Should I resurrect my blog from the dead, with a paleontology podcast?

Since I graduated, I did not have the university resources, nor the time to keep my blog going. I spent two years working as a consultant, before finding myself back in academia, teaching again full time. My return to teaching, and having a more flexible schedule allows me to field the possibility of returning to posting blogs. However, over the hiatus of four years, I've found that the internet is over abundant in blogs and personal posts, particularly in the field of paleontology. Rather I am tempted to try something a little more adventurous and start a paleontology podcast. Right now, I'm working on setting up the format for the podcast and how it will be produced. It is a lot of work, and with a heavy teaching schedule, research grants to write and interesting topics to explore, a podcast would be fun, but lots of work. What do you think? Interested in a paleontology podcast?

A temporary home

My previous server was retired, so I am keeping my blog going on blogspot. Since the summer is upon me. I should have updates in the near future.

Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be paleontologists...

Just like Willie Nelson's cowboy song, the life of a paleontologist is a rough one, and the pursuit of earning an income is being pitched out by smaller science budgets. Roy Plotnick, published a study of paleontology employment in the latest issue of Palaeontologia Electronica. What is most striking about his study is the high numbers of students and retired paleontologists in the United States and the small number of fully employed paleontologists. This study is a follow up study to the Flessa and Smith's (1997) study, which noticed a remarkable trend among major Universities and Colleges to staff only a single paleontologist, required to teach everything from the micro-fossils of the oceans, past climate change, the diversification of fossil plants, and the biology of dinosaurs in an ever more specializing scientific world. The prestige of these Universities and Colleges has fallen, but this lost of revenue is absorbed by the expanding "patentable" sciences, such as molecular biology, nanotechnology, engineering, and chemistry where industries maybe spawned in the local community. Plotnick's (2008) study reveals that there are only 56 full professors specialized in vertebrate paleontology teaching in the United States today. While this number is based on memberships to scientific societies, it does point to a failing view in society about the importance of paleontology to address scientific questions.

Plotnick, R. 2008. A somewhat fuzzy snapshot of employment in paleontology in the United States. Paleontologia Electronica Vol. 11 issue 1

The importance of fossil evidence

I pity the fool who does not realize the incredible record of past life that exists on this planet of ours. Or views that vast record as coming from a microscopic moment in time. It really does not matter what people think. It just pains me that they never learned to read the pages of the rock record in school. Like someone who never looked up at the sky to see the stars. There are those that get angry at such ignorance, others that entrench themselves in into a particular view. Debating like lawyers in front of a nonexistent jury and judge. All this bickering gets recorded in nauseating detail, such that someone who is slightly interest in the evolutionary history of the word, gets a heavy dose of this stupid squabbling. As if evolution is even up to be debated! I believe acting against us, is the ever growing departure from the natural world around us. We step through life seeing only a narrow strip of highway, the florescent light of a cubical office building, and the processed air and food that flows through our veins. Only a few fortunate souls go out and explore the world. They can see deep beyond our times into the deepest of moments in the past. If you are lucky enough to experience it, it has a mind dizzying effect. We are only a tiny pin-prick in the vastness of time. There is so much more! I implore you go out and explore! Find out what fossils have been found in your area, go to your local natural history museum and see what has been found. Mount your own trips to collect fossils, prove it to yourself that fossils exist and support an ever changing world!

A little late.....

New and exciting discoveries occurred in spurts and jumps as the new year begin, and with little time to report on these discoveries, I was left to quickly scratch my head and move onward toward my own research. Leaving the dreams of reporting on the new fossil discoveries of 2008 until I had a little more time. Hence, it is mid-way through the month of February and I have not yet made an entry into the Vertebrate Paleontology blog. Don’t fault me for this lack of attentiveness, as I have been thinking of changing the format of the blog. Either listing all the current vertebrate paleontology articles that come across my desk, with little commentary or become a Gonzo scientist, and offer discussion of my own ideas and thoughts on the subject. Having little time between teaching and writing my PhD dissertation, I neglected my blogging duties, and have let the site decay. Never fear. To make up for it, I have listed all the articles that have come out this year.

