Posts

April 15, 2013

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4:53 PM | Episode 15: Micropalaeontology

Perhaps one of the most overlooked areas of palaeontology, within the public eye, is micropalaeontology. Micropalaeontology is an umbrella discipline, covering a diverse range of organisms, with representatives from many of the highest level biological groupings. Although small in size, microfossils prove invaluable for research into palaeoclimatology and are also one of the most commercially

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11:00 AM | “M” is for Mixodectes

“M” is for Mixodectes Mixodectes is a member of the mammalian Order Insectivora, which is a bunch of mammals grouped together because of they appear to be insect eaters. As it happens, this grouping is best considered a ‘grade’ rather … Continue reading →

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7:37 AM | Seriously, Mendeley people, what did you expect?

I think the most painful part of the Elsevier-eats-Mendeley deal has been watching good people acting as apologists for Elsevier and then feeling hurt when people don’t accept their protestations. You can see a good example (but far from the only one) in the comments to Danah Boyd’s post on her #mendelete. I don’t what [...]

April 14, 2013

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12:43 PM | The values of social media and blogging for academics

This was originally posted at: http://blogs.egu.eu/palaeoblog/?p=517 At this years European Geosciences Union General Meeting (Vienna), I’ve been asked to be on a panel discussion describing the ways in which I think using social media and blogging can enhance academic careers. Sometimes, … Continue reading →

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8:00 AM | They look like burrowing owls…

Stink Bug Saturday. It’s become a regular thing on this blog. I write a chapter every week to continue the story that started with a silly photo of a stink bug in my home office quite literally blocking my escape. … Continue reading →

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5:19 AM | Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A terebratulid brachiopod from the Middle Triassic of southern Israel

Sure, I could have picked a pristine shell from our collection, but I like the rugged character of this one. It is the terebratulid brachiopod Coenothyris oweni Feldman, 2002, from the lower Saharonim Formation (Middle Triassic) of Har Devanim, southern Israel. I picked it up, along with a dozen others, during our 2010 Israel expedition. [...]

April 13, 2013

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9:37 PM | Stink Bug – Chapter 5

I stared closely at the white cliff wall as I climbed down. It was crystalline and beautiful, like snowflakes compressed together. As I moved downward, different crystal surfaces lit up and twinkled in the sunlight. The cave entrance had all … Continue reading →

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7:33 PM | Expanding Your Horizons in Geology

Wooster, OH – The Wooster X-ray Lab hosted girls from the Expanding Your Horizons program, a series of workshops aimed at encouraging young women to pursue careers in the sciences. The geology workshop focused on minerals and their wide variety of uses. One popular use of minerals is in beaded jewelry. Our goal was to [...]

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4:40 PM | The evolution-or-revolution debate at the Oxford Union

I was really excited to get an invitation to the evolution-or-revolution debate in Oxford, partly for historical reasons. I thought the Oxford Union was where C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and their friends held various debates. Sadly, it turns out I was mistaken, and it was merely the stomping ground for a bunch [...]

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4:37 PM | On Group Selection

A reader picked up on my parenthesised comment on EO Wilson’s kin selection paper in this post, which led to a substantial e-mail conversation on group selection, which I will distill here to show you that the noise against group selection doesn’t hold much water anymore. Explaining the existence of altruism has always been one [...]

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12:00 PM | “L” is for Litocherus

“L” is for Litocherus Litocherus is a little mammal in the Order Erinaceomorpha. Modern members of this order include the completely adorable hedgehog. Prior to research in The Breaks, Litocherus lacunatus was known only from the Tiffanian (though the genus … Continue reading →

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7:01 AM | New Albany Shale Fossil

Reading the Indiana Department Geology and Natural Resources Twenty-First Annual Report W.S. Blatchley State Geologist 1896, I came across a plate image and description of the Parenchymophycus asphalticum found in the New Albany Shale of Clark and Floyd Counties in Indiana, USA. The New Albany Shale was named by a local geologist in the 1800s named William Borden. The shale dates to the Late Devonian Period.Below is an image of a New Albany Shale fossil that might be what is described in the […]

April 12, 2013

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9:26 PM | My opening statement at the Evolution Or Revolution debate

I mentioned earlier that I was in Oxford yesterday — mostly to participate in the debate at the Oxford Union, “Evolution or Revolution in Science Communication?” I was on the revolution side, with Jason Hoyt (PeerJ), Amelia Andersdotter (Swedish Pirate Party MEP) and Paul Wicks (Patientslikeme). The “evolution” side was represented by David Tempest (Elsevier), Graham [...]

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3:36 PM | Rooted in History. . .Remembering Wann Langston, Jr.

Perhaps it’s because we are a historical science. Maybe it’s a direct result of our small numbers. No matter what the cause, vertebrate paleontology has a rich oral history. Stories are passed down, from advisor to student, from colleague to …

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3:35 PM | How Do We Recognise Tool Use In Animals?

