Hairy Museum of Natural History

Several new (and newish) blogs in this weeks tangle of links:

• Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs: a daily dose of Mesozoic megafauna. Highly recommended. This week’s pick: An interview with pterosaur researcher/artist Mark Witton.
• Pterosaur.net Blog: posts from Mark Witton and the rest of the team at Pterosaur.net. Pick: John Conway’s discussion of the Pot-bellied Pteranodon.
• Jim Robins Zoo.Art: art of a paleontological nature. Pick: The multi-view rendering of Caudipteryx zoui.
• Theropod Database: Mickey Mortimer’s in-depth examinations of theropod anatomy and phylogenetics. Pick: A handsome little picture of the first Asian alvarezsaur fossil ever cataloged.
• Morbid Anatomy shows off an admission certificate for an 1869 course on Practical Anatomy. Instructor: Joseph Leidy, who named the first American dinosaurs.
• Laelaps describes how Arctodus simus, the Pleistocene “short-faced bear,” got a makeover.
• More fossil pigments: the plumage color patterns of Anchornis. In 3D!

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: hairball.

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This week’s tangle of links, coughed up for your examination:

• New basal alvarezsaur: Haplocheirus sollers.
• What’s an alvarezsaur? Dave Hone’s got it covered.
• Why is a basal one noteworthy? Jonah Choiniere, of Haplocheirus-description team, puts it in context and highlights some of its unique features.
• Fossil pigment 1: Belemnite ink
• Fossil pigment 2: Chestnut-striped coelurosaurs
• Happy Family: Proboscidea
• Medical Texts: A long, painful decline (courtesy bioephemera)
• The Wonderful World: Compellingly awful

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: hairball.

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A tangle of links I’ve partially digested over the past week:

• A trip through Desmatosuchus country, and a beautifully rendered restoration of the same aetosaur.
• New Mesozoic exhibit at the VMNH.
• Osteology of the Utahan therizinosaur Falcarius.
• Albertaceratops and young.
• Synapsid review I: A gallery of “mammal-like reptiles,” remarkable in its completeness. Ruthiromia? Lumkuia? Fantastic. (courtesy The Dragon’s Tales).
• Synapsid review II: Developmental Paleontology. (courtesy Palaeoblog) And more developmental palaeontology, synapsid and otherwise.
• Lovely little sketch of Turkana/Narikotome Boy. Or at least his skull.
  
• Palorchestes, the “marsupial ground sloth” with a joey in its pouch.
• Other bodily companions: Parasite of the Day.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: hairball.

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One of the biggest stories in paleontology this past month was the announcement of a beautifully complete fossil of an Eocene primate scientifically christened Darwinius messilae, and given the popular moniker “Ida.” A massive publicity campaign, including a book release and a documentary hosted by Sir Richard Attenborough, was launched in tandem with the fossil’s description in the online journal PLoS ONE. A backlash erupted throughout the science-minded blogosphere/twitterverse, deriding the more breathless claims that this one specimen was the “missing link” that will “change everything.”

Some of the earliest and most insightful comments came from Brian Switek at Laelaps. Earlier today, Brian compiled a collection of his and others’ Darwinius-related posts into a blog carnival called Uncovering “Ida”—an excellent resource for anyone interested in the interaction between science, publicity, and media (new and old).

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Mammals, Paleo-Pop, Paleogene, Webbery.

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A new internet carnival for Palaeo-Art, ART Evolved, kicked off today with its first themed gallery. Check out the work of several different paleoartists as they interpret the Ceratopsia. Nice Work!

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Cretaceous, Dinosaurs, Paleo-Pop, Webbery.

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