Enjoy:

Damiani,R.2008. A giant skull of the temnospondyl Xenotosuchus africanus from the Middle Triassic of South Africa and its ontogenetic implications. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (1): 75–84.

Esperante, R., L. Brand, K.E. Nick, O. Poma, M. Urbina. 2008. Exceptional occurrence of fossil baleen in shallow marine sediments of the Neogene Pisco Formation, Southern Peru. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257: 344-360.

Finarelli, J.A. 2008. Testing hypotheses of the evolution of encephalization in the Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia). Paleobiology 34(1): 35-45.

Friscia, A.R., B. V. Valkenburg, L. Spencer, J. Harris. 2008. Chronology and spatial distribution of large mammal bones in pit 91, Rancho La Brea. Palaios 23:35-42.

Godefroit,P., Hai, S., Yu, T., and Lauters, P. 2008. New hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the upper most Cretaceous of north− eastern China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (1): 47–74.

Heinrich, R.E., S.G. Strait, P. Houde . 2008. Earliest Eocene Miacidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) form Northwestern Wyoming. Journal of Paleontology 8(1):154-162.

Hwang, K. M.G. Lockey, M. Huh I.S. Paik. 2008. A reinterpretation of dinosaur footprints with internal ridges from the Upper Cretaceous Uhangri Formation, Korea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258: 59-70.

Kaim, A., Kobayashi, Y, Echizenya, H., Jenkins, R.G., and Tanabe, K. 2008. Chemosynthesis−based associations on Cretaceous plesiosaurid carcasses. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (1): 97–104.

Lazzari, V., P. Tafforeau, J.P. Aguilar, J. Michaux. 2008. Topographic maps applied to comparative molar morphology: the case of murine and cricetine dental plans (Rodentia, Muroidea). Paleobiology 34(1):46-64.

Matson, S.D. and D.L. Fox. 2008. Can oxygen isotopes from turtle bone be used to reconstruct paleoclimates? Palaios. 28:24-34.

Rana, R.S., Kumar, K., Escarguel,G., Sahni,A., Rose,K.D., Smith,T., Singh,H., and Singh, L. 2008. An ailuravine rodent from the lower Eocene Cambay Formation at Vastan, western India, and its palaeobiogeographic implications. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica53 (1): 1–14.

Rivals, F., Schulz, E., Kaiser, T.M. 2008. Climate-related dietary diversity of the ungulate faunas from the middle Pleistocene succession (OIS 14-12) at the Caune de L’Arago (France). Paleobiology. 34(1):117-127.

Sereno, P.C. and Brusatte, S.L. 2008. Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (1): 15–46.

Simmons, N.B., Seymour, K.L. Habersetzer, J. and Gunnell, G. 2008. Primitive Early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation. Nature. 451:818-820.

Valli, A.M.F. and Palombo, M.R. 2008. Feeding behaviour of middle-size deer from the Upper Pliocene site of Saint-Vallier (France) inferred by morphological and micro/mesowear analysis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257:106-122.

Zanazzi, A. and Kohn, M.J. 2008. Ecology and physiology of White River mammals based on stable isotope ratios of teeth. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257:22-37.

Tiny deer-like mammal gave rise to whales?

