Two almost bear patterns from a partial Symocyon of a sesamoid “thumb” 14 Apr 2010 I’m really sorry for that pun. I’ve been waiting for years… Anyway, Laelaps (Brian Switek) has a lovely report on the panda’s “thumb” (actually, the sesamoid wrist bone being independently used by a bear lineage and a lineage closer to racoons than to bears, result in the giant panda and the red panda respectively) being an adaptation to a tree-dwelling lifestyle before the bamboo stripping behaviour later evolved. Evolution Evolution
Ecology and Biodiversity The ontology of biology 3 – phenomena 14 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 As I have argued before, there is a class of objects in the biological domain that do not derive from the theory of that domain, but which are in fact the special objects of the domain that call for a theoretical explanation. The example I have given is mountain, which… Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design Objecting to the prevailing tide 12 Jun 2009 My friend and costudent of Gareth Nelson, Malte Ebach, persists in his campaign to bring some clarity to evolutionary and systematics thinking. I may not always agree with him, but he’s often clearer on these matters than his targets, so I refer you to his recent post on paraphyletic thinking…. Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design Roundup – not just for weeds! 13 Sep 2008 Here is a roundup of links and stuff that I don’t have time to blog on right now. A. C. Grayling replies in a piece of beautiful snark to Steve Fuller’s response to his review of Dissent over Descent. Thony is not permitted to point out any further historical inaccuracies…… Read More
Wow. Dennis Miller thinks that joke was obscure. I, on the other hand, am on the verge of being impressed…as soon as I look up a few words…
Interesting, because, IIRC, the corresponding bone on the panda’s ankle is also elongated, which could be explained in view of this tree dwelling past.