Engraving from the 1719 edition of Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname), first published in 1705. Merian had travelled to Dutch Surinam in 1699 to study and record the tropical insects, a trip she self-funded, an unsual practice at the time, especially for a woman. While there she collected many reptiles too and was planning to publish a volume on Surinamese reptiles but the project was never realised. Posthumous editions of the Metamorphosis, however, included a version of this image. (Image source: The Getty)