The origin of whales has been a hot and intense field of study for the last several years, when it became known that whales fall within the order Artiodactyla, based on molecular data and the presence of an uniquely shaped bone in the hind foot (the astragulus) which is shared by the most primitive whales and all living and extinct artiodactyls. Artiodactyls include numerous living mammals, such as cows, camels, deer, moose and hippos. Molecular studies pointed toward the hippos in particular as the closest living relative to whales, yet paleontologists poo-poo this idea, since hippos don't show up in the fossil record until rather recently. Instead paleontologists have pointed toward the mesonychids, large carnivorous hoofed mammals as the group to give rise to whales. Whether you are in the paleontology camp or molecular camp, both camps point toward rather large ancestors for whales. Yet the most primitive whales (Pakicetus, Ichthyolestes, Artiocetus and Rodhocetus) are medium sized mammals, yet differ completely from the most primitive artiodactyl known as Diacodexis, which is a tiny small deer-like mammal that appears at the base of the Eocene. Surely there is a missing gap somewhere here. In the latest issue of Nature, J. G. M. Thewissen and colleagues plug the gap with with another small-deer like mammal Indohyus. Unlike primitive whales, Indohyus lacks the specialized reduced teeth, has slender limbs, and is small. However, Dr. Thewissen and colleagues point toward a shared trait, a thickened medial lip of the auditory bulla at the base of the skull. Of course, whales take this trait to the extreme, with greatly thickened medial lips of the auditory bulla (called a involucrum). Other traits described in the article are higher crowned teeth, and the arrangement of the incisors. Stable isotope data, seems to indicate a possible aquatic diet, and the limb bones show a thickening of the cortical bone to increase weight in an aquatic setting.  Indohyus belongs to a family of artiodactyls called Roellidae, which are only known from the middle Eocene of Asia, part of the great diversification of artiodactyls toward the second half of the Eocene. It will be interesting if this alternative theory holds up to further scrutiny.

Thewissen et al. (2007). Whales originated from aquatic artiodactyls in the Eocene epoch of India. Nature v. 450:7173.

Inertial Feeding

Think back to those old Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation of dinosaurs roaming the world. One classic scene that you might recall is when a ravenously hungry Tyrannosaurs rex chops down on a terrified victim and devours his lunch by tossing the victim five meters up into the air and swallowing whole luckless victim into his waiting jaws. Such feeding is called inertial feeding, and is common in modern birds. Eric Snively and Anthony Russell set out to test the idea that Tyrannosaurs rex feed this way by modeling the muscle morphology, muscle generating force, moment arms, and rotational inertias of the head and neck. In the December issue of Paleobiology they report their findings. Tyrannosaurs rex had the ability to inertial feed, and could toss pitiful victims up into the air and down its throat. Yikes!

Snively, E. and A. Russell, 2007, Craniocervical feeding dynamics of Tyrannosaurus rex, Paleobiology 33(4):610-638.

On the Origin of Bats

Despite creationist's claims, paleontologists love gaps in the fossil record. To the paleontologist, gaps represent mysteries yet to be solved. And there is no greater gap in the fossil record than the origin of bats. Recently, at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meetings in Austin, Drs. Greg Gunnell, Nancy Simmons and Thomas Eiting hosted a symposium on the evolutionary history of bats. The panel of experts presented a series of presentations detailing the amazing history of this very diverse group of mammals. Yet frustratingly little was shred on the origin of bats. The mystery of the origin of bats still remains to be solved. If you are inclined to solve this mystery, then these facts may help you in your quest:

1) The oldest fully formed bats are known from the middle Eocene (50 million years ago) Green River Formation in Wyoming, and the middle Eocene Messel fossil site in Germany, there is also Eocene bat material from Africa. To find the ancestor of bats you need to look in sediments from the Paleocene and earlier, from any of these continents.

2) Based on the most recent molecular phylogenies bats originated from a single ancestor, and is supported by morphological data.

3) The most recent molecular studies indicate that bats belong in the Laurasiatheria clade, with carnivores, ungulates and Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, shrews, and moles). Previously researchers suggested bats were closely related to primates, tree shrews, and flying foxes (Dermopterans), but most scientists today place bats in the Laurasiatheria clade. North America, South America and Eurasia are all equally likely the continent of origin for this clade, and perhaps bats as well.

4) To clearly solve this mystery, you need to find complete skeletons. Diagnosing the ancestor of bats is difficult using only teeth. Many times fossil teeth from the Paleocene lend experts to incorrectly identify the ancestor of bats, only to have their hopes dashed when more complete material was found or with further scrutinization.

