Superoceras

"Extinction is the rule.  Survival is the exception." Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience I am ashamed to say that it's been over a year since I've posted to this blog.  That's pitiful, and I'm ready to do something about it.  For a while, I wasn't sure what that something was.  Maybe I'm still not. But Superoceras will be undergoing some changes in the next few months, and as I ge…

Another semester has started, which means back to the books for me.  But three weeks in, I'm pretty excited about the course I'm taking, the material I'll be learning, and the discussions I'll be a part of with my class and professor.  Last week we talked a little about deep time (in relation to some other topics I'm going to be covering in greater detail soon), and I realized how difficult of a …

A nesting pair of osprey,  reunited after separating for the winter and living it up down ol' South America way. It's no secret that I love the Chesapeake Bay. And while nothing beats getting out on the water, sometimes there are a lot of exciting things happening right above it as well. Back in March while on an Alternative Break trip with the University of Maryland, I was lucky enough to catch …

One of the things I love to do most is get out into nature.  And since you can't (and shouldn't, really) always bring nature home with you, I love to take pictures.  Plants, critters, landscapes; they're all waiting to get captured by the lens.  And with the advent of digital photography, huge memory cards, and the ability to auto-focus, I find myself with lots of photos of wild things and wild p…

You're in your vehicle, being guided along the electric track back towards the Visitor's Center.  Things didn't go as well as they could have today, but you got to pet a Triceratops , so that's pretty cool.  All of a sudden, the vehicle stops.  You remain calm, and figure you'll be moving again in no time.  But the kid next to you can't figure out how to turn a flashlight off, and the next thing …

The most adorable thing I've ever seen. I may not like it when they eat all my birdseed, but I've always had a soft spot for squirrels.  In fact, I'm quite fond of them. And what better way to show that fondness than by observing Squirrel Appreciation Day. Celebrated annually on January 21st, it's simply a day to keep our furry friends in mind, and even give them a hand (or paw).  As squirrels do…

Today was like most Mondays.  I got up, got ready for work, sat at my desk, and took care of business. But as I responded to e-mails, took calls, and finished a few projects, I realized that in three weeks, I'll be back in classes.  I'll have a lot less time on my hands to spend away from course readings, writing papers, and the day to day affairs of a home owning nine-to-fiver.  Right now, I hav…

"For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America." Benjamin Franklin, 1784 An Eastern wild turkey hen, photographed at Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. What's for dinner tonight?  Well for many citizens of the United States, it will be dinosaur.  Turkey is the cornerstone of the Thanksgiving meal, an…

Back in early May, I decided to give myself a birthday present and do something beneficial for my yard and wildlife by planting a butterfly garden.  I spent a large part of the summer tweeting about the Maryland native plants that I chose to attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, but wanted to share a little more of the story here. I took what was the area I had been using as a tree nursery…

I now have at least a dozen paleo-art related projects that I've been really excited for, started, and then left on the back burner.  This is one of the more recent that I had hoped to have done for the latest ART Evolved gallery, but alas, still just a work in progress.  Meant as a tribute to the recent series 7 episode of Doctor Who titled "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", I had hoped to surround the…

Alright boys and girls.  It's been too long.  I shame myself. And as Earth Science week begins with the 72nd SVP Annual Meeting and National Fossil Day right around the corner, I figure I'd better get on the ball.  I will be in Raleigh, and I hope to see many of you there.  But if you can't find me in the convention center, and I don't harass you to buy a raffel ticket, look for (one of) the (man…

Image used with respect to the copyright holders, the BBC .  From their lovely online gallery . I've been a horrible blogger, artist, and Whovian lately.  But all that will hopefully change soon.  In the meantime, check out what Brian Switek and Marc Vincent have to say about " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship " over at Dinosaur Tracking and Love in the Time of Chasmosaurus , respectively.  And check out…

A sand fiddler crab emerges from his burrow. Photographed at North Peninsula State Park, Florida . In the last post (and quite some time ago) I wrote about how closely connected our world is to off-world things. The Sun, Moon, and tides are all non-living components of the natural world that interact with one another.  But they also interact with many living components as well.  In fact, there ar…

The last two weekends in Maryland have started out with very powerful Friday evening storms. The derecho that took place last week was crazy.  Strong winds and powerful thunderstorms surged as they moved from the midwest to the Mid-Atlantic coast.  But I was inland for it.  I can only imagine what it was like here at the beach.  During a bad, long lasting storm, consistently strong winds would ca…

One of my favorite shorebirds is by far the brown pelican ( Pelecanus occidentalis ).  It is small in comparison to the other members of its genus, and it is a fairly common bird in my neck of the woods.  But that makes them no less interesting.  They also have a relatively rich fossil record.  Fossil Pelecanus are known from the Early Oligocene around 30 million years ago, and by that point they…

Thalassa! Thalassa! Time for a holiday! This week I'll be spending my days by the beach and bay, and am looking forward to a little relaxation, plenty of time outdoors, and a chance to share it with you all. The sea, home of our earliest ancestors, has always held a certain appeal to me.  While our more recent ancestors may have moved away from it for more terrestrial way of life, there are many …

Lonesome George in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Center on Isla Santa Cruz. In December 1971 , the last Pinta Island tortoise ( Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni ) was discovered in the Galápagos.  This solitary male would come to be known as "Lonesome George", and he would spend the rest of his days serving as an international symbol for conservation.  As the last of his subspecies, much e…

It's been a long time since I've done an ISW, but this video from MinutePhysics was so great, I had to bring it back. Open Letter to the Universe , by Minute Physics , from YouTube . Simple, entertaining videos explaining what can be rather complex ideas about science.  Love it.  This is what the Interwebs were made for.  Just throw a few cats in there, and you're covered. And while on the subjec…