Field of Science










  1. Tuataras aren't living fossils either, but that won't stop the media.

    The most offensive part is here:

    "A tuatara’s teeth likewise follow the no-nonsense design seen in dinosaur dentition, erupting directly from the jawbone and without the niceties of tooth sockets and periodontal ligaments that characterize the teeth of all mammals and many reptiles."

    Many other living lepidosaurs (members of the clade containing not only tuataras, but also lizards and snakes) also have the "parietal eye" as well. This is not unique to the tuatara. :-(

  2. I wrote an email to the author about that one. Couldn't resist. Never heard back though.

  3. Yay, The memoir is out now. Truly an epic tomb, similar to the style of the Majungasaurus memoir, but larger

  4. "Giant supercrocs" are a new discovery? Purussaurus was named in 1892, Deinosuchus in 1909.

    (Yes, I know they're probably thinking of Sarcosuchus, but it was just a better specimen, not radically bigger.)


Markup Key:
- <b>bold</b> = bold
- <i>italic</i> = italic