Saulė Paltanavičūtė: “In the summer, I like to press spikes and scare people” | Culture

Biologist S. Paltanavičiūtė collected her knowledge regarding exceptional mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects, plants and mushrooms in her third book “Lithuanian nature record holders”. The book, illustrated with the author’s photos, was recently published by the publishing house “Alma littera”.

To make it more interesting for children and their parents to read, Saulė highlighted the incredible characteristics and abilities of living nature – who are the biggest in Lithuanian nature, who are the smartest, who plays the most beautiful music, and who is lazy to do anything at all, who can be friends with, and what is better take care

Publisher’s photo/”Recorders of Lithuanian nature”

The heroes of the book are real nature record holders. “Sometimes we know more regarding the nature of the world than regarding those growing and living right here in our backyard. Here, more than 400 species of birds have been found in Lithuania, and as many as 18,000 species of insects. Lithuanian nature is full of secrets, and plants and animals have special abilities,” says S. Paltanavičiūtė, a third-generation biologist.

Having graduated from Vilnius University with a degree in biology, studied in Sweden, organized educational campaigns and protected sea turtles in Greece, Saulė has been living in Mexico since 2018, works as a science teacher at an international high school, volunteers at a non-formal environmental education center for children, travels and photographs nature. The book “Recorders of Lithuanian nature” also contains many photos taken by her.

“Quite often, I am asked to check translations of nature books, to assess whether terms and species names are spelled correctly. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by how many encyclopedic children’s books regarding the nature of the world are published. I thought that it would be interesting to have more similar books regarding the nature of Lithuania – although our country is not big, it is full of natural attractions”, – the author of the books is convinced.

Saulė says that the reason to write such a book was the surprise of Lithuanian friends that turtles also live in our country. “I wanted to write a fun book where children would discover incredible facts regarding what surrounds us in Lithuanian nature,” she says.

The biologist, who has been writing articles and books for children regarding nature, travel and science for many years, wanted to include as many interesting things as possible in the book. She did not limit herself to mammals, she described not only animals of different groups, but also plants and fungi. The author of the book grouped the organisms into themes that reflect the diversity of Lithuania’s nature.

Saul herself was interested in learning more regarding the spider, an aquatic silverfish that spends its life underwater. It carries air bubbles to its underwater hideout, where it reproduces, hunts, and receives spiderlings as they hatch.

“When I saw a bat up close for the first time when I was little, it made a huge impression on me,” she says. – Wonderful and misunderstood animals. Little owls are very funny – for example, the sparrow owl, the tawny owl, which are unfortunately rare and listed in the Red Book. I’ve been watching frogs since I was a kid, although they’re on the decline now. Seals are very characteristic, it is definitely worth visiting their rehabilitation center at the Maritime Museum.

In the summer, I always like to press spikes and scare people when they suddenly shoot their seeds. Sunflowers are unique in their ability to catch insects. The Lithuanian nightingale even has the name of Lithuania in its Latin name. Tulips are not only beautiful, but also have an interesting history (tulip obsession) and the hills are poisonous. Every organism has something unique.”

Saulė learned many interesting things regarding nature as a child, delving into the secrets of nature and later, while studying biology and working. “I’ve always liked and really like spending time in nature,” he says, adding that Mexico’s natural diversity is surprising: from deserts to snow-capped mountains, from jungles to lakes.

The place where Saulė lives is very different from Lithuania. Cacti grow here – prickly pears, probably all the bushes are thorny. This is how they are adapted to store water in themselves, but hummingbirds fly around.

Lithuania is perhaps a bit reminiscent of the view you can see by the river, where it is more humid and huge trees – taxods – grow.

She spends a lot of time in Lithuania – she returns home several times a year, she says, she is never far from her hometown, and distance means little these days.