Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
May 4, 2009
By 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.…
May 4, 2009
A rock hyrax (Procavia capensis), photographed at the National Zoo.
May 3, 2009
A lioness (Panthera leo), photographed at the National Zoo.
May 1, 2009
A herring gull (Larus argentatus) flying off with a snack. Photographed at Spring Lake, New Jersey.
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.…
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,…
April 30, 2009
The 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…
April 30, 2009
A domesticated horse (Equus ferus caballus), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
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…
April 29, 2009
An Eastern goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
April 28, 2009
A tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
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…
April 27, 2009
A group of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) tries to avoid an incoming wave. Photographed at Spring Lake, New Jersey.
April 26, 2009
After 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!
April 26, 2009
A cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) breaking into a run, photographed at the National Zoo.
April 25, 2009
Rokan the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 24, 2009
About 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,…
April 24, 2009
A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 23, 2009
True 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…
April 23, 2009
A gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 22, 2009
Of all the evolutionary transitions that have ever taken place few have received as much attention as the origin of whales. (See here, here, here, here,and here for a few of my posts on the subject.) The story of how terrestrial hoofed mammals gave rise to the exclusively aquatic leviathans has…
April 22, 2009
A ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 21, 2009
I rarely ever go to a place like Barnes and Noble to buy books, but a few months ago I had a gift card that burning a hole in my pocket. The question was what to buy. As always I browsed through the science section and didn't see much of interest. Most of the titles available were about subjects I…
April 21, 2009
A female orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 20, 2009
A giraffe, photographed at the Bronx zoo.
Why do giraffes have long necks? We know that modern giraffes must have evolved gradually, but figuring out what selection pressures influenced giraffe evolution is another story altogether. One of the most popular recent explanations is that giraffes…
April 20, 2009
A garter snake (Thamnophis sp.) getting away through the undergrowth. It was sunning itself on the middle of the trail but my camera battery was too low for me to take a picture. By the time I changed it the snake was getting away.
April 19, 2009
A few photos from yesterday afternoon;
A raccoon skull I found on a hike yesterday. It is now a part of my bone collection.
A white-tailed deer leg found on the same hike. It was a little gooey still so I decided to leave it alone.
Hayley, an Australian cattle dog belonging to my in-laws…
April 19, 2009
A fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), photographed at the National Zoo.
April 18, 2009
I am moving to a new apartment in less than a month, and towards that end I have been going through my stuff to see if there is anything I don't want to take with me. I have listed the items I no longer need, primarily books and XBox games, on Half.com. I appreciate the help of anyone who makes a…