Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
April 4, 2008
This morning I set off for the MIND08: The Design and the Elastic Mind Symposium in New York City expecting discussions of the ways in which science influences art (and vice versa). What I got was... well... I don't really know what I got. The first two presentations I saw about the shape and…
April 4, 2008
I'm headed out to the MIND08: The Design and the Elastic Mind Symposium in New York, so things will probably be a little light here today. I have no idea when I'll make it home, but you can expect a post about the day when I get back.
To keep things going a little bit while I'm out then, I'd like…
April 4, 2008
Ailurus fulgens (See Darren's latest post about red pandas for more.)
April 3, 2008
A cartoon of Diplodocus from Simpson's letter. The accompanying text reads (starting at the head); Diplodocus longus; CRANIUM, or to use the technical term, BEAN; Beaming Orbs; Neck like a tail; The Rest of Him (or Her as the case may be); Diplodocus tootsies; Relative size of a man (Homo sap) of…
April 3, 2008
A famous illustration of a swamp-bound "Brontosaurus" by Charles R. Knight. From Dinosaurs by William Diller Matthew (1915).
As I've been slowly reorganizing the mass of technical papers on my computer (1,600+ and counting), I've occasionally blundered into an old paper or two that I had…
April 3, 2008
The reconstructions of Brachysuchus and Rhytiodon compared. From Case 1931.
In the winter of 1931, University of Michigan paleontologist E.C. Case commissioned artist Carleton W. Angell to bring two phytosaurs to life. Even though phytosaurs as a group were still poorly defined, Case recognized…
April 2, 2008
I love fieldwork, I really do. Even though I do enjoy sitting at my desk with stacks of books, sifting through the text to soak in the technical literature, there's nothing like getting out into the field to study organisms (or the remains of them) whenever I have the chance. I've only been able to…
April 2, 2008
Although the initial flurry of posts about framing has died down, the debate about what framing is, is not, or should be continues. In an effort to go back to square 1, Chris has posted up a basic rundown of why framing is important, item #6 on the list getting to the heart of why this issue is so…
April 2, 2008
The release of the horrid film Expelled slithers ever closer, and it seems that the people behind the film are trying to surround the film with a sense of patriotism to get their target audience (fundamentalist Christians) to go see the film in droves. Indeed, they want everyone to start saying…
April 2, 2008
Illustration, either through text or pictures, has always been important to explaining sciences like paleontology and evolution. In terms of pictoral illustration, books like Niles Eldredge's Fossils and Jean Baptiste de Panafieu's marvelous Evolution are stunning books that are as pleasing to look…
April 2, 2008
Although it started as part of holiday traditions in India, elephant polo has grown into a more regularly played sport, even having its own official association, the World Elephant Polo Association. Only Indian elephants (Elephas maximus) are used in the games, and the clip below shows the somewhat…
April 1, 2008
One of the first things I was ever told about what makes reptiles different from mammals was that reptile teeth were the same all throughout their jaws (called a homodont condition) and that mammal teeth were different throughout their jaws (called a heterodont condition). The fact that mammals had…
April 1, 2008
I suppose today is as good a day as any to break the news to you all, especially since Janet has just made an announcement similar to the one I'm about to make.
As many of you are aware, my academic career has been rather rough, my university not being of very much help in preparing me for a career…
April 1, 2008
A mother California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) lunges to bite her pup on the rear.
March 31, 2008
Someone has been kind enough to upload "Dinosaurs!: A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time!" to YouTube and it has definitely made me feel a bit nostalgic. Now the trouble is that I've got "Mesozoic Mind" stuck in my head...
March 31, 2008
I love the concept of paleo-labs in museums where visitors can watch fossil preparators and paleontologists work on fossils brought in from the field (I've heard that the one at the Page Museum in L.A. is the best, although the one at the Academy of Natural Sciences isn't too shabby, either). If…
March 31, 2008
The skeleton of "Nichollsia" borealis. The left forelimb and scapula were accidentally destroyed during excavation, but otherwise the skeleton was kept intact. From Druckenmiller & Russell 2008.
Last week I mentioned that a very well-preserved Early Cretaceous plesiosaur named "Nichollsia"…
March 30, 2008
A number of science bloggers, myself included, often write about the current manifestation of creationism that is presently popular, but lately I've been starting to wonder why creationism is so well-received in the first place. Despite the fair amount of attention Expelled has attained on science…
March 30, 2008
I was able to get a considerable amount of reading done this past week (I read Glorified Dinosaurs, Feathered Dragons, Fossils, and Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution cover-to-cover), but I ended up being greatly disappointed by one of the books I read. Although I wasn't expecting a popular…
March 29, 2008
Sometimes textbook cardboard refuses to disintegrate. According to scientific lore, T.H. Huxley singlehandedly slew Samuel "Soapy Sam" Wilberforce during a debate at Oxford in the sweltering heat of an 1860 summer, causing a woman to faint and sending Robert Fitzroy, (former captain of the HMS…
March 29, 2008
"Leonardo," the mummy dinosaur.
News of the well-preserved skeleton of the Edmontosaurus "Dakota" have been featured prominently in the news lately, but according to an announcement made this weekend, another exquisitely-preserved hadrosaur is going to be put on public display this coming…
March 29, 2008
Sometime in the night, Laelaps passed the 100,000 visit mark! Thank you all for helping to make this blog what it is now; it would be quite different without the support of so many readers and other writers.
This blog also just recently passed the 2,000 comment mark, and I'm trying to think of a…
March 29, 2008
It's amazing how things come together, sometimes. I mentioned that I wanted to start a series of "Profiles in Paleontology," and an opportunity to ask Robert T. Bakker some questions about the evolution, extinction, and daily lives of dinosaurs presents itself almost immediately. Expect to see the…
March 28, 2008
I find bones utterly fascinating, and I'm very happy to say that I have a spouse that understands and appreciates this. That's why when my wife spotted a dessicated deer carcass on the side of the road, she said "Do you want to stop and see it?" rather than "Eww!" It was what was left of young…
March 28, 2008
I thought the whole "digital pet" craze was over, but apparently it's just mutated in some disturbing ways. According to CNN, a game launched in Britain called "Miss Bimbo" is causing quite a bit of controversy. Perhaps meant to be satire of the "glamorous" lifestyles of female media stars, the…