Some more on that snake leg 17 Sep 2009 Lanclet, discussing a Jerry Coyne comment on a Pharyngula post, suggests that the snake actually had ingested a lizard, and the lizard’s leg had punctured the snake. It doesn’t change the point about atavisms, but it does make the case less sexy… Evolution
Evolution Teeth and a marsupial lion 16 May 2009 Chris Nedin has another post of great interest (even if it is for a late period, the Pleistocene) which goes into my file of “the older naturalists were great observers”, as he shows how modern chemistry supports Richard Owens’ diagnosis of Thylacoleo as a carnivore, even though it is in… Read More
Evolution Why do they kill? 10 Dec 2007 Just to head off the obvious: Do people kill because their religion or ideology tells them that nonbelievers are subhuman? Yes. Do people go to war because their religion or ideology tells them it is their patriotic duty? Yes. Do people walk into a church or missionary school and kill… Read More
Evolution 150 years ago… 28 Feb 2008 Today marks the final day of the month in which, 150 years ago, a naturalist in what is now Indonesia wrote a letter to Charles Darwin in which he gave a theoretical account of how types can evolve by natural selection so that new species will arise. Give it up,… Read More