded if it was not for Haeckel illustrations. His work not only contributed to the description of many unknown species at the time, but also by capturing science in fantastic artwork outreach the world about these microscopic organisms.

In humid tropical forest nearly, all surface get cover by cryptic organisms such as mosses (Bryophytes). Some bryophytes tend to colonize leaf surface in tropical forest where high number of species co-exist. Most of these species tend to have a small size ranging from 0.1-2.0 mm, that might go unnoticed even for well-trained botanist. They represent less conspicuous organisms but albeit equally important component of tropical forest. In the context of describing the cryptic diversity of epiphyllic organisms in tropical forest I made line drawings, acrilyc and oil paintings of several liverwort species that are presented below.