Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
laelaps
Posts by this author
April 10, 2008
Charles R. Knight's Robert Bruce Horsfall's restoration of Thoatherium as it appeared in the book A History of Land Mammals In The Western Hemisphere (many thanks to Dan Varner for providing the image).
Convergent evolution is an absolutely amazing phenomenon. Why do creatures, both closely and…
April 10, 2008
If you like weird herps, this is a good week for you.
Scientists working in Borneo have discovered that the frog Barbourula kalimantanensis has no lungs. Although the amphibian was discovered three decades ago, it is so rare that the only specimen that was collected was not dissected in order to…
April 9, 2008
One of Charles R. Knight's paintings of Smilodon fatalis, this one menacing a giant sloth stuck in tar (off panel).
There are few fossil mammals that are as impressive as the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis, but despite it's fearsome dentition some recent reports have suggested it was more of…
April 9, 2008
The reviews for Expelled are starting to come in, and even FOX News' Roger Friedman has panned the film. You'll have to scroll down a little bit to see the review (Mariah Carey's new album beat Stein in terms of importance), but here's a snippet to give you an idea of what Friedman thinks of the…
April 9, 2008
Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller, left), Cheeta (center), and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan, right)
Today Cheeta, the world's oldest chimpanzee, celebrates his 76th birthday. He is most famous for his role in a number of Tarzan films, and his last big screen appearance was as "Chee Chee" in 1967's Dr.…
April 9, 2008
He lectured on the Cavern of Torquay, the now famous Kent's Cavern. He paced like a Franciscan Preacher up and down behind a long show-case, up two steps, in a room in the old Clarendon. He had in his hand a huge hyena's skull. He suddenly dashed down the steps-- rushed, skull in hand, at the first…
April 9, 2008
If you enjoyed this week's interview with paleontologist Robert Bakker, then you'll definitely want to stop by the new blog of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Beyond Bones. In addition to posts from people covering all aspects of the museum, Bakker will contribute to the blog as well, so I…
April 9, 2008
Surprise, surprise; a recent poll found that the most popular book in America is the Bible. Gone With the Wind, the Lord of the Rings series, The Stand, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atlas Shrugged, and Catcher in the Rye all wound up in the top 10, as well, but what was truly disconcerting was that Dan…
April 9, 2008
I haven't yet been up to write personal responses to everyone who e-mailed me yesterday, but I deeply appreciate the support many of you provided. I'm feeling a bit better now that I can at least see a glimmer of light at the end of the undergraduate tunnel, and I most certainly keep on writing no…
April 9, 2008
Zalophus californianus
This photo was taken two years ago during a visit to Sea World, Orlando. The sea lion pictured here must have been an old animal that used to perform, as when my wife and I waved to it as a joke, it waved back. Indeed, the best part of the day was throwing of few sardines…
April 8, 2008
In honor of the centennial anniversary of 1908 Conference of Governors, governors from around the country are going to meet at Yale on April 18 for a conference on global climate change, the group hoping to solidify local and federal initiatives to combat global warming. Among those present will be…
April 8, 2008
The skull of Raeticodactylus filisurensis. From Stecher 2008.
On April first I wrote about heterdonty in lizards, dinosaurs, and crocodylians, but it was no April Fool's Day joke; mammals aren't the only animals that have differently-shaped teeth throughout their jaws. I should have waited just…
April 8, 2008
The other day I wrote about reconstructions of Camarasaurus made in the 1920's by H.F. Osborn, C.G. Mook, and W.K. Gregory at the AMNH based upon previously collected material obtained by E.D. Cope. Dan Varner was kind enough to send me an image of the reconstruction and to point out that copy of…
April 7, 2008
Dr. Robert Bakker is one of the most famous paleontologists working today, an iconoclastic figure who has played a leading role of rehabilitating our understanding of dinosaurs from the inception of the "Dinosaur Renaissance" through the present. He is currently the curator of paleontology for the…
April 7, 2008
According to this CNN report, a 27-year-old man hurled a hedgehog at a 15-year-old-boy for some reason that is left opaque in the article. The man is being charged with assault, although it's unknown if he'll also face animal cruelty charges (the hedgehog was dead when the police picked it up).
April 7, 2008
The latest edition of The Boneyard is up at Greg Laden's blog. The next edition will be at Archaezoology on April 19.
[Thanks to Will for the correction]
April 6, 2008
I'm nearly finished with Lucy, but before I close the book I thought I would share Owen Lovejoy's hypothesis about the extinction of dinosaurs as related by Don Johansen. Keep in mind that the book was first published in 1982 when ideas about what killed the dinosaurs were legion;
[Also, for some…
April 6, 2008
A random selection of what I've been listening to lately;
Thrice - "Stare at the Sun"
Jack's Mannequin - "Dark Blue"
Mae - "On Top"
Over It - "Siren on the 101"
Bad Religion - "New Dark Ages"
April 6, 2008
The New York Times has a new article out looking at stress and bloggers, particularly in the case of professional bloggers who pull down five and six figure salaries. When you're publishing things yourself, it's hard work to provide high-quality content quick enough so that you're first to a story…
April 6, 2008
Camarasaurus is an unappreciated sauropod. It wasn't the heaviest or longest of the earth-shaking dinosaurs, but the blunted skull and large teeth of the Jurassic sauropod indicate that it had a different lifestyle than the more famous Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. In 1920, paleontologists at the…
April 5, 2008
Last week I looked at reconstructions of Diplodocus (both humorous and scientific) by Oliver Hay and G.G. Simpson. After rifling through my collection of papers, I came upon a description of Diplodocus by H.F. Osborn and thought I would continue the trend I had set earlier.
In 1897, the AMNH sent a…
April 5, 2008
This coming Monday I'll be putting up the first in what I hope will be a long series of interviews with paleontologists, and I'm setting the bar high with Bob Bakker. The predatory habits of Tyrannosaurus, the relationship of Dracorex to Pachycephalosaurus, and the current evolution v. creationism…
April 4, 2008
The next Boneyard is going to be up at Greg Laden's place on Sunday, so if you've got something you want to be included get it to him or me within the next 24 hours. The carnival is also in need of a host for April 19th, so if you're up to it just let me know in an e-mail or here in the comments.
April 4, 2008
Between 2005 and 2007, USGS scientists studying black and grizzly bears captured video footage of the carnivores rubbing up against trees. Scent marking might be part of why the bears are exhibiting this behavior, but they probably just need a good scratch every now and then, too;
LiveScience…