Blog Profile / Tetrapod Zoology
| URL : | http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Biology / Zoology | |
| Posts on Regator: | 651 | |
| Posts / Week: | 2.4 | |
| Archived Since: | February 24, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Tetrapod Zoology has moved
You are currently at the old, defunct version of Tet Zoo. To see new stuff (from July 2011 to present), click here. See you there.
Goodbye Tet Zoo ver 2. This really is the end.
On January 23rd 2007, Tet Zoo ver 2 - the ScienceBlogs version of Tetrapod Zoology - graced the intertoobz for the first time. There was rapturous applause, swooning, the delight of millions. Looking back at it now, that very first ver 2 post is rather odd. Show More Summary
Inside Nature's Giants: polar bear special
So sorry for the very short notice. The following airs here in the UK tonight (Thursday 30th June 2011), Channel 4. I look forward to it.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
Geckos love Tet Zoo
If you didn't know, I've been away. The last four articles that have appeared here were all scheduled to publish in my absence. I've been in Romania and Hungary where I had a great time - saw lots of neat animals (fossil and living) and hung out with some neat people. Show More Summary
Hoopoes and woodhoopoes
Yet more from that book project (see the owl article for the back-story, and the hornbill article for another of the book's sections).
Hornbills, hoopoes and woodhoopoes are all similar in appearance and have been classified together in a group termed Bucerotes. Show More Summary
What does it feel like to get bitten by a ground hornbill, I hear you ask?
Suppose you're interested in the anatomy and biology of ground hornbills. Now suppose that you get the chance to make physical contact with one of these awesome birds. Here, at least, is the opportunity to get bitten!! Surely you've always wanted to know what it feels like when a ground hornbill bites you. Show More Summary
An introduction to hornbills
More from the bird book. For the back-story, see the previous owls article.
Hornbills are among the most distinctive and spectacular of Old World tropical birds. Often flaunting bright colours and sometimes reaching huge sizes (the largest species have wingspans of 1.8 m), they're well known for their enormous, curved bills and large bony crests. Show More Summary
When books die. And owls. I don't mean "when owls die"... I just mean: owls. As in: this article is mostly about owls.
There's something they don't tell you about freelance writing. It's about all the fails: the many, many projects that get pitched, worked on and made into proper presentations that then get sent to book fairs, interested companies and so on, but ultimately explode on the launch pad, or die a slow, lingering death. Show More Summary
The bearded pigs
One of the most remarkable pigs has to be the Bornean bearded pig Sus barbatus, one of two currently recognised bearded pig species. The other is the much smaller, shorter-faced Palawan bearded pig S. ahoenobarbus of the Philippines: genetic work suggests that S. Show More Summary
Giant owls vs solenodons
Here's something you don't see very often...
This illustration (by Peter Trusler) shows the large, recently extinct Cuban owl Ornimegalonyx oteroi battling with a solenodon. Ornimegalonyx has been mentioned here a few times before (use the search bar), but nothing substantive, sorry. Show More Summary
Lurdusaurus: stupidest looking iguanodontian, and... a pneumatic ornithischian at last?
One of the strangest Mesozoic dinosaurs ever described has to be the African iguanodontian Lurdusaurus arenatus, named in 1999 for remains from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Gadoufaoua, Niger (Taquet & Russell 1999). The Elrhaz...Show More Summary
A cryptozoology meeting at the Zoological Society of London
On July 12th 2011 a very interesting thing is happening - interesting, that is, if you're interested in the academic evaluation of cryptozoological data. ZSL (the Zoological Society of London) is hosting the meeting 'Cryptozoology: science or pseudoscience?'. Show More Summary
How gekkotans evolved into predatory 'snakes' (gekkotans part XII)
In the previous article I provided brief reviews of all currently recognised pygopodid 'genera'. Except one. I've left this one until last, largely because it's the most spectacular and (arguably) most fascinating pygopodid. We've seen...Show More Summary
Blindsnake mimics, scaly-foots and javelin lizards (gekkotans part XI)
I really want to get these pygopodid articles finished. Actually, I really want to get the whole gekkotan series finished: the end is in sight and I know I'll get there eventually. In the previous articles on pygopodids (part of theShow More Summary
The pygopodid radiation: diverse diets and the 'pygopodids got there first' hypothesis (gekkotans part X)
The previous article - part of my now lengthy series on gekkotan squamates (see links below) - provided an introduction to the neat and fascinating near-limbless Australasian gekkotans known as the pygopodids. Disclaimer: the group being discussed here is 'Pygopodidae of tradition', not Pygopodidae as currently formulated. Show More Summary
Meet the pygopodids (gekkotans part IX)
One of my shortish-term goals at Tet Zoo has been to complete the series on gekkotan lizards I started in April 2010 (see below for links to previous parts). We continue with that series here, and this time round we're going to lookShow More Summary
It's weird. It's spiky. It needs you to identify it.
Once again I'm in that frustrating position so beloved of bloggers: where life and work just doesn't let you fritter away all those 'spare' hours preparing lengthy blog articles. In the mean time, here's one of those 'mystery pictures' to identify. Show More Summary
The Mersey monster is photographed!!!
On May 24th 2011, photographer Mark Harrison took a few photos of the large marine creature he saw off the Wirral Peninsula, near Liverpool (UK). Harrison initially thought that the animal might be a seal, but then decided to put the photos online as a sort of joke. Show More Summary
Cambodia: now with dibamids!
Dibamids are a weird and very neat group of fossorial, near-limbless squamates that I've long planned to cover at Tet Zoo. Little is known about them and how they might relate to other squamates has long been the subject of debate (they might be close to amphisbaenians, but links with gekkotans, skinks and snakes have all been suggested in the past). Show More Summary
Squamozoic sneak-peek # 2
When unable to find time to do anything else, resort to posting Squamozoic sneak-peeks (previous example here)...
This scene - 'Riverbank ambush' - features a giant macro-predatory amphisbaenian and some surprised gekkotans. Colouring by Tim Morris. Feel free to discuss among yourself. Kinda busy right now... Read the comments on this post...