http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct daily 0.75 2026-03-23 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026/3/31/the-importance-of-background-theory-redux monthly 0.5 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/036eb287-093d-4b56-80d0-e6d4a0c742f8/Screenshot+2026-03-31+at+8.47.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d7664389-88a4-4490-9d8c-fb4eb246a32d/Screenshot+2024-01-23+at+9.22.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out James Hall, Jr. (1811–1898). Not to be confused with Sir James Hall (1761–1832), friend of James Hutton, who performed experiments on mountain-building using analog models https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6de45ee6-a604-464f-925b-38e6e6b7b0e6/Screenshot+2024-01-24+at+8.07.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out An der Scheidecke des Martinslochs, Ostseite derselben zuoberst im Flimserthal, Pass nach Elm den 22. Juli 1812, by Hans Conrad Escher, depicting the famous keyhole (Martinsloch) beneath the Glarus thrust fault in the Swiss Alps. Interpretations of the Glarus thrust fault (including its identification as a thrust fault) played a major role in deciphering the structure of the Alps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cb7f290a-06a7-493d-a0cc-2206f7d977b2/Screenshot+2024-08-05+at+2.13.05%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Geological Map of the State of Pennsylvania, published in 1858 by Henry Rogers, showing the trend of the Appalachian folds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d874bc53-4926-424c-8fde-b92c423ec777/Screenshot+2024-02-07+at+11.14.57%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out William Barton Rogers (1804–1882), left, and Henry Darwin Rogers (1808–1866), right. Later in his life, William founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (yes, that one) and served as its first president (1862–1870). This has recently occasioned some embarrassment as Barton was a slave owner during his time in Virginia, and maintained deep ties to the South after moving to Massachusetts. The MIT website goes so far as to declare Rogers “in many ways, a product of slavery… The enslavement of black people [contributed] to his family’s success, [underwrote] his education, advanced his career, and expanded his social connections.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a87eb504-2f66-48e7-a4e4-d9887387fc21/Screen+Shot+2024-01-31+at+11.02.07+AM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The Sideling Hill Road Cut in western Maryland (note the car for scale), revealing the innards of a “syncline mountain,” or a region of downfolded strata sandwiched between two “anticlines,” or upfolded structures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/afccaa97-4dfd-4355-9da6-09a76706aa9e/Screenshot+2024-08-05+at+1.06.25%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Hall’s map of the middle and western United States from The Geology of New York, Pt. IV. Notice the comparably high level of detail in the region of the Appalachian mountain chain (1843) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1d4a1d3b-b3c4-4fd6-b27f-961f8c81dbbb/Screenshot+2024-01-24+at+11.34.39%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out “Foster’s Complete Geological Chart: Exhibiting in Their Successive Order of Deposition the Various Rocks that Form the Crust of our Earth, Arranged According to the Best Authorities in Europe and North America.” This is the first version of the chart, published in 1849. An updated version, advertising that it had been corrected by “Professor Ebbons,” was later printed, and may have met a watery demise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2d3bba95-900e-4dfc-bcc7-243094256b04/Screenshot+2024-01-26+at+11.51.43%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out A twentieth center representation of the kind of sedimentary accumulation Hall described in his presidential address to the AAAS. Specifically, Hall described what would later be called a “miogeosyncline,” or an accumulation of sedimentation deposited in shallow water in the absence of volcanoes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/437a8121-71d1-45d5-9e74-085058d11dc7/Screen+Shot+2024-01-26+at+4.10.17+PM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Below: a depiction of Hall’s view of the origin of major structural features of folded mountains, like folds, faults, and trap dykes. Note that the image incorrectly implies that folding produces elevation, when Hall claims just the contrary. Above: a depiction of the warping of the crust by gravitational loading as described by the English astronomer and sometimes-geological theorist John Herschel. (Hall was aware of Herschel’s work (see Hall 1859, especially Note E on pp. 95–96). Indeed, insofar as Hall presents a theory of “elevatory movement” it is just the model of Herschel repurposed) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1de1a3d0-bb8a-45f7-bc46-fefa0254cd32/Airy.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The published transcript of Hall’s address contains no images. However, it seems that Hall shared George Airy’s expectation that tall mountain chains will have deep “roots” (although perhaps not as deep as Airy suspected). Hall also seems to suggest that gravitational factors are involved in producing elevation, such that packages of sediment that began as depressions in the crust find their equilibrium as deep-rooted mountain ranges https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/407283c7-48c6-4746-9a78-7a55a966d941/Dana.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), the most influential American geologist of his generation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cbb4b9b0-30ca-413e-a7ab-f2c7a513e072/Mountain.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out A Huttonian watercolor of a conical mountain on the Isle of Arran, meant to illustrate a key claim of Hutton’s theory of the earth: that granite is not a primitive rock but sometimes invades sedimentary successions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a8b8f25e-e575-4fa9-981b-b8abd7644d6c/Apps.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The Appalachian Mountains, again http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026/3/23/terrible-uniformitarian-poetry monthly 0.5 2026-03-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/228862a5-6567-4638-baaf-37bfa041ba58/Screenshot+2026-03-23+at+12.10.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Terrible uniformitarian poetry - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026/3/14/beyond-rocks-vs-clocks monthly 0.5 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/24f68e55-aaeb-47bd-9681-db741bf4bb84/1_HDaN4rlI5TvMkT-b5flcfg.jpg Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f5b7e81f-efdb-4556-b211-bed6fdc7ce97/Screenshot+2026-03-14+at+9.37.20%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fadf8643-59e8-420f-a927-9a2caf1e52ee/Screenshot+2026-03-14+at+10.07.41%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Sequence divergence rates and estimated interphylum divergence times, from Wray et al. (1996). The reproduced graphic shows two genes, alpha-hemoglobin and NADH 1. Diverge times (in Ma) are plotted on the x-axis; genetic distance is plotted on the y-axis. The data points come from vertebrate taxa with high-quality fossil records. The shaded parts of the plots indicate the full range of “invertebrate-vertebrate genetic distances” and the implied range of divergence times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c97847ad-4858-48b7-8806-b381881fb436/Screenshot+2026-03-09+at+2.52.27%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out The results of Erwin et al.’s (2011) molecular clock study, showing the estimated divergence times of major clades, superimposed on a colored graphic showing the total number of phyla and classes known from the fossil record of each interval https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/993308f7-9f13-4d6d-8efe-057542072852/Screenshot+2026-03-14+at+9.42.45%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Some putative Ediacaran animal fossils from China and South Australia (from Cunningham et al. 2016). Here is the key from the original caption: “A: Embryo-like fossil Tianzhushania. B: Eocyathispongia. C: Ramitubus. D: Lantiella. E: Xiuningella. F: Putative eumetazoan trace fossil from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. G: Helminthoidichnites, a putative bilaterian trace fossil. H: Archaeonassa, a putative bilaterian trace fossil.“ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e1eb632f-d2c3-4af7-83ea-153ada3b0674/Screenshot+2026-03-09+at+3.04.21%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Carlisle et al.’s results https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2c98b52e-7a09-4771-9247-28e06a624769/Screenshot+2026-03-14+at+9.58.06%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Beyond "Rocks versus Clocks": Glimpses of a New Philosophy of Molecular Clock Dating - Make it stand out Embryo-like fossils from the Weng’an biota (image from Cunningham et al. 2017) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026/2/24/comparisons-with-teeth-redux monthly 0.5 2026-03-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/66d3e1fd-d73c-4811-933e-b0516e5b7fb9/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/35c3aca0-3189-4649-af5c-ba8068a6a598/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+2.08.48+PM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out Volumetric reconstruction of a tooth whorl from the Silurian gnathostome Qianodus duplicis. The entire whorl is only about 2.5 mm long. It is the only part of the animal that is known. Credit: Zhu et al. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1fdf0f5f-af6b-4d21-9001-39e53d600150/Iguanodon+tooth.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out An Iguanodon tooth, which, according to most accounts, Mary Mantell collected in 1822 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1e087438-2062-4b69-a4ac-47818cef3706/Iguana%28don%29.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out An iguana juxtaposed with its namesake, the Iguanodon. The image on the bottom comes from a famous watercolor, “The Country of the Iguanodon,” painted by the popular English artist John Martin (1837). Martin’s rendering of the Iguanodon would go exert a large influence on early representations of prehistoric life https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5b6f7ea8-b953-4d2f-b243-9e41d5cb215a/Megalodon+model.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out A representation of the modeling procedure used by Cooper et al. to construct their megalodon. The top row shows some vertebral centra (A) positioned above the reconstructed vertebral column (B). (C) shows a sample of teeth, which were scanned (D) along with the chondrocranium of a great white (E) to build a model of the megalodon’s head (F). Finally, a 3D scan of a great white’s body (G)–(K) was used to build the complete megalodon model (M)–(Q). Credit: Cooper et al. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b4c6bd9c-ebf6-4217-8ed8-a2c502a16472/gizmodo_feature_images_11.webp Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out O. megalodon looking like a giant white shark— but did it really? Some recent work says “maybe not” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2b971e30-a5e0-4752-b965-48ef6dec52af/Screenshot+2026-02-25+at+9.44.54%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Comparisons with Teeth - Make it stand out Shimada et al.’s (2025) “highly tentative reconstruction” of O. megalodon’s body profile, featuring a longer and slenderer body than previous reconstructions, somewhat resembling a whale shark http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026/1/25/burgess-beasties monthly 0.5 2026-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7f05a099-7d91-4917-93a1-42d06b1f29c4/Screenshot+2026-01-25+at+2.26.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4ed1781b-148e-43a6-9608-23d5554db5b7/Screenshot%2B2024-07-04%2Bat%2B7.20.32+PM.webp Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out Iconic Ediacaran fossils, including Spriggina (top left), Kimberella (left center), Avalofractus (bottom [far] left), Aspidella (bottom [center] left), Charnia (center), Dickinonia (top right), and Parvancorina (bottom right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a5333841-3b06-44b5-b2df-a5c06e9cf917/Screenshot+2026-01-25+at+2.30.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out The association of Kimberella body fossils with the trace fossil Radulichnus, so named because it resembled the rasping marks made by a molluscan radula https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6e8a0ecd-6dbe-4177-bd60-06e4803ecd86/fig-from-alcheringa_orig.jpg Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out A Dickinsonia body fossil (left) at the end of an overlying series of body impressions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bb0419d4-21d6-4997-a8e7-d8873c6327b9/marko-georgievski-charnia-scene-v003.jpg Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out Charnia, artwork by Marko Georgievski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/428856c9-86e7-4aa3-b197-028c4babd746/Screenshot+2026-01-25+at+2.28.19%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out Dunn et al.’s growth model for Charnia masoni, with a first-order branch (orange) traced through the illustrated growth permutations. Differently colored second-order branches illustrate that new first order branches tend to arise from a particular second-order branch (in this case, the fourth in sequence). At the bottom of the figure, a shift in developmental mode from differentiation to inflation is indicated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f4bda48d-81e4-4807-8b9e-8014824f4d2b/Screenshot+2026-01-27+at+4.58.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out Phylogenetic analyses, performed by Dunn et al., which recover a stem eumetazoan position for Charnia under a variety of topological constraints (i.e., hypotheses about the relationship of Cnidaria, Ctenophora, and Bilateria) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cd7b9b83-39c9-44c9-912b-f62afe93fdf2/Screenshot+2026-01-25+at+2.54.07%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out A figure from Evans et al. (2021), with original caption: “Holozoan phylogeny with inferred placement of representative White Sea taxa (dashed boxes) based on developmentally relevant characters (1–5, black box). Characters represent those that can be identified based on morphological expression in representative Ediacara fossils, and thus are not indicative of their earliest appearance. Arrow represents increased combinatorial complexity of transcription factor interactions in all three groups of bilaterians. Question marks represent uncertainty of placozoan placement. Ctenophores omitted to avoid uncertainty. CNS, central nervous system” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/503f0792-cdf4-400f-8add-e6d866ee75c7/Screenshot%2B2025-08-25%2Bat%2B11.33.20+AM.webp Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out A reconstruction of the Burgess Shale fauna, by Carel Brest van Kempen. Opabinia (the subject of my earlier post) is pictured in the middle-right of the frame, executing a somersault to capture a swimming worm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b71ea098-6919-4656-bb81-b5e96b7aac41/Screenshot+2026-01-25+at+3.02.54%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Burgess Beasties and Ediacaran Enigmas - Make it stand out A representation of stem and crown groups, from Budd and Jensen (2000) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/3/3/lords-of-marble-and-the-spear-repost monthly 0.5 2025-11-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/490d557e-ca3f-46cd-a761-5240719e950a/Screenshot+2025-11-03+at+10.31.52%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5cd604c5-811c-4456-9ca3-98005c6a6c22/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+11.33.39+AM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out A section of the Parthenon frieze on display at the British Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b62057a0-3c20-458f-a9d1-c420ef1f6b54/Screen+Shot+2023-03-03+at+3.49.59+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Life reconstruction of Ubirajara jubatus, with its conspicuous shoulder spikes drawn to look a bit like crisscrossed hairsticks. Credit:Luxquine/Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/508a130e-635e-44ce-8103-c24e6d533515/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+8.04.23+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out The view from inside the Acropolis Museum, which looks out on the Parthenon. The Acropolis Museum houses many of the Parthenon marbles and will house the “Elgin marbles” if they are returned to Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a344956-aeff-4609-aaea-7799a826aedf/Ubifossil.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out The bones of contention. Credit: Felipe Lima Pinheiro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bb7ed123-347e-49f1-bb98-f8a59b1d82d1/Screen+Shot+2023-03-03+at+7.53.23+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Another reconstruction of Ubirajara, this one representing the “spears” as feather-like structures. Credit: Dani Navarro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/aba9da56-77b9-432f-a28a-b02af1e17cda/whatsapp_image_2023_07_22_at_12_02_02-22727409.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/11/2/wtf monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3b46cba3-7d17-43dd-b09b-bfb21f71d4b9/Screenshot+2025-11-02+at+2.16.49%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - What the Actual Hell is Going On (Or, the Great Reg Sprigg Nature "Rejection" Mystery...) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c17a1781-08a7-4bd2-8c50-1100a57ce2dc/Screenshot+2025-11-02+at+1.33.43%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - What the Actual Hell is Going On (Or, the Great Reg Sprigg Nature "Rejection" Mystery...) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/76392762-9096-4700-a65d-cfbf6230ff59/Screenshot+2025-11-02+at+1.54.44%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - What the Actual Hell is Going On (Or, the Great Reg Sprigg Nature "Rejection" Mystery...) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2253d67a-4a0f-4266-9cf9-5d2f56c5b1f2/Screenshot+2025-11-02+at+1.52.22%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - What the Actual Hell is Going On (Or, the Great Reg Sprigg Nature "Rejection" Mystery...) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/10/9/a-history-of-geology-reading-list-part-2 monthly 0.5 2026-03-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3f3bd32b-05a0-4235-88cb-75999093b207/Screenshot%2B2025-02-12%2Bat%2B11.20.54+AM.png Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746388636573-0VG2SBR4Q1NB3UV8KM3N/Screenshot+2025-05-04+at+11.07.47%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746374841452-PRTXAFWUNO0QXDGRXYYL/AncestorandArchetypes.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746374843040-EAKFTS4UA52GKZ3SRH1B/RereadingtheFossilRecord.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746374839895-SH7DXG3EH4KUKAA91IE1/AgeofMammals.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746374846933-H2YCTM9WS71RKQR4USHT/ShowmetheBone.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1746375080037-H3HSNEHS62XGQ9TX4ZTE/Screenshot+2025-05-04+at+11.10.54%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035124811-F5S2WIFVLVKC8E0XQZGM/Laudan.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035121709-ZQJZR6H1HQWP1UQLWK8R/Rainger.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035116922-A0Z33COVBLF8GQTPF0IT/Knell.webp Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035118578-5EM2DBKLM5WV56YAJXBA/Mayor.webp Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035120343-2V5VDE89BOREU6M2VY5K/Conniff.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035490260-PDQOGHZPM2XAXUUQ7NLW/Pyne.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035333193-X35RAX96J65RJJ34XY6P/Greene.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1760035334423-IQEOLRGI7LGT7L865C1C/Powell.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/9/10/for-the-love-of-fortey monthly 0.5 2026-02-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/edd29bbf-9623-4417-ad37-dbe719bed150/20250322_OBP001.webp Thoughts - For the love of Fortey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1757515822313-JC5XBWI00EMFYW3P649G/Earth.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1757515897104-87WVY9GKDI56SHG9J6A9/71ki2grxgwL._UF894%2C1000_QL80_.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1757515859954-K75HB2RPRR2YVET9DMZ0/Trilobite.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/71b397e1-9f0c-4367-af19-eb4c71139a49/Vesuvius.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey - Make it stand out Vesuvius, from Naples https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2ed773d1-470b-4136-b34c-bc616c1d162f/Alps.A2002063.1030.250m.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey - Make it stand out The Alps, from space https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2cd98a3b-ddb7-4d28-9172-b9a0e84a8722/Freschines2.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey - Make it stand out Antoine Lavoisier’s actual estate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/53177d5b-f7e9-480f-bd05-c17c03051eb9/91WK3ruQhLL._AC_UF894%2C1000_QL80_.jpg Thoughts - For the love of Fortey - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/539af67d-16d9-4c48-88e9-4e0a34d3212e/richard-fortey.webp Thoughts - For the love of Fortey - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/7/29/american-primordial monthly 0.5 2026-02-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d8c56698-c1c7-4ca4-bd42-b4d4debcea7c/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.29.29%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/beaf04c8-ce03-4623-8614-1a45f026448b/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.24.14%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Equinox Mountain, part of the Taconic Range, in western Vermont https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/db729cef-a6e6-4f85-9ffc-3dca8135ed84/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.10.31%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Roderick Impey Murchison (left) and Adam Sedgwick (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/484a9c50-dcea-4f42-8587-8e8af9ca1c61/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.18.56%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Two plates of trilobites: the first from Murchison’s Silurian System (1839) (left), the second from Sedgwick and McCoy’s A synopsis of the classification of the British palaeozoic rocks (1855)— the work that first characterized a distinctive fauna for the Cambrian System(right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ee5fbb87-e8f6-401b-8344-6378d016acf2/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.12.46%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Murchison’s Silurian “kingdom” in England and Wales (a foldout map from the Silurian System) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/52363351-5c97-4719-8c1e-87a7a1f90143/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+11.35.51%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Some major players in the Taconic controversy: Ebeneezer Emmons (top left), James Hall (top right), Henry Darwin Rogers (bottom left), and James Dwight Dana (bottom right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ce281033-bc05-493c-b1ae-446a87b81992/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+11.04.35%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Emmons’s conception of the Taconic System and its bounding unconformities; redrawn from Emmons (1842) for Rogers (1997). Notice the rocks of the New-York system at the left of the figure, from the basal member— the Potsdam sandstone— to the Trenton and Utica slates. In modern terms, these range from middle Cambrian to middle Ordovician in age https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ff956e23-96ac-4462-bafe-5d838460d0e7/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.21.44%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out “The Taconic System,” by Ebeneezer Emmons, showing the Hudson River shales overlapping the east-dipping Taconic slates (the mostly white, highly-inclined strata at the bottom of the section), and the Calciferous Sandstone/Sandrock and Blue Limestone resting unconformably on the slates. All these contacts were disputed; in particular, the supposed contact between the Calciferous Sandrock and the Taconic Slates became a major point of contention later in the debate (and to preview the conclusion, no such contact exists; Emmons’s claim rested on a stratigraphic error [see Walcott 1888]) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a9fb5b5-bae4-4577-9c49-e05c97b0fb74/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+11.32.35%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Atops trilineatus, one of the trilobite species discovered by Asa Fitch in the Hudson Valley (figured in Emmons 1844) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ecdf9161-31e5-4902-8899-85123ba1587f/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+11.11.08%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Joachim Barrande (left) and Jules Marcou (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7b0e50c0-f6bd-43d7-a196-b0c1c29a3246/s-l1200.jpg Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Another view of the Taconic Range, from Connecticut https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5b8f9318-c274-476d-968a-40a513665944/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+11.33.35%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1898 (about ten years after his intervention in the Taconic Controversy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e55cfc81-f49f-46a9-9a5b-c8e512deea5b/Screenshot+2025-07-29+at+10.59.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Geological map of the Taconic area, prepared by Charles Walcott (1888). The map pictures the New York-Vermont border, with north to the right, and south to the left. Notice— if you can see it— the very simple structural interpretation of the Taconics in the section above the map. Walcott did not intend to offer a structural interpretation of the Taconics; still, when forced to give one in the course of providing an interpretive section, he drew something very simple indeed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/07c63312-2543-488d-a431-bc9c9abf3fa0/Screen+Shot+2025-07-29+at+11.16.47+AM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out A summary of the Taconic series from Merrill’s First One Hundred Years of America Geology. Note the big changes between 1842 and 1844, representing the almost complete inversion of the series https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/923e7285-6893-4aa5-840e-513fd7883f1f/Screen+Shot+2025-07-29+at+11.16.14+AM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out Another figure from Merrill: Emmons’s division of the Taconic into “Upper” and “Lower” series, based on Emmons’s textbook on American geology: his last major statement on the Taconic (1854/1855) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9cd8b225-8e20-4322-865b-9c43568f62ae/Screen+Shot+2025-07-29+at+11.15.54+AM.png Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out A tabular view of the Taconic System, from Walcott (1888), with proposed correlations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/04675959-5655-495a-b6ae-e0d4452a1ca4/84eddfa83c82b649073832538f5c70dd-w-1200.jpg Thoughts - American Primordial: remembering the Great Taconic Controversy - Make it stand out The Taconic Range in autumn http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/7/9/troubling-times-at-the-tar-pits monthly 0.5 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9965164d-7b36-4f8e-bada-a4174cdfa6f0/23sp-museums-tarpits-1-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9f751702-0e1a-4fae-be24-207a3c9facfd/Alison1.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Dayglo Dire Wolves at the Tar Pits Museum. Photograph by author, November 10, 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fedff69d-4f15-4a3f-bf80-93e7ed4c5450/Alison2.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Toys ’R’ U.S. (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth) was originally exhibited in 1994 and is seen here in 2017,in the survey show Mark Dion: Misadventures of a 21st-Century Naturalist at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Photograph by author, December 16, 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bf854ca1-132c-4a80-9f0b-0cac18edaa40/Alison3.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out “Tread lightly” at La Brea. Photograph by author, December 26, 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c471b10c-e3f9-494d-9625-2d54e7f24841/Alison4.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out The fence suggests that visitors are safe from the mammoth’s fate; other interpretive materials indicate otherwise. Photograph by author, December 21, 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b5728eec-2f3b-4595-a2c3-f81a2d51de6c/Alison5.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Be sure to look out and look down at La Brea. Photograph by author, December 26, 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/06eaf131-04a7-4af5-8890-b907891c1bee/Alison6.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out A giant pack rat guards its nest in Mark Dion’s Excavations. Photograph by author, September 23, 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/931f5aa6-76ab-4947-a545-4febc2b8cbee/Alison7.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Art & science in the works in Mark Dion’s Excavations. Photograph by author, September 23, 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fa7ad4c4-01a9-43f6-9d7d-8b33144aef28/Alison8.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ebd8a121-ebac-4245-9691-7091a1af3c0b/Alison9.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bfea0e9f-4984-4a9a-a026-bedb4ea31b82/Alison10.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out Bursting the limits of time (and drywall) in Mark Dion’s Excavations. Photographs by author, September 23, 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/185ed911-829c-441c-98f7-93c6f0503e4c/Alison11.jpg Thoughts - Troubling Times at the Tar Pits: Mark Dion’s Excavations Amidst Other Historical Mischiefs - Make it stand out An artful diagram of Aenocyon dirus in Mark Dion’s Excavations. Photograph by author, September 23, 2024 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/7/20/2025/from-the-archive-helen-de-cruz monthly 0.5 2025-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1462752023921-YLMRVP6BXMLBEOKGRGRP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From the archive: What evidential role should (ancient) DNA play in paleoanthropology? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/6/1/from-stromatolites-to-martian-leopard-spots-reconstructing-early-life-and-its-environment monthly 0.5 2025-06-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fdb9bc98-5f2a-4a7c-be5e-945e6fb31c39/cc_press-2_16x9.jpg Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/09f56562-f8dd-4f1d-bd0d-437aeb109703/Screenshot+2025-05-27+at+3.38.08%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out “Leopard spots” from the Cheyava Falls region of Mars https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/203e01ca-037e-410d-b4f7-e4d9e9ded877/128-1-Shark-Bay.jpg Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out The stromatolites of Shark Bay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1cee2902-822b-452f-b204-50ea84780910/Screen-Shot-2020-07-29-at-7.21.49-pm-1-1024x639.png Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out The landscape that houses the Strelley Pool Formation, in the Pilbara region of western Australia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/654bce79-34fd-46c3-bb47-881965d95e00/39191-12.jpg Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out A Strelley Pool stromatolite (~12” long), showing characteristic fine layering https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/115b5526-d374-4022-b130-08356379bc14/Screenshot+2025-05-27+at+3.33.14%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out Scientists collecting from the Isua Greenstone Belt in Greenland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9f2918cc-a1c3-4faa-b234-7be4f7054166/_90984976_page.jpg Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out An alleged stromatolite from Greenland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fc5fb761-b418-4ebc-99d6-a816169a2c82/Screenshot+2025-06-03+at+11.08.51%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/acd7f4f3-eab7-42d6-b718-48b77b20ef05/Screenshot+2025-05-30+at+10.59.00%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From Stromatolites to Martian Leopard Spots: Circumstantial Traces and the Reconstruction of Early Life - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/5/14/ode-to-opabinia monthly 0.5 2026-01-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a11de03a-38b0-4440-a6ee-e8a9f28a6cea/Screenshot+2025-05-09+at+5.17.02%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7f6ec531-8d66-4c18-9fee-96011e0af435/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+6.55.09%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Opabinia regalis reconstructed. (Model from the BBC program First Life, 2010) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3426039d-af29-469c-9f1b-af8960a6cae0/Screenshot%2B2024-11-13%2Bat%2B9.23.36+AM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Left: the original dust jacket of Wonderful Life, which Gould wanted to title Ode to Opabinia [edit: apparently I screwed this up— the prospective title was Homage to Opabinia]; and right: its author at the Walcott Quarry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f3db61cc-eb21-4275-b98f-bc411d66a98d/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+8.24.57%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ebf6de22-45ad-421f-aa03-7e5555ab5932/Screenshot+2025-05-12+at+7.41.48%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to - Make it stand out Top: panorama of the Walcott Quarry, taken in 1910; and bottom: the view from the Burgess Shale outcrop, with Emerald Lake in the foreground and Emerald and Michael Peaks behind https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/aa1af549-b596-4420-8cad-b2b26edef70a/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+8.13.27%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Plate 28 from Walcott (1912), rotated 90 degrees for convenience. Here, Opabinia regalis is shown at the bottom, in dorsal view (i.e., from above). Also pictured are Nathorstia (image 2) and Naraoia (images 3 and 4) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4f3b34c9-56a9-4f83-a79c-7aa11b8f1de0/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+8.16.47%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Another diagram from Walcott (1912). This one shows Opabinia on the branchiopod line of descent, along with some other Burgess Shale beasties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b07e2135-f248-42ae-8b97-3f8dd4b1e9f0/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+8.17.55%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to G. E. Hutchinson’s reconstruction of Opabinia as a probably-antenna-bearing back-swimmer. Note the absence of jointed legs in the reconstruction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/06818631-9419-47f2-989d-cd268546e54b/Screenshot+2025-05-07+at+8.20.54%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Alberto Simonetta’s reconstruction of Opabinia, featuring facial spikes and eyes reminiscent of a honey bee’s (compound, tear-shaped, without eye-stalks). Also, notice that the animal is here depicted with rows of jointed legs, which aligns with Walcott’s reconstruction but not with Hutchinson’s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/60b9ccf6-0487-41d5-bb25-b390d0130389/Screenshot+2025-05-09+at+12.40.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Opabinia regalis in lateral view. Figures (a) and (b) are the part and counterpart (with the counterpart flipped horizontally to match (c)), and (c) is Whittington’s explanatory drawing, produced using the camera lucida technique. According to Derek Briggs: “(a) is illuminated from a low angle and (b) from a high angle to generate reflection in the eyes, for example, showing the method Whittington used to illustrate different features of the Burgess Shale specimens. The needle-marks evident in (a) show where Whittington prepared the specimen to reveal the terminal spines on the ‘flexible frontal process’ or proboscis which is flexed backwards underneath the body. (c) [is] Whittington’s camera lucida drawing and interpretation. L and R indicate features on the left and right sides of the body; i and o, inner and outer eyes; l, lateral lobes of the trunk, numbered from the anterior; f, blades of the tail fan; ds, dark stain representing material that has ‘leaked’ beyond the body.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ea9316df-7e50-4382-a414-e49849d6045b/Screenshot+2025-05-08+at+11.56.31%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Whittington’s reconstruction of Opabinia, bearing five stalked eyes and zero jointed appendages. Famously, when Whittington displayed a preliminary version of this reconstruction at the Paleontological Association meeting in 1972, he was greeted with peals of laughter. So unfamiliar was the creature’s anatomical structure https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/548aa7c7-73a4-4a00-948d-19f9cbfaf056/Screenshot%2B2025-05-08%2Bat%2B12.03.24+PM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Three reconstructed animals of the Burgess Shale fauna, drawn by Marianne Collins for Gould’s Wonderful Life. On the left is Anomalocaris; on the top right Opabinia; and on the bottom right Hallucigenia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/20b4549c-24fd-4493-8275-ac7ced4e5c20/Screenshot+2025-05-08+at+12.06.53%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Left: Gould’s representation of the “conventional” (but allegedly false) iconography of evolution, which he terms “the cone of increasing diversity”; and right: “the revised model of decimation and diversification, suggested by the proper reconstruction of the Burgess Shale” (Gould 1989, 46]). Here you should imagine creatures like Opabinia and Hallucigenia on the shorter stalks— these are groups (body plans) that left no descendants in the modern oceans. And you should imagine groups like the arthropods and annelids on the longer stalks. These are the taxa that, following an indiscriminate decimation, inherited the earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f9d3d268-e382-4501-9ae7-ce019a8f8fca/Screenshot+2025-05-09+at+2.11.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Some cladistic concepts represented, including “synapomorphy” (an “apomorphy,” or derived feature, shared by two or more taxa and inferred to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor) and “homoplasy” (a feature that has evolved separately in two or more lineages) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/52abbbe7-4527-43e8-ba2d-fdc42380aaa5/Screenshot+2025-05-09+at+2.04.30%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Jefferies’s (1979) depiction of the stem-/crown-group distinction (see the text for a verbal description) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2efdfc1d-01dc-4b51-ad88-1b2aab6cd1e1/Screenshot+2025-05-09+at+9.31.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Comparative leg segmentation in arthropods. Featuring a trilobite leg (A), the fifth and sixth legs of a eurypterid (B), and the leg of a pycnogonid (C), arachnid (D), scorpion (E), crustacean (F), chilopod (G), diplopod (H, I) and insect (J). From Snodgrass (1958) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a87b4584-1eac-4f48-aa30-37ac22a1c44d/ea5de798-af3f-4cab-b9b8-be4d94015101_1600x1200.jpg Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to Reconstruction of the Burgess Shale fauna, with Opabinia capturing a worm, Anomalocaris about to munch a trilobite, and Hallucigenia (along with Wiwaxia and Marrella) scuttling over the seafloor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/59e4703e-cdaa-4822-953e-f27f856f50d5/Screenshot+2025-05-13+at+1.58.45%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to - Make it stand out A cladogram of Cambrian and other arthropods, from Briggs and Fortey (1989) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/64d80e19-6d37-4fdb-8798-77b72f3d3131/Screenshot+2025-05-13+at+7.48.18%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to - Make it stand out Budd’s reconstruction of Opabinia, with some lobes redacted to reveal two rows of lobopod-like limbs tipped with little claws https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/08f564f4-696e-421e-870c-b41ccb6be937/Screenshot+2025-05-13+at+8.49.40%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to - Make it stand out Budd’s reconstruction of the arthropod stem and its implications for “arthropodization.” The original caption reads as follows: “A broad-scale reconstruction of the arthropod stem-group, mostly following Ramskold's (1992) 'morphocline'. This has been converted into a phylogeny by the polarization discussed in the text… Important synapomorphies: 1. The plexus of arthropod characters of Budd (1993). 2. Onychophoran autapomorphies. 3. Heteronomous annulation, nodes. 4. Node enlargement. 5. 'Armoured' nodes. 6. Spine enlargement, effacement, limb spine loss, slender limbs. 7. ?Oval head shield. 8. Secondary loss of nodes. 9. Lateral lobes. 10. Arthropodan segmentation (= loss of small trunk annulations). 11. Large compound eyes, differentiation of trunk to form tail fan, gut diverticulae. 