laelaps | May 4, 2009By the 1920's the evolution of elephants (proboscideans) seemed all but resolved. Paleontologists had long been familiar with mammoths and mastodons, the great shaggy beasts that had so recently gone extinct, but in 1901 fitting candidates for the progenitors of all later elephants became known. Named Moeritherium and Palaeomastodon by British paleontologist C.W. Andrews, the two proboscideans from Eocene rock of the Fayum region of Egypt were the forms that could connect elephants to the rest of the mammal family tree.
Finally elephant evolution could be presented in a straight line. It had…
laelaps | May 1, 2009
A herring gull (Larus argentatus) flying off with a snack. Photographed at Spring Lake, New Jersey.
laelaps | April 30, 2009
If you want to aggravate an intelligent design advocate all you have to do is point out the obvious. Everybody knows that intelligent design is just warmed-over creationism, but some creationists love trying to create a false dichotomy between the two in an attempt to appear more respectable. Creationism starts with the Bible, they say, while intelligent design starts with science. Nevermind that the most vocal advocates of intelligent design are evangelical Christians or some other flavor of theist. There's no connection there at all! Seriously! It's not like some of the most prominent…
laelaps | April 30, 2009
The skull of Dorudon, photographed at the National Museum of Natural History.
There has been much ado about the new BioLogos website during the past week (see here and here), and most of it has focused on the site's aim of reconciling science and Christian theology. What irked me more, however, was the lazy way in which the creators of the site approached evolutionary science. The section on the fossil record provides a perfect example.
The evolution of whales has been a hot topic lately, and for good reason. After over a century of frustrating uncertainly we now have a very detailed (…
laelaps | April 30, 2009The news has already broken at SV-POW! and Tetrapod Zoology, but in case you haven't heard Mike Taylor has successfully defended his Ph.D.! This is wonderful news. I am sure that the study of sauropods will benefit from his continued work in the field.
My only regret is that I can't buy him a drink since I am not going to be able to make it to SVP in England this year. (I actually owe quite a few people a drink or two. At this rate I had better hope I win the lottery to cover the bar tab I will surely build up...) Earning a Ph.D. merits a few rounds alone, but Mike (among others) has provided…
laelaps | April 30, 2009
A domesticated horse (Equus ferus caballus), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
laelaps | April 29, 2009
A view from inside the cave in which the "Yemisch" remains were found. [source]
It was not so long ago that tales of an awful creature that stalked the pampas of Patagonia were commonly told. It was difficult, if not impossible, to find anyone who had actually seen it, but many knew of its fearsome power. It was called the Yemisch, and it was a predator that preferred to disembowel its prey. One moment a person or some cattle would be crossing the stream and the next the water would be a blood-red boil. All that was usually left of the victims were greasy entrails floating their way…
laelaps | April 29, 2009
An Eastern goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
laelaps | April 28, 2009
A tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
laelaps | April 27, 2009
An illustration of the mammoth that accompanied Tukeman's story. From the McClure's Magazine.
In October of 1899 McClure's Magazine ran a rather curious article by Henry Tukeman. Called "The Killing of the Mammoth" it began with a letter penned by a recently-deceased chap named Horace Conradi which released Tukeman from his promise to keep the slaughter of what may have been the last living mammoth a secret. Tukeman could finally tell his story.
Tukeman's story began in the untamed wilds of Alaska in 1890. There was little in the way of creature comforts, but Tukeman decided to stay the…
laelaps | April 27, 2009
A group of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) tries to avoid an incoming wave. Photographed at Spring Lake, New Jersey.
laelaps | April 26, 2009After a long wait, the new Palaeontologia Electronica is now online! It even includes a review of Jane Davidson's A History of Paleontology Illustration by yours truly. Check it out!
laelaps | April 26, 2009
A cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) breaking into a run, photographed at the National Zoo.
laelaps | April 25, 2009
Rokan the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), photographed at the National Zoo.
laelaps | April 24, 2009About four million years ago, in the shallows of an ocean that once covered what is now southern Peru, a large shark bit into the jaw of a baleen whale. The whale had been dead for some time, but it was kept afloat but the gases building up in its body as it decomposed. It was absolutely rotten, but it still presented a free meal to the scavenging shark. As the shark bit down, however, one of its teeth became stuck in the whale's jaw bone and broke off. No matter. The lost tooth would soon be replaced by another.
The above scenario does involve a bit of speculation, but such events certainly…
laelaps | April 24, 2009
A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), photographed at the National Zoo.
laelaps | April 23, 2009True to his moniker, the Open Source Paleontologist (aka Andry Farke) often blogs about open access paleo journals. There are a lot out there, but which are the best ones to publish in? How do lesser-known publications like Geodiversitas rank among heavy hitters like PNAS or PLoS? Now you have a chance to have your say. Andy has created a survey asking you to rank the quality of the present span of open access journals that regularly publish paleontology papers. Voting will be open until Friday and the results will be revealed shortly afterward. Go vote!