Now on ScienceBlogs: And so, driven on ceaselessly toward new shores
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. - Terry Pratchett
Laelaps is the blog of Brian Switek, a freelance science writer based in New Jersey. This blog frequently features his musings on paleontology, evolution, and the history of science. Switek also blogs for Smithsonian magazine's Dinosaur Tracking.
Switek's first book, Written in Stone, will be published next year by Bellevue Literary Press.
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July 31, 2009
Category: Personal
I'm going to be quite busy this weekend (what with two papers to write, an anthology to edit, packing for the big camping trip, and a much-delayed trip to Cape May), so I've decided to open this de-lurking thread. Who...
Posted by Brian Switek at 2:50 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Photography
The remains of a fish in a tree, photographed near High Point, New Jersey. Damned if I know how it got there....
Posted by Brian Switek at 7:10 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 30, 2009
Category: History of Science
A restoration of the head of Pyrotherium. From W.B. Scott's A History of Land Mammals in the Western Hemisphere. I do not remember much from my elementary school education, but there are a few fragments that have stuck with...
Posted by Brian Switek at 11:55 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Amphibians
A red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens), photographed near High Point, New Jersey....
Posted by Brian Switek at 6:20 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 29, 2009
Category: Evolution
Color-coded diagram of a small bone bed containing at least twelve individuals of the Permian synapsid Suminia. From Frobisch and Reisz (2009) When I hear the phrase "early human relative" I cannot help but think of an ape-like creature....
Posted by Brian Switek at 11:45 AM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Photography
Another purple organism I saw growing on the forest floor near High Point, NJ. Does anyone know what it might be? Thanks for the responses in the comments! The photo is of an Amethyst Coral (Clavulina amethystina), which appears...
Posted by Brian Switek at 6:16 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 28, 2009
Category: History of Science
When I was a kid the movie Alligator seemed to be on television almost every other weekend. It was one of the first movies I can remember seeing, although truth be told I probably should not have been allowed...
Posted by Brian Switek at 4:33 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Photography
A pair of purple mushrooms, photographed near High Point, New Jersey. Is there a mycologist in the house?...
Posted by Brian Switek at 6:20 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 27, 2009
Category: Evolution
A progressive "march" of elephant evolution as portrayed in Ingersoll's The Life of Animals. From left to right Moeritherium, Palaeomastodon, Gomphotherium ("Trilophodon"), Mammut americanum (American mastodon), Elephas maximus (Asian elephant). Every now and then I like to browse through...
Posted by Brian Switek at 8:00 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Amphibians
A red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens), photographed near High Point, New Jersey....
Posted by Brian Switek at 6:10 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Highly Allochthonous 11.05.2009
Eruptions 11.05.2009
Not Exactly Rocket Science 11.05.2009
Corpus Callosum 11.05.2009
Starts With a Bang 11.04.2009