12. Sclerotization of appendages, fusion of lateral lobes and limbs to form biramous limbs… 13. Sclerotization of termites (CCT clade =crustaceans+ chelicerates+trilobites: possibly +insects).” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d2513772-e680-4a9c-88a5-758c9efe9114/Screenshot+2025-05-14+at+9.57.47%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/4/24/why-the-yanks-whiffed-on-drift monthly 0.5 2026-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/168e75a7-e8bf-40f8-88f4-e0a28814c39b/Screenshot+2025-04-26+at+9.53.49%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4d172a09-09d4-4000-9e14-674ef1dd3c63/Screenshot+2025-04-27+at+7.41.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Charles Schuchert, and a “Generalized map of America during Paleozoic time,” showing exposed land in white, geosynclinal basins in dark shading, and “the extensive neutral medial area” (shallow epicontinental seas) in light shading. From Schuchert (1918) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e3e59c1e-add8-4513-8413-048fdaa47f46/upscalemedia-transformed.jpeg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out A now-standard textbook depiction of plate tectonic theory, highlighting types of plate boundaries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/98569031-a2cd-4ec6-acc9-b93227f89bab/Wegener+map.jpg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out A plate from Wegener’s The Origin of Continents and Ocean (1924 edition), showing the location of the continents in the Upper Carboniferous, Eocene, and “older Quaternary,” respectively https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c1b5cb6e-a4e6-4a29-ac90-dcd59fac4518/16ORESKESCOVER-superJumbo.jpg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Naomi Oreskes these days https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/490dbfee-2e90-4078-acf7-b076f051ee51/Screenshot+2025-04-27+at+1.45.27%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out A map of the geosynclines of North America in the Ordovician Period, from Marshall Kay’s 1951 monograph, North American Geosynclines. (Compare to Schucert’s “Generalized map of America in Paleozoic time,” above) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a8318949-ee07-4921-b627-8ffdfde31cc3/alfred-wegener-in-greenland.jpg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Alfred Wegener, the chief advocate of the drift hypothesis in the early going, in Greenland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6b3d0625-5b84-4867-9862-6ea301150b82/s-l1600.jpg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out A map of the paleocontinents of the upper Carboniferous including a very broad Gondwanaland, based loosely on Suess’s reconstructions. From Wilhelm Bolsche’s Das Leben der Urwelt (1932) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/50ec030a-9ab3-4893-84e8-8b33fc7b1068/Screenshot+2025-04-27+at+9.12.03%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Schuchertʼs “Synthetic paleogeographic map of all Permian time,” picturing land bridges (in yellow) connecting South American and west Africa, South America and Antarctica, Madagascar and India, and parts of southeast Asia. Shallow seas are colored green. As Alan Krill (2011) notes, there was some chicanery involved in the production of this map, since the base projection Schuchert chose— the Goode homolosine projection— was the one that minimized the apparent distance between South American and West Africa. From Schuchert (1932). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1092bd9c-efe8-4fdf-85b5-50fbeeb76696/Schuchertmap-1.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out One of Schuchert’s paleogeographic maps, of the early Cretaceous. This particular map is a kind of “living” draft, to which Schuchert made additions and refinements over the course of many years. It was eventually published in the second edition of his Outlines of Geology (plate 28, map 1) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0f0c619b-503c-4178-b714-7f9ecb7ed7a5/Screenshot%2B2025-03-22%2Bat%2B4.39.56+PM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out A diagram from Richard Swann Lull’s “The pulse of life” (1918), which he prepared in consultation with his Yale colleagues Schuchert and Barrell. Most likely Schuchert contributed the curve of “climatic fluctuations,” and Barrell (along with possibly Schuchert) the “elevation” data. The thing to notice here is that the climate curve bifurcates at three points: once in the Permian (actually, the latest Pennsylvanian), once (briefly) at the Triassic-Jurassic transition, and once in the Miocene. These are the only intervals of time (according to the diagram) that aridity and cold were sharply differentiated, enabling ice to accumulate in polar latitudes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/45f1e92a-2393-471e-acfd-bd30e77d1918/Screenshot%2B2025-03-30%2Bat%2B7.31.15+PM.jpg Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Schuchert’s diagram of the history of climatic fluctuations, on the one hand, and diastrophic pulses (“disturbances” and “revolutions”), on the other. Notice how relatively anomalous the present period of time is. From Schuchert (1918) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c1482b16-c03a-4e3b-ae92-a03d2ea034be/Screenshot+2025-04-28+at+10.47.33%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Why the Yanks whiffed on drift... was uniformitarianism to blame? - Make it stand out Arthur Holmes’s proposed mechanism for continental movement (and rifting). From Holmes (1931) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/3/29/the-great-heart-of-nature-beats monthly 0.5 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/431423b5-b999-407b-af4c-4e6540c50f62/Screenshot+2025-03-24+at+1.10.22%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cd6160fe-2c93-4951-8484-f6d7152d745b/Screenshot+2025-03-23+at+1.20.45%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out George Gaylord Simpson in his study https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1cc28743-312f-4301-925f-6ca36f36795e/American_Museum_party.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" The team from the American Museum of Natural History at Bone Cabin Quarry (1899). Seated, left to right, are Walter Granger, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and William Diller Matthew. Standing are F. A. Schneider, Richard Swann Lull, Albert Thomson, and Peter Kaison https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/44352c7c-8149-497e-909e-c3a30ba378de/Screenshot+2025-03-22+at+4.39.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Lull’s chart, produced in consultation with Joseph Barrell and Charles Schuchert, showing the juxtaposed fluctuations of climate, diastrophism, and “life” (or evolutionary activity). Where the climate line is single a relative uniformity of climate conditions was supposed to have prevailed. Where it splits there was a differentiation between arid and cold zones. Dotted lines in the life curve mark “where theory precedes the recorded fact.” (The fourth Mesozoic period, labeled “Coman.”, is the so-called Comanchean [lower Cretaceous].) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3a34c386-0a24-4506-9c92-2ad7bdc9ab1d/Screenshot%2B2025-02-23%2Bat%2B2.40.21+PM.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out An image from Chamberlin (1898), which shows, on the one hand, coastal topography following a period of relative uplift (o–o–o), and on the other, topography after erosion has carried away the coastal cliffs and deposited their sediments in broad circum-continental terraces (bp—tp–at). The dashed line (sl) indicates sea-level, here idealized as unchanging. The sediments marked ‘e’ (which form seaside cliffs following the diastrophic movement) are the same as those marked ‘d’, once erosion and deposition have built the marine terraces. The evolutionary response to diastrophism is, in the first place, a matter of real estate— when broad marine terraces and inland seas are available, rapid diversification takes place (expansive evolution); when they vanish, intense competition leads to spasms of extinction (restrictive evolution) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/db808920-77b6-4b4d-aa14-9c20e830ba26/petromyzon.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Petromyzon marinus, from Edward Donovan’s The Natural History of British Fishes (1803) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d12237f5-34b0-4aea-952b-fb61e31bee91/Screenshot+2025-03-24+at+1.44.24%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Lull’s model of Anchisaurus, an early sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Jurassic Period (Lull 1915). Lull speculated that dinosaurs, which sprang from a similar “reptilian stock” as birds, had higher body temperatures than their reptilian ancestors. Theropod bipedalism he attributed to aridity— witness “the present existence of several bipedal lizards… in our own [American] Southwest” (Lull 1918, 130). By contrast, it was humid conditions that “tempted certain of the increasingly large Theropoda to forsake the strenuous life of a carnivore for the slothful ease of an amphibious herbivore.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3923b3d4-1c47-4c6c-8af1-d680cf21a521/Screenshot+2025-03-26+at+8.42.38%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out A map labeled “Hypothetical continental outlines— Post-Cretaceous,” drawn up for the fossil mammal hall at the AMNH and reproduced in Matthew (1906) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d41c455d-2bf4-47cf-80f9-8b51c0fe4d0b/Screenshot+2025-03-26+at+9.49.06%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out William Diller Matthew in 1922. Matthew died in 1930 at age 59 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d2d79e63-f4f9-492d-a698-137f1a5f521b/Screenshot+2025-03-26+at+10.11.24%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Two figures from Climate and Evolution. Left: “Zoölogical regions on north polar projection,” with shelf areas unshaded. According to Matthew, “This map represents the true relations of land and water in the northern hemisphere far more correctly than does the usual Mercator projection.“ The map also supplies a base chart on which a whole series of illustrations in the work are modeled; for an example, see below. Right: “The southern continents with south polar projection,” and deeper water indicated by progressively denser cross-hatching https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4996b95e-6f33-4f64-9ed9-acbda659ec1a/Screenshot+2025-03-26+at+10.14.36%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Matthew’s map of the “Dispersal and distribution of the principal races of man.” This is the first dispersal map Matthew included in the text, probably because it depicted one of his central contentions very clearly— to those who shared his social prejudices. This was the location of the most “advanced” forms near the point of original dispersal (here, Eurasia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4812226e-2694-4376-9fb1-6e8b77865ad7/Screenshot+2025-03-28+at+6.57.13%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out Another photograph from the Bone Cabin Quarry expedition (1899), showing Matthew (right) and Lull (left), as well as Peter Kaisen, excavating the Brontosaurus specimen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d4c59078-d511-47a9-826c-c800d749e461/Screenshot+2025-03-30+at+7.31.15%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "The great heart of nature beats" - Make it stand out A figure from Schuchert (1918), titled “Diagram showing the times and probably extent of the more or less marked climatic changes in the geologic history of North America, and of its elevations into chains of mountains.” (Compare to the diagram from Lull (1918), above; the most striking difference is that the Cambrian and Ordovician are missing, replaced with a string of periods including Ulrich’s Ozarkian and Canadian.) Here, most geological periods are held to be associated with “revolutions” as opposed to “disturbances.” But the largest revolutions are those that separate the great eras http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/3/16/nature-vibrates-with-rhythms monthly 0.5 2026-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/534d3b8c-616a-4910-92a8-87f19483204e/Screenshot+2025-02-24+at+9.39.22%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d4a9c016-0119-4216-a7b9-e5b61e4457c4/Screenshot+2025-03-08+at+2.00.43%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Thomas Chamberlin during his time as the president of the University of Wisconsin (1887–1892) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dbb5f996-d55e-422b-9e8f-45312c9c5859/EOU2.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Edward Oscar Ulrich (1857–1944) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6124de54-7f41-4db0-9042-7f018e71ebf4/Screenshot+2025-03-13+at+8.15.45%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out A figure from the “Revision” showing incursions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans over geological time. Notice the “oscillatory character” of the incursions and the total draining of the continents at period boundaries. This draining would leave a major erosional surface or unconformity, which Ulrich used (following Chamberlin) to define the base of a system. Notice also the two new systems intercalated between the Cambrian and Ordovician— the Ozarkian and Canadian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3b6d50cc-636e-4109-b4da-3852a10bb5a7/Screenshot+2025-03-08+at+9.03.43%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Left: map of North America showing overlapping (successive) invasions from the Arctic, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific sides. Notice the pattern of deposition this suggests; not one of shifting facies in a stable, interconnected seaway, but one of successive deposition of lithologically uniform units in shallow, oscillating basins. (For Ulrich, different rock types were generally held to have come from different seaways.) Upper right: a “sketch map of southeastern North America” showing Appalachian troughs and “principal lines along which stratigraphic overlaps are common” (Ulrich 1911, 293) An overlap, for Ulrich, “suggests preceding sea withdrawal and cessation of marine deposition in the areas thereby emerged” (329). Lower right: deposition in a sedimentary basin, showing three stratigraphic units of consistent lithology and characteristic “morphology” (thick in the middle and pinched out on the sides) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d190159c-30aa-43df-b390-7e84c1fb80e4/Screenshot+2025-03-08+at+9.06.18%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out A figure showing (A) the “fluctuation and oscillation in average relief of median Areas of North America with respect to Sealevel,” and (B) “relative vertical Displacement of the Strandline [former shoreline] in successive Periods with respect to an assumed average Sealevel.” In this figure, the troughs of the relief and displacement curves correspond to unconformities, and the peaks to maximum floodings. The figure also shows a temporal asymmetry between Eo- and Neopaleozoic time, when submergent conditions predominated, and Meso- and Cenozoic times, when emergent conditions predominated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/636edc39-c65d-475a-9eca-e5aa5cfcb558/Screenshot+2025-03-13+at+10.10.39%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Rollin Chamberlin (1881–1948) and a photograph taken in the Cariboo Mountains of British Columbia during an expedition with Allen Carpe (1927). Together the two men climbed Mount Sir John Abbott (Kiwa Peak), one of Chamberlin’s sixty-three alpine ascents https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d13f06db-4ae6-4d00-9679-bae0fcab768a/Screenshot+2025-03-14+at+10.25.46%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Joseph Barrell (1869–1919), who died of pneumonia and spinal meningitis at 49 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/86a67467-87ae-4dbd-970f-a0f8a1b499e2/Screenshot+2025-03-14+at+3.26.18%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Barrell’s figure, “Sedimentary Record made by harmonic Oscillations in Baselevel,” with color codings for ease of interpretation. Here, blue shading represents intervals of time in which sedimentary accumulation is possible, whereas pink shading represents intervals of time erased by erosion (and represented by disconformities, D, in the columnar section). The total amount of time represented by sedimentary deposits is represented by black bars in the “bar code” (top of figure). I’ve also included a pie chart to represent the amount of time recorded by the entire columnar section (left). Like Barrell’s observations on denudation, the processes represented in this figure had implications for estimates of the magnitude of geological time. As Barrell observed, “A fundamental conception connected with composite rhythms is that a long time interval may be represented by a short columnar section, and yet the individual beds may be deposited rapidly” (Barrell 1917, 798). This meant it was illicit to extrapolate observed rates of deposition to estimate “the time of accumulation of [a] whole formation,” since this will tend to undersell the amount of time represented by the formation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/332857fd-12a3-4b13-aaef-2e9697ec5b0e/Screenshot+2025-03-14+at+3.16.30%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out A signed painting of Charles Schuchert (1858–1942), and Schuchert’s hand-drawn paleogeographic map of North American (late Cretaceous) showing marine incursions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e862856c-25bf-4412-8df2-81e104c396e4/Screenshot+2025-03-14+at+6.31.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - "Nature Vibrates with Rhythms" - Make it stand out Bailey Willis (1857–1949) and Amadeus Grabau (1870–1946). Willis’s relationship with Chamberlin has sometimes been misunderstood, as, for example, when Mott Greene observed that his 1909 remarks betrayed only a hesitant acceptance of the diastrophic theory (Greene 1982). In fact, this is based on a misreading of some key passages, whereas Willis’s private remarks reveal an opinion of Chamberlin bordering on reverence (see, e.g., Newman 1995). Indeed, when Chamberlin died, Willis placed him beside Aristotle, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Darwin as one of history’s “great original thinkers” (Willis 1929a) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/2/25/pulse-of-the-solid-earth monthly 0.5 2026-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3cf699a8-cda3-43d6-803f-06a367558b98/Screenshot+2025-02-25+at+3.47.10%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d2556ac6-323c-44dc-a255-2890837083af/Screenshot+2025-02-21+at+9.28.37%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth Thomas Chamberlin at his desk at the University of Chicago https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/17dc72d2-adba-4dac-b622-52fce5a8392c/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+1.41.04%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth George Gaylord Simpson and his most famous book, Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944). Also, like a llama or something https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4aaafc59-bfcb-4cdc-98de-48ea88376d63/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+7.35.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out Thomas Chamberlin as a young man and a terminal moraine from southern Wisconsin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0f72d5d9-0d44-42f3-95b4-196de28cf914/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+9.36.56%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out “Theoretical Map of Wisconsin During the Second Glacial Epoch,” prepared by T. C. Chamberlin for Geology of Wisconsin: Survey of 1873-1879, Volume 1 (1883), showing the Driftless Area. And an “Ideal Map of North America During the Ice Age” by T. C. Chamberlin, included as Plate XIV in James Geikie’s The Great Ice Age (1894) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1f79cd92-b246-49b0-abf8-b4e93058acab/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+9.59.01%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out “Variation of temperature caused by a given variation of carbonic acid,” from Svante Arrhenius’s celebrated 1896 paper— a major inspiration for Chamberlin’s thinking about climatic changes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/08521ce1-5e5d-4a10-92de-80fd5a10af91/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+6.05.00%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out Chamberlin’s 1897 paper in The Journal of Geology, which was mostly devoted to criticizing the Laplacian nebular hypothesis and tracing the outline of a different conception, later called the “planetesimal hypothesis” (see Appendix 2, below) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fbdd7291-afca-40b3-bbd4-2070ec9cb08a/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+4.53.24%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out “Diagram illustrating the supposed elements of a general deformative movement,” from Chamberlin and Salisbury (1904). What’s pictured here are the results of the collapse of the crust via contraction (from the S shell to the S’ shell), including the deepening of the ocean basins, the upheaval of the continental masses, and the formation of folded mountains by lateral thrusting. The thrusting is pictured by means of lines connecting the S and S’ shells, like the line connecting point a to point a’, which shows the margin of the oceanic crust. In the figure this marginal oceanic crust is thrust onto the continent (or at any rate the continental shelves) in a great lateral movement, to which the continental crust responds by folding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/322a35fd-c730-4736-ab36-cd88097f15eb/Screenshot+2025-02-23+at+2.46.36%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out Le Palais des Fétes in Strasbourg, site of the First International Geological Congress (1878), where the standardization of classification schemes was a leading issue. Thomas Chamberlin attended and read a paper on the Kettle Moraine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e699e6a9-8a82-4346-b720-f444e658854a/Screenshot+2025-02-23+at+2.40.21%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out A pair of figures from Chamberlin (1898) illustrating the process of baseleveling. Figure 2 shows the endpoint of the process depicted in Figure 1, where all the “land carried away by erosion” (e) has been built into a continental terrace (d) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/54a0dc15-4115-4886-9109-baddcd0ed3ce/Screenshot+2025-02-23+at+9.10.19%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out Title page of Geology (Vol II) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c27c29e5-e1b8-4961-9195-eca912bb6f08/Screenshot%2B2025-02-22%2Bat%2B5.02.29+PM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out The “great nebula in Andromeda,” which, Chamberlin and Salisbury observe, “has sometimes been suspected to be in reality a stellar system outside our own,” but which they regard as a great cloud of planetesimal bodies. It was the infall of these cold planetesimal bodies that Chamberlin held to be responsible for the origin of planets and their growth by accretion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/43f8a5a6-2de0-45df-86a5-f8abaadcc069/Screenshot+2025-02-22+at+4.59.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Pulse of the Solid Earth - Make it stand out “Diagram intended to illustrate the evolution of the ocean basins under the planetesimal hypothesis” (original caption title). The Roman numerals around the bottom indicate times, with ‘I’ being the earliest and ‘III’ the latest. In Chamberlin and Salisbury’s words, “I represents an early stage in the evolution of the hydrosphere when it was largely subterranean, being held in the porous zone and only appearing at the surface in the volcanic pits developed by explosive vulcanism of the supposed lunar type.” Notice the continent gradually rising at C’ and C”, and the ocean basins deepening and becoming interconnected at B’ and B”. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/2/17/second-thoughts-on-lyell monthly 0.5 2026-03-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/57c56b87-d8c4-4f5b-a352-e7f869f9448f/Screenshot+2025-02-16+at+8.11.13%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0d03e9a0-3aa6-41b3-a49e-aa0f6b05a85b/Screenshot+2025-02-15+at+3.29.38%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell The second volume of Lyell’s Principles, photographed with a hunk of Galapagos basalt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/00d46260-ff3d-466c-9ab9-e3fe4cc38e64/Screenshot+2025-02-15+at+3.33.32%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell Martin Rudwick (left) and James Secord (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0515fc43-effd-4217-9844-a70103574d2e/Elements.jpg Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell The frontispiece to Lyell’s Elements of Geology, meant to illustrate a theoretical claim: “the contemporaneous origin of the four great classes of rocks” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f82509bc-5ea5-4dff-8efe-d1297ad9cf14/Awful.jpg Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell “Awful Changes,” Henry De la Beche’s cartoon mocking Lyell’s remarks about the cycling of the “great year” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/decdbe76-437b-4839-94ad-266463187ac9/3C18EF1D00000578-0-image-m-5_1484312903859.jpg Thoughts - Second Thoughts on Lyell The popular “bear pit” at the newly opened London Zoo http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/2/17/problematica-the-charles-lyell-collection monthly 0.5 2026-01-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/db007e92-3eba-4cc8-99d8-fc65264c89b3/shellx.jpg Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c0168ced-096d-4322-99bf-568e98bc014f/Screenshot+2025-02-17+at+11.32.06%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2f4200b4-9b50-478c-bad0-dde17c492356/1000006358.jpg Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cd2bf518-5cca-40c6-9e10-4e9ff058f14e/Screen%2BShot%2B2024-01-31%2Bat%2B11.02.07%2BAM.png Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b3676a07-195f-4d94-97c5-6f3aea0bc841/Screenshot%2B2024-02-21%2Bat%2B8.39.18+PM.png Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b2d5ec5f-6f1f-4c5c-a15b-ff78b465358b/Screenshot%2B2024-04-13%2Bat%2B2.52.02+PM.png Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fb7f698e-e1d5-424a-8302-e3d8c9146dc9/niagra.jpeg Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3c07e178-0a8e-4a09-95be-c83e3674db83/mount-etna-19th-century-science-photo-library-1.jpg Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5da453cf-9b14-4d09-842f-bed4af8b99b6/Screenshot+2025-04-28+at+5.09.35%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Problematica: The Charles Lyell Collection - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/2/12/a-history-of-geology-reading-list monthly 0.5 2026-02-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4fabb9f6-654a-43b5-aaf9-562a4fd180ff/Screenshot+2025-02-12+at+11.20.54%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739213694641-83ZGUN2G8WRBVQCYZFBO/BLT.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 - Bursting the Limits of Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739213698911-50K5EGLGY2W0DM0F50F8/WBA.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739213742451-9Z81M7DO17CF3I6P7UPZ/SOS.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739213714277-6CYVWVCQJTZD8KQY2Y79/GNC.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739213899553-4UCMUGD1YHR0U683DTCV/Screenshot+2025-02-10+at+12.57.08%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1744246367976-NWO7JSBPRPEP2JVA6YEE/RCD.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739214253061-0FX31BYQ3N2JH0CEVQIY/TAB.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739214254711-APYG2OMPHPBM2HDCWOAO/EDH.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739214601854-S0FXP053UB3H4YGCBH65/GDC.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739214619842-RV7VHMTMNTVR6PW28MFF/CVG.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739214635111-M1UZ84G5270H8EBN5LV6/THC.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739215234803-SBE8XPMV8JVL2YB6J82U/CT.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739215236293-0HCWRIAMTKOORTNNCAUO/ATD.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1739215251369-SYRKFFPZTL7XOUGSREDC/HNWBO.jpg Thoughts - A History of Geology Reading List, Part 1 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/1/18/youtube-hidden-gems monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025/1/13/now-thats-how-you-teach-science monthly 0.5 2025-02-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9dc414fd-95ff-47bc-8bf3-c687a8f2991b/1000000866.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8b768774-11cc-4b60-b01b-06c652f9ac98/Screenshot+2025-01-07+at+9.38.05%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science - Make it stand out Say— has anyone seen my dinosaur-with-a-basketball kid’s digital camera? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a9e8d1c-c082-4245-9716-befd2bb4bda2/brachio.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science - Make it stand out A two-page spread from Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish (with illustrations by Arnold Lobel) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/48f61291-857e-40d2-9027-b3ca6cb43329/1000000868.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science From the prologue. Notice how brilliant Rubin’s illustrations are. They’re also packed with interesting details. For example: the character on the left is a composite of Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt. Like Darwin, he is making observations on marine iguanas. Like Humboldt, he’s wearing a trim little vest and a dope hat. The girl on the right is (inspired by?) Mary Anning. Anning famously had a spaniel (Tray) like the one pictured here. And in 1811 she and her brother made their first big fossil find: an ichthyosaur. But she also had dark hair, so perhaps this is another less-than-completely-literal representation. (FYI: the birth of geology is dated to 1785 because this is when James Hutton’s theory of the Earth was first presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ebeaf7e0-29b6-4e34-93e8-3d312c2a2d49/1000000872.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science Louis Dollo inspects a new Iguanodon mount while his assistants puzzle over mounted skeletons of a wallaby and an emu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6d493c95-365f-48af-bbde-1c594844af13/1000000875.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science Iguanodons as they looked when I was a kid: or, a parade of beige and beige-y green https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7280306b-8651-4960-8f50-df0fa90fbeb7/1000000876.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science A shrink-wrapped Iguanodon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0eacead2-9c2d-4e94-bedd-463bbcd37829/1000000869.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science Rubin’s introduction to “the first paleoartists… [like] Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.” Below are some of the artworks that (probably) inspired Rubin’s illustration. Click on these to expand https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1736630748062-RTXXDTU2TS11P5PN6GPY/Country.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science - The Country of the Iguanodon (John Martin, 1837) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1736630734420-7DCSKBH704SHUBF3R1A7/Duria.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science - Duria Antiquior, or a more ancient Dorest (Henry de la Beche, 1830) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1736630513201-V4TY0LBDDTV92QMUY75T/Screenshot+2025-01-11+at+3.21.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science - Dinosauria, or Gigantic Lizards, and Pterosauria (Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, c. 1862) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/02f80161-c1fe-40fd-a75e-9dcf85e5e48f/1000000870.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science Very fun! And notice the door opening onto the completed exhibition (right). This is a good example of how Rubin’s images flow seamlessly into one another and keep the reader eagerly flipping pages. (If you look at the previous image, you’ll see the rest of the procession of waiters) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c8556aa7-09e2-48f8-91f3-55982109a422/1000000877.jpg Thoughts - Now that's how you teach kids about science http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/2/16/rugged-individualism-in-the-cretaceous-redux monthly 0.5 2025-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cef7415d-94f9-4829-b1f3-33194a81f821/SamM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/97fb3c5c-3af7-4735-9aad-4907630b530c/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.58.12%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out George Gaylord Simpson in 1984 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/90fd176b-19d2-4f4c-8929-e1f6da83efc2/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a2ff9ffe-f831-4a1d-9d1d-da330f13449b/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.58.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a5c8053-10ef-4e00-873a-86071a760c83/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.39%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2bf9270e-722b-4fc0-84e2-802d25f78a58/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous - Make it stand out The Umwelt of the astronomer http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/12/28/truth-also-has-its-paleontology-redux monthly 0.5 2025-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4c522aeb-1f43-482f-8151-26a4919e4639/WJ.png Thoughts - From the Archive: “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ef84c62b-08b3-41ea-bb0a-921405ac4fdb/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+2.07.29+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out Louis Agassiz, seated, and Benjamin Peirce (1871). Rumor has it that Peirce is pointing to that privileged spot on the globe where Harvard University resides https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d57db956-4642-4e87-8eec-1b3f0767e313/James+in+Brazil.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out A twenty-three year old William James in Brazil, shortly after contracting smallpox (1865) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b2e094a5-4aaa-4ab5-8986-afe93287a8a2/PG.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out The title page of Lyell’s most influential work, Principles of Geology, along with its frontispiece showing the “Temple of Serapis” (now known as the Serapeum of Alexandria). The frontispiece pictures three pillars standing amid the ruins, each bearing boreholes from marine invertebrates: a powerful visual argument for several key planks of Lyell’s “uniformitarianism” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dc9b9b51-4bd5-4437-a346-3377dc14c549/Hassler+at+sea.png Thoughts - From the Archive: “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out The U.S.C.S.S. Hassler at sea http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/12/18/synoptic-series-redux monthly 0.5 2024-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c449e3ad-581d-48f5-9804-45fec5e2b69d/Synoptic%2BSeries.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007087118-WPRZADB50WIUIMJBZ7TR/Synoptic+Series.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference On the left, a close-up of the Field Museum of Natural History’s “Avian Skeletal Collection Synoptic Series,” assembled by Keith Barker, with key produced by N. Adam Smith. On the right, a shot of the synoptic series in situ. All photos in this post by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007165809-U1JXBS8WXA74Q6H16LO4/T-Rex+Series.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference A bevy of beautiful Tyrannosaurus rex! On the left, the holotype of the species (CM 9380), on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the middle, the specimen informally known as ‘Sue’ (FMNH PR 2081), on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. On the right, the specimen informally known as ‘Black Beauty’ (RTMP 81.6.1), on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007227989-1LZBPNEVY86446W0RLG1/Other+Series.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference The two pictures on the left are both from the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. That’s a wall of 400 dire wolf skulls, and then a full case of nothing but avian tibia—from the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos. The two pictures on the right are both from the Utah Museum of Natural History. That’s a wall of ceratopsid skulls, and then a growth series of Allosaurus femora collected from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/12/12/the-once-and-future-earth-redux monthly 0.5 2025-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0870440a-d94d-4ffc-98b1-d7b725397552/Screenshot+2024-12-06+at+8.56.56%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4d2b2154-4e9c-4529-86ad-6ea6b42f7426/Screen+Shot+2023-04-17+at+7.16.53+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Mars, painted red by iron oxides (and a filter—the true color of Mars is a duller red-brown) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/acd57b0e-ab1f-4111-9e37-ff5b51e52bc6/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+4.37.27+PM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Percival Lowell seated at his telescope at the Lowell Observatory. Improbably, this institution is still around. It even made international headlines in 1930 when a resident astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh discovered the ninth planet in our solar system. Lowell had commissioned the search for “Planet X” before his death in 1916. Today, the dwarf planet Pluto memorializes him in its planetary symbol, PL https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e399133f-d404-43ac-b929-ea153be61dec/Screen+Shot+2023-03-14+at+9.52.45+AM.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A version of Schiaparelli’s 1888 map of Mars, complete with maria (seas), terrae (continents), and canali (channels) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c0beb294-2d52-48c1-a45e-da28ce0fc95c/Screen+Shot+2023-02-24+at+7.36.28+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out An image of Mars captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which would have done nothing to allay Lowell’s concerns https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5f3aaaf0-58b8-4549-aeff-811990f50535/Screen+Shot+2023-04-05+at+8.10.02+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A map of the oldest rocks and minerals on the planet (top) and a picture of some of these rocks belonging to the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt (credit for both images: Jonathan O’Neil). Note that the age of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt is disputed, with one study placing it at 4.4 billion years and another at 3.8 billion years. If the earlier date is confirmed, it will be necessary to modify my statement that no rocks survive from the first 10% of Earth’s history. Also note that the Jack Hills zircons are only mineral grains—the host rock has apparently been destroyed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/96e45e3f-4856-4db1-936b-16c9e28027eb/Screen+Shot+2023-04-05+at+8.11.45+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out An inverted fluvial channel near the Martian equator showing “scroll-bars” typical of river meanders. Inverted channels form when the sediments that fill them become more resistant to erosion than the surrounding material. When the surrounding material erodes, the channel is left standing as a ridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7b38c62e-72ae-4163-8b33-694d162a7e20/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+4.35.36+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1f35eac8-6ad5-466d-8fb1-9d171f32df78/Comparisons+planets.png Thoughts - From the Archive: The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A graphic from Lapôtre et al. (2020) comparing Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars through time. R = radius, g = surface gravity, T = surface temperature, and p = atmospheric pressure at the surface http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/11/27/toulmania-53 monthly 0.5 2025-12-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/028fe355-dfbf-4814-b16d-c32628fce4d6/Screenshot+2024-11-27+at+2.08.21%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c8f47f40-5762-4dc5-b841-1f7762312981/Screenshot+2024-12-01+at+6.53.23%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen - Make it stand out A bit of text from Carnap’s 1945 paper “On inductive logic,” a contribution to the theory of confirmation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e2b0511a-bf1e-4b31-9183-4062e0c6d60a/Screenshot+2024-11-27+at+7.59.02%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen Stephen Edelston Toulmin (1922–2009) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/63cd80a5-f9e8-4f17-ad73-1b39c2879e14/202137-Wittgenstein-scaled.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2b2c393c-9db9-4194-ad3c-f662085eddde/NMAH-2008-2505.