Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / February 2005

I'm not sure if any excavations have uncovered this, but is it possible
for any of the known early cave dwellings to have had entrance walls or
barricades? There would certainly be many reasons for such
construction, with heat retention being a prime motivator. Not to

Is there anybody that can point me in the direction of a good
anatomical diagram of the Ornithischians, I am a paleo-artist, and I
have been trying to expand my knowledge of the anatomy of these
creatures. Also, I am very interested in the evolutionary pathways of

A new Acta Palaeontologica Polonica number (50(1))recently appeared (
http://www.app.pan.pl/app50-1.htm ) featuring among many interesting
articles this one:
Dyke, G.J. and Norell, M.A. 2005. Caudipteryx as a non?avialan theropod

Hi, I was wondering if the term lazarus taxon may be used on extant
organisms? For instance, if the quagga suddenly would reappear, would
it be designated as a lazarus taxon? If not, what is the correct
ecological term for disappearing and reappearing red list species?

Dear all,
This cheeky chappie was given to me by a great uncle about ten
years ago, with another specimen of the same size and shape,
which I have not photographed. The provenance is most probably

Scientists think that the dinos were shot by aliens from outer space,
shot and butchered and eaten ! That's the reason the dinos are gone
today !

A little attempt at a conversation starter:
So just about my favorite paleo paper ever is Budd, G. E., and S.
Jensen. 2000. A critical reappraisal of the fossil record of the
bilaterian phyla. Biol. Rev. 75:253-295.

Of the fossils of Montotreme so far found, what has been the largest
monotereme ever found and have any montoreme lead a lifestyle radically
different to Platypuses and Echidna, both animals have
electro-sensitive bills and pray on invertebrates.

I would like to contact dr Bob Bakker (yes - this one). Could any of You
target me to a web page containing the e-mail adress?
Cheers, Dawid.

Taste for meat made humans early weaners
19:00 26 January 2005
Anna Gosline
A taste for meat prompted early humans to wean their children at a young

Does anyone know if there's ever been a review done on
rhynchocephalian/sphenodontians?
I'm looking around for some information on the various species within
the group, but I haven't found too much yet (I have _Pleurosaurus_,

A new finding: Vegavis iaai - a 70 my old anseriform from Antarctic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4187287.stm

Has been digs done in Antarctic that given us a clearer picture of the
fauna that inhabited Antarctica before it totally froze over. I heard
about the diggings done on Seymour Island.

It is fun to be an animal, but far from fun to be human.
This is because we are living in the wrong context.
The context of the animal is the physical world, and they interact
effortlessly.

Has been digs done in Antarctic that given us a clearer picture of the
fauna that inhabited Antarctica before it totally froze over. I heard
about the findings on Seymour Island, that the fauna there around 35
million years ago being very similar to South America's.