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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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« They just keep lying | Main | Attempted suppression of Seidel »

Friday Cephalopod: Face to face

Category: CephalopodsOrganisms
Posted on: April 4, 2008 6:44 AM, by PZ Myers

nautilus_pompilius.gif
Nautilus pompilious and some chordate

Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.

Comments

#1

Posted by: Peter Barber | April 4, 2008 7:09 AM

"Some chordate" - such elegant disdain! I imagine it being accompanied by the merest shrug of the shoulders and a look of casual disinterest, as befits a representative of our cephalopod overlords :-D

PS. Why does the chordate have an adjustable spanner? Surely the only Nautilus that needs a spanner is Captain Nemo's?

#2

Posted by: PAZJ | April 4, 2008 8:59 AM

Nautilus' are awesome. Reminds me of the beautiful picture of a nautilus posted at Uglorable (Ugly + Adorable) http://www.uglorable.com/

#3

Posted by: wazza | April 4, 2008 9:10 AM

Do nautili have faces?

#4

Posted by: Fox1 | April 4, 2008 9:21 AM

The Minnesota Daily has a fairly execrable article on "Expelled" in today's issue that contains a few quotes from PZ.

Actually, it's really nothing BUT quotes. I hate the Daily, I don't understand why my University paper isn't written at a higher level than my High School one was.

(This post brought to you with the assumption that Friday Cephalod posts can be used as open threads. If this is not the case, I apologize)

#5

Posted by: Fire Ant | April 4, 2008 9:39 AM

Always one of my favorite cephalopods.....

#6

Posted by: Niobe | April 4, 2008 10:23 AM

uunnggghhh way to rub it in I'm not going diving for another few months.


Well at least I was in a circle of mating sepia once so HA.

#7

Posted by: Donnie B. | April 4, 2008 12:57 PM

Fox1 said: "I don't understand why my University paper isn't written at a higher level than my High School one was."

No doubt your unenlightened high school editor held to the elitist, antidemocratic notion that only those who can write well should be allowed to participate.

#8

Posted by: Sili | April 4, 2008 1:48 PM

Why does the chordate have an adjustable spanner?
For the same reason one brings a cricketbat when one goes to feed the ducks: Dinner!
#9

Posted by: James F | April 4, 2008 2:17 PM

THE NAUTILUS AND THE AMMONITE

The Nautilus and the Ammonite
Were launched in Storm and Strife,
Each sent to float in its tiny boat
On the wide, wide sea of life!

And each could swim on the ocean's brim
And anon, its sails could furl;
and sink to sleep in the great sea deep,
In a palace all of pearl.

And theirs was a bliss more fair than this
That we feel in our colder Time
For they were rife in a tropic life
In a brighter, happier clime.

Thus hand in hand, from strand to strand,
They sailed in mirth and glee,
Those fairy shells with their crystal cells,
Twin creatures of the sea.

But they came at last to a sea long past,
And as they reached its shore,
The Almighty's breath spoke out in death,
And the Ammonite liv'd no more.

And the Nautilus now, in its shelly prow,
As o'er the deep it strays
Still seems to seek, in bay and creek,
Its companion of other days

-G.F. Richardson

#10

Posted by: Diego | April 4, 2008 2:29 PM

My parents are alumni of UWF, whose mascot is the argonaut (though I think their emblem resembles a nautilus more than it does an argonaut). I remember asking them if they had any argonaut-themed cheers at sporting events. They said they just did the wave a lot, based on an overall maritime theme. :)

#11

Posted by: Nix | April 4, 2008 4:21 PM

Nice poem. One pedantic point, though: the nautilus basically never strays over the deep. They stay near the bottom, and don't voluntarily go more than a few hundred metres down...

#12

Posted by: OJR | April 4, 2008 6:05 PM

Rather amusing that PZ is so fascinated by squids. Somehow reminds me of little kids who are passionate about their pets. Makes a great debater very human & likeable person, indeed. :)

#13

Posted by: James F | April 4, 2008 6:18 PM

Here's a great video clip narrated by David Attenborough.

#14

Posted by: foxfire | April 4, 2008 6:27 PM

PAZJ (@ # 2) wrote:

Nautilus' are awesome. Reminds me of the beautiful picture of a nautilus posted at Uglorable (Ugly + Adorable) http://www.uglorable.com/

Awwww - I've seen the video of the cuttlefish reacting to the camera before (cool!).

One can vote for the pictures/videos. Couple more votes and the Cephalopods may be # 1 (hint, hint ;-)

#15

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | April 4, 2008 11:13 PM

Mutual gazes
Spanning deep ages.

#16

Posted by: blf | April 5, 2008 8:01 AM

Why does the chordate have an adjustable spanner?
For the same reason one brings a cricketbat when one goes to feed the ducks: Dinner!

You feed cricket bats to the ducks?

I'm not certain I even want to know what eats spanners. (Shudders.) But why adjustable?

#17

Posted by: mirç mırc mirc mırç | December 31, 2008 1:10 PM

Thanks so much for this! This is exactly what I was looking for

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