Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
August 13, 2008
When I received my financial aid information for the upcoming semester at Rutgers I was dismayed to find out that I would primarily have to take out loans to attend classes. During a year in which I'll have to pinch a few more pennies I also received less grant money, only about $800, so my options…
August 13, 2008
I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I thought I would during last weekend's trip to New York, but fortunately Bora (resident shutterbug here at Sb) has been posting lots of snapshots from the festivities. I also had the pleasure of meeting John Pieret on Saturday afternoon, and here's the…
August 13, 2008
According to a news report released last night the first confirmed remains of a scimitar-toothed cat have been found in Venezula, a contemporary of the dirk-toothed cat Smilodon. The uncovered remains are said to represent six individual sabercats, called Homotherium, including a complete skull.…
August 13, 2008
Apatosaurus. Photographed at the AMNH on August 9th, 2008.
August 12, 2008
more cat pictures
There are few things more satisfying than being able to get back to original papers, letters, and articles to discover something new. Even though I could conceivably write a solid chapter based upon reviews and popular accounts I feel that reading original source materials is not…
August 12, 2008
Amphicyon
Welcome to the 22nd edition of The Boneyard, marking the long-awaited return of the blog carnival all about paleontology. Much has happened since the last iteration, so there's plenty of new blogospheric specimens to peruse;
Are there different "rules" of classification at work for…
August 12, 2008
There are few things that make me as happy as being able to find an elusive reference or seemingly ephemeral bit of information, and this afternoon I am smiling. After almost giving up I have been able to locate Richard Harlan description of Basilosaurus, reprinted in his book Medical and Physical…
August 12, 2008
I try to be careful when using the term "ignorant." The dictionary definition could apply to anyone who is "unlearned" or "uneducated" in a particular area, i.e. I am nearly completely ignorant when it comes to quantum physics. I have always felt that the common usage of the term is more charged,…
August 12, 2008
The skull of a Tyrannosaurus at the AMNH. This is the actual skull that served as the model for the replica shown here yesterday. Photographed August 9th, 2008.
August 11, 2008
After many false starts, breaks, and dead ends, I'm finally nearing the completion of at least one chapter of the book. I still am not entirely sure how I'm going to end it and I still have some details to fill out, but there appears to be a good chance that I'm going to finish the chapter on whale…
August 11, 2008
see more pwn and owned pictures
Growing up I spent a fair amount of time watching cheesy b-movies, mostly "revenge of nature" stuff. There was the walking commentary on the a-bomb known as Godzilla, the parable about dumping biomedical waste in Alligator, a mercury-created walking salami in The…
August 11, 2008
Many thanks to everyone who introduced themselves on this blog over the weekend. (If you missed it, don't be shy. Feel free to add to the thread.) Community is a major part of what science blogging is all about and I certainly appreciate all the questions, comments, and criticisms left here since I…
August 11, 2008
After a long hiatus The Boneyard will return here tomorrow. If you've got a paleo-post from the last month to contribute send it to me (evogeek AT gmail DOT com) sometime today. I'm looking forward to bringing this carnival back so please send in your contributions as soon as you can.
August 11, 2008
The head of the Tyrannosaurus mount at the AMNH. Photographed August 9th, 2008.
August 10, 2008
One of my favorite prehistoric creatures, Amphicyon. Photographed August 9th, 2008 at the AMNH.
August 10, 2008
The oversized "night light" across the river from where I was staying.
I just made it back from NYC and I had a great time. It was wonderful meeting so many new people and catching up with writers I hadn't seen since the January conference, and my only regret is that I had to miss a few of last…
August 9, 2008
more cat pictures
This afternoon I'll be hanging out with the NYC Skeptics and ScienceBlogs fans in New York but I know that many of you (for obvious reasons) can't be there. In lieu of a meet-up in meatspace, then, why not introduce yourself here?
Each blog is a little community unto itself, and…
August 9, 2008
A white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), photographed at the Philadelphia zoo.
August 8, 2008
Was Charles Darwin a genius? He certainly was extremely bright, but if we are to call him a genius on the basis of coming up with the theory of evolution by natural selection then we must recognize the genius of A.R. Wallace (and perhaps William Wells, Patrick Matthew, and Edward Blyth), as well.…
August 8, 2008
Snow leopards (Panthera uncia), photographed at the Bronx zoo on July 23, 2008.
For those of you who know more about photography than I do, I have a question. I've been shooting in the raw NEF format and many of my photographs have come out looking very vibrant. When I convert the image to a…
August 7, 2008
Thanks to those who offered suggestions about what books to pick up. I didn't choose any of the suggested titles (sorry!) but I was able to find cheap used copies of some that I've been meaning to pick up for quite some time;
Elephants: A Short Account of Their Natural History, Evolution, and…
August 7, 2008
Hadrosaurs are often called the "cows of the Cretaceous." They were common, had few defenses compared to their armored ornithischian kin, and were a favorite prey for predatory dinosaurs. Natural selection appears to have applied sufficient pressure for at least one genus of hadrosaur,…
August 7, 2008
Will of The Dragon's Tales is heading a group called Team Phoenicia, their aim being the construction of a lunar lander as part of the Lunar Lander Challenge and the Google Lunar X Prize. You can find out more about the project here, and the team certainly could use some donations to keep the…
August 7, 2008
Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) on a butterfly bush in central New Jersey. Photographed August 2, 2008.
August 6, 2008
I didn't get a chance to see last night's Jurassic Fight Club (you can see my thoughts on the first episode here) but someone has put the "main event" up on the web. I don't know whether to laugh or cry;
I know I promised to try to be more even-handed in reviewing science media but there are…
August 6, 2008
I won't make excuses; I left The Boneyard in disrepair for too long. Now I'm bringing it back, and even though there are a few minor changes (it will now be on the first Tuesday of every month) I'm hoping that I will be able to keep it consistently running from here on out.
Since we have already…
August 6, 2008
Popularizers of science are faced with a daunting problem when it comes to communicating their enthusiasm for nature; their audience doesn't speak the same language. I don't mean this to say that scientists are inherently poor communicators or all deliver jargon-packed lectures that extinguish…
August 6, 2008
Anyone who keeps domesticated felids knows what it's like to be awakened in the middle of the night by a paw to the face or small feet running over the bed, but Jacquie and Mack Anderson were surprised to find a much larger cat in their house. According to an AP report they had left the french…
August 6, 2008
A praying mantis, photographed this past weekend in central NJ. I do not know the genus and species, however, so if anyone has a clue feel free to speak up in the comments (I would just look through the genus and species listing but it is far too large).
August 5, 2008
This past weekend I accidentally startled a white-tailed deer fawn (Odocoileus virginianus) that was resting in some tall grass. I was able to snap a few shots before it ran off into the woods (I think the third one is the most impressive).
I also found a femur and part of the hip of a small…