Ahh, life is sweet
Category: frivolous nonsense • herpetology • mammalogy • ornithology
I have to take a break. I may be gone for some time... I may not. Here are some cool photos.
Posted by Darren Naish at 6:13 AM • 46 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Tetrapod Zoology
"It is - still - the best zoological blog out there, period"
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With six years of phd work on theropod dinosaurs behind him, Darren Naish mostly spends long hours in the library, hunched over his laptop. But he gets out sometimes, and picks up litter and pursues exotic lizards across the British countryside, aiming all the while to publish his technical work on obscure Cretaceous dinosaurs. He also messes around with pterosaurs, swimming giraffes, British big cats and stuff like that. He has given up on the stupid idea of being a dedicated academic and ekes out a living as a technical consultant, editor and author. He can be contacted intermittently at eotyrannus (at) gmail dot com. For more biographical info go here. PLEASE NOTE: I am now completely unable to keep up with email correspondence, due to sheer volume and to time constraints. I do my best to respond to all queries and requests, but please don't be offended if I fail to reply.
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Recent Posts
- Ahh, life is sweet
- 2009, a year of Tet Zooery
- Tet Zoo = 4 years old today
- What to make of the Yowie?
- Giant African softshells - wow!
- The Tet Zoo guide to the creatures of Avatar
- Help identify the snake. Please.
- The long-awaited launch of Pterosaur.net
- Micropechis ikaheka, the Small-eyed snake
- Biggest sauropod ever (part.... II)
Recent Comments
- Nathan Myers on Nigayla-ponya, firefox, true panda: its life and times
- William Miller on The once mighty red panda empire
- David Marjanović on Ahh, life is sweet
- David Marjanović on Nigayla-ponya, firefox, true panda: its life and times
- David Marjanović on The once mighty red panda empire
- Dartian on South America, land of toads, part I: harlequins, redbellies and plump toads
- Nathan Myers on South America, land of toads, part I: harlequins, redbellies and plump toads
- William Miller on Nigayla-ponya, firefox, true panda: its life and times
- Bob Michaels on Ahh, life is sweet
- Cindy Donahey on Nigayla-ponya, firefox, true panda: its life and times
Archives
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Tetrapod Zoology backstory
The ones I participate in
- Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week
- Azhdarchid Paleobiology
- Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered, the Blog
- Southampton Natural History Society
- Chessel Bay Local Nature Reserve
- Ask A Biologist
Mostly on extant tetrapods
- Amphibian Species of the World
- AmphiaWeb
- Avibase
- The Beaked Whale Resource
- Biological Ramblings
- Birder's World Field of View
- Camera Trap Codger
- Carnivore Ecology & Conservation
- Croc Blog
- David B. Wake's Lab
- The EMYSystem
- European Field Herping
- Fretmarks
- Frog Matters
- The Global Owl Project
- The Glor Lab
- James F. Parham
- Lioncrusher's Domain
- The Lizard Lounge
- The Losos Lab
- Mammal Species of the World
- Marc van Roosmalen, Amazon Association
- The Marsupial Ring
- The Natural Stuff
- Penguinology
- Neil Phillips' Photos (UK Wildlife)
- Primate Info Net
- Reptiles & Amphibians of the UK
- The Reptipage
- The Rhino Resource Center
- Rigor Vitae
- The Shine Lab
- Sloth World
- The Tapir Gallery
- 10,000 Birds
- Tigr Reptile Database
- Ultimate Ungulate
- UK Wildlife - by Neil
- Venomous Snake Systematics Alert
- World Bird Info
Mostly Cenozoic
- Afarensis: Anthropology, Evolution, and Science
- Caribbean Paleobiology
- The Coastal Paleontologist
- D. Croft S. American mammals
- Fossil Turtle Newsletter
- Gerald Mayr palaeornithology publications
- K. Christopher Beard publications
- John Hawks Anthropology weblog
- Olduvai George: Dealing with the Beasts
- Oludvai George Flickr site
- Paleocene mammals of the world
- Philip D. Gingerich
