Gosh! The Boneyard Carnival has crossed the Atlantic for the first time today. So do accompany me on a smashing adventure through the palaeontological blogosphere, washed down with lashings and lashings of ginger pop.
First up, dinosaurs. Brian aka Laelaps is teasing us all, promising tales of tyrannosaurs. Expect much greatness from him soon. Meanwhile, Rebecca, the one and only Dinochick, is digging up Apatosaurus bones in Wyoming and being quoted in the newspapers.
Big in the news this week is the discovery of Mahakala omnogovae, and Zach at When Pigs Fly Returns and Carl at The Loom" have kindly obliged with illustrations and summaries of the discovery. Yes, Carl, it is beyond cute! For more dinosaurian eye-candy, have a look at Coherent Lighthouse for an excellent Pachyrhinosaurus mural.
Pondering Pikaia reports on the possible discovery of the origin of the Chixulub asteroid. For the mass extinction at the other end of the reign of the dinosaurs, check out The Dragon's Tales. The end-Triassic mass extinction is often forgotten, sandwiched between the very famous K-Pg extinction (as Jerry Harris said) and the Permian "Great Dying", when nearly all life became extinct, and this makes for fascinating reading. Thinking of volcanicity, although it isn't palaeontology, Chris at Highly Allochthonous has posted some awesome footage from Mount Etna.
Moving away from dinosaurs, Darren has managed to squeeze in a post between conferences about pterosaurs, complete with a brilliant painting by Mark Witton. I've left six weeks between conferences and I'm not presenting at either of them, so I don't know how Darren does it! You've already seen my take on the SVPCA conference, but Darren has also obliged (with a much clearer photo).
Leaving diapsids behind, you must check out Laelaps' The branching bush of horse evolution. The evolution of horses is one of the better documented in the fossil record, but it still very much deserves a closer look. As I've often advised with Brian's essay posts, print it off and curl up with a cup of tea to read it. Moving to the primate branch of the mammal tree, Greg Laden has summarised the recent paper on the evolution of colour. As one of many millions of Western women who have a real love of the colour pink, I have hoped that it's not just down to culture, and perhaps it isn't. And to one very special primate. Lucy, our most famous ancestor, is on tour. Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority went to see her.
Phew. Over halfway through my list!
Scoot over to Catalogue Of Organisms, where Chris has a great description of the Rhodocrinitidae. Crinoids are one of my favourite invertebrate fossils (so easy to find in the Carboniferous limestones of North Yorkshire), and a fascinating organism to watch in motion. And he got in just before the deadline with tubular fossils. Serpulids, gastropods and hyoliths, to name but a few. Well worth a read, especially for the vertebrate palaeontologist who gets bogged down in their own clade a little too often (I'm as guilty as anyone else).
Doctor Vector is ANGRY. VERY ANGRY. Read his rant about museums to find out why. Slightly less sweary but no less effective is Laelaps' most recent sciencey post. Plenty of fossil photos and, as always, quotes from the great and the good. Brian has also talked about convergent versus parallel evolution, and the importance of admiring nature in all its forms. See, I'm making up for his modesty in previous weeks by making sure he gets five weeks' worth of posts in here. I responded to the "Grandeur" post, with the story of Hopalong Cassidy.
A newcomer to the Boneyard, but very welcome, is Fresh Brainz, with the life story of Alfred Russel Wallace. And Doctor Vector is back again pondering the ethics of selling genus names.
Something a bit light-hearted to finish. The Bayblab boys are asking what sort of student you are. Nice to know that there's nothing wrong with my late start-late night style of study. Neil at Microecos has found inspiration in an earlier post of mine, and dug out more dino-tunes for our listening pleasure. And have some lolraptors, courtesy of Secretcode.
Finally, a quick plug for the new Trilobite Clothing CafePress shop. There are some funky designs on here - I know at least one palaeontologist in upstate New York who will probably bounce in her seat, and may even squeal "woot!" when she sees everything, and I envisage myself buying a wealth of dinosaur-themed baby kit for my friends' lad.
