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Charlie checks out the winner of the Great Darwin Beard contest.
Charlie ponders the trilobite. Sadly, this one cannot fly.
Charlie is thankful for Mendelian Genetics.
Charley and Rebecca study the latest findings in evolutionary biology
The die is cast, the votes are in, and the winner and grand Champion of the Great Darwin Beard Challenge is the affable, notable, not-quite-quotable (in polite company) Kevin Zelnio of Deep Sea News. It was a tough fight all around, and the three survivors put out some impressive beards, but it was Kevin by a chop. Congratulations Mr. Z, you are the fittest.
Longtime readers know that I get really excited by clear (or not so clear) cases of convergent evolution. Pound for pound, convergence is the most persuasive evidence for the truth of evolution out there; different lineages finding novel paths to the same solution. While I mostly talk about convergences in morphology, genetic convergence is often even more fascinating. Enter the bizarre case of the serpent and the platypus.
The title of this post is followed by a question mark. That is because what follows is not a statement of fact but a puzzle that I have been mulling over in my head since a photograph was published early last year. I do fervently hope the authors of the paper will forgive me for not citing the picture directly, the full citation can be found at the end of this post. I do this only because I want to lead off with a mystery.
One of the discussions that occurred while socializing at ScienceOnline’09 regarded my personal feelings towards dolphins. Not surprisingly, whenever non-marine people find out I’m a marine biologist, the conversation always turns to dolphins, after which the person is surprised (shocked, appalled) by my lack on fondness for the sea beasties. The excessive hearting of charismatic … Read More “Getting a sense of porpoise” »