Author: Lori Jia
I’m heading to Sarasota, Florida, to talk tonight about the evolution of whales. If anybody bearing oranges gives me a hard time, I’ll let you know.
The talk will be part of Mote Marine Laboratory’s public lecture series. Here are the details. If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by.
Originally published March 10, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
Jim describes his tattoo:
“a design of Opabinia regalis, a Burgess Shale fossil dating from the Cambrian. It has some pirate imagery, including the hourglass, skull, and nukes. As an evolutionary dead end, Opabinia reminds me of the diversity and tenacity of life through difficulty (how do you put ‘Ad Astra Per Aspera’ into fossil terms?), and plus it looks awesome.”
Carl: Opabinia is the weirdest of the weird, a creature with five eyes and a single appendage sticking out of its head like the arm of a backhoe. It existed half a billion years ago, and its fossil remains were preserved exquisitely in the Burgess Shale formation of Canada.
How old is the Grand Canyon? One answer is easy: a lot older than a few thousand years. A more precise answer is harder to get at, however. You have to climb into the caves of the Grand Canyon and read the geological clocks hidden there. For more, read my latest “Dissection” commentary at Wired.
Photo: Luca Galluzi at Galuzzi.it [via Wikipedia]
Originally published March 6, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
The New York Times, March 4, 2008
For the past two decades, Kay Holekamp has been chronicling the lives of spotted hyenas on the savannas of southern Kenya. She has watched cubs emerge from their dens and take their place in the hyena hierarchy; she has seen alliances form and collapse. She has observed clan wars, in which dozens of hyenas have joined together to defend their hunting grounds against invaders.
“It’s like following a soap opera,” said Holekamp, a professor at Michigan State University.
Continue reading “Watching hyenas’ social lives to understand intelligence”
The New York Times, March 4, 2008
For the past two decades, Dr. Kay Holekamp has been chronicling the lives of spotted hyenas on the savannas of southern Kenya. She has watched cubs emerge from their dens and take their place in the hyena hierarchy; she has seen alliances form and collapse. She has observed clan wars, in which dozens of hyenas have joined together to defend their hunting grounds against invaders.
“It’s like following a soap opera,” said Holekamp, a professor at Michigan State University.