5) The best places to find complete skeletons are in sediments laid down in ponds and lakes. Where sediments gently cover the body before the skeleton has a chance to disarticulate. Look for thinly layered rock of Paleocene age.

6) There are a number of fossil mammals known from only teeth that are likely contenders for the ancestor of bats.

a) Nyctitheriidae
This group is best represent by the genus Leptacodon from the late Paleocene of North America, although there are other genera known from Asia and Europe. The group also contains Wyonycteris, previously thought to be a bat from the Paleocene of Wyoming. Nyctitherians have the advantage of being very primitive in terms of their teeth. The molars are sharply cusped like in bats, and have slightly reduced posterior heels on their molars. However, nyctitheriids have an extra cusp on their upper molars, which bats lack, and the paraconid is slightly reduced. No skeleton or complete skull exists of a nyctiteriid.
b) Early members of Soricidae
The family that contains living shrews, at first appearances, is a good choice for the ancestry of bats, because of their small size and sharp teeth. However, the oldest members of this family (Domnia, Quercysorex, etc..) are from the middle to late Eocene and are too specialized in their dental anatomy to have given rise to bats.
c) Early members of Talpidae
This group contains living moles, and based on teeth they are very similar to bats. However, just like shrews, moles do not appear in the fossil record until the middle to late Eocene. They are likely closely related to bats, but molecular phylogenies support a stronger relationship with shrews, and hedgehogs.
d) Palaeoryctidae
Few people have suggested this group as the ancestor of bats, despite their small size, similar dental features, and reduced anterior dentition. The upper molars are similar to early bats in lacking that extra upper cusp on the molar, but are more slender. Skulls are known of a few genera, which don’t support a strong relationship to bats, but place them low on the placental mammal tree, near xenarthrans.
e) Early members of Leptictidae
Early members of this extinct group reach back into the late Cretaceous of Asia, and Paleocene of North America. Later forms such as Leptictis and Leptictidium are known from skeletal remains, and both lack any advance skeletal or cranial feature of bats. However, early less well-known forms such as Prodiacodon, Myrmecoboides, and even Zhelestes lack complete skeletons and may have given rise to bats.
f) Deccanolestes
A genus composed of only isolated teeth from the late Cretaceous of India shares a number of characters with basal bats. However, Deccanolestes maybe a member of the Palaeoryctidae or an ancestor to bats.
g) Early Primates
Primates and bats are often placed together in a group called Archonta. Based on a number of shared similarities, especially with the gliding flying lemurs (Dermoptera). Extinct members of this group include the Paleocene-Eocene Plagiomenidae and Plesiadapiformes, which may be closely related to bats. Or simply linked together by shared primitive features.

Yes, there really are lots of possible ancestors to bats and only one group gave rise to them. So, a skeleton must do! Good luck in your search!

Are all the great museums dead?

Jere H. Lipps wrote a wonderful editorial in the latest issue of Palaeontologia Electronica on museum exhibits. Dr. Lipps laments the loss of those ancient exhibits from the Victorian age, when museums were an eclectic assortment of thousands of specimens- all displayed with little educational material (fancy computers, long text, interactive demonstrations etc...).

I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Lipps. Museums must be a place of wonderment.

Sadly, too many kids (and adults) view the world as if all the great mysteries have been solved, all the species described, and the frontiers of science left to the molecular biologists to work out. Museums have done a great job in educating the public, but museum must also inspire the public to solve the remaining mysteries of life.

So how would I design the museum of my dreams? Here I make some suggests on what I've seen work and not work in museums.

I would install flat panel computer screens next to each display with an image of the display items. Visitors can simply touch the picture on the screen to access information about the figure item. No visible text until the visitor selects an object. I've seen this work very well in the new Ocean Life Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York.

Enclose dioramas in glass. Open dioramas tempt vandalism with trash and pennies getting into the display.

Eliminate movement in dioramas. Dioramas are a frozen moment in time, adding running water or moving lights makes the animals in the display appear fake, because they are not moving as well. (if you do make the animals move, do it subtlety)

Have simple buttons at the bottom of each display trigger a light of a mini-display below the display case for younger kids to explore. The button could also trigger sounds, words and small guessing games. They could also be developed into scavenging hunts. My daughter finds the buttons at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science too irresistible not to press.

