Tetrapod Zoology

Ahh, life is sweet

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:13:00 -0500

I have to take a break. I may be gone for some time... I may not. Here are some cool photos.

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2009, a year of Tet Zooery

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:51:24 -0500

So, if you read the previous article, you'll know that we're here because Tet Zoo was four years old on January 21st. In that article, I got as far as discussing blog-relevant events that happened up to the end of May or so. Time to crack on...

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Tet Zoo = 4 years old today

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:55:00 -0500

Today is January 21st which means, believe it or don't, that it's Tet Zoo's birthday, the 4th no less. Holy crap... have I really been blogging for four years? Yikes, and there is still so much to do, so little ground I've covered. This is despite more than 635 (count 'em) Tet Zoo articles here on ScienceBlogs alone. As on some (but not all) of the previous occasions, this article is going to be a personal look back at the year, not a proper review of all the Tet Zoo-relevant stuff that happened in 2009 (wow, wish I had time for that). Actually, this is just about the worst time to write a review like this, as I'm having a particularly crap time of it at the moment and am thinking about giving up on blogging, on research, and on everything in general (yes, yes, the ever-present financial problems). Anyway, you don't want to hear about that... [adjacent image: a Rana temporaria that was living in my front garden. Finding a frog is, these days, a huge big deal for me].

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What to make of the Yowie?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:54:01 -0500

Like many people interested in cryptozoology (the study of animals - or alleged animals - known only from anectodal evidence), I'm of the opinion that the Australian Yowie is one of the most problematic of mystery beasts. It is, in fact, so ridiculous and inconvenient that it's difficult to take seriously. As if sasquatch, yeti and orang pendek aren't difficult enough*, what are we to make of antipodean reports of a hairy, bipedal, ape-like creature? Back in 2006 (oh my god, four years ago already), Tony Healy and Paul Cropper collated everything known about the Yowie for their book The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot (Strange Nation, Sydney, 2006).

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Giant African softshells - wow!

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 10:25:00 -0500

If you're a long-time Tet Zoo reader you might remember the article about giant Asian softshell turtles from November 2007. That article - which mostly focused on the several Chitra species - was colourfully titled 'The goat-eating hot water bottle turtles'. As you may recall, the 'goat-eating' bit was inspired by a comment made in a turtle book (David Alderton's Turtles & Tortoises of the World): according to this source, Chitra 'may even attack goats, overturning them' (Alderton 1988, p. 165). That always seemed like a puzzling statement, but I decided to run with it. As kindly pointed out by Jeannot Maha'a, 'goat' in the book is almost definitely a typo for 'boat' (look where g and b are on the keyboard). Oh well, it was a nice idea while it lasted...

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The Tet Zoo guide to the creatures of Avatar

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:46:03 -0500

Tone and I recently went to see Avatar. I've been reading up on the movie for months and was really looking forward to seeing it. I mostly liked it, though did think it was a bit clichéd and predictable. But I'm not here to talk about storylines and plot devices... you want to know about the creatures. A lot of thought and time obviously went into the design of Pandora's ecosystem and creatures. In part, I'd say that this was a success: a lot of people (even many not that interested in the natural world) have been very much taken in by the movie's xenobiology - if only this inspired them to become interested in, and passionate about, the biology and ecology of the real world. Without further ado, here are my assorted musings on Pandora's creatures. Would be interested in your take on them too!

WARNING: major spoilers ahead. Turn back now if you haven't seen the movie. This is your last warning.

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Help identify the snake. Please.

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:16:01 -0500

Can you identify this South American snake? The photo comes courtesy of Paul Nicholas, who spotted the snake (which was about 1 m long) while it was crossing a river below the Great Falls and King George Falls in the (mostly unexplored) upper Essequibo region of Guyana. The strange-looking lumps are water drops. Paul's guides were not able to identify the snake - can you? I confess I haven't tried too hard... field guides on Guyanan snakes are thin on the ground round here...

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The long-awaited launch of Pterosaur.net

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:58:00 -0500

Today see the launch of an outstanding new website devoted entirely to pterosaurs, the flying reptiles of the Mesozoic. What makes the site different from many specialist sources on the internet is that it was created, written and designed by specialists in the field. As such, it should prove an invaluable resource. I'll try and keep this brief, as I know you're just desperate to go over there and start looking around...

