Exploring evolution through genes, computers and history
A wild eel in the Grevelingenmeer. Photo shot by Arne Kuilman, all rights reserved. Few animals travel so far to have sex as the European eel. When autumn comes, these eels leave their lakes and rivers and embark on an arduous journey towards the Sargasso sea.
Larva of a crocodile icefish. Photo by Uwe Kils. Few fish would survive a swim in Antartica's ice-covered waters. Temperatures can drop to -1.9 ℃, whereas a typical fish starts to freeze at -0.8 ℃.
Geothermal pond near the Mutnovsky volcano, Kamtchatka. Copyright Anna S. Karyagina "But if (and oh what a big if) we could conceive in some warm little pond with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity etcetera present, that a protein compound was chemically formed, ready to undergo still more complex changes [..] "~Charles Darwin, in a letter to Joseph Hooker (1871) All life on earth is related.
These are good times to have tentacles. Thanks to the internet, even the most ordinary of octopuses can be catapulted to worldwide fame. Exceptional skills or abilities are not required.
This stuffed coelacanth, described by Smith in 1939, achieved worldwide fame. Source. It was supposed to be extinct. Yet here it lay, with fins round and fleshy, scales as hard as bone and a tail unlike any living fish.
The bald uakari has a distinctive, but simple, face. Photo by Ipaat Specks. Stripes. Red fur. Black fur. Eye masks. Bald spots. Beards. Moustaches. New World monkeys are nature's motley crew.
Happy belated new year everyone! 2011 was a wonderful year for me. Not only did my blog move to its shiny new abode at Scientific American, I also joined the science desk of NRC Handelsblad, a daily Dutch newspaper.
Protobalistum imperiale from around 50 million years old of Bolca, Italy. Like most evolutionary tales, this one could have started on the Galapagos Islands.
Remember the dancing Yeti Crabs? They're back! Check out this amazing illustration of two farming Yeti Crabs by Irene Goede: So white, so hairy.. I want to pet them!Irene is a freelance illustrator who has specialized in nature and history.
This bumblebee bat could be the smallest mammal in the world. Isolation can be a blessing. I am most productive when I'm not connected to the web. If I'm writing in a train or plane, severed from the thoughts of others, it is easier to capture my own trails of thought and let them expand.
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