laelaps | May 13, 2008Our understanding of dinosaurs today is a far cry from the massive, crocodile-like beasts envisioned by Richard Owen and William Buckland, but the way in which ideas about dinosaurs held by earlier paleontologists are presented has been troubling me lately. In many documentaries it is fashionable to say that dinosaurs were traditionally viewed as big lizards, making them slow, dumb, and cold-blooded animals, but the more I have read about the early days of paleontology the more I've come to doubt that such generalizations can really be maintained.
I should probably preface my remarks by…
laelaps | May 13, 2008Since I've got a bit of studying to do for my osteology exam, here's some, erm, "vintage" television to keep things going here. It's an episode of Batman called "How to Hatch a Dinosaur";
laelaps | May 13, 2008As some of you may recall, about two months ago my apartment was robbed, my digital slr camera being one of the items that was stolen. Since then it has not been found by the police and I'm still struggling with my renter's insurance provider, but yesterday I got news of when my economic stimulus check was coming and this allowed me to purchase a brand new camera!
After looking over some reviews (and keeping in mind what I could actually afford), I decided to go with the Nikon D60, going all-out for a kit that included a 18-55mm lens, a 55-200mm lens, and some other good stuff. I really want…
laelaps | May 13, 2008
An Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), photographed last year at the Philadelphia Zoo.
laelaps | May 12, 2008
Standing in front of a small tank of mudskippers in the special "Water" exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, I heard a gentleman next to me comment to his friend "You know, if evolution is true, it's really amazing how many different kinds of animal there are." I have to admit that the first thought to pop into my mind was "If?" but after my twinge of arrogance passed I had to agree; it really is fantastic that evolution has produced such diverse forms of life.
Present diversity is only half of the evolutionary equation, though. Without an understanding of common descent we…
laelaps | May 12, 2008
Zeff, a female Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), photographed last year at the Bronx Zoo.
laelaps | May 11, 2008
A female African elephant (Loxodonta africana), photographed last year at the Philadelphia Zoo.
laelaps | May 10, 2008I'll be away at the AMNH for most of the day today, but here are a few general "housekeeping" notes until I get back;
A very special edition of The Boneyard (#20) will be coming up next week. (See this post for the full details.) I haven't received any submissions yet, but just keep in mind that everything has to be in by 12 PM Eastern time on May 17 to be eligible.
I'm very pleased to announce that Beatrice, a female cat my wife and I fostered on-and-off for about a year, has finally been adopted. We've still got Huxley right now, and even though he was sick for a few days he has fully…
laelaps | May 9, 2008Not only does the commercial dare to mention evolution, but it also features a prominent paleontologist and (gasp) some actual science. I have no idea whether it has been broadcast in the U.S., but I would guess not;
laelaps | May 8, 2008
The articulated skeleton of Gorgosaurus (AMNH 5428) found in the Belly River Formation near the Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada. From Matthew & Brown 1923.
In 1913, an American Museum of Natural History expedition led by Barnum Brown (with P.C. Kaisen and George Sternberg as assistants) searched the Cretaceous Belly River Formation in Alberta, Canada for dinosaurs. Although there had been an expedition to the same area the year before, the 1913 trip yielded "more exhibition material," including the articulated skeleton of Gorgosaurus*. When it arrived in New York it was prepared by…
laelaps | May 7, 2008
Mr. Bergh to the Rescue
THE DEFRAUDED GORILLA: "That Man wants to claim my Pedigree. He says he is one of my Descendants."
MR. BERGH: "Now, Mr. Darwin, how could you insult him so?"
This cartoon was published in Harper's Weekly in 1871, the year Darwin's The Descent of Man was first published. The "Mr. Bergh" being referred to is Henry Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866. As for the gorilla, the great ape prominently featured in political cartoons and satire as the public was fascinated with them, and some naturalists placed them…
laelaps | May 7, 2008A commercial about global climate change;
And there's one with Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, too;
I haven't had much time to poke around the site as yet, but wecansolveit.org is the homepage of the We campaign, an extension of the Alliance for Climate Protection that Al Gore started in 2006. The campaign is primarily hoping to cause a sea change in public understanding about global climate change to bring the public up to date on issues that scientists have known for years. From a FAQ found on the website;
The We campaign is a nationwide effort to engage and mobilize the American…
laelaps | May 7, 2008
A lioness (Panthera leo), photographed last year at the Philadelphia Zoo. She is a representative of the "white lions" found in the Timbavati Private Game Reserve and Kruger National Park in South Africa.
laelaps | May 6, 2008In case you missed it, my post on paleo-art "'What Rules the World?'" is up at Science Creative Quarterly. I wish I caught some of the typos, but I still think that it's a pretty good piece.
Coincidentally, Reverend H.N. Hutchinson's Extinct Monsters arrived in the mail today and a battered copy of William Flower's An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia came yesterday, so I've got plenty of old books about bones to look through.
laelaps | May 6, 2008According to a report recently published in TIME, developers in Florida have announced their plans to push back the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary so that a new Lowe's and some office buildings can be built. Why the county needs another major home-improvement outlet, no one seems to know, but the move to further encroach into the Everglades has already caused a fair amount of muck-slinging.
The Miami-Dade County Commission recently approved plans to build a Lowe's and offices, although it seems that at least some of the members are in bed with developers. One member, Jose "Pepe" Diaz,…