From the 375 million year old Gogo Formation comes the worlds oldest hard evidence for live-birth and internal fertilization (ie. real sex). The specimen - a pregnant placoderm fish with an embryo inside complete with permineralised umbilical cord (and possibly even the yolk sac). It also provided the opportunity for my second painting to be ( Read more... )

This is what every home needs - a house-goanna! Its just like having a house-cat, but without the fleas, furballs or stench of urine. His/her (can't determine gender as juveniles) name is Dash and s/he is an eight week old Ridge-tailed Monitor (Varanus acanthurus). S/He will get to a maximum adult length of about 70cm. S/He like sleeping, scuttling ( Read more... )

While this has been known for years among fossils of its Chinese cousins, we finally have hard evidence that Velociraptor itself was feathered.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5845/1721

My feet are killing me...Got up at 6 in the morning and jogged to the subway, taking the train to central station. I walk out and see a street second-hand book sale that stretches down the mall for what must have been a kilometer! The vendors had practically everything, even 1960s black and white pornography being peddled by an appropriately fat ( Read more... )

The Uppsala Early Vertebrates Conference is over and I can categorically state that it was one of the most rewarding weeks of my life, both in terms of friends made, sights seen and astounding scientific discoveries revealed. And all set in the stunning Uppsala University, halls which have felt the footfalls of scientific giants with names like ( Read more... )

Here I am in the land of ABBA and Ikea catalogues ( Read more... )

Thought I'd introduce you to Drake who has been my housemate since April. A young male Centralian Carpet Python (Morelia bredli) and probably the friendliest reptile I have ever met.

( Read more... )

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/2664113.htmlRead more... )

This Friday I will be driving myself and a pair of visitors from the Beijing Academy of Sciences off to ANU, Canberra, taking some time to take in Koz. National Park along the way. Intend to be back the Friday after that!

See ya

Heh, its been about a bazillion years since I've had the time to update my journal. Currently in an exhausted state after a SUPERLATIVE 11th CAVEPS (Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics). The whole con was a palaeo-geeks dream come true with incredible new data on Devonian fish (my presentation on the Gogo ( Read more... )