Most important! Lots and Lots of stuff. Heck, that is what museums are all about. Fill every space in the wall with items! Good quality casts as well as real specimens. Even the broken or fragmentary fossils tell a good story.

Throughout the museum highlight what we don't know, and urge visitors to join the quest for the answers. Mysteries lurk everywhere in museums.

Busy summer, and a lot of reading to catch up on.

Spent last several weeks teaching full time and working out on the Utah/Colorado border helping a fellow student collect fossils and rocks, will continue with additional posts when I finally have the time to reply to the deluge of e-mails in my inbox.

Collecting fossils with my daughter

Thought I post some pictures of my daughter collecting fossils a few weeks ago. I think she is addicted now, as everywhere she is on the lookout for skulls and teeth; even in the parking lot!

A new Big Bird Dinosaur

A massively large Oviraptorosaurian dinosaur described by Dr. Xing Xu and colleagues has been found in Inner Mongolia in the Senonian Iren Dabasu Formation. Typical Oviraptors are about the size of living ostriches and had similar body proportions. However, this giant stood an estimated 8 meters in length and 3.5 meters in height. Approperately named Gigantoraptor erlianensis, the new dinosaur is a basal member of the Oviraptoridae family, and represents a more cursorial adapted dinosaur. The findings are reported in this week's journal Nature.

Xu, X., Q. Tan, J. Wang, X. Zhao, L. Tan. 2007. A gigantic bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China. Nature 447, 844-847 (14 June 2007).

A news story of the discovery can be found here:LINK

The Missing Explosion.

In the March 29th issue of Nature, molecular biologists look at mammalian diversity through time using modern species lineages and molecular clocks, with abnormal results. Paleontologists have observed that modern orders of mammals do not appear in the fossil record until the beginning of the Cenozoic, when they seem to explode in diversity. The ten million year Paleocene Epoch captures this increase in diversity, but many of these fossils belong to "archaic" mammalian orders that no longer live today. It is not until the following Eocene Epoch, that we observe members of living mammalian orders in the fossil record. Molecular biologists have argued for years now that the great explosion of diversity of mammals occurred much earlier in the Cretaceous.

Why? Molecular biologists recognize mammalian orders in their data very differently then paleontologists. Here is a good example: The order Artiodactyla (pigs, deer, camels, sheep) are recognized by having a unique morphological feature in the ankle that allows them to run fast. So the oldest fossil having this feature is the first artiodactyl, dated at 55 million years ago.

Molecular biologists due something strange and take all the living artiodactyl DNA and compare it with all the other living mammals. The first artiodactyl is identified as when the group split away from another living group. However, they don't have a date when this split occurred and must reconcile it with the fossil record using calibration points. In this particular study cited below, 30 fossils were selected to pin the branching points to dates. Now if we assume that DNA changes at a regular rate (highly unlikely), then a divergence time can be estimated. But this date is not when artiodactyls become artiodactyls, but when they split from another group that just happened to make it to the modern day, such as the Perissodactyls. Furthermore, the more ancestral arctocyonids may have given rise to only artiodactyls. Lacking that unique character of the ankle paleontologists would not recognoize arctocyonids as artiodactyls, but molecular biologists would since they gave rise to only artiodactyls. This pushes the date back for molecular biologists. A "hotspot" is mentioned in the article when 100 million years ago, mammals really split into surviving lineages.

The authors of this study further conclude that in addition to this "hotspot", diversity of surviving mammalian lineages did not increase until later during the middle Eocene. Does this completely controdict the fossil record?

Remember that molecular biologist are limited to only living species and do not see the explosion of mammals during the Paleocene Epoch. Instead they are limited to just the survivors, and extinction has greatly pruned their tree.

Bininda-Emonds et al. 2007. The delayed rise of present-day mammals. Nature 446, 507-512 (29 March 2007) | doi:10.1038/nature05634.

