More non-avian feathered Chinese dinosaurs 13 Nov 2009 “The integumentary appendages seen in non-avian dinosaurs document a series of transitional forms from typical archosaurian scales to typical avian feathers.” From here. Fig. 4 Known feather morphotypes of non-avian dinosaurs A. morphotype 1, single filament; B. morphotype 2, multiple filaments joined basally; C. morphotype 3, multiple filaments jointed basally on a central filament; D. morphotype 4, multiple filaments branching laterally from most of the length of a central filament; E. morphotype 5, multiple filaments arising from the edge of a membrane structure; F. morphotype 6, compound structure composed of a prominent rachis with symmetrical, well-organized and closed vanes on either sides; G. morphotype 7, compound structure composed of a prominent rachis with asymmetrical, well-organized and closed vanes on either side; H. morphotype 8, a prominent rachis with symmetrical, undifferentiated vanes on either side. Check out the images of dinosaur skin impressions too. Evolution
Evolution No dino pee 5 Jun 2009 Tom Holtz, palentologist at the University of Maryland, gives a guarded review for Land of the Lost at National Geographic‘s website. The summary? No pee, but feathers. Read More
Evolution Species concepts really matter 17 Dec 200718 Sep 2017 Sorry I haven’t blogged for a bit – I’ve been on the road, err, sky for a while. So it turns out that Texas, which seems to be the source of much antiscience reaction these days, has yet another problem, and it turns on what a species is. Texas named… Read More
Evolution An unnecessary rebuttal 29 Oct 2009 A paper has been published formally rebutting the single most stupid idea ever published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS(USA)). The story is in Scientific American but the gist is that Lyn Margulis, who sees the world in terms of endosymbiosis, having once correctly argued… Read More