The tenth TetZooCon – that’s the Tetrapod Zoology Convention – happened between Friday December 1st and Monday December 4th, and I think I’ve just about recovered. Hosted once again at Bush House, King’s College London (KCL), it was the biggest, busiest and most successful of our events so far, as is fitting for the tenth one…
At TetZooCon 2023
Yes, TetZooCon 2023 is happening right now… more or less (I’m writing this on Thursday 30th November)… and that explains the lack of action here lately. A summary of what will be happening at TetZooCon 2023 has already been published here, but here are random thoughts before I leave….
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)….
New Species Round-up for 2023, Part 1
This is a time of ecological crisis and massive loss of animal diversity, make no mistake about it. But there’s still a vast amount of new stuff left to discover, and every year we see a significant influx of newly recognized species, even among tetrapods. In this and the next article, we take a whistle-stop tour of those tetrapod species new to science as of 2023. As ever, remember that new to science is not synonymous with new to humanity…
Announcing the 10th Tetrapod Zoology Convention
On December 1st, 2nd and 3rd, the 10th Tetrapod Zoology Convention – TetZooCon – happens at Bush House, King’s College, The Strand, London. With just over a month to go (yikes), now is time to buy a ticket and consider joining us. It’s going to be the biggest TetZooCon so far, and hopefully the best. Here’s a rundown of what’s due to happen…
Birdwatching in Tajikistan, Part 2
Birdwatching in Tajikistan, Part 1
Alan Feduccia’s Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs: Forays in Postmodern Paleontology
The Remarkable Muscovy Duck
The Strange Case of the Minnesota Iceman, Part 2: A Review of Heuvelmans's Neanderthal
Time for the second part in my Minnesota iceman series. The article you’re able to read was originally published at ver 3 (the Sci Am years) in two separate parts. For the first part on the Minnesota iceman, go here…
The Strange Case of the Minnesota Iceman, Part 1
Laysan Ducks: Not as Degenerate as People Used to Think
Five Years of Tetrapod Zoology ver 4
The Kleinmachnow Lion is Definitely Not a Lion
The Great Florida Cassowary Relocation Event of 2023
Controversies in Ratite and Tinamou Evolution (Part I)
The Slightly Surprising Diversity of Zebras, Part 2
Back in October 2022, we looked at the diversity and evolution of plains zebras, a group that includes the Quagga. Here, we carry on with the zebra series, this time looking at Grevy’s zebra….
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...
Discovering 'Hidden' Diversity Within Wealden Spinosaurid Dinosaurs
Over recent years, myself and colleagues at the University of Southampton have published a series of studies on the spinosaurid theropods of the English Wealden Supergroup (Barker et al. 2021, 2022, 2023a). And we’ve succeeded in improving our knowledge of Wealden spinosaurid diversity. But wait — there’s more!