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen - Make it stand out “Nine-point circle,” a painting by Crockett Johnson (of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame) meant to illustrate a result from Euler. Johnson made a whole series of paintings during the last decade of his life inspired by physics and mathematics. The title image is another, called “Aligned triangles” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6163aa10-d646-4278-809f-38a77b17aa4c/img1296.png Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen - Make it stand out A light-ray diagram of the sort familiar from geometrical optics, with the parts of a shadow marked https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d7195ddf-ff2a-4bfd-a8ac-a7f37ef21c56/Screenshot+2024-11-27+at+8.03.45%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen An application of Snell’s law from Toulmin (1953). Here, “i” is the angle of incidence and “r” the angle of refraction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d90a2d5a-4083-4fe4-ab3a-5c31dccc805b/NMAH-2008-2484-1.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen “Polar line of a point and a circle” (Crockett Johnson) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e1e88646-9619-4077-8381-7ce017bd9551/Screenshot+2024-11-27+at+1.36.59%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen The “orthodox” view of theories according to the logical empiricist philosopher Herbert Feigl (1970). In this view, theories are deductive systems consisting of uninterpreted formulas (the “postulates” including the “primitive concepts” of the theory) together with sentences that give empirical content to these formulas by partially interpreting them https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/47c7249a-9d52-407c-a04e-0ab1a77ab9d1/Screenshot+2024-11-27+at+2.46.41%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen Toulmin’s example of a simplified road map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9312cc90-de7a-411f-850c-f9d0494d0f73/NMAH-2008-2504-1.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen “Approximation of pi to .001” (Crockett Johnson) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c6101ce0-49b6-4769-8b64-9f71794ee349/maxresdefault-1.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen - Make it stand out Ernest Nagel, Toulmin’s most incisive reviewer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/150a4508-5763-4de7-bb11-7d60351569c4/NMAH-2008-2531.jpg Thoughts - Toulmania '53: Remembering the Practice-Turn that Didn't Happen - Make it stand out “Pendulum momentum” (Crockett Johnson) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/11/14/microbe-metazoan-macroevolution monthly 0.5 2024-11-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/25576d88-8bc2-422a-b48b-917be79b6ff6/Odontochelys-Paleozoological_Museum_of_China.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3927ae42-80b7-45c9-bb46-909ec076bfc6/2-sulfitobacter-pontiacus-dennis-kunkel-microscopyscience-photo-library.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out They’re everywhere and they’re important, even if they’re more often than not out-of-mind https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8d50e88b-f288-4bcf-a0a6-44f526fd36d4/endosymbiotic-theory-700x348.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Visual summary of the endosymbiont theory for the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c39a6c0d-0c91-431d-a35d-e83465add4d8/15059501145_d4e5892366_b.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out A stromatolite from the Biwabik Iron Formation (ca. 2 bya) in northern Minnesota https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d3a76aac-a5de-4c59-8676-8676f619e545/Dickinsonia-Fossil.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Two specimens of Dickinsonia, an enigmatic Ediacaran organism (probably a metazoan) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/564b1051-691a-4f4e-aea5-13875e2ef436/Screenshot+2024-11-18+at+9.06.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/949d12f8-1711-4ee3-b53c-eb7b5557a9bd/13071_2021_4796_Fig1_HTML.png Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Visual summary of the frog skin microbiota https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2111a337-68d6-40f7-9ee6-151ba08d4626/ubrpfmxw22xb1.jpg Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out The turtle body plan revealed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ab1ef351-1720-4767-b7cb-2121f714cb49/Screenshot+2024-11-18+at+9.15.27%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Odontochelys as it might have appeared in life. (Image credit: Nix Illustration) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/aa320171-e264-4e0f-a41f-ea32f4ba111e/Screenshot+2024-11-18+at+9.21.47%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Microbe-metazoan macroevolution: new directions for an old research program - Make it stand out Artist’s representation of an early mammal. (Image credit: Carl Buell) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/11/19/america-the-volcano-less monthly 0.5 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4863b3fb-3a58-4206-8456-1e36ec74f364/Screenshot+2024-11-19+at+8.16.37%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - America the volcano-less - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/93b65e63-40bb-4bbf-b2df-8d490812bdb4/csm_STO_1863_um_Schloss-Stolpen-gegen-West_Meysel_f2eb4f7cdb.jpg Thoughts - America the volcano-less - Make it stand out The Burg Stolpen in Saxony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c1bc4c8e-0da5-4c23-b349-6c225d863ba9/Screenshot+2024-11-23+at+3.26.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - America the volcano-less - Make it stand out An excerpt from Carus (1909). The diarist prince is Carl Bernhard, son of Goethe’s friend and patron, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Carl August https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f410078f-b749-4809-87f3-19f9367aedcb/Volcanos.gif Thoughts - America the volcano-less - Make it stand out A map of the distribution of volcanoes, showing a conspicuous pattern of concentration along active continental margins. Of course, Goethe didn’t know what an active continental margin was. But perhaps I should have realized that the concentration of volcanoes in the western part of North America was something that might have led Goethe to think that America had no basalt. (Recall that Goethe was writing only a couple decades after the Lewis and Clark expedition, when the American west was not well known to easterners, to say nothing of Europeans) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/10/29/future-proof-explosion-or-why-the-cambrian-exploded-for-a-while-anyway monthly 0.5 2025-10-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b84faf02-5cdb-4d5d-bdca-121af93ab0e7/Screenshot+2024-10-29+at+7.55.09%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6673b4f5-f8e4-4064-8b36-a8ea3076b1c8/Screenshot+2024-10-30+at+6.23.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out The Cambrian explosion in a children’s picture book, Out of the Blue: How Life Evolved out of Prehistoric Seas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/75dbe826-7efd-424f-9ee1-08cd55b38108/Screenshot+2024-10-29+at+6.35.44%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out George Gaylord Simpson (1902–1984) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/356e90ad-41ae-4abe-bee4-da77c6dd3415/Simpsons-1-ecospace-model-for-adaptive-radiation-showing-initial-explosive-evolution_W640.jpg Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Simpson’s diagram of quantum evolution. From Simpson (1944) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f2271402-a101-493b-9749-b7975be6d94b/Picture1.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Cloud’s diagram of explosive evolution in terebratuloid brachiopods. In Cloud’s description, the figure “represents the approximate known ranges in time of the earlier terebratuloid genera and their inferred relationships. It shows within the main eruptive phase several marked eruptive nodes that probably coincide with the opening up of new ecologic niches as a result of paleoecologic changes or biotal readjustments or both.” (And notice how it looks kind of like Simpson’s diagram turned on its side.) From Cloud (1948) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/abaa6be2-5b1d-444d-9a5c-7ac6d04316a8/TCC.jpg Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin (1843–1928) at his desk at the University of Chicago https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7e5b79e4-1baf-4b11-ab60-4408201e610f/Picture1.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Newell’s “synthetic graph showing highest rates of generic diversification, and times of first appearance and extinction of major groups of invertebrates.” Rates of generic diversification were high in the Cambrian, only topped by the succeeding Ordovician Period. But the number of groups at the peak of their evolutionary activity was low. From Newell (1952) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4b671cf5-828c-47c8-9aef-c220d9ec02f6/Picture1.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out Fischer’s diagram of the fossil record plotted against the evolution of the atmosphere. Although Fischer depicts a polyphyletic radiation near the Cambrian boundary, his model is an “explosion of fossils” model, since the radiation does not correspond to the origin of metazoans: just their entry into the fossil record. From Fischer (1965) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a1ea47b1-2ba8-4662-8b0c-55fc774f5f81/Screenshot+2024-11-13+at+9.23.36%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out The original dust jacket of Wonderful Life, and its author, Stephen Jay Gould, at the Walcott Quarry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/80046d93-3bfa-4f9b-92b1-db87e2a506ae/Screenshot+2024-10-30+at+8.55.39%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out A cladistic representation of the Cambrian explosion (that is, a phylogenetic tree of Cambrian arthropods), with diversification “decoupled” from phylogenesis, or the divergence of major clades. From Fortey et al. (1997) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/324c5278-8fcf-4076-9ce5-0fc7b7712ef9/Screenshot+2024-11-13+at+9.25.40%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Future-Proof Explosion? - Make it stand out An image from Wood et al. (2019) showing the broader geochemical context of the Cambrian explosion (or, as they would have it, the '“Ediacaran-Cambrian radiation”) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/10/7/more-basalt-more-problems monthly 0.5 2026-03-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3a6f2fe2-221f-4e1c-9e06-d10f33033a1e/Screenshot+2024-10-03+at+3.24.35%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ed52e1a7-ff06-49ce-bd9a-87469d9e9071/Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_%28The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836%29.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out "The Oxbow," a famous example of American landscape painting showing the Connecticut River Valley after a thunderstorm (Thomas Cole, 1836) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c9bf6283-0af7-4b9d-b756-0804517dffe5/33dc6bb0-184e-41c4-913b-9d4691bed167.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out Columnar basalt from the "Giant's Causeway," an area of interlocking basalt columns in Northern Ireland (Susanna Drury) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9797373a-9bc7-48bb-8135-64e60d43061f/Screenshot+2024-10-03+at+2.56.20%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out Abraham Gottlob Werner, mineralogist and geognost at the Freiberg Mining Academy and later, the University of Leipzig. (Geognosy is an antiquated word for what we now call stratigraphy, and according to some, a science more concerned with structural relationships than inferred historical sequences) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/13482ef4-0db2-4610-84d8-80deea49e774/c0544126-800px-wm.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out A 17th century illustration of a silver and gold mining operation in Hungary https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5ce27372-3f98-4194-9ef6-c5f6069f2d06/Fine-Art-3.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out "Der Watzmann" by Caspar David Friedrich (1824–5). The Watzmann is a mountain in the Alps south of Berchtesgaden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ef7fa50a-7041-46bd-9e18-f660018f5c36/Fingals-Cave.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out Fingal’s Cave, a sea cave on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides (Scotland), and a favorite of illustrators and engravers who had apparently never seen it, or had only seen other fanciful depictions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ac951861-3340-495b-b541-e97a977f00eb/Screenshot+2024-10-03+at+3.05.21%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out Von Buch’s map of Teneriffe, a volcanic island in the Canaries (1836) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7d57c662-3218-4e19-88c3-087536d9d028/csm_STO_1863_um_Schloss-Stolpen-gegen-West_Meysel_f2eb4f7cdb.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out The Burg Stolpen (Stolpen Castle), with columnar basalt in the foreground (1863) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/83a8ebb8-60da-4c7f-9787-b5b1e1ff9dd1/jpg.jpg Thoughts - More basalt, more problems - Make it stand out The Burg Stolpen today http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/9/30/the-case-of-the-mislabled-axis monthly 0.5 2024-10-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2d5d55a6-611a-495d-a38c-77035dc5c9d3/Screenshot+2024-09-25+at+8.03.16%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d8e0425e-e375-452f-866a-4fe67dd29d1e/Figure-1.JPG Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out From U.S. House Committee on Science, Space & Technology. 2 Feb 2016. Testimony of John R. Christy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8d4e2aab-ae18-4f6b-9d01-42ea20d20d9e/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.50.44%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out From https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2016/05/comparing-models-to-the-satellite-datasets/; accessed 13.09.2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/969e72a8-101b-4820-83de-64bc05efcbfa/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.52.04%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a9275e0c-d3fa-4248-9830-5afd75820193/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.54.05%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/298812ac-3b7f-445d-8eef-26f7f8368155/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.54.50%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cf6c285c-4a82-4f32-a197-5df402b20537/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.57.41%E2%80%AFPM+1.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Observed temperatures from earthdata.nasa.gov; model predictions from the 5th generation of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/87d138e4-e06a-4d5b-ace0-388b6c18c69d/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+1.52.58%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b1a16fab-e05b-46c3-8ca1-39645a8accd1/Figure-1.JPG Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9af57726-283b-469e-aee4-71dc67308f74/Screenshot+2024-09-26+at+2.59.57%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Case of the Mislabeled Axis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/9/18/evidence-of-absence monthly 0.5 2026-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2fd3bd73-20f0-4c87-979f-c3768b34ddb6/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/17d8d360-208b-4227-91e7-9eb941cc888b/1596px-The_Adventure_of_Silver_Blaze_01.jpg Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Holmes and Watson on the train to Derbyshire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/31442363-3e5f-43d4-965a-64058c578896/Screen+Shot+2023-08-26+at+1.18.07+PM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Débitage from stone tool-making (from Stemp and Rosenswig 2022) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/26b2f643-f6ed-45a0-9cfa-b0769511fd76/thh.jpg Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Thomas Henry Huxley, who was a sprightly 37 years old in 1862 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/38cd29a0-51f5-4758-8046-66f87ff91c3f/Screenshot+2024-07-27+at+8.15.29%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out An idealized view of a stratigraphic succession, with four kinds of shells succeeding one another in the stratigraphic column and by inference, in time (from Bjornerud 2018) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/eb4f87f7-57e8-42dd-8249-5ad252d38d71/Screenshot+2024-07-27+at+8.20.10%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out An idealized illustration of fossil-based correlation between two geographically-separated stratigraphic successions. (By “correlation,” what I mean is the establishment of a [temporal] correspondence between geographically separated exposures or sedimentary units.) The situation Huxley is inviting his audience to consider is one in which the dashed lines are not “time lines” indicating synchronicity between depositional events. Instead, Huxley is highlighting the possibility that the events connected by these lines (the beginning of sedimentary deposition here and there) may be offset in time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/94025e7d-fbf4-40ad-a4b1-08ca7f210c09/064-fig016.jpg Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Some fossils from the Lingula flags, the first of which were described by the paleontologist John Salter in the 1850s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f316927f-6bb2-4252-99f1-1719a6685e66/Screenshot+2024-07-27+at+12.55.58%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out “Accomodation [space]” is the space available for potential sedimentary accumulation. It is determined by global sea-level changes and tectonic uplift and subsidence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7b6e7e03-edcf-467f-b3ae-856ed6e99712/Screen%2BShot%2B2024-07-27%2Bat%2B10.27.08%2BAM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out The anatomy of a dispositional sequence. Notice the stacked parasequences bundled into systems tracts and separated by characteristic surfaces (to be discussed below). Also notice that this image shows two depositional sequences stacked one on top of the other. The colors on the diagram represent distinct depositional environments, or “facies” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a34c4a89-583a-41d4-818e-af94fda71219/371930_1_En_2_Fig3_HTML.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out A simplified diagram of how a depositional sequence is constructed in response to changes in relative sea-level. First the low-stand system tract (LST) builds out from the shore; then, when sea-level rises, the transgressive system tract (TST) builds shoreward; finally, the highstand system tract (HST) builds seaward. Notice the maximum flooding surface (MFS) in red, and the sequence boundary in green https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/642c01ae-1697-4074-ac04-9e86e17aa5ee/Screenshot+2024-07-27+at+2.49.25%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Results of Holland’s model, showing numbers of first and last occurrences for single stratigraphic sections throughout two depositional sequences. Time runs along the vertical axis. Systems tracts, corresponding to strata deposited during a phase of relative sea-level change, are indicated in the center of the figure. (Note that no sediment is deposited during the LST.) Major spikes in first occurrences happen just above the sequence boundary (the juncture between the unrecorded LST and the overlying TST) and at all TST flooding surfaces (contacts exhibiting evidence of sharp increases in water depth). Major spikes in last occurrences occur just below the sequence boundary and at all TST flooding surfaces https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/46ea8ecd-1cdd-49ed-90ea-cfcdecb8562f/Screenshot+2024-09-13+at+10.03.05%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Evidence of absence - Make it stand out Two reconstructions of the urbilaterian, one “complex” and one simple (from Wikipedia) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/ancient-plates-and-pirate-anchors monthly 0.5 2024-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/361fe670-052e-4b03-9673-364d019c0c1b/Plates.jpg Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4e0e971f-3c51-4379-bde8-e2084a3c6f4b/Picture1.jpg Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out Radio telescopes in the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s “Very Large Array,” designed to detect signals of extraterrestrial life. Credit: NRAO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/423895d7-a9b0-4857-a236-76af5727986d/Picture2.jpg Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out Thomas Sheppard (1876-1945). Credit: Hull Museums and Gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f4e1b364-1e31-41f1-a768-f4ede77ec8ea/Screenshot+2024-09-10+at+3.03.05%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out Dugald Bell (1827-1898). From Macnair and Mort 1908. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dfe92194-223a-4dc6-85d5-0d40915dec62/Picture4.png Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out In an 1891 article, Bell reproduced this figure, showing the shape of the valley left behind by a melting glacier (from Jamieson 1874). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0c02e48c-bb4f-44ca-9b5d-86990151a62b/Screenshot+2024-09-10+at+3.13.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out A geologic timescale with select estimates for the onset of plate tectonics. Note the wide range! Stern’s estimate is located 1 billion years ago (1 Ga). From Palin et al. 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/779f4844-162e-4449-b480-1ae4fbe9a922/Blue.jpg Thoughts - Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? - Make it stand out Blueschist. Image credit: https://oaklandgeology.com/2015/06/22/on-oaklands-blueschist http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/8/28/extraterrestrial-epistemology-or-the-limits-of-archives monthly 0.5 2025-03-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1a612e4e-8ff6-4f7a-a85f-93a39922f28a/JNN-1843-Map.jpg Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e78c72a7-193e-4872-8ebf-a2285ee47f23/lake-surprise-at-budj-bim.jpg Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out Budj Bim, located in the traditional country of the Gunditjmara Aboriginal people in southeastern Australia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e6c937a5-0049-4a55-ac61-9ad79d42a49d/Archives-at-Iowa-State.png Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8d389d9f-0810-4562-9ea1-cafc333ae78b/Picture1.png Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out Mní Ówe Sní, photo by the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5271b6c2-15cb-4231-9e57-2cc4a1bbd0cd/Picture2.jpg Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out Garter snake at Mní Ówe Sní, photo by the author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/157f359d-78c2-4a7b-b9cb-9455a94c455a/Picture3.jpg Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out The Stone Man in 1967. Image on file, Murray County Historical Society https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/599dd112-bd08-40c5-8c4f-a9a351962f71/Picture4.jpg Thoughts - Extraterrestrial Epistemology, or the Limits of Archives - Make it stand out The Stone Man site today, photo by the author http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/8/17/minnesota-gneiss monthly 0.5 2026-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/63f1d87e-8eb9-4051-9cae-971a8d39e6d3/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.04.12%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ada3d722-e665-4f65-a5c6-860aa21c0375/PXL_20240730_193615238%281%29.jpg Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out What you see when you arrive at the Morton Outcrops Scientific and Natural Area in Morton, MN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5da6525d-6957-499d-9150-28e1d520ed1e/Screenshot+2024-08-18+at+1.04.53%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out The way up. The sign on the hill says nothing about the gneiss. It simply indicates that this is a protected natural area and lists rules of conduct https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6a51811d-6d28-4099-8928-bdc3b6016d3f/Screenshot+2024-08-18+at+12.51.16%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out A purple coneflower (left) and butterfly weed (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/02a3c273-d079-4975-8536-d6dd23cb7c45/Screenshot+2024-08-18+at+1.08.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b65f7295-5170-4b9e-bb50-1fedd11f6238/Screenshot+2024-08-18+at+1.11.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/94b64583-88f4-47a2-8905-f813a8db2927/PXL_20240730_195358836.jpg Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/30b72676-23c3-4b98-9c13-66919f8a2996/Morton.jpg Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out The abandoned Morton high school building near the outcrops. Notice the gneiss on the facade (photo from internet) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a857f06f-ff3b-43f2-9a2b-fe9eb10a170f/Screenshot+2024-08-19+at+2.03.10%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Two buildings clad in Morton gneiss: Morton Liquor and Adler Planetarium (photos from internet) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/092d3e7e-ee43-4994-8ea0-f54a7b06d181/PXL_20240730_195305215.jpg Thoughts - Minnesota Gneiss - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/7/17/problematicax25 monthly 0.5 2025-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e7a3261e-4b0e-4a39-aeb0-d21a3fc4b5aa/Screenshot+2024-07-17+at+9.34.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cf6ff54a-a244-4817-ac50-554655ee9685/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-03-04%2Bat%2B2.08.48%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c38cd944-8fa6-401b-b9e6-43a31035670b/John%2BMartin.jpeg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9d0eaa48-1562-4e3e-8330-c35921a2c4d0/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-04-17%2Bat%2B7.16.53%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4a0a3c09-46a2-4db0-a6d2-7c620954f0f6/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-03-05%2Bat%2B9.46.52%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/def862b3-2c66-40e7-a584-790e5116a611/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-06-19%2Bat%2B10.47.03%2BAM.jpg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a9f5c0a3-dc9f-4177-8eb8-419bfb056349/1000006358.jpg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/801c47ee-a971-4e58-9768-8b9c94496f8e/Screenshot%2B2024-02-21%2Bat%2B10.46.25+AM.png Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ca71b614-2005-4590-b0af-3d5c62bd582d/ff.jpeg Thoughts - Problematica x25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4a5a7788-15a5-41b9-a83e-6d96d9ec227d/Screenshot%2B2024-07-04%2Bat%2B7.06.53+PM.png Thoughts - Problematica x25 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/7/12/wild-thing monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/041ef7ad-73a1-4edd-9ec2-ef036c767f5a/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.32.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3f4e7002-6536-4da3-933b-4f096df69b34/image_d-K5Xcjb_1720802563492_raw.jpg Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out AI generated image of a “philosopher of paleontology at work” (via OpenArt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/43261a0b-50e2-4251-ba5d-0de2e862b612/Diorama_of_the_Ediacaran_biota_at_the_Field_Museum_in_Chicago.jpg Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out Diorama of the Ediacaran Biota from the Field Museum in Chicago https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7d467d04-2bfe-4738-8944-e8a744ecee21/Screenshot+2024-07-12+at+2.47.20%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out Table 1. The four constraints associated with well-controlled speculation, and the kind of speculation that results when one or more of them are relaxed. (Observed constraints are marked with a ‘+’, unobserved constraints with a ‘–’.) Note that revisionary, extravagant, and wild speculation are all instances of what I call “dangerous speculation.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ecc539d3-1ade-4d74-b678-cf89f3997dde/D1pLyGqUkAANJYw.jpg Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out An ichthyosaur, the kraken’s supposed victim. Art by R. J. Palmer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/15007163-fdfb-44d9-b024-952640cf63ef/GettyImages-492602763-56d32ae45f9b5879cc8aa683.jpg Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out T. rex has a shitty day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cce16c8c-9060-4220-8fa1-a2c62fcb117a/Screenshot+2024-07-12+at+3.02.15%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Wild Thing - Make it stand out Recent work on the anatomy of Charnia masonia— a vendobiont by Seilacher’s lights, and in some ways a testament to the enduring influence of his ideas: “Our data reveal a highly compartmentalized internal anatomy for Charnia, reminiscent of the quilted pneu structure inferred by Seilacher for what he perceived to be a clade of Vendozoa” (from Dunn et al. 2021) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/7/5/release-the-kraken monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d6f7f94d-82c3-4db1-ab90-a8494e08d244/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.32.56%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Release the Kraken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1f5279b5-a46d-456d-ad7d-7e34eea19751/Picture1.jpg Thoughts - Release the Kraken The Berlin Ichthyosaur Death Assemblage in Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, Nevada https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c3afb868-6046-4e0d-8a0f-0a8b00500fc5/Screenshot+2024-07-04+at+6.34.58%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Release the Kraken - Make it stand out The alleged self-portrait juxtaposed with a modern octopus’s arm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f85f3190-cfc9-45f3-aace-c2a623f82087/90.jpeg Thoughts - Release the Kraken - Make it stand out Mark McMenamin, professor of geology at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4f344c29-f705-4dbb-9946-081dd9201ce6/Picture2.jpg Thoughts - Release the Kraken Jack Sepkoski (left) and David Raup (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/02d01633-afba-4161-a16e-dae3e7e1f09b/Picture3.png Thoughts - Release the Kraken A graph of major extinctions showing apparent periodicity, from Raup and Sepkoski (1984) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/32569546-1506-4935-afcc-262f03ebd76d/Picture4.png Thoughts - Release the Kraken A graphic about the Nemesis hypothesis, from the December 18, 1984 issue of The New York Times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c572cd5b-843c-4c54-a318-6a0602203ee6/Screenshot+2024-07-04+at+7.20.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Release the Kraken - Make it stand out Iconic Ediacaran fossils, including Spriggina (top left), Kimberella (left center), Avalofractus (bottom [far] left), Aspidella (bottom [center] left), Charnia (center), Dickinonia (top right), and Parvancorina (bottom right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f0ba8b22-45ec-4dcc-ae71-b985b955a991/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-06-16%2Bat%2B12.13.12%2BPM-1.jpg Thoughts - Release the Kraken - Make it stand out Seilacher’s illustration of “vendozoan” morphology, based on the shared constructional element of the pneu structure (middle row, center). From Seilacher (1989) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0e6ece1d-fcdb-477f-922a-f63218f52d4e/Screenshot+2024-07-04+at+7.06.53%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Release the Kraken - Make it stand out Dickinsonia menneri from the White Sea coast of northern Russia. This specimnen shows signs of damage and regeneration on one end http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/baader-meinhof monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c3f52d87-5bc3-4dd2-bbf1-012b980710fa/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Bear https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5669a23a-3b06-4a51-9d88-20766f960ad4/Full-Oxford-picture-from-Wellcome-Library.jpg Thoughts - The Bear J. B. S. Haldane (left) looking fly in stripes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fd170383-40b7-4e96-843a-7b2362de5697/allometrty.jpg Thoughts - The Bear A fiddler crab whose big claw scales allometrically with body size (as its body grows, its claw grow proportionately larger: this is called “positive allometry”) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/6/20/mivarts-dilemma-confronted monthly 0.5 2026-03-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/891c0e47-2fad-491c-9ab1-b384a97c34ae/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f85cd046-f61c-4c04-9f3c-5728064a40a0/Screenshot+2024-06-18+at+7.24.25%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted Herbert Conn’s microscope (left) and some illustrations he made while studying under the important American zoologist W. Keith Brooks at Johns Hopkins (right). (Photos from Noll et al. 2014) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c6c80f01-9f23-47da-adf3-74611f3215b1/csm_va_dohrn_anton_foto_lb_a_z_59129c78ec.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted Anton Dohrn, photographed in 1883 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dd2f5f1a-e960-48e7-877c-24f77478aa4f/batesonpunnett.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted William Bateson (right) wearing his characteristic scowl, with Reginald Punnett of “Punnett Square” fame (left) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3e2f4404-c7a3-4014-ab45-cd52b471c05c/seashore-of-the-aral-sea-1848.jpg%21Large.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted Painting showing the shore of the Aral Sea (1848). Once the world’s third largest lake, the Aral Sea is now largely dried up in an ongoing catastrophe driven by the diversion of waters for irrigation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2d2ee928-9a5b-465c-8609-7380da47f4b6/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+5.21.57%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted - Make it stand out A characteristic image from Materials for the Study of Variation, showing meristic variation in a hydrozoan. (Meristic variation is an obsession of Bateson’s, and is characterized by a modification in number or geometrical relation of body parts.) On the left is the normal form, with four radii; on the right is an abnormal form with six radii. Both animals are pictured from above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dd47fe43-b950-4458-b02c-d70621ad92dc/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+3.14.39%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted Another characteristic illustration from Materials, showing a “double hand” (I) along with some bones from the elbow of the same appendage (II) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/73a9e54a-c57a-44d2-bdb3-b1862e5f545b/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+3.34.26%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted The evening primrose, Oenothera lamarckiana, color plate in Die Mutationstheorie (de Vries 1900) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f0c68a46-d5f3-470e-a154-0b6360b1f0e2/monarchvsviceroy.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted An American monarch butterfly (left) and its mimic, the viceroy (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dd42d881-6baf-434e-95b6-2a5eb4023482/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+3.55.11%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted Gustav Heinrich Theodor Eimer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f0493fe6-999c-4b45-be14-2da1bcb55e9d/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+5.09.22%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted - Make it stand out A characteristic figure from Eimer (1898), showing two wing morphologies in swallowtails. Eimer argues, for example, that wing spots (like those in P. machaon, here labeled with an “a”) are generated by the abridgement and fusion of lateral stripes; but this is only an example of a general tendency. Every detail of the wing he supposes to be controlled by law. “There is no chance in the transformation of forms”: just “organic growth” in its law-bound regularity. Even mimicry, in most cases, has “nothing to do with adaptation”; mimics “must have originated suddenly and in approximate perfection in order to have given selection any hold for its operations” (Eimer 1898, 54) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b5cc3454-eb19-46bd-928c-229b91228207/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+10.31.16%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Mivart's Dilemma Confronted - Make it stand out Julian Huxley (here pictured in front of grandpa Thomas Henry) coined the expression “eclipse of Darwinism” in Evolution: The Modern Synthesis. It was later popularized by Peter Bowler in his book, The Eclipse of Darwinism http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/6/12/stgeorge-and-the-dragon monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ad2a7781-04f8-493e-9535-2ab7f3898e7e/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f63cc5f3-09e0-44cd-8c89-0c9a7ad8f939/Screenshot+2024-02-12+at+11.34.40%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out Herbert Conn (1859–1917), left, and Vernon Kellogg (1867–1937), right https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7c4d38bf-c262-48e8-8edb-768abf676f89/Screenshot+2024-02-12+at+11.35.42%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out An image from a 1997 publication, “Regulation of number and size of digits by posterior Hox genes: a dose-dependent mechanism with potential evolutionary implications.” This image shows dose-dependent variation of digit patterning in mouse feet: an observation that may help account for the evolutionary origin of distal limb structures in mice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/674f4c4e-4f0e-4b45-b0e5-8045006bfe48/StGM.jpg Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out St. George Mivart in midlife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f253b483-beef-4198-8084-ceaafcdf7dd5/Sieve.jpeg Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out A common way of describing the (entirely negative) action of selection was by analogy with a sieve. This was thought by many to provide a better understanding of how selection works than the original metaphor: the human breeder selecting variants https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ecea00cb-0ab7-4e36-a931-db8fffa908ce/Screenshot+2024-03-17+at+3.47.13%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out Left: Fleeming (pronounced “Fleming”) Jenkin in his electrical workshop, looking every bit the mad inventor. Right: Jenkin’s famous review of the Origin in the North British Review (1867) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b08c40be-6500-45a6-b7f6-42aa5f38f800/baleem.jpg Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out A gray whale with a mouth full of ~300 baleen plates: just one of the structural arrangements Mivart argued could not be explained by incremental natural selection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/255d3c6f-97d7-4d65-9c8b-40dea0f6b371/ff.jpeg Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out A pleuronectiform flatfish with two eyes on a single side of its head https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7ff1f38a-bff0-46cb-a23e-ceefe477a410/Screenshot+2024-06-12+at+8.57.21%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - St. George and The Dragon - Make it stand out Mivart, photographed near the end of his life http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/5/30/old-docs monthly 0.5 2026-01-12 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/5/21/going-global monthly 0.5 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a7375e7c-35aa-4432-8818-8791dc229372/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.20.36%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5926bec9-4309-4da8-b4c0-023049483fa7/Parallel_Roads.JPG Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out The “parallel roads” of Glen Roy, famously interpreted as marine terraces by Darwin (who thought they provided evidence for Lyell’s theory of oscillating continents), and subsequently reinterpreted as traces of a lake impounded by glaciers (Agassiz, Buckland). This is just one of many cases where reinterpretation enriched geological understanding of a body of evidence during the nineteenth century https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cdf3ae78-7898-480d-a6fd-c821d94b44c6/Deluge.jpg Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out “The Deluge,” an oil painting by Extinct fave John Martin (1834). Allegedly, the arch “catastrophist” Georges Cuvier viewed this painting in Martin’s studio while touring England https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/734fcece-c197-43a4-8d55-993e897abc4c/boom.jpg Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Artist’s rendition of the bolide impact that ended the Cretaceous Period https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8fc68dbb-7015-4f8c-8345-7250f5d6ed71/Screen+Shot+2024-05-23+at+10.29.47+AM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Charles Lyell and his companion with their guides at Degolliado di Cedro, Teneriffe, 1854. Lyell’s advice to geologists was “Travel, travel, travel” and he cultivated an image of himself as the ultimate peripatetic geologist: the perfect hybrid of the cosmopolitan gentleman and the manly adventurer. All this was part of a broader effort to remake the public image of geology. (Watercolor by Georg Hartung) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8ae8b66f-51a6-4075-aa88-9cc90196945b/Screenshot+2024-05-16+at+2.12.23%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out The Rev. Dr. William Buckland lecturing at Oxford University, February 15, 1823 (Nathaniel Whittock, 1823–30). It is common to see writers with only a passing acquaintance with the history of geology refer to Buckland as a theologian, as if this were his primary vocation. Even Buckland's Wikipedia page calls him "a theologian who... was also a geologist and paleontologist.") But this gets things backwards. On the eve of the publication of Lyell's Principles, Buckland was Britain's most eminent geologist and a comparative anatomist of great acclaim. He was also a (natural) theologian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/47e20be7-599b-4f68-8447-e9d15480b518/Screenshot+2024-05-21+at+9.35.12%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Top: a coral atoll and its architect, the coral polyp; bottom: Darwin’s model of atoll formation by land subsidence (from Slafford-Deitsch 1991). Suess’s criticism of the emphasis on the “polyp” and the “raindrop” is meant to call to mind this sort of explanation; yet Lyell to some extent escapes the criticism. While Lyell was much concerned to show the cumulative effects of everyday processes, he was also keen to highlight the great power and violence of actual causes whenever he could— the better to support his claim that actual causes operating at observable intensities could render the whole of the geological record https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/351f2915-d579-45c9-8877-59968fcf286c/Screenshot+2024-05-22+at+6.37.20%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Famous cross-sections of the Alps from the generation after Suess. The drawings come from Albert Heim’s Geologie der Schweiz (1916) and show just the sort of structural details that classical uniformitarianism was ill-equipped to explain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/683f38d7-7b22-47d4-a9d5-f836cda25f21/Screenshot+2024-05-20+at+2.43.20%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Mott Greene (left) and A. M. Celal Sengor (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/05f75abf-f2c8-4265-bfd2-76e6351c7d61/niagra.jpeg Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out An idealized, bird’s-eye-view of Niagara Falls, from Lyell’s Travels in North America (1845). Lyell recognized that, given enough time, the falls would chew their way to Lake Erie, at which point a tremendous amount of water would be released into the area surrounding Queenston (pictured in the foreground). None of this contradicted his “uniformitarianism [actualism],” putting the lie to the notion that Lyell was a dogmatic geological “quietist.” But Suess was ready to take things much further https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/06c151fe-1bc6-4040-89f6-002512b28d08/Screenshot+2024-05-21+at+9.11.07%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Emmanuel de Martonne’s depiction of Suess's Altaids (leaving out its “free ends” in North America), from Martonne (1909). Key to legend: 1. Tonalitic scar; 2. Alpine folds; 3. Pyrenean folds; 4. Dinaric folds; 5. Tauric folds; 6. Iranian arcs; 7. the Altaids proper; 8. Hercynian massifs. (Figure reproduced from Sengor and Natal'in 2007) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ddb4843c-356a-47e3-945c-0bb131dcdcf8/Scan2024-05-22_130737_001.jpg Thoughts - Going global: geology between Lyell and Suess - Make it stand out Marcel Bertrand’s 1887 map of orogenic continuities between Europe and North America across the Atlantic Ocean. Bertrand’s suggestion was that the Atlantic basin formed after the formation of the mountain chains. The mountain chains he supposed to have formed by marginal accretion of a Continent archéen or “Archean continent,” depicted in the upper left-hand corner of the figure http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/4/15/what-we-are-witnessing-is-the-collapse-of-the-terrestrial-globe monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/01f9c2d0-27ca-4264-a2e8-0b6ec4bfd2e4/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.20.36%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9c8fa093-fc28-4d0f-ac1f-e0684e5468da/Screenshot+2024-03-26+at+1.35.50%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Eduard Suess (1831–1914), photographed near the end of his life https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/62655347-965d-48b7-878c-06f440e5a232/s-l1600.