Now on ScienceBlogs: Skloot Launching FAQ Blog Series Answering Reader Questions About The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
"It is - still - the best zoological blog out there, period"
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.
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
March 31, 2009
Category: ornithology
I used to receive random unsolicited emails from an individual who strongly promoted the idea that birds could not not not not be dinosaurs, that the entire dinosaur family tree was screwed up beyond belief, that 'dinosaurs' had evolved...
Posted by Darren Naish at 8:39 AM • 134 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 30, 2009
Category: cryptozoology
Every now and again a carcass of a large marine animal washes up on a beach somewhere: local people and journalists identify it as a monster, and all hell breaks loose. Inevitably, the carcass turns out to be a...
Posted by Darren Naish at 4:49 AM • 35 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 28, 2009
Category: mammalogy
I may as well finish what I started. Inspired by the two recent brontothere articles, Dan Varner and Mike P. Taylor were kind enough to supply the pictures you see here. Both feature Megacerops specimens displayed at the American Museum...
Posted by Darren Naish at 2:40 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 27, 2009
Category: mammalogy
Yesterday's brief look at brontotheres was such a rip-roaring success I thought I'd do a little bit more on them (on members of Brontotheriidae that is, not on rip-roaring successes). No time for a proper article: all I've done here...
Posted by Darren Naish at 10:24 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 26, 2009
Category: frivolous nonsense
Here's a photo Matt Wedel took in the Raymond Alf Museum in Claremont, California. The lined-up skulls belong (I think) to Megacerops, the large to very large Late Eocene brontothere previously known as Brontotherium. Like most other brontotheriine brontotheres...
Posted by Darren Naish at 6:36 AM • 39 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 24, 2009
Category: conservation
Last weekend I did the beach clean-up thing again, and again I went along with my son, my mum (Sandra), and about 40 other people. There's always something new to say about the problem of litter and plastic pollution:...
Posted by Darren Naish at 7:34 AM • 29 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: cryptozoology
By complete coincidence - honestly! - we looked yesterday at discovery rates among terrestrial mammals. All indications are that many species remain to be discovered. It should also be well known, and I hope it is, that the same...
Posted by Darren Naish at 6:43 AM • 51 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 23, 2009
Category: cryptozoology
Hopefully it is well known that we still have a lot to learn about the planet's extant macrofauna. And, by 'macrofauna', I'm not talking about nematodes, molluscs or insects but, yes, about such things as mammals. In fact, on...
Posted by Darren Naish at 7:53 AM • 46 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 22, 2009
Category: herpetology
Tales of animals that have undergone reconstructive surgery, or end up with prosthetic attachments, always make the news: wheels in place of tortoise legs [example] and that sort of thing. As reported in the Mail online (and other sources) a...
Posted by Darren Naish at 7:38 AM • 25 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 20, 2009
Category: Mesozoic dinosaurs
Before I start: TIANYULONG TIANYULONG TIANYULONG TIANYULONG TIANYULONG. Ok, moving on... It is the contention of some that the field of Mesozoic reptile research is plagued with bizarre, nonsensical hypotheses. You may or may not agree with me that...
Posted by Darren Naish at 10:42 AM • 43 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
