With six years of tedious phd work on theropod dinosaurs behind him, Darren Naish stares longingly from his office window at the birds outside and wonders: why did I bother? He pursues exotic lizards and feral cats across the British countryside, occasionally prizes the skeletal jaws from hedgehog corpses, and aims to publish his technical work on obscure Cretaceous dinosaurs. He remains desperately in quest of an academic job that'll last more than a month, and - with a background in TV research, e-learning development, academic editing, popular writing, teaching, landscape gardening, parenting and the wonderful world of retail - he still holds out hope of becoming a dedicated academic. He can be contacted intermittently at eotyrannus (at) gmail dot com. For more biographical info go 
No time for nothing today, sorry. In desperation, I thought I'd blog a photo of a bronze hippo. Here it is. SVPCA part II next, then Becklespinax and Valdoraptor, then cryptozoology conference stuff (think monster pigeons and assorted other obscure extinct island-endemic giants), then Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered amphibians. Then red panda empire, Australia land of placentals, and beluwhals (at last). But don't hold your breath. And it's not really TZPOD # 28, but I've lost count.
Comments
And the temnospondyl series...! :-)
Posted by: David Marjanović | September 29, 2007 7:08 AM
And a very nice hippo it is. Where does it live?
[from Darren: Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, UK]
monster pigeons and assorted other obscure extinct island-endemic giants
Does that mean dodos?
[from Darren: ha-ha - wait and see! Or... no :) ]
Posted by: RM1(SS) (ret) | September 29, 2007 7:32 AM
Isn't the hippo actually a temnospondyl that resembles a large mammal? If you really dig hippos, check out this link
http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=pethippo
Posted by: chris wemmer | September 29, 2007 2:57 PM
And multis....lots and lots of multis!Oh! And the weirdness of paleocene "placentals".
(ok that last one is just on my wish list, what with
*Maelestes* and all)...I'm assuming it will be a few
years before new any papers.*sobs*
Btb, happy belated birthday.
[from Darren: thanks! And haven't I ever mentioned the 'Tet Zoo guide to Palaeogene mammals'? It's in preparation - expect a long wait.]
Posted by: Raymond | September 29, 2007 9:49 PM
Wow, Brit hippos went through a bronze age? What's up with all those ingenius British tetrapods? Something in the soil perhaps?
Great video, I'm thinking of getting a litter of hippos, need to get some down feather blankets though, gets a bit chilly here.
Posted by: DDeden | September 30, 2007 10:55 AM
The video is awesome - thanks for sharing it Chris. Wow.
On cold tolerance in hippos, certainly those kept in some European zoos have had to endure sub-zero temperatures for months at a time. I think that, so long as they have water and/or mud to protect them, they can be ok.
Posted by: Darren Naish | September 30, 2007 3:12 PM
> 'Tet Zoo guide to Palaeogene mammals'?
> It's in preparation - expect a long wait.]
'Tet Zoo guide to Palaeogene mammals' :-)!!! Please don't make the wait too long...
Posted by: johannes | October 1, 2007 6:42 AM
That video made my day and made me briefly entertain the notion of a pet hippo. If they actually are perfectly tamable I'm going to guess some other factors (slow growth?) made them inconceivable as a domestic animal. Did Jared Diamond discuss that species? I'm also wondering how good a pygmy hippo would have been as a domestic animal since...
Pointless Fact of the Day: Under the mighty president Calvin Coolidge there apparently was a presidential pygmy hippo named Billy.
Posted by: Cameron | October 1, 2007 8:13 AM
> Did Jared Diamond discuss that species?
He did. His point was that Hippos grow fast but are too dangerous for domestication.
Posted by: johannes | October 2, 2007 5:39 AM
Famously, more people are killed by hippos than by crocodiles every year. Crocs will only kill you when they're hungry, or perhaps if you get very close to their nest. Hippos will kill you for trespassing.
Posted by: David Marjanović | October 2, 2007 8:28 AM