Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
July 12, 2009
A mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), photographed in Westchester County, NY.
July 11, 2009
A double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) (?), photographed in Westchester County, NY.
July 10, 2009
Life restoration of the head of Armadillosuchus. From Marinho and Carvalho (2009).
When I was trying to come up with a title for this post I almost went with "Armadillosuchus: An armored crocodyliform you wouldn't want to mess with." Obviously I changed my mind. Not only was the title too long…
July 10, 2009
A water lily, photographed in Westchester County, NY.
July 9, 2009
I have tried to avoid too much navel gazing here during the past few months, but a new paper published in the journal Evolution: Education and Outreach by Adam Goldstein has raised the question "Of what use are evolution blogs?"
Before we can answer this question, of course, we have to ask "What is…
July 9, 2009
A female widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY. Thanks to Rich for the identification.
July 8, 2009
A beautiful artistic reconstruction of Indohyus by Carl Buell.
During the last 30 years paleontologists have uncovered a startling amount of fossil evidence which has illuminated the early evolution of whales. The earliest members of the cetacea looked nothing like the marine mammals we are…
July 8, 2009
In my review of Joshua Blu Buhs' new book Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend I wrote;
As with many legendary creatures, advocates Bigfoot's existence often claim that the creature has been known for hundreds or even thousands of years. How could so many cultures in so many parts of the world…
July 8, 2009
A Canada goose (Branta canadensis), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY.
July 7, 2009
Parts of the skull, including the upper jaws (maxillae), of Eritherium azzouzorum as seen from the front (top) and below (bottom). From Gheerbrant (2009).
Yesterday I blogged about the ~27 million year old elephantimorph Eritreum, a creature that stood only about four feet high at the shoulder…
July 7, 2009
I am a little late to the party on this one, but please welcome Eric Michael Johnson of The Primate Diaries to ScienceBlogs. He has already racked up an impressive amount of bloggy-goodness at his new home, and his work is well worth the read. Check it out.
July 7, 2009
A patch of Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY.
July 6, 2009
A restoration of Eritreum compared to the larger Gomphotherium. From Shoshani et al. (2009).
Before I loved dinosaurs, I loved elephants. I would run around the backyard with my little pith helmet on, firing my "elephant mover" to herd the imaginary pachyderms. (At the time I did not…
July 6, 2009
An Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
July 5, 2009
A common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
July 4, 2009
A Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
July 3, 2009
On the 31st of May, 1984, the late evolutionary theorist John Maynard Smith appraised the field of paleontology in the journal Nature. The report was a critical summary of a series of lectures Stephen Jay Gould had given at Cambridge, and Gould considered it "the kindest and most supportive…
July 3, 2009
A sleepy red panda (Ailurus fulgens), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
July 2, 2009
A pair of clouded leopard cubs born in Smithsonian National Zoo facilities just a few months ago, via NPR.
July 2, 2009
During the past month Andy Farke of The Open Source Paleontologist has been considering the rise (and fall) of paleontology-oriented mailing lists (like the Dinosaur Mailing List and the VRTPALEO Discussion List). These lists are good for a lot of things, like quickly disseminating news to a large…
July 2, 2009
A polar bear (Ursus maritimus), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
July 1, 2009
A somewhat tamarin-like restoration of Ganlea megacania. By Mark A. Klingler of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
It seems that almost every time a new fossil primate is announced the first question everyone asks is "Is it one of our ancestors?" Nevermind that it is all but impossible to…
July 1, 2009
A great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), photographed at the Central Park Zoo. Many thanks to everyone for the corrections in the comments.
June 30, 2009
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of answering a few questions for the Paw Talk blog about dinosaurs, blogging, and kittens. You can check it out here (and many thanks to Ava for inviting me to participate!).
June 30, 2009
At the end of the day today the University of Wyoming Geological Museum is going to be closed. The museum and the paleontologists who worked there are victims of state budget cuts, and the spirited effort to keep the museum open did not get top-level administrators to change their minds. The…
June 30, 2009
A few months ago I had the opportunity to sit down with a professional paleontologist and pick his brain about a few things. One of the questions that I most wanted to ask was about the changing nature of paleobiology. Molecular biology, genetics, evo-devo, and other disciplines appeared to have an…
June 30, 2009
Like every other night for the past few weeks my phone rang at about 9:45 PM. It was the same number again. For years the number had intermittently shown up on my caller ID, and I recalled that it was for some sort of Rutgers survey. At this point I just wanted the annoying late-night calls to stop…
June 30, 2009
A California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
June 29, 2009
Against all hope I brought my camera along with me. Special exhibitions do not usually let you take photos, and soon after I arrived at the Discovery Times Square Exhibition with Amanda and her boyfriend J I was forced to hand over all my equipment. No cameras, no cell phones, no food, keep your…