Aardvarchaeology

Welcome everyone to Aardvarchaeology and the 89th Tangled Bank blog carnival. Aard is strictly focused on whatever strikes the fancy of its archaeologist proprietor. The Tangled Bank provides a leafy warren for all little furry bloggers with an interest in the life sciences. We have good stuff here, so dive in!

Beasties

• RPM at Evolgen offers some taxonomic insights apropos of a giant web spun by a diverse gang of distantly related spiders.
  
• Grrlscientist at Living the Scientific Life reports on research into embryo manipulation that would allow common fish species to spawn endangered ones.
  
• Factician at Conspiracy Factory reports on new research into "horizontal transfer" of genetic material between multicellular beings: you know, bacterial sex, plasmids, kinky stuff, but among beings like you and me, baby. Whatcha doin' tomorrow night, BTW?
  
• Archaeozoology has a roundup of current knowledge about the origins of the domestic dog.
  
• Mad Tea-Party opens the door for us to the weird world of virus taxonomy.
  
• Mike at 10,000 Birds explains why not all animal migrations are alike.
  
• Felicia at Life Before Death reports from her bee hives.

Doctorin'

• Eric at Primate Diaries offers a brief history of iffy medical experimentation on people.
• Joe at Cotch muses about heart disease from the perspective of constraints on what evolution can do.
• Coracle at Science and Progress shows the movements of a measles outbreak across the UK in relation to vaccination percentage. The antivaxers have caused serious damage with their unfounded alarmism.
• Tara at Aetiology gives us a a two-parter on the Marburg virus: the first going over the history of the disease, the second discussing the possibility that the reservoir species has been found.

Nurvs

• Neurobiotaxis offers an evo-devo reconsideration of Paul MacLean's "Triune Brain" model.
• SharpBrains has a review of Scientific American's new anthology about the brain, Best of the Brain.

Hypnerotomachia

• CL at Planet Doom? takes a look at the impact of climate change on Antarctica.
• Luigi at Agricultural Biodiversity relays a series of news stories that lead him to ask, "Are farmers a dying breed?".
• Finally, my own contribution: Norwegians exhume Viking Period ship-grave skeletons that they ill-advisedly reinterred some decades ago. Frans-Arne Stylegar (writing in Norwegian) gives the background in nationalistic ideology to this behaviour.

Not half bad if you ask me! The 90th Tangled Bank will come up on 10 October at The Other 95%. Until then, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair and a hibernating stoat in your undies.