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1a7536cb-1e91-4b73-88c8-38ac89a86fc4/Screenshot+2024-03-25+at+11.28.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Top: a map of the paleocontinents of the upper Carboniferous including Gondwana-land and “Asien” (a close approximation of “Angara-land”). Note the inclusion of Australia in Gondwana-Land: this is something Suess changed his mind on between the first and third volume of Das Antlitz. Note also the Tethys Sea, here incorrectly drawn to include the Caribbean. (For Suess, the Tethys was sealed to the west by Triassic-age deposits near Gibraltar.) From Wilhelm Bolsche’s Das Leben der Urwelt (1932) Bottom: A schematic cross-section of Asia, combined from two sections which appear in an unnumbered plate in the English translation of Das Antlitz; reproduced from Sengor (2014), with text enlarged for legibility. Notice the “foreland sinking below folded chains” on the right-hand side of the figure. (The foreland is the Pacific Ocean.) This represents one lithospheric block overthrusting another: a process Suess held to be responsible for crustal shortening and mountain building https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f6b60998-e7cf-46c8-922a-0d332e03c791/Screenshot+2024-03-28+at+10.01.16%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Two plates from Suess (1855) illustrated by Suess. As Sengor (2022) points out, the illustrations render in detail the parts of the specimen Suess intends to discuss, with the rest depicted only in outline. “This characteristic of Suess’ illustrations is seen also in his later field sketches concerning stratigraphy and structural geology and also in his depiction of the large tectonic features of our globe representing a guide to his manner of thinking.” These above plates were published in conjunction with remarks describing a new (and still valid) genus of brachiopod, Meganteris https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/661bea51-9e77-4b43-bc73-3dd702151422/Screenshot+2024-03-28+at+10.03.15%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Foldout illustration from Suess (1868) showing the anticlinal fold in front of the Alps as heavy lines. As Sengor (2015) observes: “Suess believed these anticlines to be parts of a single structure which indicate[d] the northerly push of the entire Alpine body” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6630dd1b-1292-49ef-9ed0-1e19159bf684/Screenshot+2024-04-05+at+12.56.35%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out An “ideal transverse section of a mountain range [according to the theory of vertical uplift],” from George Poulett Scrope’s Considerations on Volcanos (1825). Notice that the mountain range is here imagined as basically symmetrical about its granitic core, reflecting its origin by emplacement. This is something Suess would later challenge with his characterization of mountain ranges as “one-sided,” or asymmetrical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3b4f7d26-3bf3-4b19-b23d-0f75d89b67cb/Litographica.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out The Italian Peninsula and the Tyrrhenian Sea (the water “in front of” the boot), as pictured from the Alps. Giuseppe Civelli, 1853 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2b5aeab0-504c-464f-829c-f8ffe3b55097/Screenshot+2024-04-13+at+2.33.13%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Earth “supposed to be seen from space,” by Henry De la Beche (1834). This image appears as the frontispiece to Researches in Theoretical Geology. Notice the (at the time highly speculative) reconstruction of a southern continent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7726a53f-1963-46bb-a1ff-413a95d5c93c/Screenshot+2024-04-13+at+2.52.02%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Suess’s depiction of the structure of the Alpine system from Das Antlitz der Erde. Consonant with his claim that the grandest mountain chains are “only subordinate members of far greater structural features,” the Alpine system does not just include the Alps; it also includes the Carpathians and the Apennines, as well as some smaller chains in North Africa and Spain (not pictured) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/76a318db-919e-4d48-9603-f644a3a97a0b/Screenshot+2024-04-13+at+2.47.47%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out Stereogram of the Musinia zone of displacement according to the U.S. Survey geologists G.K. Gilbert and John Wesley Powell (reproduced in Das Antlitz der Erde) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/58c33d5f-f371-416a-8d3d-4e62bf296577/Screenshot+2024-04-15+at+12.21.38%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - “What we are witnessing is the collapse of the terrestrial globe” - Make it stand out An early draft of the modern geological timescale, from Phillips (1860) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/4/5/good-grief monthly 0.5 2024-04-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/74f6bdf1-8a98-4885-af75-c84da7225d7f/scene-A-Boy-Named-Charlie-Brown.jpg Thoughts - Good Grief - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/3/20/alien-versus-amphibian monthly 0.5 2025-11-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/eee4e369-d3ba-4c8e-9032-ba5a8309060f/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.20.36%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d4b6d5bb-8434-42c7-9049-deef1d8955f1/Screenshot+2024-02-21+at+10.46.25%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? Left: Charles Lyell (1797–1875), photographed in 1855. Right: Eduard Suess (1831–1914), photographed around 1860 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1c17de01-19ce-4553-9d64-099698d2f00a/Screenshot+2024-02-21+at+11.13.56%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? Title page of Eduard Suess’s Das Antlitz Der Erde (“The Face of the Earth”). The massive book was published in three quarto volumes (but actually occupied five volumes in the German original, numbered Ia, Ib, II, III/1, and III/2, plus an index volume). The first appeared in 1883; the last in 1909 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c04659fe-e247-467b-acb6-590968736bf1/Screenshot+2024-02-21+at+8.39.18%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? Title page of Lyell’s Principles of Geology, Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth’s Surface by Reference to Causes Now in Operation, Volume 1 (1830). In the frontispiece, a man contemplates the pillars of the “Temple of Serapis,” perhaps puzzling over the belt of mollusk borings on each pillar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3bb8145b-8f6c-4b4f-a1c1-d42b14faf227/30082248846_3.jpg Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? John Clerk’s engraving of the unconformity at Jedburgh, and one of the most famous images in the history of geology (Plate III in Hutton 1795). The image shows a series of vertical strata, implying past uplift and tilting, “broken and washed by moving waters” and overlain by a mass of “puddingstone” (Hutton 1795, I, 449). Above the puddingstone are more strata, deposited underwater and subsequently uplifted to support an agricultural field. Thus, the image shows two cycles of uplift and erosion with an episode of deposition in between https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/83c12964-c51e-42fd-a7e4-d6d00ff43d31/Screenshot+2024-02-29+at+8.33.16%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? Unlikely fan art of Lyell’s amphibious being, created by printmaker and marine geophysicist Ele Willoughby. In a nice touch, the background is adapted from the ideal section that provides the frontispiece of Lyell’s Elements of Geology. You can find the print here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e72f4f8c-a9b5-4201-8688-bd37316a800b/Screenshot+2024-02-29+at+8.34.59%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? Lithograph of the coastal cliffs of east Devon from William Buckland’s “On the Excavation of Valleys by Diluvial Action” (1822). The image shows valleys carved out by a sudden “diluvial current”: just the sort of hypothesis to which Lyell was most implacably opposed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/51cf8109-f70a-48e0-9044-8152a00ba134/the-old-man-of-hoy-from-the-sea.jpg Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? The “Old Man of Hoy”: a monument to the forces of decay from Lyell’s native Scotland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/32cea7ae-c5d3-495d-854f-b00afbc2d285/antient-telescope.jpg Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? - Make it stand out Colored woodcut of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus observing the night sky from Alexandria (ca. 140 BE). (Hermann Göll, 1876) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/389076e7-aae6-42c7-a78e-912045a536ef/Screenshot+2024-03-19+at+12.05.45%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Alien versus Amphibian: War of the Worldviews? - Make it stand out Lyell’s maps of continental configurations that would produce extremes of heat and cold (first included in the third edition of Principles). No horizontal continental movements are implied; in Lyellian geology, all continental configurations are produced by the raising and foundering of bits of crust. (So, the resemblance of these hypothetical continents to our current ones carries no connotations of “drift.”) For Lyell, these maps were an elaborate thought experiment, and were not intended to represent actual past or future configurations of land and sea (although something resembling them may conceivably have existed). In any event, Lyell regarded the ability of the earth to produce both warmer and cooler climates based on the disposition of continents and ocean currents as an argument against directional views of geohistory, which infer a inexorably cooling earth from evidence that past climates were warmer than present ones http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/3/6/when-will-scientific-disagreement-bear-fruit monthly 0.5 2024-03-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/707ddcb7-6d65-4eaa-a74e-246b3f2e3898/Screenshot+2024-03-06+at+10.48.52%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/379f34e6-0227-4fcf-8abc-ef80642fe88c/DArwin+etc.jpg Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Charles Darwin (seated, right), Joseph Hooker (seated, left) and Extinct fave Charles Lyell (standing), in Darwin’s study https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a21fb0ff-5695-4760-879c-51720afc8054/Screenshot+2024-03-06+at+10.39.53%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Molecular and fossil-based estimates of angiosperm age. Blue bars indicate the stratigraphic interval from which the oldest fossil belonging to angiosperm orders and major clades is known.The name of the order or major clade is shown next to each bar. Red dots and bars indicate the age and/or range of angiosperm crown age estimated in molecular clock studies. The numbers next to each red bar or dot correspond to estimates in published analyses indicated in Magallón et al. (2015) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e0be6b04-ed6d-4b9b-86c2-756e70a368e9/Screenshot+2024-03-06+at+10.38.10%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Monosculcate pollen with a single germinal furrow, and tricolpate pollen with three germinal furrows. Image credit: Coiro et al. (2019) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/214923b4-14e2-4d7b-8c53-cab2f0135a4a/sn-firstflowers.jpg Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Montsechia vidalii, an early flowering plant from the Cretaceous (ca. 125 Ma) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d8ceaa13-8055-4c89-9970-280dd3281c99/Screenshot+2024-03-06+at+12.46.19%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - When Will Scientific Disagreement Bear Fruit? The Case of Angiosperm Origins - Make it stand out Reconstruction of flowers that bloomed 113 million years ago in Brazil. Credit: Mark P. Witton http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/3/1/red-ochre-and-moon-cycles monthly 0.5 2024-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e9f1062c-9311-4a3a-b29c-b895a88cff50/redcohre.jpg Thoughts - Red Ochre and Moon Cycles: Interpreting Bodily Adornment in Prehistory https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/de13976c-5527-4f5b-a401-86875e3c5698/A10003D9-436D-4747-88C0-A5FFE0B3463B.jpg Thoughts - Red Ochre and Moon Cycles: Interpreting Bodily Adornment in Prehistory Red ochre applied to the skin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/22b107f6-7011-4592-9b8e-ef8a601e9f9c/Adorning+bodies.jpg Thoughts - Red Ochre and Moon Cycles: Interpreting Bodily Adornment in Prehistory http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/2/16/rugged-individualism-in-the-cretaceous monthly 0.5 2025-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cef7415d-94f9-4829-b1f3-33194a81f821/SamM.jpg Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/97fb3c5c-3af7-4735-9aad-4907630b530c/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.58.12%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out George Gaylord Simpson in 1984 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/90fd176b-19d2-4f4c-8929-e1f6da83efc2/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a2ff9ffe-f831-4a1d-9d1d-da330f13449b/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.58.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a5c8053-10ef-4e00-873a-86071a760c83/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.39%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2bf9270e-722b-4fc0-84e2-802d25f78a58/Screenshot+2024-02-05+at+12.59.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Rugged Individualism in the Cretaceous: What George Simpson’s Fiction Reveals about His Philosophy of Evolution - Make it stand out The Umwelt of the astronomer http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/31/the-importance-of-background-theory monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b6e6c215-7722-4c3a-a8ed-593b22e2091d/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.04.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d7664389-88a4-4490-9d8c-fb4eb246a32d/Screenshot+2024-01-23+at+9.22.28%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out James Hall, Jr. (1811–1898). Not to be confused with Sir James Hall (1761–1832), friend of James Hutton, who performed experiments on mountain-building using analog models https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6de45ee6-a604-464f-925b-38e6e6b7b0e6/Screenshot+2024-01-24+at+8.07.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out An der Scheidecke des Martinslochs, Ostseite derselben zuoberst im Flimserthal, Pass nach Elm den 22. Juli 1812, by Hans Conrad Escher, depicting the famous keyhole (Martinsloch) beneath the Glarus thrust fault in the Swiss Alps. Interpretations of the Glarus thrust fault (including its identification as a thrust fault) played a major role in deciphering the structure of the Alps https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ad294cf1-5f8c-4b9e-b7ae-c6205d7f4329/Apps.jpg Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The southern Appalachian Mountains, with characteristic smoky blue shading https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cb7f290a-06a7-493d-a0cc-2206f7d977b2/Screenshot+2024-08-05+at+2.13.05%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Geological Map of the State of Pennsylvania, published in 1858 by Henry Rogers, showing the trend of the Appalachian folds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d874bc53-4926-424c-8fde-b92c423ec777/Screenshot+2024-02-07+at+11.14.57%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out William Barton Rogers (1804–1882), left, and Henry Darwin Rogers (1808–1866), right. Later in his life, William founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (yes, that one) and served as its first president (1862–1870). This has recently occasioned some embarrassment as Barton was a slave owner during his time in Virginia, and maintained deep ties to the South after moving to Massachusetts. The MIT website goes so far as to declare Rogers “in many ways, a product of slavery… The enslavement of black people [contributed] to his family’s success, [underwrote] his education, advanced his career, and expanded his social connections.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a87eb504-2f66-48e7-a4e4-d9887387fc21/Screen+Shot+2024-01-31+at+11.02.07+AM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The Sideling Hill Road Cut in western Maryland (note the car for scale), revealing the innards of a “syncline mountain,” or a region of downfolded strata sandwiched between two “anticlines,” or upfolded structures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/afccaa97-4dfd-4355-9da6-09a76706aa9e/Screenshot+2024-08-05+at+1.06.25%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Hall’s map of the middle and western United States from The Geology of New York, Pt. IV. Notice the comparably high level of detail in the region of the Appalachian mountain chain (1843) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1d4a1d3b-b3c4-4fd6-b27f-961f8c81dbbb/Screenshot+2024-01-24+at+11.34.39%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out “Foster’s Complete Geological Chart: Exhibiting in Their Successive Order of Deposition the Various Rocks that Form the Crust of our Earth, Arranged According to the Best Authorities in Europe and North America.” This is the first version of the chart, published in 1849. An updated version, advertising that it had been corrected by “Professor Ebbons,” was later printed, and may have met a watery demise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2d3bba95-900e-4dfc-bcc7-243094256b04/Screenshot+2024-01-26+at+11.51.43%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out A twentieth center representation of the kind of sedimentary accumulation Hall described in his presidential address to the AAAS. Specifically, Hall described what would later be called a “miogeosyncline,” or an accumulation of sedimentation deposited in shallow water in the absence of volcanoes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/437a8121-71d1-45d5-9e74-085058d11dc7/Screen+Shot+2024-01-26+at+4.10.17+PM.png Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out Below: a depiction of Hall’s view of the origin of major structural features of folded mountains, like folds, faults, and trap dykes. Note that the image incorrectly implies that folding produces elevation, when Hall claims just the contrary. Above: a depiction of the warping of the crust by gravitational loading as described by the English astronomer and sometimes-geological theorist John Herschel. (Hall was aware of Herschel’s work (see Hall 1859, especially Note E on pp. 95–96). Indeed, insofar as Hall presents a theory of “elevatory movement” it is just the model of Herschel repurposed) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1de1a3d0-bb8a-45f7-bc46-fefa0254cd32/Airy.jpeg Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The published transcript of Hall’s address contains no images. However, it seems that Hall shared George Airy’s expectation that tall mountain chains will have deep “roots” (although perhaps not as deep as Airy suspected). Hall also seems to suggest that gravitational factors are involved in producing elevation, such that packages of sediment that began as depressions in the crust find their equilibrium as deep-rooted mountain ranges https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/407283c7-48c6-4746-9a78-7a55a966d941/Dana.jpg Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), the most influential American geologist of his generation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cbb4b9b0-30ca-413e-a7ab-f2c7a513e072/Mountain.jpg Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out A Huttonian watercolor of a conical mountain on the Isle of Arran, meant to illustrate a key claim of Hutton’s theory of the earth: that granite is not a primitive rock but sometimes invades sedimentary successions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a8b8f25e-e575-4fa9-981b-b8abd7644d6c/Apps.jpg Thoughts - The Importance of Background Theory, or Why James Hall Left Mountains out of his Theory of Mountain Building - Make it stand out The Appalachian Mountains, again http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/1/15/twelve-months-of-the-de-extinct-blog monthly 0.5 2024-10-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8956e087-1a9b-4cb1-a5ce-ccea1e1b04a1/Screen+Shot+2024-01-16+at+8.30.19+PM.png Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c815b2cf-e45a-4c6f-a2c7-c3c0ff4ab448/Screen%2BShot%2B2024-01-16%2Bat%2B4.15.54%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bb358e70-5f84-49c8-87a6-77526ab5d172/dinosauria-megalosaurus-illustration-full-width.jpg.thumb.1160.1160.jpg Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bc0c8874-3304-4ece-83bd-5f01aa962801/Screen+Shot+2024-01-16+at+5.00.18+PM.png Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0e3d0e93-c71c-4071-85c0-c873ca5b538f/Screen+Shot+2024-01-16+at+4.15.43+PM.png Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fb1d9fa3-87c9-44be-84a1-0a54b46ef23f/Screen+Shot+2024-01-16+at+4.15.35+PM.jpg Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/29f8e076-e0fa-49b8-a68c-ba55bc20b99c/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-06-19%2Bat%2B10.47.03%2BAM.jpg Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/39ab5d96-c1cb-4dc4-be59-a56a8a088dea/Screen+Shot+2024-01-19+at+9.08.15+AM.png Thoughts - Another six months of the (De-) Extinct Blog http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024/1/4/dinosaur-time monthly 0.5 2024-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/31bcae9e-540b-4186-aa8e-9090294d29ee/Screenshot+2024-05-01+at+4.39.35%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Dinosaur Time - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0ed54868-755f-421a-bdba-e5d14054be7c/Dinos.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur Time - Make it stand out A scene from When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) starring Victoria Vetri https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f9686721-1729-4c01-b94d-48acd9c99d7c/JP.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur Time - Make it stand out The iconic ending of Jurassic Park (1993) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ec57bfd9-73f0-4185-9ef2-3967b5abfee1/Rise+Fall.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur Time - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f65b731d-d753-4e94-be32-0fc9732d72c4/Screen+Shot+2024-01-04+at+10.40.26+PM.png Thoughts - Dinosaur Time - Make it stand out A two-page spread from Dinosaur Time, featuring an admirably unvarnished description of T. rex http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/12/20/equilibium-disrupted monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3184842a-bb23-44aa-9fb1-cb89264a6f47/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.02.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/217340b7-8701-49ab-970a-91b0381cdefa/Screen+Shot+2023-12-02+at+10.30.55+PM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Stephen Jay Gould in Eleuthera, Bahamas, 1982. The object in his hand is a land snail in the genus Cerion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1664369f-d6da-4071-85dd-7a318e52ea25/Screen+Shot+2023-12-13+at+11.49.53+AM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out The first of 300 consecutive monthly essays that Gould wrote for Natural History magazine, published in January 1974. It explores one of Gould’s early preoccupations (and a theme central to his proposed “science of form”), the relationship between size and shape https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c316bbfe-c5c5-43ed-aeb0-576c16cf2cc6/1600px-Smith_fossils3.jpg Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out A plate from William Smith’s Strata Identified by Organized Fossils, showing the characteristic fossils of the “Oak-Tree Clay” (corresponding to the Kimmeridge Clay of modern nomenclature, middle Upper Jurassic). Images like this exemplify an approach to fossils that treats them as instruments for stratigraphic classification and correlation as opposed to the remains of once-living organisms https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5cef8c25-dae2-46e5-88da-9f010921e1d9/Screen+Shot+2023-12-03+at+8.56.49+AM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Simulated spindle diagrams from the first paper produced by the MBL group (from Raup et al. 1973). The letters (A–D) refer to different runs of the computer program, the numbers identify particular clades https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/79fd701b-d414-4303-8e6e-0a2f98f996c6/Screen+Shot+2023-12-16+at+10.15.16+AM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Steven Stanley alongside an image from Stanley (1972) showing the hypothetical derivation of a free-burrowing clam (D) by “progenesis” (truncated development) from a byssate ancestor (D). I will refer back to the image on the right in the final section of this essay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/facf632f-d3eb-4a8c-be69-aca89cf9bbc9/Screen+Shot+2023-12-03+at+1.20.59+PM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Table 1 from Stanley (1975), summarizing the analogy between natural and species selection. The novelty of Stanley’s proposal is found in the bottom right corner, where the possibility of selection operating on rates of speciation is mooted https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f1ee129f-0481-4956-83c0-0fdf2bf70365/Screen+Shot+2023-12-05+at+2.00.42+PM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Gould and Eldredge’s table of the “determinants of evolutionary success in species and clades.” Note the similarity to Table 1 in Stanley (1975), reproduced above. And notice how Gould— always sensitive to the power of visual arguments— relegates “triumph over other species in direct competition” to the bottom right corner of the figure https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/703edab4-7f77-485e-adef-84dcc2fd99b2/Screen+Shot+2023-12-09+at+7.31.48+PM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out Figure 2 from Gould (1970), described as “The compleat ostracode, Mechanocythere. Drawn for Richard H. Benson by L.B. Isham… [and meant to] underline the mechanistic thinking that most zoologists use… quite appropriate[ly].” Gould (1970) had a similar agenda. Paleontologists should think of animals on the analogy with machines if they wish to develop a “science of adaptation” worthy of the name https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/716ed3d7-3607-4fb9-89bf-3173bffc8ae0/Screen+Shot+2023-12-10+at+8.28.36+AM.png Thoughts - Equilibrium, Disrupted - Make it stand out A figure from Raup and Gould (1974) showing a clade of randomly generated morphologies (“triloboids”). If this figure depicted an actual case, the authors remark, “[the pattern] would probably not stand out as unusual.” (Note: the images of individual triloboids here represent the average morphologies of whole clades, each composed of ten lineages) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/12/19/gould-repost monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bdb0acad-90ad-48bd-a6f8-8c69f4533afd/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.02.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8a4c4c3b-64a4-45c4-a6f4-b22f829b05e0/Screen+Shot+2023-12-19+at+1.22.24+PM.png Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out The representation of punctuated equilibrium (right) versus gradual evolution (left) from the essay I mentioned above. Here, PE is misleadingly represented as taking place in a single unbranched lineage (this is sometimes called “punctuated anagenesis” to distinguish it from PE proper). A more standard representation of PE can be found here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b021df07-c72d-4780-a7be-788c7d31a3e0/SJG.png Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Stephen Jay Gould at his typewriter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bd52ace9-5339-4d3c-a80e-96f1bc7e3b3c/Screen+Shot+2023-12-19+at+1.22.28+PM.png Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Land snails in the genus Cerion, the subject of much of Gould’s empirical research after 1967 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f977b7a7-2134-4bc2-a133-fcde4e2e00e4/Screen+Shot+2023-12-19+at+1.22.32+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out A paradigm for “zigzag deflections,” like those formed by the valve edges of certain brachiopods, on the assumption that their function is to filter out large food particles during filter feeding (see the Appendix for more details). The basic idea is that introducing zigzag deflections in an opening used for filter feeding increases the area of the slit without increasing the risk of harmful particles entering. From Rudwick (1964) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f4bef99a-fae2-4822-8c6d-d5709ede4805/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+4.44.32+PM.png Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out The Structure of Evolutionary Theory in all its heft, with punctuated equilibria as its “centerpiece” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6cd06d1b-d440-4007-a975-ea12e7c660e1/Ernst.jpeg Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Ernst Mayr, right, outside his new office in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The man on the left is the renowned paleontologist and outgoing director of the MCZ, Alfred Romer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ee1052e2-20b5-423a-8e39-f0df492b522c/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+4.57.56+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Eldredge and Gould’s illustration of a directional trend (B), with morphology pictured on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical. Bold vertical lines represent morphologically stable species; dashed lines are speciation events. As Eldredge and Gould write: “Though a retrospective pattern of directional selection might be fitted as a straight line in (B), the actual pattern is stasis within species, and differential success of species exhibiting morphological change in a particular direction” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/af7b15e9-ae83-4394-95e7-3304890ce3d2/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+7.25.35+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the archive: How to Change your Life using Punctuated Equilibria/Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Schaeffer’s (1965) diagram depicting “the Phylogeny of Amphibia in relation to levels of organization.” The numbers, (1)–(3), refer to successful “experiments” in the “amphibian direction.” Each corresponds to a “broad adaptation” representing the best possible solution to a basic functional problem. Crosses represent failed experiments, or lineages that failed to achieve the new organizational grade http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/11/30/a-history-of-resurrection-biology-part-two monthly 0.5 2024-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/58e57d3c-e041-480a-92ed-d1a32a7046c1/Quagga+art.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e0f39e5c-bf52-4d23-a613-f0281c9d6ca8/Quagga.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out A preserved quagga from the collections of the Senckenberg Nature Museum in Frankfurt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/50d4c221-e2f7-4e3a-b1d2-270a3371f8ed/Screen+Shot+2023-12-01+at+12.31.17+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out Left: an illustration of a quagga. Right: Reinhold Rau with his back-bred “quagga” calf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fada3533-8b28-4df2-9b02-d7c98a99a7fb/Screen+Shot+2023-11-30+at+4.01.20+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out A photograph of the living last thylacine, who died at the Hobart Zoo in 1936. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/extinction-of-thylacine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3167da75-e118-4dd9-9d5a-4984cba14a45/Celia.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out Celia, the last Spanish bucardo, on display at the reception centre of the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido in Aragon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6f2979fd-dba1-4021-b786-b31f9f85f442/Beth+Shapiro.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out Beth Shapiro, a prominent de-extinction scientist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/82554fa4-3941-4022-8e71-beaedcb7f899/Colossal.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out An image from Colossal’s website, showing the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the thylacine emerging from a piece of scientific glassware, here imagined as a portal connecting our world to the past https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f8cc602f-43e6-4289-ae9b-b950f546e167/Screen+Shot+2023-12-01+at+12.11.38+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part Two: Righting Past Wrongs? - Make it stand out A screen grab from Colossal’s website, touting de-extinction as the solution to the ongoing biodiversity crisis http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/11/17/resurrection-biology-part-one monthly 0.5 2023-12-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ea0af5eb-3da9-48f4-9193-e6cb1216808d/auroch.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ab8cf91e-6bb5-4841-b6ab-ad74159e5bfb/Screen+Shot+2023-11-17+at+8.15.56+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Three of the species that are the subject of some sort of de-extinction project, including the woolly mammoth (left), the thylacine (top right), and the passenger pigeon (bottom right). Source: https://www.thecollector.com/extinct-animals-scientists-trying-bring-back/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/248d1eee-f074-412c-8ecc-cc10591a815a/Screen+Shot+2023-11-18+at+12.24.17+PM.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Ben Lamm (left) and George Church (right), founders of Colossal Biosciences, which promises to have “resurrected” mammoths and thylacines within the next five years https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3402f41b-ed1d-472c-a8ac-7c729bfd00de/Screen+Shot+2023-11-17+at+2.36.33+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Georges Cuvier’s drawings of mastodon versus Asian elephant teeth, which helped him establish the reality of extinction. Source: https://americanhistory.si.edu/elephants-and-us/elephants-and-idea-extinction-0 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1b1b8c73-e93e-4258-b940-7e38815826a5/Screen+Shot+2023-11-17+at+2.41.31+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out An illustration of a man slaying an aurochs, from Conrad Gesner’s Historiae animalium (1551–1558). The above image is a reproduction printed in 156. Source: https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/45/wang.php https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dcf7363f-95fc-44a2-bae4-69a03b76b9ba/Screen+Shot+2023-11-17+at+8.39.17+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Heck cattle in Unteres Odertal National Park, Brandenberg. Source: Wikipedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b8a75817-fede-4c3b-9a65-07a687873719/heck+etc.jpg Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Lutz Heck (far left) and Hermann Göring (far right) looking over a map of the Białowieża Forest, containing figurines of game animals. The horn on the table may have belonged to a Heck aurochs. Source: https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/45/wang.php https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c146ed62-e89b-4e47-aec4-41f0cbcca97f/Screen+Shot+2023-11-17+at+2.30.32+PM.png Thoughts - A History of Resurrection Biology, Part One: Extinction, Redemption, and Nazi Cattle - Make it stand out Hermann Göring on a hunting expedition. Source: Wikimedia Commons http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/11/6/william-whewell-the-first-philosopher-of-paleontology monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d5f88448-34fe-4f5b-add5-ed7bd3521ab8/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.04.32%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3c53b409-fd32-41f2-8b76-89c330c9fdbc/Screen+Shot+2023-11-06+at+7.09.26+PM.png Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out William Whewell in 1835. Although I don’t have space to give much biographical information about Whewell, Laura Synder has described him as “a polymath [who] wrote extensively on numerous subjects, including mechanics, mineralogy, geology, astronomy, political economy, theology, educational reform, international law, and architecture, as well as the works that remain the most well-known today in philosophy of science, history of science, and moral philosophy.” His name is pronounced “who-ell” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/738fe1fc-0366-4407-965e-b425fbf366b5/Dachstein.jpeg Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out The Dachstein from Lake Gosau, by Rudolf von Alt. The scene is from the Austrian Alps in the vicinity of Salzburg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e6762bd1-300d-4997-83bb-95dc86d22f46/Screen+Shot+2023-11-07+at+12.51.40+PM.png Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out Whewell’s “Classification of the Sciences,” from his Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840). Notice the proximity of the “Palaetiological Sciences” and “Natural Theology,” of which more below https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2871dcf0-d800-433c-9108-2b5a11a6d3ea/GeolSoc.jpeg Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out Sketch of a meeting of the Geological Society of London, by Henry De la Beche. Ca. 1830 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c18c5004-be14-48f7-83cd-c1d73c553006/Lyell.jpg Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out Charles Lyell (1797–1875), at the height of his influence in 1844 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/473447c7-ae17-49f9-9948-5955cc82ec05/Screen+Shot+2023-11-06+at+6.46.17+PM.png Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out An illustration of the “Picturesque Beauties, Antiquities and Geological Phenomena of the Isle of Wight,” by Thomas Webster (1816), along with a photograph of some upturned strata on the Isle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e4b1bf9f-e520-44f7-89b6-f791ba6dcc3c/1000006358.jpg Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out “The Primitive World,” by Adolphe François Pannemaker (1857). Note the definite article, implicitly treating the primitive world as a singular entity, categorically separate from the present world https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/19aceed2-567a-4eb7-ac9b-9db76b84aed0/Light.jpg Thoughts - The First Philosopher of Paleontology— er, 'Palaetiology' - Make it stand out “The Creation of Light,” a mezzotint illustration by John Martin (1825) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/10/18/science-in-a-fishbowl monthly 0.5 2024-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/00d2cbf3-6400-4829-a325-3082f08dbfd2/Screen+Shot+2023-10-18+at+2.53.47+PM.png Thoughts - Science in a Fishbowl? The Case of Glass-Walled Fossil Preparation Laboratories in Museums - Make it stand out Inside the glass-walled fossil preparation lab at Chicago’s Field Museum, a volunteer preparator removes rock from a fossil under a microscope while a child watches through the window. (All photographs by author) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/104058d8-a52f-4f5d-b3bd-b09e96dd2fe5/Screen+Shot+2023-10-18+at+2.51.54+PM.png Thoughts - Science in a Fishbowl? The Case of Glass-Walled Fossil Preparation Laboratories in Museums - Make it stand out Staff and volunteers work on various fossil preparation, conservation, and storage projects inside a glass-walled lab, with me as a participant observer (in green jacket). Notice the whiteboard-written signs that explain each project to viewers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/98fb9f41-76ce-41ec-a549-5d196118b9b5/Screen+Shot+2023-10-18+at+2.50.39+PM.jpg Thoughts - Science in a Fishbowl? The Case of Glass-Walled Fossil Preparation Laboratories in Museums - Make it stand out Volunteer preparators work in a glass-walled lab with museum visitors right up against the glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/344550ec-ec88-477f-97f7-9110e8da8a62/Screen+Shot+2023-10-18+at+3.32.49+PM.png Thoughts - Science in a Fishbowl? The Case of Glass-Walled Fossil Preparation Laboratories in Museums - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/9/28/goddess-in-the-details monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/98786b06-58c6-4d42-a13e-f60d12929665/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.18.13%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/68a0cc71-583c-40bc-9ce9-b74f8a17ef1f/Screen+Shot+2023-04-10+at+3.03.01+PM.