- Society of Avian Palaeontology and Evolution
- Stephen Wroe
- The Thewissen Lab
Mostly Mesozoic
- Ankylosaur Library
- Archives of the DML
- Australian Mesozoic Marine Reptiles
- Richard J. Butler ornithischians
- Chinleana
- Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings ver 1
- Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings ver 2
- DinoGoss
- Dinosaur genus list from Thomas R. Holtz's Dinosaurs
- DinoWight
- Dracovenator
- Early Bird
- The Science and Art of Gregory S. Paul
- Ichthyosaur Page (Ryosuke Motani)
- Jerry D. Harris
- The Life of Madygen
- Luis V. Rey's Art Gallery, Dinosaurs and Paleontology
- Mark Witton's photos
- Matt Wedel
- Matthew F. Bonnan
- Mesozoic Vertebrates (BSPG)
- Mike P. Taylor
- Oceans of Kansas
- The Open Source Paleontologist
- Palaeoblog
- Palaeontography
- Paleocreations.com
- Paleo Errata
- Philosophica Neopalaeontographica
- The Plesiosaur Directory
- The Plesiosaur Site
- Susan E. Evans, UCL
- Theropoda
- The Theropod Archives
- The Theropod Database
- Why I Hate Theropods
- Zhe-Xi Luo publications
Palaeozoic
Cryptozoology
- The Aquatic Monsters Site
- Big Cats in Britain
- Centre for Fortean Zoology
- Cryptomundo
- Cryptozoology.com
- Loch Ness Investigation
- Virtual Institute of Cryptozoology
Speculative Zoology
- Conceptual Zoology
- Dougal Dixon's After Man
- The Future is Wild
- Metazoica
- Metazoica, the blog
- The Neocene Project
- Philosophica Dixonia
- Spectim
- The Speculative Dinosaur Project
- Speculative Evolution Forum
- The Squamozoic
Toys and models
- The Dinosaur Toy Blog
- The Dinosaur Toy Forum
- Scheich figures at SPModels
- Tapir and Friends Wildlife World
Not easily categorised
- The Aquatic Amniote
- Ask Dr Vector
- Bestiarium
- Catalogue of Organisms
- Dinochick Blogs
- Dots in Deep Time
- The Dragon's Tales
- The Disillusioned Taxonomist
- The Ethical Palaeontologist
- Evolving Thoughts
- Fish Feet
- Hairy Museum of Natural History
- Laelaps
- The Lord Geekington
- Matt Bille's Sci/Tech blog
- News from Nemo Ramjet
- Nimravid's Weblog
- Pondering Pikaia
- Querencia
- StrangeArk
- Stenfugle
- The Theatrical Tanystropheus
- Traumador the tyrannosaur in The Tyrannosaur Chronicles
- When Pigs Fly Returns
- The World We Don't Live In
- Witmer Lab
Invaluable resources
You've read the blog, now buy the books....
The Great Dinosaur Discoveries (US edition)
The Great Dinosaur Discoveries (UK edition)
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life
Walking With Dinosaurs: The Evidence
Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight
Many thanks to those who have donated!
January 27, 2010
January 23, 2010
2009, a year of Tet Zooery
Category: community • frivolous nonsense
So, if you read the previous article, you'll know that we're here because Tet Zoo was four years old on January 21st. In that article, I got as far as discussing blog-relevant events that happened up to the end of May or so. Time to crack on...
Posted by Darren Naish at 8:51 AM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 21, 2010
Tet Zoo = 4 years old today
Category: community • frivolous nonsense
Today is January 21st which means, believe it or don't, that it's Tet Zoo's birthday, the 4th no less. Holy crap... have I really been blogging for four years? Yikes, and there is still so much to do, so little ground I've covered. This is despite more than 635 (count 'em) Tet Zoo articles here on ScienceBlogs alone. As on some (but not all) of the previous occasions, this article is going to be a personal look back at the year, not a proper review of all the Tet Zoo-relevant stuff that happened in 2009 (wow, wish I had time for that). Actually, this is just about the worst time to write a review like this, as I'm having a particularly crap time of it at the moment and am thinking about giving up on blogging, on research, and on everything in general (yes, yes, the ever-present financial problems). Anyway, you don't want to hear about that... [adjacent image: a Rana temporaria that was living in my front garden. Finding a frog is, these days, a huge big deal for me].
