There's a new paper on the origin of primates. Now I've not looked into primate evolution much (other than criticising the hype around some recent discoveries). But this seemed interesting. In a "Yer what?" way.

Michael Heads has calibrated the origin of the various primate groups to several tectonic events involved in the breakup of Pangaea.

New and ( Read more... )

Remember Ida? (or Darwinius massillae to give her full name)? Remember how six months ago she was unveiled to the world in a whirlwind of hype? Remember how the blogging community despaired of this, while noting what a lovely fossil she was?

This week more research has been published, after the discovery of Afradapis, a related species from the Late ( Read more... )

The entire world seems to have gone utterly insane over this fossil, known colloquially as "Ida", but officially as Darwinius masillae. And it is a lovely fossil. It is also important because it will, I'm sure, tell us lots about what was going on in primate evolution 47 million years ago. I'm not going to go through the reports because there are ( Read more... )

So the beeb is going all out with the marking of Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species". As part of this they have several TV programmes. Including "What Darwin Didn't Know" a 90 minute documentary by the biologist Armand Leroi, discussing the various problems that Darwin foresaw in his ( Read more... )

Oh dear. What starts off as a musing on a small part of Wagner, rapidly turns into a discussion of evolution. Jerry Fordor (who?) wants to know why pigs don't have wings. He doesn't like natural selection. Which is a pity because while adaptationism is sometimes taken too far it still works and is still the most important driving force in nature.

( Read more... )

Yet another aberrant theropod from China. Called Gansus yumenensis, after the area it was found its 100 million years young. It looks a lot like the modern diver (or Hesperornis a large flightless toothed bird.) Feathers and the webbing between the toes is preserved. Sadly its missing a skull. But its still pretty. And ist shows the kind of ( Read more... )

Further to yesterday's post regarding the Kansas School Board, it would appear that they have redefined science so that it is "no longer limited to natural explanations for phenomena".

They also say that the fossil record is inconsistent with evolution. *headdesk* NO IT FUCKING ISN'T!!!!! It never ceases to amaze me that Kansas can be home to such ( Read more... )