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out “Gaia” as seen from space https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9de40e10-d189-4a74-9d07-b4d80b88746b/Screen+Shot+2023-10-02+at+10.12.52+PM.png Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out An early drawing of Gaia, by James Lovelock. Below it is an electrical circuit for comparison. Source: Dutreuil (2018) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/489f07bd-94e4-425e-a742-a3add11f970f/C_LM-JL-Gaia-statue.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out Lovelock and Margulis at Lovelock’s home in Devon, 1983. Behind them is the Earth goddess herself https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b26e5103-9e5f-4107-b0bb-e29a256dbebc/maxresdefault.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out W. Ford Doolittle, a major player in both the early and the latest stages of the Gaia story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a0ba716b-bb39-43a5-88b0-c64218c30981/Thermostatic-behavior-of-the-Daisyworld-model-9.png Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out The thermostatic behavior of “Daisyworld.” On the top is a graph of the area covered by black and white daisies, respectively, as solar luminosity increases. Below it is a graph of temperature, which exhibits stability over a wide range of forcings. From Watson and Lovelock (1983) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f5593540-d3f4-4b30-a475-1e440cdc09e5/maxresdefault.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out Timothy Lenton, a former doctoral student of Andrew Watson and leading Gaia theorist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/eadcfadb-6d16-4588-a265-66d50e585c74/Screen+Shot+2023-04-10+at+10.51.06+AM.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out Lenton’s hierarchy of feedbacks, beginning with purely abiotic ones and proceeding through “feedbacks on growth” to “selective feedbacks.” Both feedbacks on growth and selective feedbacks involve traits that produce environmental side-effects. However, in the case of feedbacks on growth, this side-effect influences the growth of trait carriers and other organisms equally, whereas in selective feedback the side-effect confers a special advantage on the carrier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c6768f16-91c2-4006-be69-e1d3bf3976d5/Clouds.jpg Thoughts - Goddess in the Details - Make it stand out Clouds over the southern Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/9/12/weird-early-history-of-paleontology monthly 0.5 2024-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e3a498eb-18d5-4449-8822-74509d6ffaaa/dinosauria-megalosaurus-illustration-full-width.jpg.thumb.1160.1160.jpg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e31b396f-6316-40cb-a5b9-552098e2bd25/1600px-Buckland%2C_Megalosaurus_jaw.jpg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Engraving of the lower jaw of Megalosaurus, based on the specimen discovered in the Stonesfield Slate of Oxfordshire. (From William Buckland’s Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bb348783-18ec-472d-ae07-02ffe005d395/megalosaurusWC3-56a257493df78cf772748e29.jpeg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Megalosaurus squares off with its presumed prehistoric foe, another early dinosaur discovery, Iguanodon. (From Louis Figuier’s Earth Before the Deluge, 1865) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a4e15c45-d9eb-449f-9136-f179c1614f4b/Portrait_of_Robert_Plot_D_D_by_Sylvester_Harding.jpg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Robert Plot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/05948e85-8f1e-485c-9f48-826948975a3a/4587-8.jpg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out The plate featuring Scrotum humanum (not yet so named), from Plot’s Natural History of Oxford-shire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/980ffe9d-936c-4dc2-a7aa-8a8084714850/Plot-bone-Oct-2022-Brookes-plate-p-318-1233px-308kb-Oct-2022-Tetrapod-Zoology.JPG Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Scrotum humanum as it appears in Brookes’s A New and Accurate System of Natural History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/16e0aaa1-857d-4289-b5bc-59c0a6d5511a/FOPGYapXsA0UUYB.jpeg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out A recent depiction of Megalosaurus bucklandii https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/77c96927-0799-4cdd-ac90-6e007b773cab/Plot-bone-Oct-2022-small-girl-and-Plot-bone-Aliki-1989-1419px-235kb-Oct-2022-Tetrapod-Zoology.JPG Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Title page of Dinosaur Bones by Aliki (1989). Reproduced, and given the unfortunate caption, “Little Girl and Scrotum humanum,” in Torrens (1995, 257) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b1737d8d-162d-46b3-abcc-f7bbd93b13ce/Screen+Shot+2023-09-10+at+8.03.06+PM.png Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Could this be the lost Cornwell fossil, as Darren Naish, Martin Simpson, and Paul Stewart once asked? (Part of the Plot display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, 2020. Photo: Darren Naish.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/aa86d133-b4bb-4f1a-a8a2-4370fd152f46/Duria_Antiquior.jpg Thoughts - The Weird Early History of Paleontology: Robert Plot and Scrotum humanum - Make it stand out Henry De la Beche’s watercolor, titled Duria Antiquior, a more ancient Dorset. This is often thought to be the first reconstruction of past life in its natural environment based on fossil evidence http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/9/2/living-fossils monthly 0.5 2026-01-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c1c6a0bb-cf31-4330-9112-6170f82f5163/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/141c3a03-0a2e-4d20-91e1-ff9731e6a780/Screen+Shot+2023-08-26+at+12.53.39+PM.png Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out A living horseshoe crab and an extinct relative from the Solnhofen Limestone in Germany https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d73a8be4-0418-4ff5-b20b-20a5574e051d/Tuatara.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a97d9929-be31-421c-ac08-e966b8454bdf/Screen+Shot+2023-08-26+at+1.05.16+PM.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out Rhynchocephalian morphospace occupation based on a morphometric study of the dentary (lower jaw). Here temporal groupings are identified, along with the outer limits of the region of morphospace occupied by a temporal group. Sphenodon (the tuatara) is marked with a orange diamond. (From Herrera-Flores et al. 2017) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8306b40d-dc2b-48e5-9a52-2f924d0df229/Screen+Shot+2023-08-26+at+12.58.38+PM.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out A graph showing relative changes in criteria for living fossil status among 853 unique living fossil entity names from 1860 to 2020. (From Lidgard and Kitchen 2023) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3e9909c6-3dec-4d4e-b4e4-171782c7a23f/fig%2B4.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out Evolutionary modes of different characters in a hypothetical fossil fish lineage (from Lidgard and Love 2018). In Lidgard and Love’s description, “(a) Population samples are taken at successive intervals from sedimentary layers that contain fossils. (b) Characters are measured for each sample. Different evolutionary modes are seen in character trajectories plotted against stratigraphic positions for eye width (c), tail fin length (d), and pectoral fin length (e).” (Illustration by Monica Jurik) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/42778520-c5a9-4fbe-90fa-046f2ff42c81/rspb20210919f04.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out Variation in disparity (a)-(c) and evolutionary rate (d)-(f) for cranial elements, together illustrating mosaic evolution in the crocodyliform skull (from Felice et al. 2021) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ad1e5eba-e3a1-4051-b5d0-665bfc77e0d6/Tuartaraish.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out A stem lepidosaur from the Triassic (Taytalura alcoberi), whose skull “suggests that the strongly evolutionarily conserved skull architecture of sphenodontians represents the [ancestral] condition for all lepidosaurs [squamates + sphenodontians]” (from Martínez et al. 2021) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d399d162-fac7-4acd-b69e-d340dee09dc8/Screen+Shot+2023-09-02+at+9.21.21+AM.jpg Thoughts - Re-thinking Living Fossils, Again - Make it stand out A visual summary of the differences between the “Selection theory” (for our purposes, “adaptationism”), “Neutral theory,” and “Nearly neutral theory” in molecular evolution. What is depicted here are the assumptions each theory makes about the prevalence of different kinds of genetic variation http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/8/14/ediacaran-enigma monthly 0.5 2026-03-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4a3e322b-8338-4509-ac4a-dd98934a1a54/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/97d51870-fd9e-4d0e-9fff-6a6963a9cf87/Screen+Shot+2023-06-15+at+8.09.31+PM.png Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out GSC 221: a specimen of Aspidella terranovica likely collected by Alexander Murray in the 1860s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6c1a8ba0-6ac8-4752-b1a9-4e40e7cb7934/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.29.22+PM.png Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Alexander Murray (left) and his countryman Elkanah Billings (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/16c3e2ab-dcfb-4676-b2fa-bd24d07402c4/Screen+Shot+2023-06-14+at+9.47.43+AM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Billings’s drawing of Aspidella in the Canadian Naturalist (1872 volume vi, 478) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9dea7e2f-4987-4ae4-86d2-a64916dbc187/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.24.01+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Another specimen of Aspidella, this one containing two individuals (image credit: Marc Laflamme) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/10f3d6ba-a3ad-4e9b-8f14-e90ad3eef02a/Ediacaran.jpeg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Characteristic Ediacaran fossils from the Flinders Range, South Australia. (A) Dickinsonia costata, (B) Funisia dorothea body casts and external molds, (C) Parvancorina minchami, (D) Kimberella quadrata, (E) Multilayered sandstone case of Bradgatia sp, (F) scratch traces produced by Kimberella, (G) Spriggina floundersi, (H) Internal cast of Pteridinium simplex, and (I) an ichnofossil, Helminthoidichnites isp. (Image credit: Droser and Gehling 2015, Fig. 1) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/61ed6669-3ec7-41d2-b8f3-c1d712208052/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.30.43+PM.png Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out In phylogenetic systematics, the “stem [group]” refers to all the members of a total clade falling outside the “crown [group]”: the group of species comprising the last common ancestor of the living members of a clade and its decedents, living and extinct https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9cb2289d-cf83-4953-ad66-8908ff056190/Screen+Shot+2023-06-19+at+10.47.03+AM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Sprigg’s “jellyfish,” Ediacaria flindersi (photograph by Sprigg, from Sprigg 1988) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/518257f0-1051-4a46-ae1e-be17724bac9b/Screen+Shot+2023-06-15+at+8.11.52+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out The Czech paleoartist Zdenek Burian’s painting of the Cambrian Sea (1960). Notice the jellyfish bobbing conspicuously in the foreground https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3ffa3a52-4cde-4a86-a9e3-ca150d50851f/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.21.06+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Glaessner’s photograph of Rangea from Glaessner (1961), juxtaposed with a living “sea pen” (a soft coral) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a66ffc39-057a-46a4-8a7b-85de2ac56d37/Screen+Shot+2023-06-17+at+7.22.42+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Seilacher’s 1970 visualization of constructional morphology, integrating the historical (historisch-phylogenetischer), functional (ökologisch-adaptiver), and fabrication (bautechnischer) aspects of form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7d7a69ae-338e-4454-9e40-668e17286a8d/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.13.12+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Seilacher’s hand-drawn illustration of “vendozoan” morphology, based on the shared constructional element of the pneu structure (middle row, center). According to Seilacher, vendozoans had three modes of growth—unipolar, bipolar, and radial—which enabled them to achieve a range of distinctive morphologies. Notice that this illustration depicts several of the iconic Ediacaran forms, including Dickinsonia (which Glaessner interpreted as a worm) and Rangea (formerly a sea pen). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3c707fc2-5875-466c-ac90-304d4127b9d3/Screen+Shot+2023-08-14+at+9.21.19+PM.png Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Some of the anatomical and morphological features of lichens and fungi, meant to provide an interpretive key to the body forms of (at least certain) “Vendobionta.” (From Retallack 1994) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5fab3f45-1937-4d4b-97f6-29989097aa2c/Screen+Shot+2023-06-19+at+3.55.41+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Representatives of two Ediacaran taxa: on the left, Aspidella from Newfoundland, and on the right, Cyclomedusa from South Australia. In Peterson et al.’s analysis, the thing to notice is the sand accumulations in the middle of the specimens (marked with asterisks on the Aspidella specimens), which they interpret as analogous to the aged zone of a modern fungal mycelium: “Sediment is being deposited here because of the absence of living tissue” (Peterson et al. 2003, 132) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0e4dafc7-3b01-420c-804b-cf51cf8b09da/Screen+Shot+2023-06-24+at+7.53.16+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Two phylogenies from Dunn and Liu (2019). The one on the left depicts Fedonkin’s Proarticulata hypothesis, with an “X” indicating clades that are now defunct (in this case, both Proarticulata and Articulata, and the clade comprising both taxa). The one on the right depicts Pflug’s Petalonamae hypothesis, with two taxa of “Petalo-organisms” separating animals and plants (note: animals and plants are no longer regarded as extant sister taxa) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/01269dc6-eeba-4d31-b7fd-b58ffecac617/Screen+Shot+2023-06-24+at+12.54.39+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out An image from Runnegar (2021), which juxtaposes Reg Sprigg’s drawing of Ediacaria (top left) with an illustration from Glaessner’s Scientific American article of 1961. Notice the medusoids swimming in the foreground while others are stranded on the beach https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3cbc6d48-39af-41e9-9c92-79ce24bac0cb/Screen+Shot+2023-06-24+at+1.06.52+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Another of Seilacher’s hand-drawn illustrations, this one featuring “rocks-in-socks” (upper left) along with a variety of supposed vendozoans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7bf73ede-37a5-47b7-931e-a9e29fd88a78/Screen+Shot+2023-06-24+at+1.00.54+PM.jpg Thoughts - Ediacaran Enigma: Uncertainty and Underdetermination in Precambrian Paleontology - Make it stand out Different preservational morphs of Aspidella, their features determined by the body size of the living organism along with prevailing sedimentary conditions http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/7/26/ripe-science-hype-science-nb9zr monthly 0.5 2023-08-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f7de2ede-fccc-4b64-94a0-21b3c05a9335/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+5.09.43+PM.png Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/847f0e9a-d2c2-4f2c-b924-ca53a51ae4e7/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.08.29+AM.png Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3d2b998c-b50a-4a0f-860c-8f5136bfc565/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.13.59+AM.jpg Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a480a625-0544-4b58-8908-97a6d23688e9/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.15.06+AM.png Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out The footprint of the Tunguska event https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bf5b297c-7ef5-42ba-b11b-8b79242b942c/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.15.38+AM.jpg Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Felled trees after the Tunguska event of 1908 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9b8f6ef3-a017-4595-9c4f-f9ea81fbe023/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.09.20+AM.png Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Meteor Crater in Arizona (photograph by author) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f1490841-bd0c-4d82-878a-956e62e13e11/Screen+Shot+2023-07-26+at+10.23.14+AM.png Thoughts - Ripe Science, Hype Science, Meteor Sideswipe Science - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/7/1/paradox-of-stasis monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/24529615-95e1-41b4-a737-70a28fdcd170/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.02.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f4bef99a-fae2-4822-8c6d-d5709ede4805/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+4.44.32+PM.png Thoughts - Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out The Structure of Evolutionary Theory in all its heft, with punctuated equilibria as its “centerpiece” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6cd06d1b-d440-4007-a975-ea12e7c660e1/Ernst.jpeg Thoughts - Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Ernst Mayr, right, outside his new office in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The man on the left is the renowned paleontologist and outgoing director of the MCZ, Alfred Romer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0fb1e89e-bc48-486c-aa13-ebfd9933a651/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+4.57.56+PM.jpg Thoughts - Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Eldredge and Gould’s illustration of a directional trend (B), with morphology pictured on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical. Bold vertical lines represent morphologically stable species; dashed lines are speciation events. As Eldredge and Gould write: “Though a retrospective pattern of directional selection might be fitted as a straight line in (B), the actual pattern is stasis within species, and differential success of species exhibiting morphological change in a particular direction” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/af7b15e9-ae83-4394-95e7-3304890ce3d2/Screen+Shot+2023-01-23+at+7.25.35+PM.jpg Thoughts - Paradox of Stasis - Make it stand out Schaeffer’s (1965) diagram depicting “the Phylogeny of Amphibia in relation to levels of organization.” The numbers, (1)–(3), refer to successful “experiments” in the “amphibian direction.” Each corresponds to a “broad adaptation” representing the best possible solution to a basic functional problem. Crosses represent failed experiments, or lineages that failed to achieve the new organizational grade http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/6/27/sixth-months-of-the-de-extinct-blog monthly 0.5 2024-10-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6e8bddfd-7c30-4ada-9524-9f5fd3695a2a/13SCI-mammoth-3-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600-v2.jpg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6a4c54af-0842-4aa6-9ca4-26a08ec83468/reef.jpeg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f6af295a-ad2a-4e2b-acb1-4f7e03067d3c/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-03-31%2Bat%2B9.55.36%2BAM.jpg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d6e8ae11-9aed-4524-9826-9a5b0fe1602f/1957-1958-international-geophysical-year-stamp-bill-owen.jpg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cf6ff54a-a244-4817-ac50-554655ee9685/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-03-04%2Bat%2B2.08.48%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c38cd944-8fa6-401b-b9e6-43a31035670b/John%2BMartin.jpeg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9d0eaa48-1562-4e3e-8330-c35921a2c4d0/Screen%2BShot%2B2023-04-17%2Bat%2B7.16.53%2BPM.jpg Thoughts - Sixth months of the (De-) Extinct Blog - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/6/20/how-to-change-your-life-using-punctuated-equilibria monthly 0.5 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f3ea17eb-b683-4b81-8648-f954826e8bce/Screenshot+2025-11-06+at+8.02.48%E2%80%AFPM.png Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cadee591-36b7-49d1-9272-183366beda12/PUNCTUATEDEQUILIBRIUM.png Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out The representation of punctuated equilibrium (right) versus gradual evolution (left) from the essay I mentioned above. Here, PE is misleadingly represented as taking place in a single unbranched lineage (this is sometimes called “punctuated anagenesis” to distinguish it from PE proper). A more standard representation of PE can be found here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bffc5fe2-bdf1-4814-90da-bb7bfd406f28/Young+Gould.png Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out Stephen Jay Gould at his typewriter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/03eaec68-0328-4685-a9b0-3054a33d89d9/EmbeddedImage.png Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out Land snails in the genus Cerion, the subject of much of Gould’s empirical research after 1967 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9fff43a8-915e-4d92-9ce8-f69f792664fa/Screen+Shot+2023-03-05+at+9.43.01+PM.jpg Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out A paradigm for “zigzag deflections,” like those formed by the valve edges of certain brachiopods, on the assumption that their function is to filter out large food particles during filter feeding (see the Appendix for more details). The basic idea is that introducing zigzag deflections in an opening used for filter feeding increases the area of the slit without increasing the risk of harmful particles entering. From Rudwick (1964) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c39fb357-9b17-418b-abbf-a855324e279a/Screen+Shot+2023-03-05+at+9.46.52+PM.jpg Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out A brachiopod with pronounced zigzag deflections in its valve edges. “Valves” are cupped shells, hinged at the rear, which can be opened for filter feeding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8f2ac605-f3f9-4552-938a-4ab939668159/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+9.51.29+PM.jpg Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out The paradigm for a protective zigzag deflection for a bivalve that is subcircular in plan and biconvex in shape. Here the “wavelength” and “amplitude” of the zigzag are arbitrarily chosen. What matters is that when the valve edges gape apart, this geometrical form will produce a slit of uniform width (except near the hinge and at the crests of the zigzag—see the paradigm for a protective zigzag slit, above). From Rudwick (1964) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/54cc0341-0429-4c5d-9083-a1146dc43be9/Screen+Shot+2023-03-10+at+9.51.09+PM.jpg Thoughts - How to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria - Make it stand out Drawings of actual brachiopod shells, from Rudwick (1964) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/6/2/spare-thoughts-on-contingency monthly 0.5 2025-05-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e77134d7-6b4f-416a-9f8c-d12ce05b53ef/Screenshot+2024-05-01+at+4.40.05%E2%80%AFPM.jpg Thoughts - Stray Thoughts on Contingency Following the MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a6052dc4-d21d-4328-aded-ef205a6e4d60/MBL-ASU.jpg Thoughts - Stray Thoughts on Contingency Following the MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar - Make it stand out The participants of the recent MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/67ebc729-0ddf-4b46-9e40-aa8bacd95bfb/PXL_20230517_233054142.jpg Thoughts - Stray Thoughts on Contingency Following the MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar - Make it stand out The view from Woods Hole Road near dusk http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/5/30/stable-isotopes-in-unstable-times monthly 0.5 2023-06-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4f100b58-4045-4e75-904f-680963e458c0/Screen+Shot+2023-05-28+at+12.24.11+PM.png Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out Harold Urey at his desk in the late 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8153cff2-1d80-470b-ac99-6e96f1fd53e3/forambanner.jpg Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out A selection of benthic foraminifera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/79af0c98-f9ea-45a9-953d-ef21b00fe33f/2+-+Epstein+Fig+5+.png Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out Epstein’s plot of oxygen concentrations versus temperature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4a1c107c-1bae-45bc-af87-36dfdabf986d/1957-1958-international-geophysical-year-stamp-bill-owen.jpg Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out Postage stamp commemorating the International Geophysical Year of 1957–8 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/227a096b-2f28-4e74-9e00-a147418602be/3+-+Vostok+Expedition+1957.jpg Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out The Vostok Expedition, 1957 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/730e2707-52d8-4064-a7cc-ea8ae70d6fa1/4+-+one+of+the+first+cores+at+5G.jpg Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out Scientists extracting a core at Vostok Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/3f9d6c37-72cf-4716-a9b8-dd252e64a63a/GISP2_1855m_ice_core_layers.png Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out About 20 cm of an ice core containing 11 annual layers. The darker layers represent winters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/67e19057-14db-4b03-806f-d9e8cb4affc8/long+exposure+2.jpg Thoughts - Stable Isotopes in Unstable Times: Harold Urey’s paleothermometer and the nature of proxy measurement - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/5/12/from-the-archive-replaying-lifes-tape monthly 0.5 2025-05-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d8eed31d-fb21-44a9-b0b4-8330f2b67c34/Screen+Shot+2023-05-12+at+9.24.28+AM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Replaying Life's Tape— No Miracles Required - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/98c1b59f-ffe0-44e7-a20e-7c96c98b9190/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: Replaying Life's Tape— No Miracles Required - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8a41edc3-6ebc-41a0-8190-c6e273057407/image-asset-1.jpeg Thoughts - From the Archive: Replaying Life's Tape— No Miracles Required - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6c951a5c-489f-4251-887f-b80341d5c144/Pikaia_BW.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Replaying Life's Tape— No Miracles Required - Make it stand out A reconstruction of Pikaia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/295bbc17-e194-472c-b524-eb039b70b64e/Screen+Shot+2023-05-12+at+7.05.15+PM.jpg Thoughts - From the Archive: Replaying Life's Tape— No Miracles Required - Make it stand out Some of the vials comprising the Long-term Evolution Experiment (LTEE) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/2/1/history-kindness-and-the-great-faunas monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/53600a22-def4-49ab-93d6-668239d7d7e1/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7f3ffd9e-ae83-4149-af8d-533958848841/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+7.22.21+PM.png Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out An iron meteorite of the sort scientists use to learn about the metallic cores of planets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e2a09272-8c22-49ef-a488-e9cee29d03e3/Screen+Shot+2023-02-01+at+9.10.07+PM.png Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out Six kinds of historical or “etiological” kinds, generated by combining Khalidi’s distinction between kinds that share either an origin, history, or causal trajectory with Franklin-Hall’s distinction between type- and token-historical kinds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c95cafbf-1cdd-49e8-b9d0-271fe244886e/pnas.1521181112fig01.jpeg Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out Jack Sepkoski (left) with his colleague and frequent collaborator David Raup (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e1d74e50-b8de-4b57-9693-39fb14a645a3/Screen+Shot+2023-03-08+at+8.30.52+PM.jpg Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out Sepkoski’s three great evolutionary faunas as identified by factor analysis, depicted as components of total marine diversity. The field marked by “I” represents the Cambrian fauna, “II” represents the Paleozoic fauna, and “III” represents the Modern fauna. The dark uppermost curve shows the total number of families known from the marine fossil record (in 1981). From Sepkoski (1981) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/eec8c01a-8df6-4596-b466-7da2fed792f1/Cambrian+fauna.jpeg Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out Members of the Cambrian evolutionary fauna, like Anomalocaris canadensis (the big one rearing up), Hallucigenia sparsa (the spiky one on the seafloor), and Marrella splendens (the one swimming in the foreground) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c763e478-69b8-4923-aae8-3455f07631ad/Secondfauna.jpeg Thoughts - History, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas - Make it stand out A selection of fishes that form an important part of the third (Modern) evolutionary fauna http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/2/24/the-once-and-future-earth monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/13314401-4ff1-4652-8146-4ea325411560/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a8e6373d-487a-40ea-8aa4-a8bc4fb58c7d/Screen+Shot+2023-04-17+at+7.16.53+PM.png Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Mars, painted red by iron oxides (and a filter—the true color of Mars is a duller red-brown) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/acd57b0e-ab1f-4111-9e37-ff5b51e52bc6/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+4.37.27+PM.png Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Percival Lowell seated at his telescope at the Lowell Observatory. Improbably, this institution is still around. It even made international headlines in 1930 when a resident astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh discovered the ninth planet in our solar system. Lowell had commissioned the search for “Planet X” before his death in 1916. Today, the dwarf planet Pluto memorializes him in its planetary symbol, PL https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/e399133f-d404-43ac-b929-ea153be61dec/Screen+Shot+2023-03-14+at+9.52.45+AM.png Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A version of Schiaparelli’s 1888 map of Mars, complete with maria (seas), terrae (continents), and canali (channels) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/c0beb294-2d52-48c1-a45e-da28ce0fc95c/Screen+Shot+2023-02-24+at+7.36.28+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out An image of Mars captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which would have done nothing to allay Lowell’s concerns https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5f3aaaf0-58b8-4549-aeff-811990f50535/Screen+Shot+2023-04-05+at+8.10.02+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A map of the oldest rocks and minerals on the planet (top) and a picture of some of these rocks belonging to the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt (credit for both images: Jonathan O’Neil). Note that the age of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt is disputed, with one study placing it at 4.4 billion years and another at 3.8 billion years. If the earlier date is confirmed, it will be necessary to modify my statement that no rocks survive from the first 10% of Earth’s history. Also note that the Jack Hills zircons are only mineral grains—the host rock has apparently been destroyed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/96e45e3f-4856-4db1-936b-16c9e28027eb/Screen+Shot+2023-04-05+at+8.11.45+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out An inverted fluvial channel near the Martian equator showing “scroll-bars” typical of river meanders. Inverted channels form when the sediments that fill them become more resistant to erosion than the surrounding material. When the surrounding material erodes, the channel is left standing as a ridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7b38c62e-72ae-4163-8b33-694d162a7e20/Screen+Shot+2023-05-02+at+4.35.36+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out Self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1f35eac8-6ad5-466d-8fb1-9d171f32df78/Comparisons+planets.png Thoughts - The Once and Future Earth - Make it stand out A graphic from Lapôtre et al. (2020) comparing Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars through time. R = radius, g = surface gravity, T = surface temperature, and p = atmospheric pressure at the surface http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/3/24/is-contemporary-climate-change-really-unprecedented monthly 0.5 2023-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/589c7913-862d-42aa-a5e3-7cda4863691c/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.55.36+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out The 2019–2020 Australian bushfires viewed from space https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/db579b7a-2324-4b80-8f5b-49933f443433/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.21.58+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out The influence of ruler length on coastline measurement; with a longer “ruler: (left), the measured coastline is significantly shorter than that measured by a shorter “ruler” (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7096134a-95f1-4dd0-8878-4cdd1a60aae7/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.29.07+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f0f04b9f-8ee9-4579-9b73-0e7719c711f5/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.26.41+AM.jpg Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dc6aaf31-3429-4c02-a039-4655da907ad6/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.27.42+AM.jpg Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8d526546-f499-47d2-b5b0-792f15052247/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.34.09+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9d0c051b-9746-43fd-98c2-6d6b11bf70f5/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.36.38+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7434f9db-495a-491d-86d1-5d14da7c0e56/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.37.49+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a6b23039-19d2-4bdc-b0ec-ddfe66431a32/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.39.41+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/f8271f69-828c-4c88-a822-8ed7699791c9/Screen+Shot+2023-03-31+at+9.40.45+AM.png Thoughts - Is Contemporary Climate Change Really Unprecedented? