New Species Round-up for 2023, Part 2

In the previous article we looked briefly at those new amphibian and mammal species named during 2023. This time we skip ahead to reptiles… including birds because – yes – birds are reptiles in the phylogenetic sense)….

Alan Feduccia’s Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs: Forays in Postmodern Paleontology

For something like four decades, Dr Alan Feduccia of the University of North Carolina has been arguing that everyone is wrong about dinosaurs….

Laysan Ducks: Not as Degenerate as People Used to Think

I really like ducks, and my god there’s a lot to say about them. Here, we look at a small Hawaiian duck that once stood on the very precipice of extinction, some sources saying that it was reduced to a single individual at one point. I speak, of course, of the famous Laysan duck Anas laysanensis…

Birdwatching in Oregon

Back in December 2022, I had the remarkable privilege of visiting Portland, Oregon, for a conference. I’ve longed to visit the Pacific Northwest for my entire life and this was my first ever visit there. It was a dream trip and I had an amazing time, and while there’s a lot I could talk about… today we’re here to discuss THE BIRDS...