paleontology
laelaps | April 21, 2008The newest edition of The Boneyard went up this past Saturday at Archaeozoology. It's a good one, so make sure you check out what's been going on in the paleo subsection of the blogosphere. The 19th edition will go up at Familiarity Breeds Content on May 3rd.
laelaps | April 18, 2008The next edition of the paleo-carnival The Boneyard is going to be up at Archaezoology tomorrow, so send in your entries there or to me a.s.a.p.! I'm also in need of a host for the following edition on May 3rd, so please let me know if you're interested in hosting.
laelaps | April 17, 2008"The Spine" by Michael Spence (collected in The Spine) [hat-tip to Vasha for sending this along]
"The fossilised vertebrae of a large dolphin-like reptile dating from 150 million years ago were recently discovered in this mining town." -- Australian travel brochure
The ichthyosaur,
Like ancient water
It flashed through,
Dried to dust. A few
Pieces of spine
Dug from a mine
At Coober Pedy
Are the only
Remains. They glint
Iridescent
Blue, purple;
Bits of gold fill
Every crack.
The Jurassic
Faded: the reptile
Changed to opals.
Thirty-three
Vertebrae
Like those here --
One for each year
I've lived…
laelaps | April 16, 2008
The extinct "saber-toothed" creodont Hyaenodon.
During the middle Eocene, about 49 to 37 million years ago, the largest meat-eating mammal from what would become of the Wind River Formation of Wyoming was Malfelis badwaterensis. Although a cursory glance at the fossil remains of this animal might suggest it was related to dogs or cats (which are living carnivorans), Malfelis was actually a creodont, belonging to an extinct group of meat-eating mammals that may have shared a common ancestor with the carnivorans (see the comment by johannes below). Although people who are not actively…
gregladen | April 15, 2008That elephants have an aquatic ancestry has been suspected for some time now. Moreover, the idea of elephant aquatic origins and elephant origins in general is part of a growing realization that many of the world's aquatic mammals originated in a couple of regions of Africa that were for a very long time enormous inland seas (but that is another story I won't cover here).
The earlier evidence came from observation of the ontogeny of the kidneys in elephants, during which the kidneys take on the characteristics that are found in aquatic mammals generally. That research was published in 1999…
gregladen | April 14, 2008When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time is a book by Michael Benton on the Permian Extinction now out in paperback. From the press release:
Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact sixty-five million years ago, which killed half of all species then living.
Far less well-known is a much bigger catastrophe - the greatest mass extinction of all time - which occurred 251 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period. In this cataclysm, at least ninety per cent of life was destroyed, both on land, including sabre-toothed…
laelaps | April 14, 2008Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) have a bad reputation; they look strange, they have an unnerving repertoire of yips and yowls, the females have a pseudo-penis, and they are often portrayed as ruthless scavengers. I actually like hyenas quite a bit, and although not much can be done about their looks, they are not simply mangy scavengers that steal kills from the more "noble" lions (Panthera leo). Alone or in groups, hyenas are effective hunters, and lions try to steal hyena kills just as hyenas will compete for lion kills (the relationship between the two carnivores varies from place to place…
grrlscientist | April 12, 2008tags: What Bugged the Dinosaurs?, dinosaurs, insects, disease, George Poinar, Roberta Poinar, book review
I grew up with a fondness for dinosaurs. Their unbelievable size, their peculiar shapes, and their undeniable absence from the world as I knew it were all sources of fascination. But never once did I think of the dinosaurs as being plagued by biting insects and other blood-sucking arthropods; mosquitoes, flies, ticks and mites were creatures that haunted camping trips, picnics and attics, not the majestic dinosaurs! But according to the new book, What Bugged the Dinosaurs? Insects,…
laelaps | April 12, 2008
The skeleton of Daeodon (Dinohyus), an entelodont.
There are few fossil mammals that are as scary-looking as entelodonts. Justifiably called "Hell Pigs" in the book Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway, the long, toothy skulls of entelodonts are certainly imposing. This extinct group of pig relatives didn't just look fierce, though; the construction of their jaws and taphonomic evidence suggests that they had a taste for flesh as well as for plant foods.
Although entelodonts were most likely omnivores, their skulls show a variety of features that seem to be convergent with carnivores, especially…
laelaps | April 12, 2008Over the last few months I've tried to keep up to date on "Aetogate," and those of you who have been following the subject know that there has yet to be any satisfactory resolution to the problem (see here, here, here, and here to catch up, as well as the Aetogate information hub here). The Albuquerque Journal considers the story important enough to keep following, and in the wake of an inadequate inquiry by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, most people are now waiting on the response of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology ethics committee (the international aspect of the…
clock | April 11, 2008Brian Switek has managed to grab some big blogospheric scoops - he interviewed Robert Bakker and Jack Horner and promises more such interviews in the future.
laelaps | April 11, 2008
Dr. Jack Horner is one of the most recognized paleontologists working in the field today, and is presently the Ameya Preserve Curator of Paleontology and Montana State University Regents' Professor of Paleontology. He has authored numerous books, papers, and popular articles, and during his career has named the dinosaurs Maiasaura peeblesorum, Orodromeus makelai, Hypacrosaurus stebingeri, Prosaurolophus blackfeetensis, Gryposaurus latidens, and Brachylophosaurus goodwini, although he is probably most well-known for his studies of the eggs & young of Maiasaura. This week I had the chance…
laelaps | April 11, 2008Presently only two genera of sloths exist, the two-toed sloths (Choloepus) and the three-toed sloth (Bradypus). They are the remaining vestiges of a much great past diversity, including many of the giant forms like Megatherium that occupied niches both in the trees and on the ground. As with most fossil mammals, though, the delicate inner ear bones of extinct ground sloths have rarely been preserved, but a new paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology attempts to analyze what the fossil sloths Glossotherium robustum and Lestodon armatus could hear based upon some well-…
laelaps | April 11, 2008Over the past week I've been trying to bring some resolution into my plans for the next year by straightening out the remainder of my coursework and my writing goals for the year, but there are still a few things that are up in the air. As it stands now, though, I'm probably not going to make enough money to go to SVP this year, even though I was certainly looking forward to it. Perhaps things will change over the next few months, but going to the conference is something of a luxury compared to keeping the lights on and paying for my education.
laelaps | April 10, 2008This has been a big week for Laelaps. On Monday I posted an interview with Bob Bakker, and I'll close out the work week with an interview I just conducted with Jack Horner. I'll have it up early tomorrow, so be sure to check back here to see it for yourself!
laelaps | 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 distantly related, sometimes develop the same body types or adaptations? Saber-teeth are my most favorite convergent character, but I recently found out about another case of convergence that is just as interesting. In South America there used to be a group of animals called Litopterns, the most…
laelaps | 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 a pussycat when it came to bite strength. This seems to be counter-intuitive; how could such a fearsome-looking animal be associated with the term "weak"? Incredulity aside, it has become apparent that the bite of Smilodon wasn't as strong as that of some other carnivores (extinct and extant), yet…
laelaps | April 9, 2008If 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 definitely would encourage you to keep your eye on it.
Speaking of blogging paleontologists, the Museum of the Rockies has its own Bone Blog where you can learn about what Jack Horner and his students have been studying lately. I definitely want to try and feature an interview with Horner here in the…