frivolous nonsense
tetrapodzoology | July 9, 2007
This photo depicts an assortment of hominid species, including most of the australopithecines and Homo ergaster (front left, facing camera). A neanderthal is at top right. The reconstructions (obviously, these are photos of the models) were produced by Wolfgang Schnaubelt and Nina Kieser in co-operation with GEO-magazine; an exhibition displaying the models opened in 1998 at the Landesmuseum, Darmstadt (Germany), which is where this photo was taken. Photo taken in 2005 by D. Martill.
Oh yeah, and...
... (given that it was only a matter of time before someone made the 'grad students' joke)…
tetrapodzoology | June 25, 2007
During recent weeks, I've written on a couple of occasions about my intention to get through the list of long-promised and nearly-finished articles: they include Amazing social life of the green iguana, Beluwhals and proto-narwhals, more on sebecosuchians, Triassic crurotarsans, Whence the onza, vampire pterosaurs, Piltdown, What did a dinoceratan do, astrapotheres and pyrotheres, tortoises tortoises tortoises... the list goes on. Right now I'm going to resist the urge to write a new article about baboons (more on them later), but am instead going to deal with something that needs doing as…
tetrapodzoology | June 3, 2007
What the hell, thought I may as well do more books before getting back to animals. Here is part of the 'mostly mammals' section of the library. Dan will be pleased, as there is a Carrington and a Swinton in there. Also L. Harrison Matthews, Hans Hvass, Kingdon, Guggisberg, and C. J. Harris. Spot the Hellboy compilation, Macdonald's The Velvet Claw, Thorburn's Mammals, Alcock and (ahem) Bagemihl. And here is where I went today...
tetrapodzoology | June 2, 2007
Given that it seems to be such an oh-so-fashionable thing to do in the blogosphere, I thought I may as well join the party and post random photos of some of my bookshelves. This collection is in the unsorted/random section of the library... clearly. Note the run of Palaeontology journals, Cogger's Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Weidensaul's The Ghost With Trembling Wings, Gans' Biomechanics (awesome for amphisbaenians) and Berta & Sumich's Marine Mammals. The tail-tip of our pet roboraptor peeps in at the bottom...
tetrapodzoology | May 10, 2007
I just couldn't resist covering this, sorry (though, technically speaking, it's old hat). On June 17th 2004, the reign of Hogzilla - an immense pig estimated to be nearly half a ton in weight and 3.7 m in length - was brought to an end. The animal 'rampaged' across southern Georgia until it was shot in a hunting preserve and, amusingly (for fans of Family Guy, the best thing on TV), the hunter's name is Chris Griffin. Now comes news that the story of Hogzilla will hit the big screen sometime in the near future...
After exhuming the carcass in October 2004, a team of researchers working for…
tetrapodzoology | March 12, 2007
This one's doing the rounds at the moment, you've probably already seen it. Funnily enough I have an old article on file (well, on my office wall) about a giant Red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris that attacked a bunch of cub scouts back in the 1980s.. it would have been about this size. The article was titled 'Tufty terror slashes sprogs' and was published in that most reliable of academic sources, The Sunday Sport. The author, if I remember correctly, was a Mr Ollocks, first name Bertie.
Thanks to Tony Butcher.