Now on ScienceBlogs: "Investigative science journalism" and books I like to read [All of My Faults Are Stress Related]
"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." -- Eden Phillpotts.
GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived here) and was part of the original invited group of 14 "SciBlings" -- her only claim to fame. If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, please help her pay her living expenses by clicking on the Paypal button below and by voting for her to be the official blogger on a month long adventure in Antarctica. If you read an essay that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for OpenLab2009.
Online interviews with GrrlScientist: Nature Blog Network and ScienceBlogs.
GrrlScientist's banner was designed by graphic artist, Jeff Hebert, whose other work can be viewed here.
Nominate your science, nature or medical writing to Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the Public) blog carnival using the widget above.
|
|
« Medicine 2.0 Blog Carnival Available | Main | Birds in The News, Postponed »
Topic Categories: Amphibians • Evolution • Reptiles • Streaming videos
Posted on: August 20, 2007 8:59 AM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: walking with monsters, life before dinosaurs, evolution, streaming video
This streaming video gives you a snapshot of evolution prior to the rise of the dinosaurs. Even though it's kinda long, it's definitely worth watching .. although that giant spider gave me the heebie-jeebies! [9:17]
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/47904
Latest science stories | More at nytimes.com
12:40 AM, 07.04.2009
2:24 AM, 07.03.2009
6:21 AM, 07.04.2009
2:50 PM, 06.30.2009
2:26 PM, 06.30.2009
Comments
Hi, this is just one episode of the complete Walking With Monsters series. See that here.
Posted by: dearkitty | August 20, 2007 6:28 PM
You'll be glad to know, then, that the giant spider is non-existent. Megarachne (the critter that inspired it) has since been re-interpreted as an oddball eurypterid. Palaeos.org has an illustration closer to what it would have really looked like. The largest known spider of all time, I believe, is actually a modern bird-eating spider.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor | August 20, 2007 10:38 PM
What the **** is a eurypterid? The picture still showed it eating a reptile, and it looked scary enough for me.
Though I've always had nightmares about the giant dragon flies myself.
What series was this clip taken from? I'll keep an eye out for reruns on Discovery.
Posted by: ArchAsa | August 21, 2007 1:57 PM
Eurypterids are often referred to as "sea scorpions". They were aquatic stem-arachnids that flourished in the Palaeozoic (take a look at Palaeos). Yes, many of them did look rather like scorpions, though the tails probably weren't toxic. A few of them reached spectacular sizes - 2 metres long!
The clip is from Walking with Monsters, the "prequel" to Walking with Dinosaurs. If this clip was any indication, though, the quality of writing and research rather declined for this series.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor | August 22, 2007 12:34 AM