Increasingly I have been arguing with public- health and some conservative friends re the bans on DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons. They seem to think that it is responsible for the increase in malaria in Africa. They mean well, but they are wrong. If DDt is used properly it is no threat– if it is …
Tag: Evolution
Darwin’s Letters
Annie D just introduced me to this treasure trove of Darwin’s letters. She quoted a very youthful (twelve- year old) Darwin on– washing: “Just as I was going, she said she must ask me not a very decentquestion, that was whether I wash all over every morning — no — thenshe said it was quite …
New Wolf Species
Darren has been too busy to post anything but amazing pictures, but he did email me a heads up on–!– not one but TWO new wolf species! “I’ve been following the story here (popular articles and shorter papers reporting the relevant discoveries have been appearing since 2003 at least), but finally we have the full …
Around The Web
This has to be the most… original… variation on the fish/ Darwin/ whatever sticker I have seen yet. HT Doc Hypercube for the site. I’m sorry, but I can’t warm to control freaks, especially ones that are known to freak out about people owning animals (ferrets in one case I know). This is Rudy in …
Book Pile
Dr. Hypercube mentioned his book pile in passing, and I told him I had not one but several. I love seeing what others are reading and asume readers of this site like the idea, too. So: Also a bookcase slice I took a while back. Obvious what part of the library this is taken in. …
Ancestry and Reversion
Lots of good thinking about the evolution of domestic animals this week. Odious started out with a post on Heck cattle, the Hagenbeck brothers’ attempt in pre- WW II Germany to breed a reconstructed aurochs. Comments came in from Chas and Doc Hypercube, who was also interested enough to post on Darren’s theories about dog …
Duck Sex Evolution
Lots of good bio stuff this week. Annie Pearse and Reid both sent me this NYT piece on the evolution of duck sex organs. A teaser: “When she first visited in January, the phalluses were the size of rice grains. Now many of them are growing rapidly. The champion phallus from this Meller’s duck is …
Sympatric
A real find for evo- wonks: a likely case of sympatric speciation in finches. “Examples of sympatric speciation in nature are rare and hotly debated. We describe the parallel speciation of finches on two small islands in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.” For a fascinating book on the subject– by …
Ancient Enemies
Proof that at least one species of prehistoric cat, Megantereon, hunted humans– it’s in the isotopes. “”Paranthropus robustus and the early Homo species,Homo ergaster, had a diet that reflected a mix of carbon isotopes, suggesting that they were omnivorous, which is similar to what modern humans are today,” said Lee-Thorp. “Knowing the hominid carbon isotope …
“Sicker than a Doorknob”
… was an expression that the late Ernie Pino, Mr. Malaprop of the Golden Spur, used to use. We won’t even touch on its etymology. But that is why I have been absent– I have been sick for a while and just got worn out. I hasten to say that I am feeling a good …