Homoplasy and Heterochrony in an Early Cretaceous Mammal skeleton.

Homoplasy and heterochrony are two words you are likely not to encounter often, but a new primitive mammal named Yanoconodon allini nicely illustrates both terms. Homoplasy basically translates to convergence, or the acquisition of a particular trait in two or more species through separate evolutionary histories. The new skeleton exhibits lumbar ribs, a trait lost in more advanced mammals. However, the closely related Jeholodens lacks lumbar ribs indicating that the absence of the lumbar ribs in Jeholodens arose independently. Heterochrony basically translates to a developmental change in the timing of events. One type of heterochrony (neoteny) is the retention of early developmental features into adulthood. The lower jaw of Yanoconodon allini nicely illustrates this by retaining a connection to the middle ear bones by an ossified Meckel's cartilage. In adult monotreme and placental mammals the ossified Meckel's cartilage is reabsorbed in adulthood. Based on its position on the family tree (cladogram), Yanoconodon allini evolved from an ancestor that lacked a connection between the jaw and middle ear bones. Thus the connection arose independently by retention of an earlier developmental feature into adulthood.

Lou, Z, Chen, P., Li, G., Chen, M., 2007. A new eutriconodont mammal and evolutionary development in early mammals Nature 446, 288-293 (15 March 2007) doi:10.1038/nature05627.

Robots take to the land, with old swimming circuitry.

The origin of tetrapods and the accompanying changes from swimming to walking require numerous morphological and biological changes. However, a new study published in Science demonstrates that the neurological signals for walking and swimming are remarkably similar. Using a robotic salamander, the team wired the circuitry of the robot like the modern salamander and lamprey, where signals for locomotion are fired off in traveling waves along the axis of the body. The robot swims well (although slower than the living salamander), but when placed on land to get the robot to walk the researchers just had to lower the frequency of the signals to slow down to the rhythm of walking. Robots are an important innovation in the study of vertebrate motion and evolution.


Ijspeert, A.J., A. Crespi, D. Ryczko, and J-M. Cabelguen. 2007. From Swimming to Walking with a Salamander Robot Driven by a Spinal Cord Model. Science 315 (5817), 1416

Lets face it Beavers are weird!

Beavers belong to a large diverse group of mammals called the Rodents.
Unlike the other members Rodents (mice and rats), beavers are rather unique and specialized in their habit. First they have those ever growing incisors that they use to cut down trees like an axe. Second, they build dams and create unique ponds in which they swim and live in. Lastly beavers have that characteristic flat tail. So, did all these specialization occur just once in the long fossil record of beavers, or did various beaver lineages specialize for a similar habit has the climate changed in the later half of the Cenozoic. Natalia Rybczynski at the Canadian Museum of Nature, just published a study that suggests that a single beaver lineage (Castorinae) made such a change in habit early in the fossil record. The diverse sister group Palaeocastorinae known only from the fossil record, specialized for a dramatically different environment. Palaeocastorines specialized in "tooth-digging" and lived in burrows. Somewhere in the late Oligocene to early Miocene the two groups split into a terrestrial burrowing group and aquatic swimming group. During the Miocene the burrowing group became extinct, leaving only the castorines with their strange ways.

Rybczynski, N. 2007. Castorid Phylogenetics: Implications for the Evolution of Swimming and Tree-Exploitation in Beavers. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 10.1007/s10914-006-9017-3.

Can I collect my $25,000,000 now?

The idiosyncratic billionaire Richard Branson has offered a $25 million dollar prize for "any invention that will remove "significant" amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - perhaps in the order of a billion tonnes a year." Now, as a poor graduate student, whose stomach is rumbling from lack of food, I thought perhaps I should enter into the contest with my invention. I call it - Water!

O.K. here is how it works. Take two hydrogen atoms and stick them onto a oxygen atom, cover large surfaces of the earth with the stuff, say 75% of the earth, then give it a good stir with the moon and watch the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drop!