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Micropechis ikaheka, the Small-eyed snake

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:53:00 -0500

A stocky, medium-sized (up to 2 m long) and poorly known elapid with notably small eyes, Micropechis ikaheka - the Small-eyed or Ikaheka snake - is the only recognised member of its genus*. It's unique to New Guinea and some of the surrounding islands [adjacent image from Warrell et al. (1996)].

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Biggest sauropod ever (part.... II)

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:05:00 -0500

By popular demand... it's the second part of the old, old, old (ver 1) article I wrote in 2006 on the obscure and poorly known mega-sauropod Amphicoelias fragillimus. Be sure to read part I first.

So, A. fragillimus was described in 1878 on the basis of an incomplete but enormous dorsal vertebra and the distal end of a femur [both reconstructed in the image below]. The details of these bones show that A. fragillimus was a diplodocoid, and thus related to more familiar taxa like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. Despite its absurd size - suggesting (by comparison with other diplodocoids) a total length of 60 m - this material somehow vanished prior to 1921. Due in part to these facts (and also, perhaps, to its poorly publicised and unfamiliar-sounding - or 'crappy' - name), Amphicoelias fragillimus was to be all but forgotten in the decades that followed...

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South America, land of toads, part I: harlequins, redbellies and plump toads

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:32:22 -0500

South America has a diverse and well-studied toad fauna. The continent's toads include some decidedly untoad-like taxa, such as the brightly coloured stubfoot toads or harlequin frogs. These remarkable little animals are superficially similar to the better known poison-dart frogs. What makes South America's toads particularly interesting is that several of them occupy a basal position within bufonid phylogeny: in the phylogeny generated by Frost et al. (2006), Melanophryniscus, an Atelopus + Osornophryne clade, and Dendrophryniscus are all at the base of Bufonidae, while in Pramuk et al.'s (2008) phylogeny, Melanophryniscus, Atelopus, Nannophryne, Rhaebo and Dendrophryniscus are all at the base of Bufonidae. The paraphyly of these South American toads relative to all the others suggests that toads originated on the continent [waving Panamanian golden frog A. zetecki shown here; photo by Brian Gratwicke, from wikipedia].

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Bonadonna's Diplodocus

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:48:24 -0500

Davide Bonadonna kindly sent on these pictures of a Diplodocus model he produced (with assistance provided by Simone Maganuco) during Summer 2009 for the Capellini Museum in Bologna. 2009 was the centenary year for the installation of the museum's Diplodocus carnegii replica skeleton: as I'm sure you know, it's one of eight D. carnegii casts sent around the world by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Why send the cast to Bologna, and not Rome, Milan, Florence, or Naples? For the answer, look at the document here.

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The Yaounde Zoo mystery ape and the status of the Kooloo-Kamba

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:49:00 -0500

We've had reason now and again to mention the unusual ape photographed at Yaounde Zoo (in Cameroon) a few times. I finally got round to digging out and scanning the only photo of the animal I've seen: it was taken by Peter Jenkins and Liza Gadsby and first appeared in the November 1996 issue of the Newsletter of the Internal Primate Protection League (IPPL). It was later published in issue 100 of Fortean Times.

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Biggest.... sauropod.... ever (part.... I)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:43:03 -0500

Hope you had a good Christmas - I did! Here's an old article from Tet Zoo ver 1, apologies if you recall it from its first airing in 2006. The article is now a bit dated - sorry about that (I've added one or two new bits).

Even if you're not an expert on dinosaurs, it's likely that you've heard - firstly - that some sauropods were rily, rily big and - secondly - that these biggest of the big included such whoppers as Seismosaurus, Supersaurus and Argentinosaurus. It's always helpful that their names are easy to remember. Recent work has not only resulted in the publication of reasonably accurate size estimates for these dinosaurs, it has also clarified their taxonomy and phylogenetic positions.

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'Tis a Tet Zoo Christmas extravaganza

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:53:02 -0500

In time-honoured fashion, once more it's time to wish you all best Christmas wishes and share with you my digital 'Christmas card'... though if you're a regular correspondent or one of my Facebook friends you'll already have seen it, sorry...

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