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/3/3/lords-of-marble-and-the-spear monthly 0.5 2025-11-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/751a3365-7ea3-4585-a76e-37fde5c872e7/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/2752cb6f-5f2b-4a2e-ad44-d0f82770ef24/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+11.33.39+AM.jpg Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out A section of the Parthenon frieze on display at the British Museum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8afdd6a2-f1bc-4850-9a73-767718f59a3f/Screen+Shot+2023-03-03+at+3.49.59+PM.jpg Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Life reconstruction of Ubirajara jubatus, with its conspicuous shoulder spikes drawn to look a bit like crisscrossed hairsticks. Credit: Luxquine/Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/4dc91be6-8044-488c-83a5-d6b2dd055bd0/Screen+Shot+2023-03-11+at+8.04.23+PM.jpg Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out The view from inside the Acropolis Museum, which looks out on the Parthenon. The Acropolis Museum houses many of the Parthenon marbles and will house the “Elgin marbles” if they are returned to Greece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/0a344956-aeff-4609-aaea-7799a826aedf/Ubifossil.jpeg Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out The bones of contention. Credit: Felipe Lima Pinheiro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/bf746596-bcde-491a-9ae8-6cbf17753eeb/Screen+Shot+2023-03-03+at+7.53.23+PM.jpg Thoughts - Lords of Marble and the Spear - Make it stand out Another reconstruction of Ubirajara, this one representing the “spears” as feather-like structures. Credit: Dani Navarro http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/3/5/biodiversitycrisis monthly 0.5 2023-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/fc34a02d-a41c-4373-807e-fc79a73ff683/Screen+Shot+2023-03-06+at+7.16.23+PM.jpg Thoughts - Sizing up the "Biodiversity Crisis": Paleocurves, Measurements, and Problematic Inferences - Make it stand out Phillip’s paleodiversity curve from 1860, showing major reductions in organic life at the intersection of the Palæozoic and Mesozoic, and Mesozoic and Cænozoic, intervals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7e86a72a-6a29-40cf-987c-dafd9744fe13/Screen+Shot+2023-03-05+at+2.54.29+PM.jpg Thoughts - Sizing up the "Biodiversity Crisis": Paleocurves, Measurements, and Problematic Inferences - Make it stand out Sepkoski’s paleocurve for genus diversity, with his three great evolutionary faunas (the Cambrian, Paleozoic and Modern) superimposed. Redrawn from Sepkoski (1997) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/144bb3f0-d556-44af-9bcb-113651390933/Screen+Shot+2023-03-05+at+2.54.42+PM.jpg Thoughts - Sizing up the "Biodiversity Crisis": Paleocurves, Measurements, and Problematic Inferences - Make it stand out A recent paleocurve from Fan et al. (2021). The top graphic shows the trajectories of genus and species diversity between the Cambrian and Triassic; the bottom graphic shows species trajectories broken down by taxonomic group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/9f1afd79-0d5f-4d23-aed8-2082b7ed9459/Screen+Shot+2023-03-06+at+7.24.46+PM.png Thoughts - Sizing up the "Biodiversity Crisis": Paleocurves, Measurements, and Problematic Inferences - Make it stand out One of those ubiquitous collages that might lead you to think that biodiversity is just the total number of species on Earth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cab0f5c5-5801-4a3a-bdd2-172b80fcd41a/reef.jpeg Thoughts - Sizing up the "Biodiversity Crisis": Paleocurves, Measurements, and Problematic Inferences - Make it stand out Bleached corals in the Great Barrier Reef, which have become a symbol of the “biodiversity crisis” http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/2/15/trouble-with-ancestors monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d59ce6a2-3e35-48fb-9fde-9eb0574c9c3c/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5efde7f0-3344-406a-8f8b-3e9897a2e46f/Screen+Shot+2023-02-16+at+1.17.34+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out Atlantic horseshoe crabs cavorting on a beach https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/6954b3f9-4999-48f5-b8a7-a632ebeca8d2/Screen+Shot+2023-02-16+at+1.17.07+PM.jpg Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out Myzostoma fuscomaculatum, a marine annelid that parasitizes crinoids (“sea lilies”) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/cb20b759-4628-4de6-b494-027ebb67eaec/Stem+and+crown.png Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out The stem-group, crown-group, and total-group (stem + crown). Anomalocarids occupy a position deep in the arthropod stem-group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/8a7558a7-595a-4670-80d9-2a8bceed9bbb/Fossil+horseshoe+crab.jpeg Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out A horseshoe crab from the Mesozoic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/03a3dbd7-6ff6-4013-90df-026c0399503c/Screen+Shot+2023-02-15+at+10.00.43+PM.png Thoughts - The Trouble with Ancestors - Make it stand out On the left is what is known as a “balanced” tree. On the right is a “pectinate,” or comb-like, tree. The most basal taxon in the pectinate tree is labeled “B.” No terminal taxon in the balanced tree is more basal than any other http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/5/challenge-for-historical-cognitivism monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/28fc22c3-ae8f-4c98-a4b1-b9b171b0e03d/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Hugh Miller, Misplaced Boulders, and a Challenge for “Historical Cognitivism” - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/a16d3ecf-03f2-4735-9c4e-c27f03288fb9/Hugh+Miller.jpeg Thoughts - Hugh Miller, Misplaced Boulders, and a Challenge for “Historical Cognitivism” - Make it stand out A portrait of Hugh Miller (1802–1856) with stonemason’s tools taken in 1843. Miller was trained as a stonemason and later suffered from silicosis, which may have been implicated in his death by suicide https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/38a81549-1f7e-4d27-9c98-c0332f5d3101/Screen+Shot+2023-02-19+at+1.27.44+PM.jpg Thoughts - Hugh Miller, Misplaced Boulders, and a Challenge for “Historical Cognitivism” - Make it stand out “William Walker’s Stone,” a glacial erratic in West Yorkshire. This is much larger than Geikie’s boulder, but it gives an idea of how such an object might stand out from its surroundings “like a sculpted obelisk transported from the plains of Assyria to the streets of London” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d91209c0-8f83-4bd0-8578-91991394aecb/John+Martin.jpeg Thoughts - Hugh Miller, Misplaced Boulders, and a Challenge for “Historical Cognitivism” - Make it stand out John Martin’s “The Great Day of His Wrath,” painted between 1851 and 1853. Apocalyptic spectacle like this was a potent source of associations for early geologists and their readers, not least because it mingled concrete details with broader themes and generalities (see O’Connor 2007, especially Ch. 7). This particular work was inspired by the Book of Revelation, with its geological overtones: "... and, lo, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places" http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/5/truth-also-has-its-paleontology monthly 0.5 2025-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/7aeaaeab-3037-4267-a247-5b6d78c6e862/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/af6ce8e6-b5e6-4ab9-bd7c-aa28c4a9b640/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+2.07.29+PM.jpg Thoughts - “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out Louis Agassiz, seated, and Benjamin Peirce (1871). Rumor has it that Peirce is pointing to that privileged spot on the globe where Harvard University resides https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d57db956-4642-4e87-8eec-1b3f0767e313/James+in+Brazil.jpeg Thoughts - “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out A twenty-three year old William James in Brazil, shortly after contracting smallpox (1865) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/b2e094a5-4aaa-4ab5-8986-afe93287a8a2/PG.jpg Thoughts - “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out The title page of Lyell’s most influential work, Principles of Geology, along with its frontispiece showing the “Temple of Serapis” (now known as the Serapeum of Alexandria). The frontispiece pictures three pillars standing amid the ruins, each bearing boreholes from marine invertebrates: a powerful visual argument for several key planks of Lyell’s “uniformitarianism” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/dc9b9b51-4bd5-4437-a346-3377dc14c549/Hassler+at+sea.png Thoughts - “Truth also has its Paleontology,” or When Pragmatism Met Uniformitarianism - Make it stand out The U.S.C.S.S. Hassler at sea http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/5/comparisons-with-teeth monthly 0.5 2026-03-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/66d3e1fd-d73c-4811-933e-b0516e5b7fb9/Screenshot+2025-11-05+at+11.36.37%E2%80%AFAM.png Thoughts - Comparisons with Teeth: Two Hundred Years of Actualism in Paleontology - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/35c3aca0-3189-4649-af5c-ba8068a6a598/Screen+Shot+2023-03-04+at+2.08.48+PM.png Thoughts - Comparisons with Teeth: Two Hundred Years of Actualism in Paleontology - Make it stand out Volumetric reconstruction of a tooth whorl from the Silurian gnathostome Qianodus duplicis. The entire whorl is only about 2.5 mm long. It is the only part of the animal that is known. Credit: Zhu et al. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1fdf0f5f-af6b-4d21-9001-39e53d600150/Iguanodon+tooth.jpeg Thoughts - Comparisons with Teeth: Two Hundred Years of Actualism in Paleontology - Make it stand out An Iguanodon tooth, which, according to most accounts, Mary Mantell collected in 1822 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1e087438-2062-4b69-a4ac-47818cef3706/Iguana%28don%29.png Thoughts - Comparisons with Teeth: Two Hundred Years of Actualism in Paleontology - Make it stand out An iguana juxtaposed with its namesake, the Iguanodon. The image on the bottom comes from a famous watercolor, “The Country of the Iguanodon,” painted by the popular English artist John Martin (1837). Martin’s rendering of the Iguanodon would go exert a large influence on early representations of prehistoric life https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/5b6f7ea8-b953-4d2f-b243-9e41d5cb215a/Megalodon+model.png Thoughts - Comparisons with Teeth: Two Hundred Years of Actualism in Paleontology - Make it stand out A representation of the modeling procedure used by Cooper et al. to construct their megalodon. The top row shows some vertebral centra (A) positioned above the reconstructed vertebral column (B). (C) shows a sample of teeth, which were scanned (D) along with the chondrocranium of a great white (E) to build a model of the megalodon’s head (F). Finally, a 3D scan of a great white’s body (G)–(K) was used to build the complete megalodon model (M)–(Q). Credit: Cooper et al. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/5/the-de-extinct-blog-and-introducing-problematica monthly 0.5 2024-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/d9f40d2f-250a-4c21-b599-1f81b27da9a5/Max.jpg Thoughts - The De-Extinct Blog, and Introducing "Problematica" - Make it stand out Me (reclining) with friend Janella Baxter of Sam Houston State University at the Mount Stephen trilobite beds in British Columbia http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023/1/2/extinct-relaunch monthly 0.5 2023-01-02 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/11/1/the-art-of-paleontology monthly 0.5 2019-11-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1572453349090-RXWT38E7MT9J7NREI1B2/Prepped+Specimens.jpg Thoughts - The Art of Paleontology Dire wolf skulls (top left) at the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits; a crinoid (top middle), an ornithomimid (bottom left), and a nodosaur (bottom right) from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology; Cambrian explosion-era organisms (bottom middle) at the Field Museum of Natural History; and an Anchiornis fossil (top right) on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, while on loan from the Geological Museum of China. All pictures in this post by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1572455714761-PRCKFKCWGJKJ5U16OQOU/Scenic+Landscapes.jpg Thoughts - The Art of Paleontology Top right, the view from the site of the Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park in British Columbia; top left, the badlands at Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta; and on the bottom, two shots from Capital Reef National Park in Utah. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1572453458969-IW8OJ06AX8SGHHSBNT4Q/In+Situ+Specimens.jpg Thoughts - The Art of Paleontology One of these shots (top middle) is of a trilobite in situ at the Burgess Shale; the rest are from Dinosaur Provincial Park. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/10/1/landmark-studies monthly 0.5 2019-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1569869325155-TJ7JREG3V79Z1Y66FV12/ar24219-fig-0008-m.jpg Thoughts - Landmark Studies Figure 8 from Cost et al. 2019, illustrating both the model used in their study (scanned from BHI 3033, “Stan”) and the distribution of strains in their study of T. rex bite mechanics. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1569869662077-UZLEJIR64PPZCFCK2KOY/obz016f1.png Thoughts - Landmark Studies Figure 1 from Bardua et al 2019, showing semilandmarks (blue and yellow points) and biological or geometrical landmarks (red points) on a skull of the caecilian Siphonops annulatus. An annotated 3D render of this figure is available at https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/add35e2e8af94839b1f577bfcee32e54. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/9/1/skeletons-specimens-synoptic-series-similarity-and-difference monthly 0.5 2024-12-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007087118-WPRZADB50WIUIMJBZ7TR/Synoptic+Series.jpg Thoughts - Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference On the left, a close-up of the Field Museum of Natural History’s “Avian Skeletal Collection Synoptic Series,” assembled by Keith Barker, with key produced by N. Adam Smith. On the right, a shot of the synoptic series in situ. All photos in this post by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007165809-U1JXBS8WXA74Q6H16LO4/T-Rex+Series.jpg Thoughts - Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference A bevy of beautiful Tyrannosaurus rex! On the left, the holotype of the species (CM 9380), on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the middle, the specimen informally known as ‘Sue’ (FMNH PR 2081), on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. On the right, the specimen informally known as ‘Black Beauty’ (RTMP 81.6.1), on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1567007227989-1LZBPNEVY86446W0RLG1/Other+Series.jpg Thoughts - Skeletons, Specimens, Synoptic Series, Similarity, and Difference The two pictures on the left are both from the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. That’s a wall of 400 dire wolf skulls, and then a full case of nothing but avian tibia—from the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos. The two pictures on the right are both from the Utah Museum of Natural History. That’s a wall of ceratopsid skulls, and then a growth series of Allosaurus femora collected from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/7/30/the-future-geologist-and-the-anthropocene monthly 0.5 2019-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1564543872664-WD4IILJOHJUB7QUUYU7U/Screen+Shot+2019-07-30+at+11.30.45+PM.png Thoughts - The Future Geologist and the Anthropocene http://fossilsaustralia.com/geology-of-the-illawarra-southern-highlands-html/ http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/6/26/place-place-baby monthly 0.5 2019-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1561570459749-JMQSRJTRCBD8BUF68GNU/figure+1.jpg Thoughts - Place, Place Baby A cast of the fossil skull known as the ‘Taungs Baby,” or “Taung Child,” shot from two different angles. Images from Wikimedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1561570489036-R40TZHOHK275K9TLTCSX/figure+2.jpg Thoughts - Place, Place Baby A view of the veld at Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve in June 1996, during winter in South Africa. Photo by Cynthia Havstad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1561570581515-Q4JHTRE0C7MRDG99QR6O/figure+3.jpg Thoughts - Place, Place Baby On the left, the Taung skull fossil discovery site; and on the right, a shot of the surrounding landscape. Both images from EcoAfrica’s (2015) report, “Visual Impact Assessment for Improvement of Visitor Facilities, Site Infrastructure and Heritage Conservation Measures at the Taung Skull World Heritage Site,” available here. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/5/31/hype-and-trust monthly 0.5 2019-06-01 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/5/1/what-to-do-with-scientific-disagreement monthly 0.5 2019-05-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1556560090836-9N1P7I906E4RIJMLHBA4/Figure4.jpg Thoughts - What to Do with Scientific Disagreement Figure 4 from Havstad & Smith’s “Fossils with Feathers and Philosophy of Science,” forthcoming in Systematic Biology. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1556560246616-0RXR61GTJV2CD10HWYIJ/Figure3.jpg Thoughts - What to Do with Scientific Disagreement Figure 3 from Havstad & Smith’s “Fossils with Feathers and Philosophy of Science,” forthcoming in Systematic Biology. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/3/25/not-in-my-boneyard monthly 0.5 2019-04-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1553549370896-M1KGEH8YXCUAPJON1AKC/Screen+Shot+2019-03-24+at+2.39.58+PM.png Thoughts - Not in My Boneyard I hope the SVP does not mind that I borrowed this from their website. See the full details here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1553549471221-QZWMVKV6B4T8GN2TNFIW/Screen+Shot+2019-03-24+at+12.16.34+AM.png Thoughts - Not in My Boneyard Oil and gas development in the San Juan Basin near Farmington, NM. Each blue circle is a pumping station or well pad, or some other infrastructure. Most of the lines are unpaved access roads. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1553549787663-6PFHTWC9GN4D5CBEN3NV/IMG_1681.JPG Thoughts - Not in My Boneyard This is at the head of the trail going to Simon Canyon Ruin, an important archaeological site, near Navajo Dam, NM. This is a pretty common sight in the Dinetah, the ancestral home of the Navajo nation. I have no idea what is inside the green box. But the “Danger” sign includes a phone number you can call to let BP know if there is an emergency. (Please note that this photo is from a spot miles away from the area pictured above—this is just an example of infrastructure in the oil patch.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1554052396397-G7NQMA8O0SNSOL2233BK/IMG_1835.JPG Thoughts - Not in My Boneyard More infrastructure on BLM land near Navajo Dam, New Mexico. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/3/1/colorful-betting-practices monthly 0.5 2019-03-01 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/2/18/beginning-at-the-beginning-leibniz-and-the-texts-of-deep-history monthly 0.5 2019-02-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1550417780581-NBTU88E8C7XKVCNU92VK/leibniz5.jpg Thoughts - Beginning at the beginning: Leibniz and the texts of deep history. Mammoth molar and a hypothetical reconstruction of a unicorn skeleton, from G. W. Leibniz, Protogaea; or, On the Primitive Aspect of the Earth and On the Traces of the Most Ancient History Contained in the Monuments of Nature, ed. Christian Ludwig Scheidt, 1749. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2019/2/1/data-text-amp-simulation-alisa-bokulichs-using-models-to-correct-data-paleodiversity-and-the-fossil-record monthly 0.5 2019-02-01 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/12/28/extinct-in-2018 monthly 0.5 2019-01-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1546012326060-6ZF5047DUJ74MYKSRVX0/Adrian%2527s%2Bbook.jpg Thoughts - Extinct in 2018, Extinct in 2019! The Extinct crew reconnecting at the Philosophy of Science Association meeting in Seattle, WA, in November 2018. Adrian couldn’t make it to this one, but we found him at the book display! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1546012796944-YFNBBCX316ZSYLMEHTOV/SPSP+dinner.jpg Thoughts - Extinct in 2018, Extinct in 2019! A Joyous meal in Ghent, Belgium, in July, where some of us gathered for the biennial meeting of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice. From left to right: Michelle Turner, Derek Turner, Craig Fox, Jennifer Peacock, Caitin Wyiie, Thomas Bonnin, Alison Wylie, Rune Nyrup, Kristin Kokkov, Adrian Currie, Kirsten Walsh. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/12/1/philosophical-metaphor-amp-philosophical-analysis monthly 0.5 2018-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1543608274251-R7AQQEPNQO53JGQM9PSS/fig2.jpg Thoughts - Philosophical Metaphor & Philosophical Analysis Dartmoor, looking appropriately sublime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1543651816833-J78MH5G816KKYI7N3407/fig1.png Thoughts - Philosophical Metaphor & Philosophical Analysis I couldn’t resist using this slide of Cleland looking badass… http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/11/8/on-horses-in-solidarity monthly 0.5 2018-11-08 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/10/1/a-metasequoia-moment monthly 0.5 2018-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1538445063679-L4XC63LSLWUD3GREOYCE/IMG_2153.JPG Thoughts - A Metasequoia Moment A metasequoia on the campus of Connecticut College. Photo by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1538445185596-E5CDGP2ZX0HXJ5VHPDGA/IMG_2151.JPG Thoughts - A Metasequoia Moment Did you know that metasequias are deciduous conifers? Photo by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1538445421792-TLGPRKALDF5JBXMA2CL2/Screen+Shot+2018-10-01+at+9.56.37+PM.png Thoughts - A Metasequoia Moment Fossil metasequoia from the Eocene (so, well after the time of the non-avian dinos), when the trees were extremely abundant. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/9/1/rethinking-living-fossils monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1535006422909-X1UPBYX3ULWAMQNIESK9/fig+1.png Thoughts - Rethinking Living Fossils Charles Darwin (left) and Joseph Hooker (right) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1535006798001-5VUK14RGE5F7F4A4DUOQ/fig+2.png Thoughts - Rethinking Living Fossils A lungfish and a platypus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1535007097776-7VTRG6WR839A6Z9YKNJH/fig+3.jpg Thoughts - Rethinking Living Fossils Compare the living (top row) with the long fossilized (bottom row). (see here for species names & sources) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1535007264601-FBS8NDJ141UFXTSZ2WA1/fig+4.jpg Thoughts - Rethinking Living Fossils source https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1535007390761-DZJ5F50A2C777D8EGTG2/fig+5.jpg Thoughts - Rethinking Living Fossils Simosuchus clacki http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/8/1/how-do-you-pronounce-parasaurolophus monthly 0.5 2018-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1533066422786-WURE1J2TZY72LG2HO16N/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - How do you pronounce "Parasaurolophus"? Say my name. (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1533070934528-UBLISOE1IQ432MVTR32G/1480866620-20161204.png Thoughts - How do you pronounce "Parasaurolophus"? Image from www.smbc-comics.com. Original strip here. Hat tip to Jonathan Kaplan for the reference. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/6/29/whats-it-like-to-be-a-dinosaur monthly 0.5 2018-07-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762802379-76J1UL5WJHG5RTG9O1T4/elliott+bolt+barham+caricature+extinct+high+res.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762388636-JYB6K74VOU44J1HX9C0K/tree-of-life_dinosaur_compassion.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762517548-PVTQVLEBEWREPVJHQKW0/9781441173836.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762581518-85471R15V6E9ZJV9IBYC/Davidson_pyke.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? Donald Davidson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762660673-9QLECEAMLLCX54MK2JFZ/2cyhe0000f41000.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1531762696698-27160D4J57L6ZUAQU61C/Maiasaura.jpg Thoughts - What's It Like to Be a Dinosaur? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/7/1/currie-on-havstad-on-currie monthly 0.5 2018-08-23 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/6/1/adrian-curries-rock-bone-and-ruin monthly 0.5 2018-06-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1527869625656-TUX3BZNG393F26421AJA/LA+Rock+Bone+Ruin.jpg Thoughts - Adrian Currie's "Rock, Bone, and Ruin" On the left, Heizer’s Levitating Mass at LACMA. In the middle, a small piece of the massive wall of dire wolf skulls found at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum site. On the right, ongoing excavation efforts at the totally ruinous tar pits. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/5/1/consensus-schmosensus-dead-dinosaurs-big-rocks-simple-stories monthly 0.5 2018-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1525091695923-5WZ0AYAAWWKMYT03YE59/fig+1.jpg Thoughts - Consensus Schmosensus: Dead Dinosaurs, Big Rocks & Simple Stories India's Deccan traps: even if they cause mass extinctions, volcanism sure makes for some pretty landscapes... http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/4/1/a-coprolite-of-unusual-size-reflections-on-history-and-value monthly 0.5 2018-04-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1522634272769-6IU43E3LM2K0ODOKIPN1/Screen+Shot+2018-04-01+at+9.55.21+PM.png Thoughts - History and Value http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/3/1/glastonbury-today-tomorrow-2250-years-ago monthly 0.5 2024-08-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1520006210388-9W4GFYZA96E3VL2C58E5/pic+1.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Glastonbury festival at its muddiest! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1520006238597-JQZFE1MTK4FRFFNKI2RM/pic+2.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Everyone camping… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519310996458-W6WTYMTNWT2MCN84EAEM/pic+3.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago …and striking camp – leaving mounds of garbage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311102452-UMVK2FH791M6842M79KF/pic+4.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago The Worthy Farm cows are pleased! (Telegraph 7 July 2017) Check out this video of frisky cows heading back to their pasture. https://youtu.be/rsq1FhXF5xk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311226169-FKW4UJ51R9P22MIVV2N7/pic+5.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Somerset Levels – flooded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311361629-SJK732U2TR8RF3NRGY5K/pic+6.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Victorian era excavations - also flooded(!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311454671-X0QFIEDRXP0KJRJMD3S7/pic+7.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago …and a standard reconstruction of Iron Age Glastonbury as a ‘lake village’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311517336-KE1QYQVS2MNMVXFSBA8Y/pic+8.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago David Clarke, the man behind the model(s) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311627111-WEJ98Y8IK68P16EO4THE/pic+9.png Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Clarke’s modular unit settlement model for Glastonbury, Fig 3.4 from Evidential Reasoning (p. 114): (1) Major House, (2) Minor House, (3) Ancillary Hut, (4) Workshop Hut, (5) Courtyard, (6) Baking Hut, (7) Workfloor, (8) Granaries/Storehouses, (9) Stables, (10) Sties/Kennels, (11) Wagon Stance (adapted from Clarke 1972b: fig. 21.1). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1519311802785-4CY04S29ZV2AITPY2CIV/pic10.jpg Thoughts - Glastonbury: today, tomorrow, 2,250 years ago Minnitt & Coles’ Lake Villages of Somerset (1996), Somerset County Council. Inset: Coles & Minnitt, Industrious and Fairly Civilized: The Glastonbury Lake Villages (1995), Somerset Levels Project and Somerset County Museum Service http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2018/2/1/extinction-resolved monthly 0.5 2018-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1517357670121-CWEQOTUVCCRJJC2JSMQ6/441px-Beutelwolf_fg01.jpg Thoughts - Extinction, resolved Comparison between skulls of a thylacine (denoted by a red bar) and a gray wolf (denoted by a green bar). Image from Wikimedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1517357820474-WBQ69TJU7QMS218UJP4J/cloned-615.jpg Thoughts - Extinction, resolved Preserved thylacine pup and fetuses. Image from National Geographic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1517460396273-ILM1OU74B3TKERJ977XR/Cms-newyorkzoologicalsociety1910.jpg Thoughts - Extinction, resolved Using the sighting method, Solow (1993) estimated that the Caribbean monk seal (pictured above) likely went extinct before 1973. Image from Wikimedia Commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/12/26/writing-about-science-in-2017 monthly 0.5 2017-12-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1514328698401-TEOF0FGNEMX1481N7UQO/IMG_2762.JPG Thoughts - Writing about Science in 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1514344453701-9AH4ZPHHG2NBW7Y1OQRR/IMG_2889.JPG Thoughts - Writing about Science in 2017 Of all the things we saw in Dinosaur Provincial Park, this was one that most surprised me. Any guess what this is? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1514344630783-80MJRU4NJELTCAE0PQ25/RBR.jpg Thoughts - Writing about Science in 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1514345806289-N2VH7ULMR65IQNFUMPIE/bears+ears.jpg Thoughts - Writing about Science in 2017 The shrinking of Bears Ears National Monument, in southeastern Utah. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1514344967614-14WVY5F52Q9ATIPYNYOW/IMG_2819.JPG Thoughts - Writing about Science in 2017 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/12/18/systematics-of-star-wars monthly 0.5 2017-12-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1513563325874-L5PGZT011ZU95U4D990C/Rancor-SWE.png Thoughts - Systematics of Star Wars My beloved not-quite-a-dinosaur. Image courtesy Wookieepedia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1513563757912-LY1GD63Q5ATX4QNAEQZP/Bossk.png Thoughts - Systematics of Star Wars The bounty hunter Bossk, exemplar of the Trandoshan species. Image courtesy Wookieepedia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1513627772345-4R8OF36L15Y8HV4VR71M/SW1.jpg Thoughts - Systematics of Star Wars FIGURE 1: Consensus parsimony tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1513627793625-DB102MGDL2VD01WUE9RC/SW2.jpg Thoughts - Systematics of Star Wars FIGURE 2: Results of Bayesian analysis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1513629260203-87WJQQABS4D0BVX4HDB0/SW3.jpg Thoughts - Systematics of Star Wars FIGURE 3: Constrained consensus tree (see text for explanation). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/12/11/reptilian-flamingos monthly 0.5 2017-12-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998045096-UCOKO0PEI9U1AABW9RK9/fig+1.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? Egid Verhelst II’s engraving of the first Pterodactylus antiquus specimen, 1784 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998130000-J4GYV0WD647Q5R9NRJ9X/fig+2.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? The AMNH's pterosaur poster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998312756-H45YVZBDPJALEM168A9E/fig+3.png Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? Wikipedia’s version of Stirling Nesbitt’s 2011 analysis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998389878-6GJTIC3JD9N6QUY7WFQP/fig+4.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? The sandstone block, from Wang et al 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998488575-FH993N81HXD86OXK9F5L/fig+5.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? A flamingo creche in Tanzania https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998559749-UFN2M2EOMNKG8ZKK4K14/fig+6.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? from askabiologist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1512998635740-4NAH3DKIEKN4BVAIHPCN/fig+7.jpg Thoughts - Reptilian Flamingos? Sea turtle nest-building is hardly, um, dainty, and considering that nests are very close to one another, a later turtle often disturbs an earlier turtle’s cache http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/11/29/bringing-evolution-to-the-masses-disneys-fantasia-as-history-of-biology monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511978678301-SF6US80GL2QPEHJQ60JZ/microbes.png Thoughts - Bringing Evolution to the Masses: Disney’s Fantasia as History of Biology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511978734689-9ZHXSTXLP5N82ARBXQLW/jellies.png Thoughts - Bringing Evolution to the Masses: Disney’s Fantasia as History of Biology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511978785280-EJ04LRUBBWEMKQ5YY0YJ/extinction.png Thoughts - Bringing Evolution to the Masses: Disney’s Fantasia as History of Biology http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/11/27/leaving-a-legacy-specimen-collection-in-archaeology-and-biology monthly 0.5 2017-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511801462445-OSKXCZWQX64DYAH2V240/Neontological.jpg Thoughts - Leaving a Legacy: Specimen Collection in Archaeology and Biology Neontological specimens: botanical, lichenological, and zoological. Microbes not pictured. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511801620483-ZFBMY86W98C70KN5NO9Q/Paleontological.jpg Thoughts - Leaving a Legacy: Specimen Collection in Archaeology and Biology Paleontological specimens. Ok, one of these is not actually a fossil specimen. All pics in this post by author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/11/20/the-chidi-ross-spectrum-role-models-in-philosophy-and-paleontology monthly 0.5 2017-11-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511140692531-A5BIABE9MWH8UWBUSJJN/171010_3599779_The_Trolley_Problem.jpg Thoughts - The Chidi-Ross Spectrum: Role Models in Philosophy and Paleontology Chidi (center) contemplates the trolley problem from within a trolley. Image from nbc.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511154495839-R9GDBN16H0EPP24AQFUO/Jhkbi8QKyPml.jpg Thoughts - The Chidi-Ross Spectrum: Role Models in Philosophy and Paleontology Ross attempts to bribe an ex-girlfriend's boss with a dinosaur egg that he claims to have come from a pterosaur and there are so many things wrong with that sentence that I feel physically ill. Image from zimbio.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1511155611107-5W8GF3ZAEODLVRUNDVQR/Screen+Shot+2017-11-18+at+8.35.05+PM.png Thoughts - The Chidi-Ross Spectrum: Role Models in Philosophy and Paleontology Distinguishing bone from background is sometimes a bit of a judgment call. Image courtesy the author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/11/12/remeasuring-pisanosaurus monthly 0.5 2017-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1510542779840-JOXB2NTI74BCP82WOFLN/Pisanosaurus_BW.jpg Thoughts - Remeasuring Pisanosaurus Pisanosaurus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1510543953868-2JVCF7CTPGD7F9AE4WJ5/IMG_3033.JPG Thoughts - Remeasuring Pisanosaurus Spotted salamanders have evolutionary history, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1510543811470-74TBUZHGO8ALCSHO0VIB/Silesaurus_opolensis_flipped.jpg Thoughts - Remeasuring Pisanosaurus Silesaurus | Not a dinosaur https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1510590892224-LFHTGB7RB4Y8W9982LSX/Screen+Shot+2017-11-13+at+11.33.35+AM.png Thoughts - Remeasuring Pisanosaurus We have just one specimen of Pisanosaurus, and the remains are incomplete. For example, though we have a lower jaw, we don't have the complete skull. Also, good luck trying to figure out whether that is a lizard-like hip or a bird-like hip. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/11/6/3sfdcc1ko0mh0w3osnf5chyr7yphif monthly 0.5 2017-11-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1509971031212-QUV47Z36RS8BIIAXQN4G/coelecanth.jpg Thoughts - The missing fossils matter as much as the ones we have found http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/10/30/doing-history-philosophy-of-science-like-paleontology monthly 0.5 2017-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1509357413835-DCNW8G92277EI68KHF36/fig.png Thoughts - Doing History & Philosophy of Science like Paleontology http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/10/23/stop-the-clocks-and-the-other-geologic-timescale-metaphors-too monthly 0.5 2017-11-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508631458388-RTILKV6X49P2TMCX5WYN/51n%2BW2kt8DL._SY450_.jpg Thoughts - Stop the Clocks (and the Other Geologic Timescale Metaphors, Too)! It only feels like a geologic epoch before you get to the part when that guy falls off the ship and hits a propeller on his way down. Image courtesy IMDB.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508633279731-90XS7WWDZCWWSBHCW0YA/640px-Cosmic_Calendar.png Thoughts - Stop the Clocks (and the Other Geologic Timescale Metaphors, Too)! Like my grading schedule, the Cosmic Calendar is very December-heavy. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508633800406-AY2CI696QAB5JKSB7HS4/9e6e7e261550510ff9e11baa5438095d.jpg Thoughts - Stop the Clocks (and the Other Geologic Timescale Metaphors, Too)! Perhaps this is the way may students perceive my hour-long lectures. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/10/15/paleontologys-relationship-with-the-oil-industry monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508125261475-E6JV9LCZCZGTJJ2MPB17/sinclair.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508125004566-XE0LPC1O9K4CHNFMV5DE/enormous+egg.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508125403969-GRSJYNIQD0R1CBZM28WD/sinclair+2.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508161863368-F6GFV1ZXROUIH7G19KB5/Screen+Shot+2017-10-16+at+9.40.48+AM.png Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station How interesting that the dinosaurs are fighting. Also note the prominent placement of the Sinclair sauropod in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508125662427-NLD5OU8H8ZN0H9VAP2GQ/sinclair+1934+dino.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508125818987-1L0X4DQJFB43YZ38H32G/Uncle+Beaz.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508126050161-7BH803Y82V8UQZVB3N55/dinolandbrochure.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508162215727-9ALRTRICZYPOOQ3FI2AF/dinoland+souvenir.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508126182593-CZGZIM5X8OAIAJMALT22/Uncle+Beazley+on+flatbed.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1508162136164-0ZQ5XF1QDS64M5ICN2VC/Beazley+at+the+zoo.jpg Thoughts - Dinosaur at the Gas Station http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/10/9/musical-prehistory-obvious-inferences-being-human monthly 0.5 2017-10-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1507561138800-4I2B1NDKT3KA9R6JA51J/pic+1.png Thoughts - Musical Prehistory, Obvious Inferences & Being Human Image from Adler’s discussion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1507561261339-L7763MF0CCLC30DCJI7Z/pic+2.png Thoughts - Musical Prehistory, Obvious Inferences & Being Human The Hohl Fels Venus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1507561370020-87Q8UY55LQTMJZ7SRAF8/pic+3.jpg Thoughts - Musical Prehistory, Obvious Inferences & Being Human The 'Lion-Man' https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1507561569986-CNAVZE3HH4HSE72X4X9C/pic+4.png Thoughts - Musical Prehistory, Obvious Inferences & Being Human https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1507561697446-EWKVYVOZDZ2PPE1SA9WL/pic+5.png Thoughts - Musical Prehistory, Obvious Inferences & Being Human http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/10/2/consciousness-and-paleobiological-laws-e-d-cope-as-philosopher monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1506523671278-TGCZFMTIOORWSWHWZXIP/CopeFrog+-+Copy.jpg Thoughts - Consciousness and Paleobiological Laws: E. D. Cope as Philosopher Cope’s gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) at Discovery Place Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1506523988751-B723YJE8FWWP593K0NAA/CopePhoto+-+Copy.jpg Thoughts - Consciousness and Paleobiological Laws: E. D. Cope as Philosopher E. D. Cope, contemplating catastrophes, circa 1889 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1506524137371-OZV3R41R5VLIHOMARZOO/Gromia.jpg Thoughts - Consciousness and Paleobiological Laws: E. D. Cope as Philosopher Gromia and its thread-like pseudopodia (nos. 1–4 only), as pictured in Leidy (1879) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1506524347428-WLGN4BCEZB53B4EU9APJ/Peirce-Photo+-+Copy.jpg Thoughts - Consciousness and Paleobiological Laws: E. D. Cope as Philosopher C. S. Peirce, looking into the infinitely distant future, circa 1891 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/9/25/you-should-read-this-book monthly 0.5 2017-09-25 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/9/18/paleontological-luck monthly 0.5 2017-11-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505711370105-SZIOUPZCUA2UGXGQYPBT/IMG_4521.JPG Thoughts - Paleontological luck My lab partner's good luck exemplified. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/9/10/how-natural-theology-shaped-how-we-think-about-the-fossil-record monthly 0.5 2017-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505073622746-1W6R4AVID577CVP66AL0/McPhee.jpg Thoughts - Natural Theology Still Shapes How We Think About Fossils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505073636930-RXRKGF1I8U5UYCOLEBEF/Rudwick.jpg Thoughts - Natural Theology Still Shapes How We Think About Fossils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505073649673-5IBHUKKEAHHVZXJMRNY6/Switek.jpg Thoughts - Natural Theology Still Shapes How We Think About Fossils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505073660704-T4NO0OS7TJQD9UESWN4B/Sepkoski.jpg Thoughts - Natural Theology Still Shapes How We Think About Fossils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1505073675591-8D0L05PFJA4RRU4M4JUU/Raymo.jpg Thoughts - Natural Theology Still Shapes How We Think About Fossils http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/9/4/the-secret-epistemology-of-paleontological-fieldwork monthly 0.5 2017-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504546547856-XPJ9BA97BKG95MR22C0Y/pic+1.jpg Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. Pic by Joyce Havstad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504546698777-XD0W6GDFKF18JISGN2UO/pic+2.jpg Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. Philosophers, historians and sociologists, on yonder hilltop. Pic: Joyce Havstad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504546782335-FFNP52NHM0ZA32ZOBASO/pic+3.jpg Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. Pic by author https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504546835807-WDLXIIYRHRJ19N8Q6J9F/pic+4.jpg Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. Pic by author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504546960092-OVDWHLBDVBI6XQ1TL2U6/pic+5.jpg Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. Proper paleontologists Don and Lee examine the fossilized brain-case. Pic: Joyce Havstad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1504547048133-1MOR0GISVXWY6Y5RTQXN/fb.png Thoughts - The secret epistemology of paleontological fieldwork. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/8/14/beggars-game-and-game-of-chance-marketing-tendaguru-dinosaurs monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502737730507-I4RKDJVOFI2ZBCCGDPCY/Screen+Shot+2017-08-14+at+3.07.21+PM.png Thoughts - Beggar's Game and Game of Chance: Marketing Tendaguru Dinosaurs 1937 display of Brachiosaurus brancai excavated at Tendaguru. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502737848336-3Q2USFLI2CL3BPL6NHVC/image-asset.png Thoughts - Beggar's Game and Game of Chance: Marketing Tendaguru Dinosaurs Hansemann's suggestions of Berlin's most important and influential women. