Author: Lori Jia
Let’s hope the phylogeny of life doesn’t get revised drastically anytime soon, for the sake of this woman…More details–and lots of new tattoos over at my Science Tattoo Emporium. (Plus a cool new category cloud for browsing!)
Originally published February 22, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
Claire d’Alberto of the University of Melbourne writes:
“I would like to share what my friends call my ‘science nerd’ tattoo with you! I am currently doing my PhD in Zoology and have been fascinated by the biological world for as long I can remember, so when I decided to get a tattoo it seemed logical that I look within my field for inspiration….It took 4.5 hours, and certainly didn’t tickle, but I love that I have such a beautiful representation of evolution and the natural world with me all the time.” [Tattooist’s site: http://www.eternalinstinct.com/]
Jeremiah Drewel, a geology student at the University of Alaska writes, “This is my personal favorite Deinonychus!”
Carl: Deinonychus holds a special place in the history of paleontology. Its remains were first discovered in 1931 in Montana, but for decades they languished, unstudied, at the American Museum of Natural History. In the 1960s Yale paleontologist John Ostrom discovered a wealth of new fossils from the same species and began to contemplate what the animal was like in real life.
“I thought I would send you mine : Paranthropus (Australopithecus depending on your school of thought) boisei.”–Gabrielle Russo, Hunter Colllege.
Carl: Paranthropus boisei existed from 2.3 million to 1 million years ago–a good run. It stood upright like us, but had a small brain and powerful jaws for biting tough food like seeds and roots. Paranthropus boisei is not our ancestor, not even a close cousin. Instead, it belonged to a separate branch of hominid evolution–one that may have been wiped out by a changing climate. Now it is remembered in museums and on at least one tattooed arm.
Skip Arey writes, “I am very devoted to the radio art and decided to show my devotion by way of Body Art. The tattoo is a copy of a schematic diagram of a basic Crystal Radio taken from page 132 of Practical Wireless Telegraphy by Elmer Bucher published in 1921.”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published February 19, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.