One of the most exciting things in paleontology is being able to definitively establish the interaction of two species fromRead the Rest…
Animals
Venomous Snakes of North America
This is the latest post in the Dangerous Animals series. Snakes cause some people to have a physical reaction ofRead the Rest…
Venom, Poison, and Toxicity
There is a great deal of confusion about the terms venom, poison, and toxicity, and they are often used inRead the Rest…
Unusual Fossil Occurrence in Travertine
A number of years ago, when I was an undergraduate student, I had the privilege of going with my adviserRead the Rest…
Dangerous Animals
In his song “Sail away,” Randy Newman sings about how good we have it in America. The land is bounteousRead the Rest…
Number of venomous snakebites a year and pitfalls in scientific research
While doing a literature search for another story I encountered a classic pitfall in scientific research that one can allRead the Rest…
New evidence on the sizes of pterosaurs
The flying reptiles, pterosaurs, were an amazing successful group of prehistoric animals. They ranged from the Late Triassic through theRead the Rest…
Accurate Dinosaur Toys
If your kids are fascinated by dinosaurs, and many are, you might like a recommendation on some of the bestRead the Rest…
My National Geographic moment
“A photographer from National Geographic wants to talk to you.” These words, or words to those effect, met me asRead the Rest…
Spending time in Purgatoire
One of the many places that I have been fortunate to spend time in is Purgatoire. Perhaps not the sameRead the Rest…
Dinosaurs dragging their bellies—Huh?
Isaac Newton famously wrote in 1676,“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” ThisRead the Rest…
How big was the Giant Short-faced Bear?
The character of living things on land changed forever after the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions, 65 million years ago. The dinosaurs onRead the Rest…
Act now to help the endangered animals
There are millions of creatures, large and small that grace this planet and share the land with us. Some areRead the Rest…
Mapping the Pratt Mammoth excavation using GPS and basic surveying technology
The discovery of a partial mammoth skeleton in 1999, and its subsequent excavation in 2000, provided an opportunity to implementRead the Rest…
Feathered dinosaurs may have changed coats
Some of the most exciting finds of the last couple of decades were the discovery of feathered dinosaurs. These fossilsRead the Rest…
Denning behavior in the Giant Short-faced Bear
One of the most exciting things in paleontology to me is when we can begin to tease apart how extinctRead the Rest…
Saving Boo boo the chicken
And now, for something completely different. This video went around on the web a few years ago, and in honorRead the Rest…
Yogurt with probiotics
There is no question that yogurt is good for you. However, you should know what is in this dairy productRead the Rest…
Lactococcus is here to stay!
There was a great story recently on National Public Radio about the Wisconsin state legislature passing a bill to nameRead the Rest…
Polar Bear populations
In an earlier post about the effects of climate change I made the point that there is a lack ofRead the Rest…