Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates
Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates avatar

By , on January 10th, 2011 3 comments   Adaptations, Evolution, New Research, Seeps, Vent, & Whale Falls   , , , , , , , , , ,  

Lepas anatifera from Washington state, USA. Photo credit: David Cowles 1997. Barnacle evolution was recently rewritten by a large effort of Perez-Losada and colleagues in 2008. Using a combination of genes and morphological traits they rejected some of the ideas that were foundational to barnacle biology and taxonomy, while giving new support for other . . . → Read More: Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates

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If Molluscs Could Communicate What Would They Say?
If Molluscs Could Communicate What Would They Say? avatar

By , on September 6th, 2010 2 comments   Adaptations, Cephalopods, Ecology, Evolution, Mating & Reproduction, Organisms   , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Why don’t animal’s use wheels in locomotion? Why aren’t blue whales bigger? Why are there no freshwater starfish? Why are there no tree dwelling cephalopods? Why can’t my dog make a decent cocktail? These are the kinds of questions that intrigue me. Apparently I am not alone. Geerat Vermeij’s new paper “Sound reasons for silence: . . . → Read More: If Molluscs Could Communicate What Would They Say?

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Mad Taxonomic Skillz III – Crustacean Hunt!
Mad Taxonomic Skillz III – Crustacean Hunt! avatar

By , on February 9th, 2010 10 comments   Organisms   , , ,  

Image adapted from the book cover of New Crustacean Species from the Phillipines. This week’s Mad Taxonomic Skillz challenge will utilize the awesome freely available resource for everything crustacean – Crustacea.net! We think that if crustaceans were easier to identify and to learn about, then they would be used more often in survey work, in . . . → Read More: Mad Taxonomic Skillz III – Crustacean Hunt!

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Rotting Lamprey Implications
Rotting Lamprey Implications avatar

By , on February 3rd, 2010 2 comments   New Research, Paleobiology   , , , , ,  

This video from Nature Video Channel on Youtube is complimentary to a recent study showing “… that certain body features rot away before others – and that the bits that are first to go are the most useful to palaeontologists. This decay bias makes it much more difficult to distinguish them from their ancestors . . . → Read More: Rotting Lamprey Implications

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Shrimp Tails: Describing a New Species
Shrimp Tails: Describing a New Species avatar

By , on August 20th, 2009 4 comments   New Research, New Species, Organisms, Seeps, Vent, & Whale Falls   , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Dr. M was kind enough to mention and congratulate me on my first publication several months back. I just had two more papers published in the time since then! I always meant to give the back story on it but hadn’t the time while I madly finished writing my Masters degree. I’ve finished and got . . . → Read More: Shrimp Tails: Describing a New Species

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