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502737927080-ADQADAEMAEIGPWSQ9OKG/Screen+Shot+2017-08-14+at+3.08.15+PM.png Thoughts - Beggar's Game and Game of Chance: Marketing Tendaguru Dinosaurs First Tendaguru bone, one Brachiosaurus humerus, used by Branca to visually support his speech http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/8/21/field-camp-2017-journals monthly 0.5 2017-11-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1503354151457-2BGL3MDT15C9AHVCM3GS/20106554_10100611747280621_2768219808701570160_n.jpg Thoughts - Field camp 2017 journals The author climbs Hawk Rim, Oregon. Photo courtesy Win McLaughlin. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/8/13/adding-mary-anning-reflections-on-confederate-nostalgia-counterfactual-history-and-the-history-of-paleontology monthly 0.5 2017-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502665351351-UXC4LVZYMQ2M6KTQ3MHQ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Adding Mary Anning: Reflections on Confederate Nostalgia, Counterfactual History, and the History of Paleontology Mary Anning (1799-1847), with her dog. The dog was tragically killed in a mudslide while Mary was doing fieldwork. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/8/7/try-and-say-things-that-have-a-reasonable-chance-of-being-true monthly 0.5 2017-08-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502092237285-PHPZA7QT3Y77Q7WM4JEU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Try and say things that have a reasonable chance of being true... Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage from Padua's pocket universe... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502092371235-65OKPG3HSGNB896O4QL9/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Try and say things that have a reasonable chance of being true... Ada Lovelace at age four, teetering on the brink of a life of mathematics or poetry... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1502092609146-X02XCGDROJ134YNJ28AW/image-asset.png Thoughts - Try and say things that have a reasonable chance of being true... http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/7/31/false-history-the-minimal-rewrite-rule monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1501255489654-K0NXQYFREHQZA1SI2IKN/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Counterfactual History & The Minimal Rewrite Rule https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1501255336007-OM7MTAKXJ40IO2S3MG72/image-asset.png Thoughts - Counterfactual History & The Minimal Rewrite Rule https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1501255461062-INYC82HGJ9BJ6VCL4BF1/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Counterfactual History & The Minimal Rewrite Rule http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/7/24/thoughts-on-earths-deep-history-by-martin-j-s-rudwick monthly 0.5 2017-07-24 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/7/17/how-should-museums-organize-their-fossils monthly 0.5 2017-07-17 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/7/9/the-transformative-value-of-fossils monthly 0.5 2017-07-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1499653367565-LGLMOAKZI8JPBALVZR6D/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Transformative Value of Fossils Fossilized ant from the Florissant Formation of Colorado, image courtesy of the National Park Service. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1499653621387-RV84V7CN2RL661HK78UT/Screen+Shot+2017-07-09+at+10.26.28+PM.png Thoughts - The Transformative Value of Fossils Fossilized moth (or maybe butterfly?) from the Florissant Formation, image courtesy of the National Park Service. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1499653786070-PHH7UV2X545FHOJTOPHK/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Transformative Value of Fossils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1499690932452-B781SSX4HQW6PJUQO78K/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Transformative Value of Fossils A petrified tree stump at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. (There's a little easter egg in this picture too--see if you can find it.) Photo by the author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/7/3/why-disagree monthly 0.5 2017-07-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498669421934-HQ7K3MF1IN48ZBTIU8EZ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Why disagree? Homo floresiensis and some of the odd fauna she shared her environment with (from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498669566972-0EQYXQ6WAO6ROIVFN6PX/image-asset.png Thoughts - Why disagree? A crack team of Hasok-scientists hard at work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498669692748-MECDLJ8G570WXHBK62Q0/image-asset.png Thoughts - Why disagree? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/6/26/started-from-the-bottom-the-unexpected-rise-of-lokiarchaeota-from-the-depth-of-the-oceans-to-evolutionary-significance monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498485757288-8HC27VIUWSLODEPBI66W/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. A giant Archaea monster would have been a lot cooler here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498485814370-9320S98O976N94HUL457/image-asset.png Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. Bacteria, Archaea, and Protists, in random order. The reader that guesses which one is which wins his/her weight in yeast extract. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498485867908-2M5OWQGGZZPIL51PIE9M/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. Ever wondered why 'Cell' was given that name in Dragon Ball Z? This character gets more powerful by ingesting other organisms, just like in the evolution of eukaryotes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498485910879-PVYKY7CC1CWXV5GMH0H7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. Introducing 'Dumbo' at Loki's Castle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498485956514-G7BIJNJM9O3SPI0MMM43/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. Good luck with that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1498486003720-VN34EMNQYNHPD6P8KZML/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - “Started from the bottom” - The unexpected rise of Lokiarchaeota from the depth of the oceans to evolutionary significance. A beautiful depiction of the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria from Nick Lane's 'Power, Sex, Suicide'. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/6/19/mass-effects monthly 0.5 2017-06-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497839485969-N7DCDQEUV0HDLW3UPSQC/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - "Mass" Effects Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497830092652-N13ACNMHEK4PD9TBQMIG/image-asset.png Thoughts - "Mass" Effects Mass extinctions visualized. The graph's y-axis represents the number of genera to go extinct. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497839439059-W6DBHVTJ7U8AGM7F0BN7/image-asset.png Thoughts - "Mass" Effects Science at its worst? Image courtesy of Wookieepedia. [4] http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/6/10/gypsy-moths-and-devonian-invasions monthly 0.5 2017-06-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497125803791-ZZK082ATM73VBTVLIIHK/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497125877024-B5VLEOUOIMY9J1JIZCMY/IMG_2641.JPG Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions What they do to leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497125983236-TGF3JQI7V9JL535Y9051/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions Caterpillar frass https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497124391556-J3RAV6B0I0ONQHTH4EJ1/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions The spread of L. disbar. Source: wikipedia.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497185201155-LOGNY1M97OGLGK2HF3OJ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497187630061-HBMYB2PT5ZCS0U1HH3KN/image-asset.png Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1497207976510-KH87EPZZUC8YR1QQNEB5/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Gypsy Moths and Devonian Invasions Phacops rana, a trilobite from the Middle Devonian of upstate New York. Before the Late Devonian Biodiversity Crisis, the oceans were full of diversity, with huge coral reef systems and lots of local variation. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/6/5/extinction-matters monthly 0.5 2017-06-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1496594855966-TSAIVU8NC8VT5QDD0BUJ/image-asset.png Thoughts - Extinction Matters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1496232342871-9AG4RRZ96HVNWT0HUARD/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Extinction Matters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1496595012683-W0A4TUDG2YFVERD1B94U/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinction Matters Woah, really...? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1496596223429-P4NK0UPMWLXUR6A13DFI/image-asset.png Thoughts - Extinction Matters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1496595546178-720M5FY0C5AYA3CT4MSB/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinction Matters If you don't get it ask Rutherford... http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/5/30/paleontology-after-gould monthly 0.5 2025-05-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1495778403200-EMB8SFP4UQS6Y64B4VSY/image-asset.png Thoughts - Paleontology after Gould Gould, in simpson-form http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/5/22/a-reading-invitation monthly 0.5 2017-05-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1495386625855-MMMPPG7DPS7HGCR2UOR1/Trondheim.jpg Thoughts - A Reading Invitation Old shipping warehouses along the river Nidelva in mid-May. (Photo by author.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1495386710855-15GHVNBDUCYKAD5UMFWP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - A Reading Invitation Rudwick's 2014 book. (Photo by author.) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/5/15/putting-pictures-to-data-the-case-of-the-hypothetical-ancestral-mammal monthly 0.5 2017-05-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1494820422976-ZUKHW757FUFEEUR1CTDP/94887.jpeg Thoughts - Putting Pictures to Data: The Case of the Hypothetical Ancestral Mammal Orignal art by Carl Buell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1494821101170-FFPKSZ306CGQVE5R7OVS/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Putting Pictures to Data: The Case of the Hypothetical Ancestral Mammal Articles about exoplanets typically have only a few points of data to work with, such as mass and orbit, the rest being extrapolation from planetary physics and chemistry. Source: SO/José Francisco (josefrancisco.org). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/5/2/from-the-war-of-nature monthly 0.5 2017-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493748712480-7K7L18XFAIN693ZZE6JW/image-asset.png Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493749075332-384HINDVN5CRHEQJA3BR/image-asset.png Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493749680126-EC7BUS88AEDG0CXQ0VOU/Screen+Shot+2017-05-02+at+2.21.05+PM.png Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493749641323-GBLXKVEXTMFHX1T1VM1D/image-asset.png Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493749948421-DEW9AJ01JBYTRN4R3M47/IMG_2260.JPG Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493750292994-2DRG4VRYG28NG2HNGH7D/pachy.jpg Thoughts - From the War of Nature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493750721804-Y2BYVLWUZHI1IGTN8IFM/dogs.jpg Thoughts - From the War of Nature http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/5/1/from-humanoids-to-heptapods-the-evolution-of-extraterrestrials-in-science-fiction monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493630810204-4MOH4G78CD0WTURPMSIR/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Humanoids to Heptapods: The Evolution of Extraterrestrials in Science Fiction Troodon, a genus of Cretaceous therapods, with a Troodontid: their counterfactual, human-like descendants, imagined by Dale Russell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493630100482-DOTZBM57Q49W00G89HOS/image-asset.png Thoughts - From Humanoids to Heptapods: The Evolution of Extraterrestrials in Science Fiction A menagerie of fictional extra-terrestrial convergences with Homo sapiens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493630459803-TIC226B2CX6CMA6ALOJX/image-asset.png Thoughts - From Humanoids to Heptapods: The Evolution of Extraterrestrials in Science Fiction Some ink-based heptapod communication from Arrival. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/4/24/hobbits-ghosts-total-evidence monthly 0.5 2017-04-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493064906641-S2MNH1BNZTEOS7WOBBFU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Hobbits, Ghosts & Total Evidence I mean, I dunno how monkey-like those early primates were, but you get the idea. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493065037783-239WZDADM4JJ4RHVN7T1/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Hobbits, Ghosts & Total Evidence Me with a life-size reconstruction of Homo floresiensis, at a wonderful exhibit on hominid evolution at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493065214824-OKVROLUOQCA6CQMS6U9K/image-asset.png Thoughts - Hobbits, Ghosts & Total Evidence An, um, not-at-all-to-scale representation fo the first hypothesis. Time moves from left to right, we start with our friend H. habilis, then the tree splits, with some evolving into H. erectus (and eventually those fancy sapiens), and the others eventually become H. floresiensis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493065332718-YC4VGDYDSNWRPN7AFBDK/image-asset.png Thoughts - Hobbits, Ghosts & Total Evidence Like above, except here we have the erectine hypothesis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1493065435749-SFTLT974TW8M6X3Q453G/image-asset.png Thoughts - Hobbits, Ghosts & Total Evidence Some over-adorable phyletic dwarves. On the left, a pygmy chameleon; the right, a pygmy marmoset. *Squee* http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/4/17/some-questions-about-dinosaur-feet monthly 0.5 2017-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1492405093689-ZFQCI03PLCO5DXQTHJST/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Feet Image from the University of Texas at El Paso. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1492405491455-J8XGTMD4XPLUWK64UDAM/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Feet Image from the Tetrapod Zoology blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1492407319134-1UR5HXCBHUT4E2MBIT3U/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Feet Image from the Tetrapod Zoology blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1492414450929-CNKA84KNZZP3OYX69SX8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Feet The world's largest known dinosaur track (top), provisionally attributed to the mellifluously-named taxon "Broome Sauropod Morphotype A." From Salisbury, et al (2016). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1492440329614-VM5O3HBXKVQ3F0JMDHJO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Feet A footprint from New Mexico preserving the 'unequivocal and diagnostic theropod hallux.' Lockley, et al (2011) argue that 'given the size, the attribution to genus Tyrannosaurus is convincing and as this is arguably a monospecific genus, it is likely the track of a T. rex.' The print is still classified in the ichnotaxon Tyrannosauripus pillmorei. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/4/8/stasis-and-change-in-dinosaur-hips monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491707860904-WA6JP3LB01MJEUA37IFA/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips The skeleton of an alligator. The red arrow is pointing at the pubis, which is sticking forward, while the purple arrow indicates the ischium. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (though I added the arrows). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491709121530-8MC3T4LEAYYHICJCUG74/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips T. rex has a lizard-like hip joint, with the pubis (red arrow) pointing down and a bit forward, and the ischium (purple arrow) jutting backward. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (again, with the arrows added). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491799790662-MVB43G6IOSNLT68CDZNU/Screen+Shot+2017-04-10+at+12.47.00+AM.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips And here's Apatosaurus. Notice how the pubis (red) also juts forward, away from the ischium (purple). Image courtesy of wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491713354824-RH7BA8LIM4Z580QNYK3E/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips The skeleton of an emu. See how the pubis (red) and ischium (purple) both point backwards. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (arrows added). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491714106008-N3VK642H1FATU3W8I4CE/Screen+Shot+2017-04-09+at+12.56.52+AM.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips A skeleton of Edmontosaurus. Note how the pubis (red) and the ischium (purple) are sort of smooshed together and pointing backwards.Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (arrows added). Also, in this dinosaur, there is a kind of bony flange sticking forward from the pelvic girdle, but that's a different structure, the anterior process, as Dave Hone explains here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491799355446-B2SC1FY7SWZ49DBL8G6S/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips And for good measure, here's a Stegosaurus with the bird-hipped morphology. See how the pubis (red) and ischium (purple) are right up against each other. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (arrows added). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491784851744-HSJIQ17YGO1N98MS9TEJ/Screen+Shot+2017-04-09+at+8.26.37+PM.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips The old dinosaur phylogeny that you probably learned as a kid. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491714693469-EICBQ5DFZ5C1O136L9H1/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips This is Deinonychus--a weird case. It's a theropod, and so traditionally classified as saurischian, but the hip obviously looks kind of bird-like, with the pubis (red) pointing backwards and smoothed up against the ischium (purple). Compare it to the emu above. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (arrows added). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491715395706-QPTUIC2YCFUB1EBMHDNU/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips Another weird case. This is a reconstruction of a therizinosaur.. Therizinosaurs were theropods, hence saurischians (on the old picture), and yet they too seem to have had the pubis (red) smooshed up against the ischium (purple). Image courtesy of wikimedia commons (arrows added). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491784970998-TNPJUI87QV6X0JQCLA5J/image-asset.png Thoughts - Some Questions About Dinosaur Hips The newly proposed phylogeny. Might have to rewrite all those dinosaur books. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/4/3/much-ado-about-niches monthly 0.5 2017-04-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491237944731-E0E6MOOFTSEU3TIFZXAP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches Only matched in cuteness by their bad-temper... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491238043685-699T4LF6ZEMVQ98ZSCKP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches This was literally the first google-image hit for 'normal bird'. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491238118227-ZB3SRXZ15ELCQRRQNPWB/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches A badger! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491239721438-HNJZH05H5BO69LCD6LVS/image-asset.png Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491238563468-HBAHA721M5N95ITB6637/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches Some Sheep. Romney sheep, to be exact. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491238680876-HSI399TV6GNAW51AMGFD/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches Aotearoa circa 500 A.D. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491238752015-DKS2KV2INVRY5Y7M7VD2/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches Richard Owen inferred the existence of a moa from a single leg in 1839. Here he is an older man with the complete skeleton of Dinornis robustus, vindicated. Vindicated, but it's worth noting that moa totally wouldn't stand like that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1491239008092-GFVT9CMJ14SBVUPF0HP7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Much Ado About Niches Plants can play dead too. Nature is weird. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/3/27/whats-lost-when-a-species-goes-extinct monthly 0.5 2017-03-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1490085240285-5ZKG9YW1BNWE9XL67D2I/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What's Lost When a Species Goes Extinct? A sketch of the author sweeping the skeletal remains of the mythical Sphinx into the abyss. Illustration by Elliott Bolt http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/3/20/anomalies-like-anomalocaris monthly 0.5 2017-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1490022006066-AGBJGHBR9A2XMGIAIGHV/Hunsr%C3%BCck+Slate+Pieces Thoughts - Anomalies Like Anomalocaris Crinoidea and Medusaster specimens in Hunsrück Slate from Bundenbach, Germany—Devonian Period. (Photographs by the author, with special thanks to Scott Lidgard and Paul Mayer at FMNH.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1490022130853-GMZPJCTK6KBWBK1A9223/Hunsr%C3%BCck+Close-Ups Thoughts - Anomalies Like Anomalocaris Two enhanced views of Crinoidea specimens in Hunsrück Slate from Bundenbach, Germany—Devonian Period. (Photographs by the author, with special thanks to Scott Lidgard and Paul Mayer at FMNH.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1490022296255-9V249E9DZWBSQ7UXKSV1/Burgess+Shale+Pieces Thoughts - Anomalies Like Anomalocaris Anomalocaris, Waptia, and Peytoia specimens from the Burgess Shale in British Columbia—Cambrian Period. (Photographs by the author, with special thanks to Scott Lidgard and Paul Mayer at FMNH.) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/3/13/parsimony-revisited monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1489376851455-RTZXK42156T9GM1MMM6V/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Parsimony Revisited This is admittedly a dry post, so here's a feathered tyrannosaur (Gorgosaurus libratus) to reward your patience. Art by John Conway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1489376972602-0IMLBWNWLASQJFLRE5L4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Parsimony Revisited You're really sticking it out! As a token of my thanks, here are some woolly Pachyrhinosaurus. Art by Mark Witton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1489380251107-W0BZJM1KF8BCSHFRLLY3/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Parsimony Revisited Halcyon days of yore! http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/3/2/the-wilderness-before-time monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488516799714-W7WP4XMJFYTVRX5AHRVD/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Wilderness Before Time Timothy Treadwell, in Alaska's Katmai National Park. This does not end well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488516891048-4SMZ6MR8ZF956QAK44DO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Wilderness Before Time "Wilderness is any place you can go, where other animals might eat you." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488646160670-7SS0J41AJ9CWGJ7OYHHP/wilderness+debate.jpg Thoughts - The Wilderness Before Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488646175116-LRR4NK2Q4F1KHY1T02YE/new+wilderness+debate.jpg Thoughts - The Wilderness Before Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488674352632-6EI2OFQ0IO9A4G5T40WT/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Wilderness Before Time Gratuitous wilderness shot, from a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevadas, at Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.. Does the human presence mar the scene? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/2/27/paleoart-as-science monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488114077336-E03G4223H7NDBHXJUMG6/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488007454479-QYXJ8WF0FPMYFITPAQ9P/image-asset.png Thoughts - Paleoart As Science Heinrich Harder's 1920 painting of a sauropod sporting a wonderfully lizardy stance... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488007640990-RV4SK1NOOIYNIMSEZUR4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science hur hur 'mounted'. Another excuse to post a photo of the Jurassic Museum of Asturias' racy reconstruction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488007992654-ZDHSQ2OYOORZ6ZX5F4B3/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science Oh feathered T. rex, will you ever get old? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008058106-2I0G6APILTOXOJ8HQUOV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science Get it? 'Scale'? The Crystal Palace's 1852 Megalosaurus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008210479-4O0E6Q7GNMUWBSTO46K4/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Paleoart As Science Just another case of dinosaur-on-dinosaur violence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008301568-B0767XQRAFC9ZYF955X7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science The mighty T. rex from the 1974 Doctor Who Serial Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Although, given the number of fingers, it could just be an overgown Allosaurus... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008682198-1ZUNN6K0CB6EKN1QO85Q/image-asset.png Thoughts - Paleoart As Science https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008726741-QV0FAW2SSKWOCLBOZOYG/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1488008753653-01QLWNJUP6J4Q30ZHQUH/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoart As Science http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/2/17/walt-disneys-dinosaurs-the-story-of-the-rite-of-spring monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1487364938769-QJNUJRUOMZ4HBANS49UJ/image-asset.png Thoughts - Walt Disney's Dinosaurs: The Story of The Rite of Spring No contest, really. IMAGE CREDITS: Universal Animation Studios/Amblin Entertainment (Land Before Time); Walt Disney Animation Studios (Rite of Spring) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1487364753124-LCNCR08JM800K0XX6MHX/image-asset.png Thoughts - Walt Disney's Dinosaurs: The Story of The Rite of Spring Disney, Hubble, and Huxley - a meeting of geniuses. IMAGE CREDIT: Huntington Digital Library https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1487364636040-ASUG7845FW0MZ2FG6J55/image-asset.png Thoughts - Walt Disney's Dinosaurs: The Story of The Rite of Spring Some of the amazing concept art and initial treatments for the short. IMAGE CREDIT: Walt Disney Animation Studios Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1487364413023-QJSRI98VLNLJOF9BIRNV/image-asset.png Thoughts - Walt Disney's Dinosaurs: The Story of The Rite of Spring IMAGE CREDIT: Walt Disney Animation Studios Archives https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1487364236873-4QGO7S8V5T87RS52P1T4/Allosaurus_in_Ba%C5%82tow_white_background.jpg Thoughts - Walt Disney's Dinosaurs: The Story of The Rite of Spring IMAGE CREDIT: Wikimedia.commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/2/13/a-paleontological-record monthly 0.5 2017-05-09 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/2/5/four-features-of-historical-counterfactuals monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1486329838035-XPIOTXM8PPA24LAZ1NX9/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Four Features of Historical Counterfactuals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1486332360373-JP23ODOGFRGHDR4QOYJX/image-asset.png Thoughts - Four Features of Historical Counterfactuals http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/1/23/4op9et2ys5d7kg73i45d4sf24pfgnx monthly 0.5 2017-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485084924388-64YCE0WSW3M5QN75JTKH/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. I apologise for nothing! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485086129102-9IKDQ0JWB7YBAIPUTLHX/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485085060027-WADUJM4NL8HXG3Z85HMM/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485085171402-QD1T8V27WF8ABY1YN55H/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. Wrong kind of shiny lab - these are still potential bearers of extrinsic epistemic value, though! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485085317403-42TWZNG1RBMFKWTE6JT0/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. A transformative sequence of feather evolution (from http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/feather_evolution.htm) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485085423149-GV1RM1YRVSSGBUBL7Q3A/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 2: exonerating the hopeless. Dimitry Bogdanov's reconstruction of Dakosaurus maximus, a representative Thalattosuchian. Not a crocodile. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/1/23/replaying-lifes-tape-no-miracles-required-1 monthly 0.5 2025-05-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485164053960-LE8BM1NEJOLB5QWGZ0LW/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Replaying Life's Tape – No Miracles Required https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485163811591-J2F1XSQBM9TERYMZAAF9/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Replaying Life's Tape – No Miracles Required https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485164159938-Y1M3H35PH5XVI7MTN9BR/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Replaying Life's Tape – No Miracles Required https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1485164324042-IF7JB4JZH9I3PU5FY1Z8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Replaying Life's Tape – No Miracles Required A reconstruction of Pikaia http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/1/16/indiana-jones-and-the-griffins-egg monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1484513559102-3TBR89VWLVXA3Q599NY8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Indiana Jones and the Griffin's Egg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1484527679117-3PG1GI2K5LZ8FI254VP4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Indiana Jones and the Griffin's Egg Image from www.amnh.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1484555559722-TCZ8L50R7TR4YOW5E16X/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Indiana Jones and the Griffin's Egg Roy Chapman Andrews. Image from www.roychapmanandrewssociety.org. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2017/1/9/meditations-on-first-philosophy-and-then-paleontology monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/12/24/science-religion-and-bad-poetry monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482605910146-MOU8XGK3J5ZTMA035PDP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482606804566-LPYIP6ASAGSL5M7Z0WMQ/Asher.jpg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482606818493-XQK7CVZC2UB0DWFEK17Z/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry R.F. Burton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482794931816-G7CLF7JVDPZQ5YIEDZ1Z/image-asset.png Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482607234794-8POGQLTZIO6OVCK63UBC/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry "The Great Cretaceous Ocean," by J. Carter Beard. From "The Serpentlike Sea Saurians," by W.H. Balou, Popular Science Monthly 53(1898): 209-225. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482606856507-375A21M9UPIAKDJC6VXT/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1483023158900-0BIWVV9DOFUKLM6TH07H/image-asset.png Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482606908091-VESCGIFGY1QZD4FKTTZO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry Charles Hazelius Sternberg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1483021459010-VUG9TM4FLFK10A2XXF1A/image-asset.png Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482613058254-5C9Q16G7HOQBYZECT15S/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Science, Religion, and Bad Poetry A mosasaur at the Yale/Peabody Museum of Natural History. Photo by the author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/12/26/extinct-one-year-in monthly 0.5 2016-12-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482404977280-47LI3ADD7IQG2AYO6J3C/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinct, One Year In! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482405112603-UW73K8UR4NCL49X1QPN1/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinct, One Year In! Fight isolation with donuts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482404822646-GF4I9T1E6LSSBLFYZM4W/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinct, One Year In! http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/12/19/picturing-data-narrating-history monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082151391-Q6S3BP9J1XCAQT93B6AU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History A sketch of the author with Hallucigenia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082497787-FG3NYDCNF950HWK7IA6C/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History Darwin’s “tree of life” from Origin of Species, 1859. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082626864-M79Q9WBMNSVJNMEP3CIW/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History “A Kinetic Model of Phanerozoic Taxonomic Diversity: III. Post-Paleozoic Families and Mass Extinctions” Paleobiology 10 (1984). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082709875-D46BB1RJ4USJ7MZ3IKPI/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History John Phillips, Life on the Earth; Its Origin and Succession (Cambridge; London: Macmillan, 1860). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082836229-LVM49DJE13Z6FMXHDKB0/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History George Cuvier’s idealization of the stratigraphy of the Paris basin, from Ossemens Fossiles (Paris, 1812). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082897138-ONIHSE2CAR4QPKQOBIH2/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History J. John Sepkoski Jr., “A Factor Analytic Description of the Phanerozoic Marine Fossil Record,” Paleobiology 7 (1981). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482082968225-D0FDYKZ7U5TIF2OJBTSS/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History H.G. Bronn, Index Palaeontologicus, Oder, Übersicht Der Bis Jetzt Bekannten Fossilen Organismen (Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart, 1848). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085184390-G4AMNT8F547FY0T2Z5Y7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History H.G. Bronn, Index Palaeontologicus, Oder, Übersicht Der Bis Jetzt Bekannten Fossilen Organismen (Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart, 1848). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085289471-PO28SNSYK5OT59E99X8N/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History William Smith, A Memoir to the Map and Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, With Part of Scotland (London: John Cary, 1815). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085360862-IH6G2Z23DOLW06LMOO68/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History A data table from H.G. Bronn, Bronn, Italiens Tertiär-Gebilde Und Deren Organische Einschlüsse: Vier Abhandlungen (Heidelberg: Groos, 1831). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085442278-7YJUANWUJBN8SDTZL8R4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History H.G. Bronn, XLVII Tafeln mit Abbildungen zure Lethäa Geognostica (Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart, 1837). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085594036-GZWGYVK078RPR3L7CVIK/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History Joseph Priestley, A Description of a Chart of Biography (London: J. Johnson, 1764). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1482085664903-Y0VYZ1T99QRYGBHPTQ1K/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Picturing Data, Narrating History Joseph Priestley, A Description of a New Chart of History (1786). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/12/12/historical-sciences-and-great-man-approaches-to-history monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480927074559-KOIQDIRAWH9XBBLY8TVA/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Historical Sciences and "Great Man" Approaches to History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480927548977-0SXXY2TLOO05HW59IH5P/image-asset.png Thoughts - Historical Sciences and "Great Man" Approaches to History Great Men of History? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480927597687-42CR43Q5K7J1MD0235IT/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Historical Sciences and "Great Man" Approaches to History Everyone else... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480927820568-YTQMNTTNXWA61KBQUB1E/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Historical Sciences and "Great Man" Approaches to History It can ruin your whole day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480927944747-ONW0WOWRB15CEHP3KALH/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Historical Sciences and "Great Man" Approaches to History http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/12/5/the-strange-case-of-the-crocodiles-snout-part-1 monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480871834073-FWQ1BUDICZPWT8SBBMG4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480871886690-32EJHUZPEUCIQ4OQ8LA3/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480871935338-6NNFKG36M4CZCY1BF6EN/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480872013523-9LTPEM86ROUL4DLIRI68/nash.jpg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480872098427-WA5CXYZZHHOMLL54RBWV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480872143305-61LHN0F1S6X5AHS9LRPL/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480872182114-7FFIO2FOX4HOY0K83FTX/basal.png Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1480872238052-2Z67DGK404O6FJQ394MU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Strange Case of the Crocodile’s Snout. Part 1: Answerless Questions http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/11/27/geoffrey-by-plato monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/11/20/artificial-species-selection monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479753419500-58TP6710AW1AL71WGO8V/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Artificial Species Selection Does large body size increase extinction risk? Average body size of the species is merely an aggregate trait. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479730515411-GVO5P4NPJA8SGNXNJYN9/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Artificial Species Selection Charles Darwin. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479729795079-2ACY1DNYVUC3USFE69FT/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Artificial Species Selection A jacobin pigeon. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479729853454-1W1I8BT4B4N1GCF2BFA1/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Artificial Species Selection A pouter pigeon. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/11/14/the-swamp-zombies-journey-breathing-new-life-into-old-data monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479068536398-NUSC1GTRLTLTY620XG1U/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data Argentinosaurus vertebra. too big. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479068825110-2J5LFMB5O34MT372XOGD/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data Argentinosaurus reconstruction from Museo Municipal Carmen Funes in Argentena, which Sellers et al photographed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479068956161-B3H6Z1B2L7FYEZSEG5P9/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data Sellers et al’s digital sauropod, 2014 p3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479069084477-LONDWWH6DYZW83QRENX0/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data The Catherdral of Santiago de Compostela. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479110135304-QMBRVS8UMXC6EVMO1DET/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data The last sighting of non-swamp Adrian in the Budawangs, seconds before the snake bite/ lightning strike https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479070088433-PHNS4ZCQ5VC4E84UK8XU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data Roland T. Bird, the perfect depression-era paleontologist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1479070325201-P8FP6MCQ2499NAGG26VK/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Swamp Zombie’s Journey: breathing new life into old data Some of Bird's photographs http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/11/6/ish-goes-extinct-at-the-psa monthly 0.5 2016-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1478489293008-F1GZIZLKERFNJW6K18YM/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - ISH Goes Extinct at the PSA From left to right: the crew of Extinct just prior to the start of their PSA session; Leonard giving a talk that I couldn’t possibly do justice to here; the author of this post awkwardly posed in mid sentence. (Thanks for the end photos, Adrian!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1478489434940-867IUBPQURX35LGZ4IRI/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - ISH Goes Extinct at the PSA Derek giving a lovely talk to a great audience at the 2016 PSA in Atlanta, Georgia. I hope he one day forgives me for this blog post. