Friday, February 18, 2011

Mesozoic Miscellany #20

The Big Stories

Not a lot this week, but Discovery has run a story about a new ornithischian discovered in the wastes of Antarctica. Augustana College's William Hammer says, "I don't know if we have a head, but we have a leg and a foot. It will take us a year to get a handle on what we've got." There are parts of a Cryolophosaurus and a sauropod, as well. Not much yet, but I can't wait to read the eventual description.

This year marks the 150th year since the debut of Archaeopteryx, one of the most important fossil discoveries of all time. Read recent posts about the celebration and our feathered friends' impact at Dinosaur Tracking, Archosaur Musings, and Pick & Scalpel.

Around the Dinoblogosphere

Not specifically, dinosaur related, but paleontologist and Dinosaur Train host Scott Sampson has written a new post at The Whirlpool of Life, musing about the strengths and weaknesses of the biophilia hypothesis. Always good reading.

Dan Chure has been chronicling the construction of the new visitor center at Dinosaur National Monument, with a surprise appearance by M.C. Escher this week!

Have you met Riley the Paleontologist yet? Head over to Superoceras and check out one of his awesome vids.

At SV-POW!, Mike Taylor has been compiling a checklist for scientists making new taxonomic acts in papers. He's posted an update to explain why he's limiting its scope to genera and species. Interesting read for anyone seeking to learn more about taxonomy.

Ichthyosaurs, turtle poo, UFO's... where else by The Great Cretaceous Walk? Ichnologist Tony Martin keeps hitting home runs.

Speaking of ichnology, Brian Switek writes about some African footprint traces, probably left by a dromaeosaur. Switek writes, "While they can be difficult to interpret, the new tracks may also tell us something about the behavior of this yet-unknown dinosaur. There appear to be at least five different trackways, Mudroch and co-authors state, which were made at three different times. Two sets of early tracks were overlain by another pair of tracks of about the same size. This might indicate that two animals were moving together in one direction and then turned around, stepping on their own tracks."

Twit Picks
Stuff I linked to at Twitter in the last week or so.
Tumblin'

Tumbloggers, would it kill you to cite your images? Being one myself, I can definitively tell you, "No. It won't." So start doing it, for crying out loud.

JUST SAY WHERE YOU FOUND THE IMAGE.

Here's what I was going to share here, but instead I decided to throw a hissy fit. If you know who did it, feel free to share it.

Paleoart of the Week

In honor of Archaeopteryx, I present this incredible piece of graffiti art.
ARCHAEOPTERYX
Shared by Marcelo Gacitúa at flickr.

Outrageously Off-Topic Indulgence

My good buddy Mike Adams just released a record called Oscillate Wisely. It's really good, and from the reviews I've read on the web, you don't even have to know the guy to like it! Here's a "live performance" video of one of Mike's songs my other buddies Will and Nathan.


Sample and buy it here! It was released by my other buddy Jared's label, Flannelgraph. I got some buddies.

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