The Earth's oceans sink carbon dioxide from the atmosphere forming a very mild carbonated ocean (Soda Pop). However, such a method increases the PH of the ocean making the ocean more acidic overtime, and unfortunately leading to the extinction of marine organisms that thrive in the oceans today. While this may solve our problem with global warming, it leads to a barren ocean.

Alright, alright, here is my second invention. It is a little more complex, but there are "no side effects". I call it - Forest!

O.K. here is how it works. Cover the earth in forests, thick jungles with big trees, little shrubs and vines and all that green stuff! Plants and may other organisms use CO2 from the atmosphere to grow, and give off O2. No genetic modification need! The carbon becomes trapped in the plant material that gets buried through time. No more CO2 in the atmosphere, plus if it gets warmer all those jungles can grow as far as the North and South Poles. Leading to greater amounts of CO2 leaving the atmosphere.

While I am sure that my inventions will work, if we give them a try. The whole subject of Global Warming is somewhat off-track, because we still believe humans can some how reverse the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. We can't! However, the Earth can if we let her. We need to quit building subdivisions and endless miles of roads.

Furthermore, instead of worrying about stopping global warming we need to focus technology on how we can better live in a warming world. From looking at changes to rain and snow fall, and its impact on agriculture, to insect pest migration into higher latitudes, and the major effects of rising sea level on coastal cities.

P.S. this is vertebrate paleontology related, since one of the judges to the contest in none other than the writer and vertebrate paleontologist Tim Flannery.

Thylacoleo ate my baby!

The Western Australian Museum has posted some amazing pictures on the Nature News Website of the marsupial lion Thylacoleo carniflex from the Nullarbor Plain in southwestern Australia.

All fossil mammal teeth look the same.

Paleontologists have that strange ability to see things that others don't or can't see. Nowhere is this case best illustrating in mammal teeth. Each bump and grove indicates a unique species or genus in the fossil record. Skilled paleontologists can identify a species of any mammal that lived, just by looking at several of its teeth. This amazing diversity in mammal teeth hides the fact that overall mammalian teeth are rather conservative in their general form and particularly in their function. They all mainly serve to break down and chew food. So undoubtedly teeth also reveal a mammal's diet. Paleontologists are left with a quandary. How much does diet and how much does taxonomy contribute to a tooth's form? Or presented in a different way, if you analysis a number of fossil mammal teeth for similarities, do these similarities reflect similar diets OR similar relationships. I've often questioned the utility of using teeth in systematic studies of taxonomic relationships because you may end up with groupings that reflect similar diets instead. In a recent article in Nature Alistair R. Evans and colleagues present a study of computer generated models of modern mammal teeth using a high-resolution laser scanner. The constructed models were analyzed for similarities. The researchers conclude that the surface complexity of tooth crowns directly reflects the foods they consume, and that there are high-levels of similarity in the tooth shape between widely divergent diets, such as carnivores and herbivores.


Evans, A., Wilson, G.P., Fortelius, M. and Jernvall, J., 2007. High-level similarity of dentitions in carnivorans and rodents. Nature 445, 78-81 (4 January 2007) | doi:10.1038/nature05433.

Gliding Jurassic Mammal

Volaticotherium antiquus is no ordinary beast. It is over 150 million years old and was the first mammal to glide over the landscape using its elongated skin folds or "patagium." Discovered from Inner Mongolia and described by Dr. Meng Jin at the American Museum of Natural History, Volaticotherium antiquus is also a very primitive mammal, grouping with such basal mammals as Morganucodon, Sinoconodon and most closely with the Triconodont mammals such as the recently described, but much younger Jeholodens. Volaticotherium antiquus was a small mammal, weighting 70 grams, and with a length of about 12 to 14 cm. It is amazing that this little mammal glided over giant dinosaurs such as the Stegosaurus-like Chialingosaurus.


Meng, J. et al. (2006). A Mesozoic gliding mammal from northeastern China. Nature 444, 889-893 (14 December 2006) | doi:10.1038.