And relax. It's a long one this week, but how do you decide between so many excellent posts? Palaeontologists are a very talented lot, you know...
Big in the news this week is the discovery of Mahakala omnogovae, and Zach at When Pigs Fly Returns and Carl at The Loom" have kindly obliged with illustrations and summaries of the discovery. Yes, Carl, it is beyond cute! For more dinosaurian eye-candy, have a look at Coherent Lighthouse for an excellent Pachyrhinosaurus mural.
Pondering Pikaia reports on the possible discovery of the origin of the Chixulub asteroid. For the mass extinction at the other end of the reign of the dinosaurs, check out The Dragon's Tales. The end-Triassic mass extinction is often forgotten, sandwiched between the very famous K-Pg extinction (as Jerry Harris said) and the Permian "Great Dying", when nearly all life became extinct, and this makes for fascinating reading. Thinking of volcanicity, although it isn't palaeontology, Chris at Highly Allochthonous has posted some awesome footage from Mount Etna.
Moving away from dinosaurs, Darren has managed to squeeze in a post between conferences about pterosaurs, complete with a brilliant painting by Mark Witton. I've left six weeks between conferences and I'm not presenting at either of them, so I don't know how Darren does it! You've already seen my take on the SVPCA conference, but Darren has also obliged (with a much clearer photo).
Leaving diapsids behind, you must check out Laelaps' The branching bush of horse evolution. The evolution of horses is one of the better documented in the fossil record, but it still very much deserves a closer look. As I've often advised with Brian's essay posts, print it off and curl up with a cup of tea to read it. Moving to the primate branch of the mammal tree, Greg Laden has summarised the recent paper on the evolution of colour. As one of many millions of Western women who have a real love of the colour pink, I have hoped that it's not just down to culture, and perhaps it isn't. And to one very special primate. Lucy, our most famous ancestor, is on tour. Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority went to see her.
Phew. Over halfway through my list!
Scoot over to Catalogue Of Organisms, where Chris has a great description of the Rhodocrinitidae. Crinoids are one of my favourite invertebrate fossils (so easy to find in the Carboniferous limestones of North Yorkshire), and a fascinating organism to watch in motion. And he got in just before the deadline with tubular fossils. Serpulids, gastropods and hyoliths, to name but a few. Well worth a read, especially for the vertebrate palaeontologist who gets bogged down in their own clade a little too often (I'm as guilty as anyone else).
Doctor Vector is ANGRY. VERY ANGRY. Read his rant about museums to find out why. Slightly less sweary but no less effective is Laelaps' most recent sciencey post. Plenty of fossil photos and, as always, quotes from the great and the good. Brian has also talked about convergent versus parallel evolution, and the importance of admiring nature in all its forms. See, I'm making up for his modesty in previous weeks by making sure he gets five weeks' worth of posts in here. I responded to the "Grandeur" post, with the story of Hopalong Cassidy.
A newcomer to the Boneyard, but very welcome, is Fresh Brainz, with the life story of Alfred Russel Wallace. And Doctor Vector is back again pondering the ethics of selling genus names.
Something a bit light-hearted to finish. The Bayblab boys are asking what sort of student you are. Nice to know that there's nothing wrong with my late start-late night style of study. Neil at Microecos has found inspiration in an earlier post of mine, and dug out more dino-tunes for our listening pleasure. And have some lolraptors, courtesy of Secretcode.
Finally, a quick plug for the new Trilobite Clothing CafePress shop. There are some funky designs on here - I know at least one palaeontologist in upstate New York who will probably bounce in her seat, and may even squeal "woot!" when she sees everything, and I envisage myself buying a wealth of dinosaur-themed baby kit for my friends' lad.
And relax. It's a long one this week, but how do you decide between so many excellent posts? Palaeontologists are a very talented lot, you know...
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