Beebesaurus

I finally got my copy, Beebe’s copy, of his book Our Search  for a Wilderness, with his bookplate. The seller thought it was an iguana, but I knew it was a sketch of a possible “pre-Archaeopteryx” avian ancestor he had imagined. In 1910. I think it was 2003 when they dug up Microraptor gui. The …

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#feathersdammit#FEATHERS

Pluvi Tweets about this fantastic photo of Cassowaries, and once again damns the lizards of Jurassic Park. Early adapters  can risk looking weird, but those who cling to the old paradigm too long can come to look like Flat – Earthers…

New Toy

Supposedly Archaeopteryx— but except for the lack of the inner “killer claw” more of a typical feathered Theropod like Deinonychus. Also see A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds.

Cryptic Cats

I always like finding new species, and am fascinated by “cryptic” ones that look just like others but have different DNA. (Are there really SEVEN Red Crossbills?) Not every species is really one, and if you obsess on the subject it will drive you mad. I like to argue and define, but my not quite …

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Teaser

Would you consider these cats the same species? Thoughts on this and much more starting  tomorrow. Returning soon to full service– the books go slowly, but too many good things to share… (And Annie D– recognize these creatures?)

Why Quammen’s Spillover is worth Your Time

David Quammen’s new book Spillover, on emergent diseases; or more specifically, on emergent zoonoses, came out a few months ago to a series of middling good but somehow lukewarm reviews. I vehemently disagree, but it takes a bit of unfolding. Why do some readers find such a book fascinating while others find it dull? First: …

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Two rather biological quotes

From William Hamilton, the eccentric genius whose new biography is on the way, and from our old neighbor David Quammen, who chronicled Bill’s demise from the complications of malaria meds in his Spillover,  review on deck at last… Hamilton, from volume 3 of his collected works: “For me it seems that the universe only needs …

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