conservation:
Contrary to plans (you know how it is), I haven't had time to finish the phorusrhacid theme I started on Tuesday. Because it's important to keep it in mind, I feel we need a reminder about the fact that...
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Posted on June 12, 2008 2:46 PM • 8 Comments •
I was saddened to learn today of the recent death of elephant researcher and conservationist Prof. Yeheskel (or Hezy) Shoshani: he was severely injured in what is thought to have been a terrorist attack in Addis Ababa (where he...
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Posted on May 23, 2008 7:27 PM • 9 Comments •
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you'll know that 2008 is Year of the Frog (more here), and that several projects - including Amphibian Ark and EDGE - are working to try and save endangered frog and toad species...
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Posted on May 10, 2008 8:17 AM • 3 Comments •
Ok, signing off for a while now. Among other things, the above will get discussed when I get back: the image on the right (from here) might look somewhat, err, 'inspired' if you're familiar with the original produced by...
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Posted on May 4, 2008 6:27 AM • 19 Comments •
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll be saying it again: one of the best ways to invigorate your enthusiasm about a subject is to attend a conference on it, and to spend at least a couple of...
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Posted on March 11, 2008 7:03 AM • 10 Comments •
I spent much of my Saturday doing an interesting thing. Together with another 30 or so people, I went along to my local nature reserve (Chessel Bay Nature Reserve, Southampton) and took part in an effort to clear the...
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Posted on March 3, 2008 4:02 AM • 15 Comments •
Taylor's salamander is another neotenous, perennibranchiate species, and like the Axolotl it is extremely restricted in distribution, being unique - so far as we know - to one body of water, Mexico's saline Laguna Alchichica. Yes, saline: what makes Taylor's salamander particularly remarkable is that it is specialised for life in saline water. It's still true that lissamphibians cannot tolerate the sorts of salinities that amniotes can, but it is not true that anurans or caudates are thoroughly unable to deal with at least some salinity. Brackish water can be tolerated by the larvae and adults of some species: some frogs have even been reported to briefly swim in the sea as an escape tactic.
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Posted on February 18, 2008 7:37 AM • 25 Comments •
Given that I have a particular liking of obscure species, I had to take this on, and indeed you might argue that I had a responsibility to do so, given that virtually nothing non-technical has been written about many of the species concerned.
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Posted on January 21, 2008 12:49 PM • 9 Comments •
There is no doubt among biologists that the world's 6000-odd amphibian species are in trouble: about 1600 are classified as 'threatened', around 430 are listed as 'critically endangered', and at least 100 species - probably more than 160 - appear to have become extinct within the last couple of decades. This isn't because amphibians are crap and hated by god, it's because the results of our actions are killing them. What can be done?
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Posted on December 29, 2007 6:50 PM • 13 Comments •
READ ME: I'M NEW! With six years of phd work on theropod dinosaurs behind him, Darren Naish mostly spends long, happy 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.
