grrlscientist | December 18, 2008tags: National Geographic, Vanuatu, Pencil Urchin, biodiversity, image of the day
Image: David Lane, University of Brunei.
My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from the recent discovery of a huge number of new species on and around the south Pacific island of Vanuatu.
Tiny Tropical Island Yields a Wealth of Species
The thick, solid spines of a pencil sea urchin jut out like the writing instruments that lend this creature its name.
These nocturnal animals hide in coral reef cavities during the day and crawl out after dark to forage…
grrlscientist | December 18, 2008tags: Female Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Female Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, photographed in Hermann Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/1.0 iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Hey, no fair! That's only part of a bird!
So go outside. Right now. And tell me how many whole birds you see. There…
grrlscientist | December 18, 2008tags: California Raisins, holidays, funny, humor, parody, streaming video
Are you in the Holiday Spirit yet? No? Well watch this silly video and maybe this will help you get there ... [2:54]
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: yawning, thermoregulation, budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus, animal behavior
Yawning human, Homo sapiens serving as a perch for a domestic budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus.
Image: Wendy (Creative Commons License).
Yawning. Everybody does it. In fact, I am yawning now as I write this piece. Yawning is interpreted to have a variety of meanings, ranging from tiredness to boredom. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that yawning is contagious among humans, at least: watching someone else yawn, seeing a photograph or reading about -- and even the mere thought of -- yawning is…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: National Geographic, Vanuatu, cockle, biodiversity, image of the day
Image: Delphine Brabant, MNHN.
My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from the recent discovery of a huge number of new species on and around the south Pacific island of Vanuatu.
Tiny Tropical Island Yields a Wealth of Species
A cockle's large, muscular foot juts through an opening in the mantle supporting its shell.
The cockle bends and straightens the foot to jump away from predators in its shallow-water ocean habitat off the island of Espiritu Santo,…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinensis, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Stout-footed, stout-billed, and terrestrial: any surprise that our mystery bird is an icterid? Its modest tail rules out the grackles, the yellow eye and pointed bill the cowbirds, the lack of streaking…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: animal christmas, funny, humor, parody, streaming video
This hilarious little video is filled with lots of animals who are wishing you a happy christmas! How can you not watch this? [1:20]
grrlscientist | December 16, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 16, 2008tags: National Geographic, Vanuatu, sundial snail, biodiversity, image of the day
Image: Annelise Fleddum, University of Oslo.
My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from the recent discovery of a huge number of new species on and around the south Pacific island of Vanuatu.
Tiny Tropical Island Yields a Wealth of Species
Scientists sampled some 4,000 different mollusk species in Espiritu Santo. Mollusk expert Philippe Bouchet speculates that as many as 1,000 of these could be new species.
Among the finds: this sundial snail, already…
grrlscientist | December 16, 2008tags: Pyrrhuloxia, Cardinalis sinuatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pyrrhuloxia, Cardinalis sinuatus, photographed at Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
That long, red-edged tail can belong to only a cardinal. While most of North America makes do with the…
grrlscientist | December 16, 2008tags: Bailey the SnowDog, funny, humor, pets, dogs, streaming video
This amusing little video features Bailey the snowdog and "Rudolph the Reindeer" by Harry Connick Jr. [2:36]
The cinematographer writes;
I shot this video on VHS-C in my backyard, near Ward, Colorado (8,700' elevation) during a blizzard in the late 1990's; a local weatherman said it was the most measureable snow (if memory serves, it was 54" in 48 hours) from the least amount of moisture ever. Cheers to dogs, and to all those that love them! Please be well and Happy Holidays!!!
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
Sigh! More vandalism ..
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: evolution, honeyeaters, Meliphagidae, Mohoidae, birds, ornithology, birds, molecular phylogeny, extinct species, South Pacific Islands
Two nectar-feeding birds from Hawai'i, the kioea (brown-streaked, in middle) and an o'o species (lower left), looked so much like nectar specialists from the western Pacific (two species on right) that taxonomists put them all in the same honeyeater family, the Meliphagidae. All the Hawaiian birds are unfortunately extinct, but DNA evidence shows that their resemblance resulted from convergent evolution, because the Hawaiian birds were actually much…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008Here's the latest carnivalia for you to enjoy, hot off the presses!
Carnival of Evolution, issue 7. Unfortunately, this is a small edition this time, a bummer, reeally, but it still has some interesting essays there.
Oekologie, the Season's Greetings edition. This blog carnival is filled with a bunch of science-y essays about a wide variety of topics.
Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers, which has apparently been renamed the Homeschool Showcase due to a change in hosts. Anyway, this is an interesting homeschooling blog carnival and I see that a few of my fellow scientist colleagues are also…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: National Geographic, Vanuatu, lobster, biodiversity, image of the day
Image: Dr Tin-Yam Chan, University of Keelung.
My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from the recent discovery of a huge number of new species on and around the south Pacific island of Vanuatu.
Tiny Tropical Island Yields a Wealth of Species
November 24, 2008--Even on tiny remote islands, scientists can find an impressive array of life.
During the Santo 2006 biodiversity survey in Vanuatu, 153 scientists from 20 countries fanned out across the remote South…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Sun Conure chick, Aratinga solstitialis.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count for your state, please let me know so I can include it in the list:
Alabama (Thanks, Chazz Hesselein)
Arizona (Thanks, Sheri Williamson)
California (Thanks, Joseph Morlan)
Idaho (Thanks, Denise Hughes)…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus, photographed at the Potholes, Grant County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 25 May 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/500s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Look hard and you can just see the tail of this handsome bird, lying parallel to the gray twigs it's perched among. At…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Your Inner Fish, Tiktaalik, evolution, streaming video
This wonderful music video is about Tiktaalik, sung by the Indorfins. [3:51]
grrlscientist | December 14, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…