Posted by Darren Naish at 6:55 AM • 49 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 19, 2010
What to make of the Yowie?
Category: cryptozoology • mammalogy
Like many people interested in cryptozoology (the study of animals - or alleged animals - known only from anectodal evidence), I'm of the opinion that the Australian Yowie is one of the most problematic of mystery beasts. It is, in fact, so ridiculous and inconvenient that it's difficult to take seriously. As if sasquatch, yeti and orang pendek aren't difficult enough*, what are we to make of antipodean reports of a hairy, bipedal, ape-like creature? Back in 2006 (oh my god, four years ago already), Tony Healy and Paul Cropper collated everything known about the Yowie for their book The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot (Strange Nation, Sydney, 2006).
Posted by Darren Naish at 5:54 AM • 144 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 16, 2010
Giant African softshells - wow!
Category: herpetology
If you're a long-time Tet Zoo reader you might remember the article about giant Asian softshell turtles from November 2007. That article - which mostly focused on the several Chitra species - was colourfully titled 'The goat-eating hot water bottle turtles'. As you may recall, the 'goat-eating' bit was inspired by a comment made in a turtle book (David Alderton's Turtles & Tortoises of the World): according to this source, Chitra 'may even attack goats, overturning them' (Alderton 1988, p. 165). That always seemed like a puzzling statement, but I decided to run with it. As kindly pointed out by Jeannot Maha'a, 'goat' in the book is almost definitely a typo for 'boat' (look where g and b are on the keyboard). Oh well, it was a nice idea while it lasted...
Posted by Darren Naish at 10:25 AM • 29 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 14, 2010
The Tet Zoo guide to the creatures of Avatar
Category: speculative zoology
Tone and I recently went to see Avatar. I've been reading up on the movie for months and was really looking forward to seeing it. I mostly liked it, though did think it was a bit clichéd and predictable. But I'm not here to talk about storylines and plot devices... you want to know about the creatures. A lot of thought and time obviously went into the design of Pandora's ecosystem and creatures. In part, I'd say that this was a success: a lot of people (even many not that interested in the natural world) have been very much taken in by the movie's xenobiology - if only this inspired them to become interested in, and passionate about, the biology and ecology of the real world. Without further ado, here are my assorted musings on Pandora's creatures. Would be interested in your take on them too!
WARNING: major spoilers ahead. Turn back now if you haven't seen the movie. This is your last warning.
Posted by Darren Naish at 9:46 AM • 122 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 12, 2010
Help identify the snake. Please.
Category: herpetology
Can you identify this South American snake? The photo comes courtesy of Paul Nicholas, who spotted the snake (which was about 1 m long) while it was crossing a river below the Great Falls and King George Falls in the (mostly unexplored) upper Essequibo region of Guyana. The strange-looking lumps are water drops. Paul's guides were not able to identify the snake - can you? I confess I haven't tried too hard... field guides on Guyanan snakes are thin on the ground round here...
Posted by Darren Naish at 1:16 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 11, 2010
The long-awaited launch of Pterosaur.net
Category: pterosaurs
Today see the launch of an outstanding new website devoted entirely to pterosaurs, the flying reptiles of the Mesozoic. What makes the site different from many specialist sources on the internet is that it was created, written and designed by specialists in the field. As such, it should prove an invaluable resource. I'll try and keep this brief, as I know you're just desperate to go over there and start looking around...
Posted by Darren Naish at 5:58 AM • 54 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 9, 2010
Micropechis ikaheka, the Small-eyed snake
Category: herpetology
A stocky, medium-sized (up to 2 m long) and poorly known elapid with notably small eyes, Micropechis ikaheka - the Small-eyed or Ikaheka snake - is the only recognised member of its genus*. It's unique to New Guinea and some of the surrounding islands [adjacent image from Warrell et al. (1996)].
Posted by Darren Naish at 5:53 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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