Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
May 18, 2009
The skull of a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), photographed at the AMNH's "Extreme Mammals" exhibit.
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May 17, 2009
The skull of Arsinoitherium, photographed at the AMNH's "Extreme Mammals" exhibit.
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May 15, 2009
Paraceratherium greets you as you enter the new Extreme Mammals Exhibit.
My laptop is running a little slow, but here I am at the American Museum of Natural History's new "Extreme Mammals" exhibit. The selected casts, sculptures, and interactive displays live up to the exhibition's name. To my…
May 15, 2009
The giraffe-like restoration of Paraceratherium, from Natural History.
If I believed everything Hollywood told me I would accept that a paleontologist is someone who has a knack for finding numerous exceptionally-preserved, fully-articulated skeletons. The truth of the matter, however, is that…
May 15, 2009
Things have been a little slow here during the last week or so, but for good reason. Between final exams, the in-laws stopping by for an extended visit, moving into a new apartment, and other miscellaneous events I have barely had time to sit down and write. After this weekend, though, I will be…
May 15, 2009
Yesterday the New York Times posted a review of the AMNH's new "Extreme Mammals" exhibition. The review pays more attention is paid to the evolutionary themes of the exhibit than to what is in it, but I will be bringing you a more detailed look at the displays during a special blogger preview early…
May 15, 2009
A maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), photographed at the National Zoo.
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May 14, 2009
A close-up of the rare, terrifying Montauk Monster, otherwise known as a raccoon. From Wikipedia.
Skeletons can be funny things. If you take a familiar animal like a horse, strip it of its flesh, and put the bones on display many people may have some trouble identifying what sort of animal it…
May 14, 2009
A cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) photographed at the National Zoo.
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May 13, 2009
A little while back I posted a little teaser on Twitter (or a "tweezer", as BrianR aptly called it) that I had some exciting news about my book. Now I can finally share it. I am proud to announce that I will be working with literary agent Peter Tallack of The Science Factory on my book project. I…
May 13, 2009
This coming Saturday the American Museum of Natural History is going to lift the veil on their new temporary exhibition Extreme Mammals, and I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to the blogger preview being held the day before. This coming Friday from about 4 to 5:30 PM I'll be wandering…
May 13, 2009
A group of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) tries to avoid an incoming wave. Photographed at Spring Lake, New Jersey.
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May 12, 2009
At this moment there are more anti-creationism books available than I care to count. While they can be exciting for neophytes to dig into many repackage the same information and arguments over and over again, and they can quickly grow boring for those who have been following the creationism…
May 12, 2009
Over at loveart there is a great interview with Sb's own Jessica Palmer of Bioephemera. There's plenty there about science, journalism, art, blogging, and how they all intersect, so I definitely recommend that you give it a look!
May 12, 2009
An orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), photographed at the National Zoo.
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May 11, 2009
A beaver (Castor canadensis), photographed at the National Zoo.
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May 10, 2009
Daffodils (Narcissus sp.), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
May 9, 2009
I never really liked the many incarnations of Star Trek on television. I remember the episode of the Next Generation where the crew was devolving, but that's about it. That's why I was a little unsure of whether I would enjoy the big screen reboot of the franchise. After just seeing it, though, I…
May 9, 2009
A domesticated horse (Equus ferus caballus), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
May 8, 2009
The skeleton of Inostrancevia, a Permian synapsid from modern-day Russia. From the American Museum Journal.
The science of paleontology has long been concerned with searching out the origins of modern groups of animals, but at the turn of the 20th century there were frustratingly few…
May 8, 2009
A tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
May 7, 2009
Do you like Permian synapsids? If you do then you definitely should check out this month's edition of the ART Evolved carnival. I particularly like Nima Sassani's Greg-Paul-like illustration of a pack of Inostrancevia.
May 7, 2009
As reported in the New York Times Carole C. Noon, the founder of Save the Chimps, passed away this week. She was 59 and suffered from pancreatic cancer.
I first learned of Carole and Save the Chimps when I saw the documentary Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History. Since 1997 Noon and her organization…
May 7, 2009
Mother gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) Mandara holding her child Kibibi. Photographed at the National Zoo.
May 6, 2009
I was planning on writing about G.G. Simpson's influence on paleoanthropology today (and more generally why paleoanthropology seems isolated from vertebrate paleontology), but the papers I need are beyond my reach. If someone has the proper access could they please send me;
Simpson, G.G. 1950. Some…
May 5, 2009
Tai Shan the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Photographed at the National Zoo.
May 5, 2009
The Calaveras skull, front view. From Skeletal Remains Suggesting or Attributed to Early Man in North America.
In February of 1866 the Illinois-born blacksmith James Mattenson* decided to try his luck beneath Bald Hill in Calaveras County, California. There was a chance that the subterranean…
May 5, 2009
Since Bora mentioned it...
The hungry hunters go after some jumbo-sized Syndyoceras.
May 5, 2009
A grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), photographed at the National Zoo.
May 4, 2009
A swarm of hunters tries to take down a Uintatherium. Nevermind that it lived over 35 million years before the first hominins appeared...