10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

The potpourri covers some interesting bird related science of the last few weeks, and the promise is this: I’ll get to that other stuff soon, I promise! From Science Daily : Crows have the brain power to solve higher-order, relational-matching tasks, and they can do so spontaneously, according to new research.

Science 151

Science Iraq Oregon Charlotte 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

There is a fantastic paper just out in Science : “Sustained miniaturization and anatomoical innovation in the dinosaurian anceestors of birds” by Michael Lee, Andrea Cau, Darren Naishe and Gareth Dyke. So, for example, humans are apes. and contains apes is referenced to indicate the complete clade. One could say that Lee et.al.

Camels 200

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

Aficionados of natural history writing should recognise the author as that of the Song of the Dodo , the popular science book about biogeography and conservation that to me rates as one the finest popular science books ever written. The book is about zoonoses, diseases that jump from animals to people.

Humane 162

Humane Animal Ukraine Africa 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2014

There is a bit of science news. At some point perhaps I’ll write up for you how the evolution of humans, specifically the ape-human split, and Galapagos bird evolution are the same thing in this regard. I got it on “film” using my camera, but they were so far away you can only see them for a second, and you can only see a few hundred.

Bald Eagle 181

Bald Eagle Zoos Philippines Apes 181

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2013

This was the local name meaning “ugly” used for these primates by the people of the Gonder area in northern Ethiopia when the German naturalist Rüppell “discovered” this species for science in the 1830’s. Their scientific name is Theropithecus gelada, the former word meaning “beast-ape” in Greek. Gelada lip flare and yawn.

Ethiopia 160

Ethiopia Primates Mammals Fur 160

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 20, 2007

Here are three paragraphs from a recent essay by Roger Scruton : As I suggested, science provides authority for this weird morality only when clothed in moral doctrine. The sleight of hand that gave us the “selfish” gene gives us the rights of baboons.

Animal 40

Animal Apes Morals Animal Rights Movement 40

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2011

But it is utterly bewildering to me to see news reports about this recent science that read “… An icon knocked from its perch&# or “Archaeopteryx no longer first bird.&# This has happened before, Archaeopteryx and the bird family tree have had an often tenuous relationship.

Mammals 251

Mammals Europe Groups Family 251