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/10/31/how-paleontology-made-america-great-again monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1477860902457-6B492KUDA90OPQ8RDJ7H/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - How Paleontology Made America Great Again The entrance to Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, wherein Jefferson displayed some of his fossil collection (including the mammoth molar visible on the left). Image from http://www.monticello.org. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1477861297087-W0AZ5HGRCE1ZZBRKG5X7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - How Paleontology Made America Great Again Reconstruction of a mastodon based on Rembrandt Peale's skeletal mount that toured Europe. Peale restored the animal with downward-curved tusks to suggest that the animal was a carnivore (Thomson 2008, 86-87). Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1477862397198-O4EATJRKKMBY8HQOJZYM/Megalonyx_CasparWistar_claw_Griffe1799.jpg Thoughts - How Paleontology Made America Great Again Phalanges from the ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii, described in 1799 by Jefferson and Caspar Wistar. Image courtesy Wikipedia. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/10/23/stasis-and-stability monthly 0.5 2016-10-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1477273583599-B1Y8HBERVAI18PL21X71/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Why don't they call it "Stagnating Selection"? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/10/17/looking-back-and-moving-forward monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476684863552-220RNVNVKKLFKRQP8QUL/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Looking back and moving forward http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/10/10/of-sea-urchins-and-computer-models monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101100990-7NJYFVOU3KPHTQ9SE93E/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models Sea Urchins, Credit: Paul Nicklen, National Geographict https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101208258-GSH2ZI6PNUP98DORTBNX/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models Sea Otter performing its proper trophic function. (credit) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101276595-4RCAJP61QK4OUUXZOA5G/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models Brittle-star doing its best tiny-Cthulu impression... (credit) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101458538-O9RAFDWRLE1QO1QTTH83/image-asset.png Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models Pre-Palaeozoic Echinoderm body plans (from Smith, Zamora & Alvaro 2013) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101533325-25GG5SUCTM790P8JJL36/image-asset.png Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models A virtual sea-urchin test constructed using Zachos' model (from Zachos & Sprinkle 2011) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1476101631068-7T7RWYS2LSWTTK22QE9L/image-asset.png Thoughts - Of Sea-Urchins and Computer Models On the left, fossil of stem-group echinoderm, on the right, model with 6 insertion points (from Zachos & Sprinkle 2011) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/10/3/excavating-hidden-truths monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1475433174443-8PRABY37GKULVZY44Q59/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Excavating Hidden Truths From Vinther, et al (2016). Sculptor: Bob Nicholls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1475434587309-0OBSM4VSPI396L17FBQM/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Excavating Hidden Truths The Senkenberg Psittacosaurus specimen (top) and a color-coded map of the specimen's skin, pigment cells, and bones (Vinther, et al 2016). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1475439501486-LK76R9BO8TFIF6SC37AL/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Excavating Hidden Truths John Conway's reconstruction of the Australian dinosaur Leaellynasaura. From Conway, et al (2013). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1475472128790-HRWGF9OYXPQNVSYJY4D8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Excavating Hidden Truths John Conway's reconstruction of the T. rex specimen nicknamed "Stan," currently the author's favorite reconstruction of the species. From Conway, et al (2013). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/9/25/site-specific-teaching-in-new-englands-dinosaur-country monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1474856385397-NENWKOCCTNU3HCV0YZF2/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Site-Specific Teaching in New England's Dinosaur Country Connecticut College students examining trackways at the Beneski Museum of Natural History in Amherst, MA. Thanks to our delightful host, Fred Venne, for giving us the complete "tour" of Connecticut Valley geological history. The trackways were collected by Edward Hitchcock in the 1830s. Photo by Derek Turner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1474856492854-3S5SRSKUKDZJ7U0EBKFC/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Site-Specific Teaching in New England's Dinosaur Country At the Beneski Museum of Natural History. Interestingly, the Dryosaurus on the left is quite rare, and comes from the same formation in Wyoming as the Diplodocus forelimbs on the right. This was on the way to the collection of ichnofossils in the basement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1474857218537-32ZVLRXE2IL7WX1NCM87/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Site-Specific Teaching in New England's Dinosaur Country http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/9/19/teaching-philosophy-of-science-with-science monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473754387671-NASHCHAM233A2K3ZDBEO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Teaching Philosophy of Science... With Science! Myself and sundry examine a particularly impressive assemblage of gar at the Tyrrell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473710880151-1N05ZFOLP5993EVJ9VCU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Teaching Philosophy of Science... With Science! Don Brinkman looks on approvingly as Mark Mitchell is *very patient* with myself and sundry budding philosophers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473711018483-SOUUYUUQ1A0W3B59Q3PB/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Teaching Philosophy of Science... With Science! Don Brinkman explains said trackways, found by a team including Ben Borkovic, of Extinct fame! http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/9/12/transformation-persistence-and-identity monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473701477253-YBHBCZ7UNDE8Z1D4MYLI/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Transformation, Persistence, and Identity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473700440945-BG2NSRC2GCXU9SM3F81Z/image-asset.png Thoughts - Transformation, Persistence, and Identity An example of a Ceratopsid cladogram, from the University of Utah's NHMU (photo by author) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473700580313-YC8KN08OLN15FIB6U62E/image-asset.png Thoughts - Transformation, Persistence, and Identity Padian & Horner's figure illustrating the difference between typology and transformation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473701572674-0Q9KHK7SQUTPSZZRB51W/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Transformation, Persistence, and Identity Carl Zimmer's Avian + non-Avian Dinosaur Phylogeny. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/9/5/back-to-school-thoughts monthly 0.5 2016-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473086425007-PLBJSXIAK70YIATUDVMY/Crinoids+%28FMNH%29 Thoughts - Back to School Thoughts Fossil crinoids from the Field Museum of Natural History’s invertebrate collection. (Photographs by the author, with special thanks to Scott Lidgard and Paul Mayer for access to specimens.) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/29/you-call-that-a-velociraptor monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1472262987759-J3QPFD9F453IY25LDTDK/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - You Call That a Velociraptor? A Philosophical Review of "Jurassic Park" The author's original copy of the text (left) is held together with clear tape, a vinyl book cover, and prayer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471881127255-VDBZRWVOTFJ7YNWBOUP5/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - You Call That a Velociraptor? A Philosophical Review of "Jurassic Park" Many dinophiles have complained that the Deinonychus in Jurassic Park aren't feathered; the author wishes they would stop body shaming. Image from Wikipedia Commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/26/playzilla-the-value-of-fossils-a-response-to-turners-are-dinosaurs-overrated monthly 0.5 2023-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1472044213120-X213AONC62INYHU4Z54X/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Platyzilla & the Value of Fossils (a response to Turner’s “Are Dinosaurs Overrated?”) Peter Schouten's wonderful reconstruction of O. tharalkooschild, with molar inset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/ad0f0c9c-a39a-4513-930d-d53571949dfa/Goerge-Cuvier.jpg Thoughts - Platyzilla & the Value of Fossils (a response to Turner’s “Are Dinosaurs Overrated?”) Cuvier, 19th century giant in vertebrate anatomy and paleontology. Given his work in establishing the reality of extinction, a suitable mascot for Extinct... http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/20/are-dinosaurs-overrated-1 monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471727118118-GAAQ23XZ25USE98YSSXO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? An ammonoid fossil on display at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Photo by the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471727190633-PVPNCL10MYKMNJINNP7L/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? Parasaurolophus walkeri. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471740545924-3LWSUVZ64VTPO5RRGF58/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? An early 20th century rendition of prehistoric ammonoids. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471877563858-HR3WO3IKH7TO65CDQQA2/IMG_2116.JPG Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? One further indication of ammonoid abundance is the fact that you can buy small fossils very cheaply at many rock shops. Someone once gave me this one as a Secret Santa present. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471728801342-J76CSSQEU22ZUXI6DEI6/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? I took this picture of a snakestone at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. In medieval Europe, people thought that ammonites were petrified snakes--perhaps the remains of snakes that St. Patrick drove out of Ireland. In some cases, people would carve heads on them--an early example of fossil preparation? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1471727371177-TF2SRBCJMW8O8QZEQIKB/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Are Dinosaurs Overrated? One of the famous inverted Jenny stamps from 1918. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/15/triceratops-against-concepts monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470566416781-6D006Z6D1H2ZIDPB5PS0/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Triceratops Against Concepts SP and Bailey, here representing two tokens of the same species. (image credit: Megan Delehanty) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470566135921-KJKR2WVZ45HVALZNF4UB/image-asset.png Thoughts - Triceratops Against Concepts How I expected scientists to use species concepts (using an interbreeding criterion for example). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470566229210-GA8IU9V8AOQNXK00PT99/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Triceratops Against Concepts Tricetops skull morphology from infant (a) to "adult" (e) from Horner & Goodwin (2006) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470566315416-R0DNACMTVW84WNKXBH58/image-asset.png Thoughts - Triceratops Against Concepts Triceratops vs Torosaurus skull (Image credit: Dinosaurs by W. D. Matthew (1915); public domain.) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/7/is-internalexternal-eternal monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470562998667-5FJNX7ENAPGZJW77E8TE/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Is Internal/External Eternal? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1470563135638-DS0GIJ8X81CBZB09719Z/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Is Internal/External Eternal? de la Beche's response to Lyell's idea that if the environments of the past re-emerged their extinct biota would too... http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/8/1/the-paleontological-individual monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469490745468-3JHKTLPSNQZ68SKHBJ2A/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Paleontological Individual Armillaria solidipes fruiting bodies, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469577182602-0W64YM3GKUFHM3RWKUWC/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Paleontological Individual Fossil cast on display in the author's office, hastily photographed at the time of writing. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/7/21/paleoaesthetics-in-the-bisti-badlands monthly 0.5 2017-04-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469133782381-KQE5MHEIJ612DCLC1M7V/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands Cryptobiotic soil in Simon Canyon, New Mexico. It's alive, so please don't step on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469134023630-MLTLPPGAXU9D0WCX3LTF/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands The dinosaur at the top right is the Bisti Beast! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469134510750-RBKQZYS6106YG508J4CL/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands One of countless strange hoodoos at Bisti. The ashy clay cap is a little more resistant to weathering than the black coal layer. If you squint just right, you can see a tropical river delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469400694799-9UYRLN58T4AU0Z213H16/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469134155377-JMC19KQG114B3Q4AMR2V/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1469400990918-17Q0Q17DFRLRMAFDK81R/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Paleoaesthetics in the Bisti Badlands At some places in Bisti, the ground is covered with coal dust. The white flakes in this picture are bits of 75 million year old petrified wood that have eroded out of the coal. The red pieces are clinkers--bits of overlying sedimentary rock that was burned in some prehistoric underground coal fire. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/7/18/penguins-ceratopsids-lumpers-splitters monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468059452667-XCQYLPC0LNDCW8RZR0CX/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Penguins & Ceratopsids, Lumpers & Splitters. Little Blue Penguins: yet another reason to visit the antipodes... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468059767395-CP1ROF2BYIHI8BRPJBOU/image-asset.png Thoughts - Penguins & Ceratopsids, Lumpers & Splitters. On the left, a lumper's christmas tree. On the right, a splitter's christmas tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468059878880-RJ7NS6G1O96ERCKOTU4I/image-asset.png Thoughts - Penguins & Ceratopsids, Lumpers & Splitters. Either the skulls of two genera of Ceratopsid, or the young and mature versions of a single species... (from Dinosaurs, by Matthew (1915)) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/7/11/paleoecology-in-the-badlands monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468053896771-UGGDMB1X2COF6MUGVR7N/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468053740550-OTP6QQFWPYO42HPJFZ5Y/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, taken from the air. This area is now a natural preserve, and only accessible by guided tour or permit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468054027021-HHW8L3DTCX5HOISUU8SY/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Phil Currie in the early 80’s using surveying equipment to map bonebeds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468054399378-JQHMF6E00BHTBDJXP6WG/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Excavation of the Ceratopsian bonebed in 1984. Areas were marked off in meter square grids and each meter excavated systematically, mapping all occurrences of bone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468054656565-9JB7JT368F3T2A097QBQ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology A section of the ceratopsian bonebed currently on exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. For exhibit a three by six meter section of the bonebed was removed in 1 meter by 2 meter blocks. Each block was prepared with bones left in place and the pieces were reassembled in the exhibit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468054767984-UWA1AUQNME3J7JDV2T06/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Painting by Greg Paul showing a reconstruction of a herd of ceratopsians crossing a river in flood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468054832103-U16G0ZPM1HT4FMC8ESSH/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology A vertebrate microfossil locality as exposed when first found. The elements seen on the surface are in the centimeter size range. Mixed in with these are much smaller elements that are rarely recovered outside this setting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468055110581-N77IGW3EIFHZ7CHXI2X9/image-asset.png Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Examples of microvertebrates recovered from screenwashed samples that add to the diversity of vertebrates from Dinosaur Park. A) tooth of a basal ornithomimid, probably Orodromeus. B) Tooth of the small carnivorous dinosaur Pectinodon. C) Centrum of a teleost identified as coming from a member of the Clupeidae. D) dentary of the amphibian Albanerpeton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468055982034-CM83KM1WUSMXORSD04D8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology John Gatesy and Sunny Turner collecting matrix for screenwashing. Both were volunteers working with in Dinosaur Park in 1985. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468056446253-JBHYJ39FRHRSNM3J0AN4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Screenwashing the matrix in 1985. The system of screen boxes held in cribs using 45 gallon barrels as floating devices was developed by researchers searching for Cretaceous mammals. Steve Gatesy is filling the boxes and John Gatesy and Marcia Rasmussen are in the river putting the boxes in the cribs. All were volunteers working with the field crew at the time. Marcia worked at the Calgary Zoo. Steve and John were both students in the area of paleontology/evolutionary biology and are currently active researchers in the field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468056338086-HKC52UETB666I8CKW6MA/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Reconstruction of Triceratops living in a wet, coastal environment. From Lehman (1987). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468056561428-FEMQ9IL6JGLWS6EZJZ1C/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Painting by Brenda Middagh showing mass-death accumulations of ceratopsians forming as a result of floods of extensive area of the coastal plane. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1468056643793-XKSGF73NGPR4103CLEMV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - From Bonebeds to Paleoecology Adult and hatchling ceratopsian phalanges. The hatchling sized element was found in a complex of vertebrate microfossil localities at the top of the Dinosaur Park Formation, in beds deposited in the transitional interval between the fluvial beds forming the bulk of the formation and the overlying marine Bearpaw Formation. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/7/4/the-ossification-of-ideas monthly 0.5 2016-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1467393454041-YHF3NUY20H1AUDLYDN4F/Fossil+Paleontologists Thoughts - The Ossification of Ideas Fossil paleontologists, from left to right: Gesner, Stensen, Cuvier, Lyell, and Darwin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1467393552188-59ATMXMBNES8YQ17WS0X/Owen%27s+Archetype Thoughts - The Ossification of Ideas From Richard Owen’s On the Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton (1848). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1467394915448-G0S32G4BJX87INUIZZNJ/Galton%27s+Criminal Thoughts - The Ossification of Ideas From Havelock Ellis' The Criminal (1890). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/6/27/humps-and-lumps-what-i-discovered-at-loch-ness-during-my-summer-vacation monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466967674181-93FY6VD6FBRM9LKCAZHI/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Humps and Lumps: Thoughts from Loch Ness During My Summer Vacation Panoramic view of Loch Ness from Urquhart Castle. Photo courtesy of the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466969453692-EVVWGL0GYV9ZWSWPNRLN/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Humps and Lumps: Thoughts from Loch Ness During My Summer Vacation Photo courtesy of the author, who didn't want to risk getting hit by a car for the sake of centering the photographic subject. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466972248099-GZI14MVKAMCWHP4FKYK6/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Humps and Lumps: Thoughts from Loch Ness During My Summer Vacation Sign true for some values of "facts." Photo courtesy of the author. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466973031644-FJ5CZEWW4G33D0WXIQG3/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Humps and Lumps: Thoughts from Loch Ness During My Summer Vacation There is a monster in Loch Ness. Its name is "Rampant Consumerism." Photo courtesy of the author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/6/19/the-macroevolutionary-puzzle-of-the-cycads monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466359869579-HSK619IMFNRBK6N2GAFI/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Macroevolutionary Puzzle of the Cycads I took this picture of a cycad in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, while traveling there with colleagues in 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466361231866-E98TTQ1YBV3NSYVXA75J/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Macroevolutionary Puzzle of the Cycads Fossil cycads from N. America, courtesy of Wikimedia commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1466361896230-R4OXNTV18WXLD92T51KO/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Macroevolutionary Puzzle of the Cycads http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/6/13/shakespeare-and-the-sauropods monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465338721064-SZQQP4GXSEKWBOSE5UAT/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Shakespeare and the Sauropods It is a truth universally acknowledged that if one is near a fossilized sauropod leg, one must lie next to it for a photo. Credit: Robin Cox. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465339138240-GVM1ADYW0FHBA5O109OR/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Shakespeare and the Sauropods Francis Bacon, 1561-1626. Definitely wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare. Because you know, a ludicrously successful parliamentary career—serving as England’s Attorney General and Lord Chancellor—as well as writing influential treatises on English law; oh, and being fairly plausibly considered the father of empiricism due to writing such influential works as Novum Organum; that’s not enough for one lifetime. No wonder he always seems to look grumpy in his statues (this one’s in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465339415875-EAHA6FK45RL0K1AGAX75/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Shakespeare and the Sauropods Another grumpy Bacon, because I can’t resist. This one’s from his grave-site at St Michael’s. I look forward to looking this impatient (or at least - frankly - bored) on a gravestone. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/6/6/a-crush-of-ceratopsids monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465228063731-LZQL3RPNPGTQ77SJW3YZ/image-asset.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465228099129-KQ6NO3BOTJ78Y762JK7I/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Machairoceratops cronusi. Credit: Mark Witton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465228927874-BUJYSIU91X3LHZZBS25M/image-asset.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Holotype cranial material (A) and reconstruction (B) of Machairoceratops cronusi. Credit: Figure 3 from Lund et al., 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465228971817-O1RQ8ZTNR4CP9YJ6Z655/image-asset.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids The pinched, somewhat triangular skull of Diabloceratops. Credit: Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465229015608-QKE3SEK2ZSLVPUAH6DGC/image-asset.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Comparative reconstructions of centrosaurine ceratopsid parietals. A, Wendiceratops pinhornensis; B, Xenoceratops foremostensis; C, Centrosaurus apertus; D, Styracosaurus albertensis; E, Achelousaurus horneri; F, Albertaceratops nesmoi; G, Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai; H, Einiosaurus procurvicornus; I, Diabloceratops eatoni. Credit: Figure 15 from Evans and Ryan, 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465228445156-1SGLAPKSFHS0UX6D70PY/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Spiclypeus shipporum. Credit: Michael Skrepnick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465229111316-QNNR6IX64GR93PC0EQ07/image-asset.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Skull reconstruction of Spiclypeus shipporum, with missing parts of the skull faded. Credit: Figure 3 from Mallon et al., 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1465229137905-M5W2V2F7GO1EVF5OFKID/pic+7.png Thoughts - A Crush of Ceratopsids Pathologic left humerus of the Spiclypeus specimen. Notice the displacement of the condyles in C) and the aberrant structure and surface texture. Credit: Modified from Figure 12 from Mallon et al., 2016. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/5/30/what-if-anything-is-a-tyrannosaurus-rex monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464545350632-EUIK85Q6NJKZ2SCGXZQ2/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? AMNH 5027, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. At least you wouldn't have to worry about tongue on the first date. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464475545192-ZOVPYXXQ0WLYG9PNPU4J/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464475718142-OO69SN696IFNBAKEJS27/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464483116610-TDWF8MHKH5N8377AOGE6/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464546768284-PF0YBNDFJCRYYUF5YKZV/20TTMuseum-articleLarge.jpg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? BHI 6230, nicknamed "Wyrex," from www.worldfossilsociety.org, because we've gone too long without a picture of a dinosaur. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1464493815764-4ZW24XYKMNDYROV2MSL8/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What, if anything, is a Tyrannosaurus rex? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/5/22/leave-no-trace monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1463963232344-6LQN70ZZ48FSBGBRKPLK/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - "Leave No Trace" I love this picture. If this is your intellectual property, please let me know and I'll remove it from the site. It's circulated widely in the internet. I've seen one other person point out that if it were authentic, it would be in the public domain! If, however, you want to claim it as your own, then you'll have to admit to photoshopping it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1463971426502-LSDZYTX2230FGFVZ30IU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - "Leave No Trace" Steno's original reconstruction, from the 1660s, of a giant prehistoric shark based on teeth now associated with Megalodon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1463971095563-YZQ9Z3HS62FANK7I11KU/image-asset.png Thoughts - "Leave No Trace" The ivory billed woodpecker http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/5/16/the-dogmatists-debunker-the-fossil-preparator monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1462804443587-IJ0HFDGLWVFZY3DW0252/image-asset.png Thoughts - The Dogmatist’s Debunker & the Fossil Preparator Left, Mark Mitchell being very patient with myself and some philosophy students from the University of Calgary. Right, the Nodosaur specimen, mid-prep. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/5/9/what-evidential-role-should-ancient-dna-play-in-paleoanthropology monthly 0.5 2025-06-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1462752023921-YLMRVP6BXMLBEOKGRGRP/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - What evidential role should (ancient) DNA play in paleoanthropology? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/5/2/reading-and-writing-about-rereading monthly 0.5 2016-09-05 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/4/25/what-if-anything-is-a-unicorn monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1461558452460-P3KDJ7DFMGP5WXYVZ3Q7/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Unspecific Unicorn "Dilly" the Dilophosaurus in Dinosaur State Park. Image from the park website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1461554198821-YLNUZMK6X8CN8ZV49O5A/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Unspecific Unicorn Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1461554424622-XGIJD0N0D9EGBO5EWZ0S/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Unspecific Unicorn Image also courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1461559877286-WR40LE8V42HSHKT9CBJV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - The Unspecific Unicorn From Mayor (2011). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/29/a-conversation-with-joyce-havstad monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1460950236429-G2OQQGUD1R38G5WJ3TD9/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Extinction and Expiration Dates A coelacanth at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Some species just seem to go on and on . . . and on and on. They don't have expiration dates. Is this a problem for the theory of species selection? http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/4/11/overcoming-underdetermination monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459340889698-HS9X0NUPQJRWIX62PIP2/image-asset.png Thoughts - Overcoming underdetermination https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459340397391-ANK7KJO4PZU1CVLPSDCY/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Overcoming underdetermination Figure 1: Bones from a fossil marine reptile, partially prepared (author's photo) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459340522376-GSWOE2DTMSZ11DQZKFJ6/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Overcoming underdetermination Figure 2: Archaeopteryx specimen (not the London specimen) (photo credit: H. Raab). http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/4/4/exquisite-corpse-conservation-biology-uniqueness monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459336339718-EOKZNFWCGX11N7SCI79Z/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459792054709-ZQYUGOOQAGQ679UHGDAG/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459336440094-O8Y8HL18WNGW5877YBO6/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459336545233-2X084VHPS80XKLW67H3Y/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459335194227-40IQ5QRFPEAOV9XUFF7N/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459336594885-84TUK3I8G89GUR7YVL16/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459335356630-UF80CQC2KTZ7U80WPC71/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness Gratuitous pygmy marmoset, with gauged tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459336653235-RRGGRFQM7STYUAMS2HU0/image-asset.png Thoughts - Exquisite Corpse: conservation-paleobiology & uniqueness http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/28/of-endlings monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459019511126-7PDY0PGBAY5VLO5T5TSV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Of Endlings Benjamin ca. 1933. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1459023647230-7ICYMB2ZC37OP5CT15NL/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Of Endlings Lonesome George's body on display at the American Museum of Natural History, 10 October 2014. Photo courtesy of the author. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/16/conservation monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1458498338708-LXMZQWXFAWIDNLD8S52C/image-asset.png Thoughts - Conservation Paleobiology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1458915514927-BGMISKHWHOXO8CTT37EA/image-asset.png Thoughts - Conservation Paleobiology Diatoms seen through a microscope. By Prof. Gordon T. Taylor, Stony Brook University (corp2365, NOAA Corps Collection) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1458499390449-DSWTKAYZKB26MYWW4INQ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Conservation Paleobiology Pine beetle damage in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2010. Photo by Don Becker. U.S. Geological Survey. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/14/18vx759zkrz8jdm86uq3h5pmyiaued monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1457975639064-4JPEEZZ1016H9NY04TWV/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Traces of the Past: Drumlins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1457969416168-VZP5K5LI953RFQZ6I95X/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Traces of the Past: Drumlins [Fig 1] A photo of Mulajökull glacier in Iceland. The drumlins are the oblong hills emerging from the edge of the ice as it melts. Our knowledge of drumlin formation is very limited because these are the only ones known to be actively forming under an ice sheet. (Thanks to Mark Johnson for the photo) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1457969463791-WV0ZVE3G0ZJVPBIMVXP4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Traces of the Past: Drumlins [fig 2] With the exception of the ones Mark and his team are studying in Iceland [Fig. 1], all drumlins are “relict features”, such as these distinctive spoon-shaped hills covered in plants, that are left behind when continental glaciers melted long ago. This makes it difficult to explain drumlin formation on the basis of direct observation. (Free image from Wikimedia Commons) http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/9/62abbv9hvvx60ix3r75lk0a46qa33t monthly 0.5 2017-01-24 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/3/1/going-complex monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1456935170594-LJ0746M0V9H4JAWRLF6S/image-asset.png Thoughts - Going Complex https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1456863734179-HLD3T00QSEO6ONK6J9QP/image-asset.png Thoughts - Going Complex https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1456872526049-YYIGZD3YCTULHXLRLCAU/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Going Complex https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1456863876548-GDWXVJQQ0FB3QAE5INTZ/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Going Complex http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/2/28/a-philosophical-introduction-to-paleontology-a-philosophical-introduction monthly 0.5 2016-09-05 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/2/13/mo-parsimony-mo-problems monthly 0.5 2023-01-13 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/2/11/nemesis-strikes-back-lisa-randalls-dark-matter-and-the-dinosaurs monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1455204732483-1Y6HRPPFK7BLHMS4WS28/image-asset.png Thoughts - Nemesis Strikes Back: Lisa Randall's Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1455205244009-87G7L6D44JKKH82PXCBZ/image-asset.png Thoughts - Nemesis Strikes Back: Lisa Randall's Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1455205382647-K2K4V083WQTONDHG3S3Q/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Nemesis Strikes Back: Lisa Randall's Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs Arizona's Meteor Crater, only about 50,000 years old, the result of a much smaller meteoroid than the one that finished off the dinosaurs. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/2/2/romancing-the-raptor monthly 0.5 2017-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1454676812049-F5UX50F7K6F2ZALQQGTC/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Romancing the Raptor Photo Credit: Mario Modesto. Jurassic Museum of Asturias. Wikimedia Commons http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/28/casting-authenticity monthly 0.5 2023-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1454263208891-DTLG8WS04UKNE3G2930S/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Casting Authenticity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453992377602-ZZJ0BKFICKBN92HZ919S/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Casting Authenticity Image Credit: The Guardian Jan 14, 2016 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/21/sail-away monthly 0.5 2016-01-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453442375415-2QPDWA2M4B7Z18Z3LT7V/640px-Dimetrodon_grandis_Smithsonian.jpg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453442486851-G2JBKXZUTL1HAQGYO7LW/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453443205343-8KX8WN27MGAQ38W9INM3/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from Britannica.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453443377338-FVW8YCVAMHRGM392ROEM/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from reptilesmagazine.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453443464905-Z1CW1TTAVE2VLPWUZZTR/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from Wikipedia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1453700765141-4XOMQU0Z7PZFFFVWZ8U4/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Sail Away? Image from Wikipedia http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/13/losing-digits-gaining-banana-stands-a-response-to-finkelman monthly 0.5 2016-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1452716486295-KOH0LUWQ0QVEOJ6Z47HH/image-asset.png Thoughts - Losing Digits & Gaining Banana-stands: a response to Finkelman http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/12/what-if-prehistory monthly 0.5 2017-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1452820532325-QWT8O18M9P5B96UB3EWD/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - "What If" Prehistory http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/7/waynes-razor-at-the-smithsonian monthly 0.5 2016-01-13 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/4/waynes-razor-in-defence-of-speculation-1 monthly 0.5 2016-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1451915368873-Z5SUMM7A56HSM38IWSDK/image-asset.gif Thoughts - Wayne's Razor: in defence of speculation   http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/2/welcome-to-extinct monthly 0.5 2016-01-05 http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/3/new-to-the-philosophy-of-paleontology-me-too monthly 0.5 2016-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1473089371632-OQDF285T3YOE20I0JQ3E/Books Thoughts - New to all this? Don't worry—I am too. Rudwick's The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Paleontology and Turner's Paleontology: A Philosophical Introduction. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2015/12/25/against-simple-stories monthly 0.5 2016-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1451063246806-5JF2UK11GDYEVKMJ56EX/fossa.jpg Thoughts - Against Simple Stories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1451063289454-W9DZR3H87IYEU3L2QC55/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - Against Simple Stories. http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2015/12/25/plus-ca-change-and-the-importance-of-going-extinct monthly 0.5 2016-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1451505317696-VS9CTYPHPAW472C2ZWAD/image-asset.jpeg Thoughts - "Plus ca Change" and the Importance of Going Extinct http://www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2016/1/2/tryin-to-throw-your-arms-around-the-world monthly 0.5 2016-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1451783224390-YNTXCK20R549Q7ITTHEW/IMG_1080.JPG Thoughts - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World AMNH 5027. 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For guidance and inspiration, here's Darwin with a lightsaber riding a T. rex. 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Obviously as good as Google makes 'em. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1503194163675-AOCUTS0IKBW1VAYD790F/Fossil2.png Leonard's Meditations - Day 10: The paleontologist as an artist Another fossil sketch with directions indicating where particular fragments have been stored. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1503280581588-MMXT4CS82VRHTB36KIIU/IMG_4530.JPG Leonard's Meditations - Day 10: The paleontologist as an artist Actual fossil depicted in sketch above. http://www.extinctblog.org/leonard-meditations/2017/8/19/day-9-royal-crumble monthly 0.5 2017-08-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56041e02e4b052a81e91c382/1503280450885-I2GC0S6LLKB12LQJAQ1P/IMG_4518.JPG Leonard's Meditations - Day 9: Royal crumble Nice fossil you've got there. 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