When it comes to biology research, you generally expect labs and field studies, dissections and microscopes.

You wouldn’t usually expect biologists to turn to ancient literature, much less poetry, for their answers.

However, in order to truly understand the beloved Yangtze finless porpoise – endemic to the Yangtze River in China – researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have turned to their culture’s literature.

Their study, which has recently been published in the journal Current Biology tells the tale of this special porpoise through evidence gathered from one of the most classical methods of representation.

The Yangtze finless porpoise is a majestic creature, but it is also critically endangered, with their range declining significantly over time.

The team hoped that their journey through literature, which amounted to 724 poems from the year 618 onwards, would help to piece together an understanding of what exactly had happened to the porpoises, who now number less than 1,250 individuals. But the process was not without its complications, as researcher Zhigang Mei explained in a statement:

“One of the biggest challenges in this research was just the sheer number of Chinese poems out there, and the fact that every poet had such a different style. We had to figure out how accurate the poets were being. Some might have been really focused on realism, describing what they saw as objectively as possible. Others might have been more imaginative, exaggerating the size or behavior of things they saw. So, once we found these poems, we had to research each poet’s life and writing style to make sure the information we were getting was reliable.”

However, the number of references to the porpoises surprised the researchers, particularly in terms of how symbolic the references seemed to be.

In fact, the way in which these creatures seem to have mesmerised people throughout history, leading poets to convey them as an intrinsic part of Chinese culture, shows just how important these creatures really are.

It also demonstrates the importance of their conservation-focused research, as Mei continues:

“We’re connecting 2,000 years of Chinese culture with biodiversity,” says author Zhigang Mei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who grew up alongside the Yangtze River revering the porpoises; elders in his community taught that they were like spirits, predicting the weather and the fish levels, and that hurting them was bad luck. “Our work fills the gap between the super long-term information we get from fossils and DNA and the recent population surveys. It really shows how powerful it can be to combine art and biodiversity conservation.”

Thanks to the evidence that they gained from the poetry, the researchers were able to gain some understanding as to the historic distribution of the porpoise.

Their research discovered that the range of these creatures through the Yangtze and its tributaries has decreased quite significantly – a total of 33% in the main river and 91% in the other bodies of water that the river feeds into.

Why? Well, the authors suspect that this has to do with the way in which humans have altered the natural course of the river. Everything from hydraulic engineering to damming projects have affected the Yangtze’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

Since humans caused this problem, the onus is on us to correct it too.

According to Mei, the real symbolic importance and emotional investment that this porpoise has in Chinese literature shows just one of the many reasons that conservation of this creature is vital, before it’s too late:

“Protecting nature isn’t just the responsibility of modern science; it’s also deeply connected to our culture and history. Art, like poetry, can really spark an emotional connection, making people realize the harmony and respect we should have between people and nature.”

The alignment between art and science underscores the need to protect the Yangtze finless porpoise, and take a much more biologically aware approach to river adaptations in the future.

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