Laelaps

Welcome, dear reader, to the second edition of the taxonomically-oriented blog carnival Linnaeus' Legacy, founded by fellow science blogger Christopher Taylor. Here's the "view from the top" as to what science bloggers have been saying about taxonomy and systematics this month;

• Just like old rock stars, naturalists of old still go on tour, or at least some of their prestigious works do. Michael Barton of the Dispersal of Darwin tells us of Linnaeus' personal copy of Systema Naturae going on tour (and I just missed it, too...)

• Science writer extraordinaire Carl Zimmer takes us swinging through the tree of life (click here to tune in).

• For quite a while now it's been understood that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs, but how flight first evolved and just how dinosaur-like or bird-like some of the transitional species were still yield a lot of unanswered questions. A DC Birding Blog helps fill in some of the gaps with a summary of a recent study on claws and cursorial habits.

• Systematics and Biogeography Blog has a piece on Swiss systematism Adolf Naef, of which John Wilkins of Evolving Thoughts has a very thorough critique.
  • Christopher Taylor picks out a prize example from a veritable harvest of harvestmen for his Taxon of the Week segment on Catalogue of Organisms.
• Darren Naish gives us the skinny on a whole new sort of sauropod, Xenoposeidon proneneukos, at Tetrapod Zoology. Don't forget to check the always-interesting SV-POW! for a more detailed look at the vertebra that's sure to shake things up a bit (starting with #1).
• Anne-Marie of Pondering Pikaia looks at parthenogensis in poeciid fish and other organisms, just in time for the holiday season.
• At When Pigs Fly Returns, Zach shares his excitement (and frustration) on the announcement of the chasmosaurine Eotriceratops. Now if someone would just get around to properly describing Diceratops...
• Taxonomy and systematics aren't stale sciences that hold little relevance to the rest of biology; they are incredibly important, especially in a world where we're losing species that have not been named or adequately studied. But you don't have to take my word for it; just ask Hugh Downs.


[Hat-tip to Stranger Fruit]




The next edition will be hosted on January 5th by prolific blogger (and fellow Scibling) Greg Laden.