I got an e-mail asking about we recognise true tool use in animals. For me, two factors are the most important: flexible behaviour, and problem-solving. Both are linked: problem-solving requires flexible behaviour to be implemented. To demonstrate this, I will use the woodpecker finch, Cactospiza pallida, one of Darwin’s finches from the Galápagos. They grab [...]

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1:43 PM | Yorktown whale wrap-up

On Thursday we finished up our excavation of the Yorktown whale, racing to beat a weather front that was moving into the area and which would have almost certainly destroyed any exposed bone. We took out several jackets, including one … Continue reading →

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12:00 PM | “K” is for Krauseia

“K” is for Krauseia Krauseia is a multituberculate in the family Eucosmodontidae. Nine specimens of Krauseia clemensi are known from The Breaks. Prior to research in The Breaks, the distribution of Krauseia was limited to the Torrejonian. Findings from The … Continue reading →

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11:35 AM | When Mike Taylors collide

Yesterday I was in Oxford for the Rigour and Openness in 21st Century Science conference (web-site here, tweets here though they also include newer ones from Day 2 which is happening as I write this). There was a lot to enjoy about the day, including meeting Cameron Neylon of PLOS and Jason Hoyt of PeerJ, both for [...]

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6:00 AM | Friday Headlines: 4-12-13

Friday Headlines, April 12, 2013 THE LATEST IN THE GEOSCIENCES KENNECOTT TO KEEP REFINING AFTER HUGE SLIDE IN UTAH COPPER MINE I grew up in Salt Lake City. (I know what you’re thinking. The answer is no.) Kennecott Copper … Continue reading →

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2:31 AM | Minions

I leaned back in the stiff leather chair, gazing up at the ceiling. Casually, I spun the chair a little to the right, then a little to the left. The ceiling tiles bore no answer. I rubbed my hand across … Continue reading →

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2:17 AM | Maths and Biology Students: My take on EO Wilson’s essay

Last week, E. O. Wilson wrote this controversial Wall Street Journal essay that has set the biology blogosphere on fire, a fire that’s mostly headed towards Wilson. I don’t want to be left out of the fun and games, so I want to add my own opinion into the cauldron. Before doing so, I will [...]

April 11, 2013

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8:47 PM | Virtual Cascades Volcano Observatory in Wooster

Wooster, OH – We hosted a virtual visitor in today’s GeoClub seminar. Dave Ramsay, a geologist from the Cascades Volcano Observatory, connected with us via the web to tell us about the geology of Crater Lake. Dave and his colleagues have done fantastic work mapping the floor of Crater Lake. Crater Lake formed from the [...]

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12:00 PM | “J” is for Jepsenella

J is for Jepsenella Jepsenella is a member of the extinct order of mammals, the Cimolesta. There is currently quite a bit of argument about where the Cimolesta fits into the rest of the Class Mammalia. Some put them close … Continue reading →

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12:00 PM | All Yesterdays Contest Winners!

The time has come, friends. Some months ago, we asked for submissions for our very own All Yesterdays Contest. Since then, we've gotten a veritable tsunami of entries, and have had to winnow down a flood of excellent entries to a mere three. It's been an incredibly difficult task, fraught with hair pulling, gnashing of teeth, and quiet weeping in the night. But finally, the white smoke has lifted from the roof, the decisions are made, and out we come, bearing our choices for the winners of […]

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11:00 AM | Pyrite of the Waldron Shale

Pyrite crystals found in the Waldron Shale of Clark County Indiana. It is from the Silurian Period.

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10:17 AM | More sedimentology than you can shake a stick at

This was originally posted at: http://blogs.egu.eu/palaeoblog/?p=549 Welcome to Day 3 of the EGU Annual Meeting. Do check the Geology for Global Development page too for some cracking updates on the sessions, particularly on the more ‘applied’ side of the geosciences, by … Continue reading →

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12:13 AM | Yorktown whale day 3; the Navy to rescue!

I’ve been a bit concerned about this excavation. It’s supposed to start raining on Friday, and with the pit already only a few inches above the water table it will rapidly flood. We’ve been getting a lot of help from … Continue reading →

April 10, 2013

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6:36 PM | Calcite Filled Platystrophia Brachiopod

These images are of a broken open Platystrophia sp. brachiopod fossil. The picture reveals calcite crystals. This fossil was found in Bullitt County, Kentucky in Ordovician Period rock.

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6:06 PM | The Turtle That Wasn’t There

Last month I attended a TEDx symposium on the controversial prospect of “de-extinction.” All day long, I heard …

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5:46 PM | Idiot things that we we do in our papers out of sheer habit

Is there any justification for any of these practices other than tradition? Choosing titles that deliberately omit new taxon names. Slicing the manuscript to fit an arbitrary length limit. Squeezing the narrative into a fixed set of sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion). Discarding or combining illustrations to avoid exceding an arbitrary count. Flattening illustrations to [...]