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[anthropology-biology]

Are humans evolving today? It’s the big conversation, the hottest topic in town. Face the facts, evaluate the evidence. Add a short, intelligent comment below. Thank you.

[anthropology-biology]

Cell Cycle

[anthropology-biology]

Dog Taxonomy

[anthropology-biology]

The Black Dinner of 1440

“In 1440 the two main factions fighting for control of the boy king turned to slaughter. William Crichton and Alexander Livingston arranged a meeting with their rivals, the powerful Douglases, at Edinburgh Castle. With the young king present, Crichton and Livingston murdered the 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother in a notorious evening that would become known as the Black Dinner.”

- BBC, Scotland’s History, James II, King of Scots 1437-1460

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It’s not a common event to talk about, but for sure one of the most interesting. The Black Dinner of 1440 occurred after King James II came into power. Being extremely young, the rival factions in Scotland tried to control him. Crichton and Livingston (from the above passage) invited the Douglas Clan for a dinner and slaughtered the Earl and his brother. However the Douglases actually took over the Scottish court and in 1449, when James was finally starting to govern for himself, the clan was not giving up their high positions.

[anthropology-biology]

An Introduction to my Blog

Hello, and welcome! On this small blog I will be posting about biology (specifically evolutionary biology and genetics), history, and anthropology. In getting to know me better, I will be posting a few little facts about me. If you ever want to talk or ask questions, feel free to send me a message! I’m always free to have a conversation.

- If I had to say why I find these fields of science so interesting, it would probably be because the evolution of organisms is a great way to show how connected everything is. Personally, I feel like connections are one of the greatest ways to understand everything around you.

- My favorite animal is definitely a snake. They have evolved a great deal, and I find the differences in each species fascinating. While some snakes have venom, others prefer to constrict in killing their prey.

- However, if I could study one species it would be humans. We have such a rich history, filled with so much evolution (physically, cultural, and socially). I think the study of humans is one of my greatest interests.

My blog will mainly consist of reblogs of anthropology/history/evolutionary biology related posts, as well as some of my own thoughts.

Enjoy your days everyone!

[anthropology-biology]

Practical demonstrations you can pop out any time.

[anthropology-biology]

A Timeline

1850s: Some scientists notice the connection between dinosaurs & birds and think birds might have evolved from dinosaurs, given similarity between Archaeopteryx and many dinosaurs, as well as between dinosaurs and living birds  

1960s: Deinonychus is discovered. Scientists starting to realize birds did evolve from dinosaurs; other ideas become fringe hypotheses 

1970s: More dinosaurs are discovered that point to dinosaur behavior being more like birds than reptiles 

1980s: Scientists begin using evolutionary relationships (ie, cladistics) to classify life, rather than Linnean Taxonomy (Kingdom-Phylum-Class etc.), especially for extinct creatures, because it really doesn’t apply to extinct life like, at all. Coelophysis, an early dinosaur, is speculatively depicted with feathers. Some very bird-like dinosaurs are debated on whether they are birds or dinosaurs. 

1993: Birds are straight-up called dinosaurs in the famous film “Jurassic Park,” which is one of the first pieces of media to depict dinosaurs as extremely birdlike; changes public perception of dinosaurs dramatically  

1996: Sinosauropteryx, the first feathered non-avian dinosaur, is revealed to the public. Birds determined to have evolved from dinosaurs, full stop; BANDits (birds-are-not-dinosaurs scientists) now a backwards, on-par-with creationists group. Since we classify dinosaurs based on their evolutionary relationships, we start calling birds dinosaurs, because they evolved from dinosaurs. 

1999: Sinornithosaurus, the first raptor (ie, cousin of Velociraptor) dinosaur found with feathers, is described. Many other feathered dinosaurs are described as well, from all over the group closely related to birds. The Walking With Dinosaurs landmark documentary series calls birds dinosaurs. 

2000: Microraptor, a raptor dinosaur with full wings on its arms and legs, is described 

2001: Velociraptor is given… “feathers” in Jurassic Park III. Velociraptor also portrayed as more bird-like than ever. When Dinosaurs Roamed America, another groundbreaking dinosaur documentary, shows all members of the group closely related to birds (except T. rex) with feathers, including Deinonychus, all over their bodies. Also calls birds dinosaurs. 

2002: A specimen of Psittacosaurus, a dinosaur about as far away from birds as you can get, is described with quills on its tail very similar to feathers 

2004: Dilong, a small relative of T. rex, is found with feathers and display structures like modern birds 

2007: Many feathered dinosaurs are now known from the group most closely related to birds. A specimen of Velociraptor with feather attachment sites on the arms for wing feathers is now known. Velociraptor now known to be definitely, no question, feathered 

2009: Tianyulong, another dinosaur from a group very far from birds, is found with fluffy quills covering all over its back 

2012: Feathered dinosaurs now coming out many times a year. Yutyrannus, a large and closer relative to T. rex, found with shaggy feathers all over its body 

2014: Kulindadromeus, another dinosaur from the group very far from birds, is named. It has fluffy covering like that of Sinosauropteryx all over its body, rather than quills. Feathers determined to be mostly likely ancestral to all dinosaurs and lost secondarily in larger species (especially if fluff known on closest relatives, pterosaurs, is also feathers - see below). 

2015: Zhenyuanlong, a close relative of Velociraptor the same size as Velociraptor, is found with extremely large wings. Raptor dinosaurs inferred to have large wing feathers unless anatomy indicates otherwise (such as having short wings). Jurassic World comes out, making dinosaurs less bird-like than in the original Jurassic Park - with lizard-like tails and behavior, and no feathers at all. Essentially, a huge step backwards. 

2018: Branched fluffy covering very similar to feathers described now on multiple pterosaurs, the group most closely related to dinosaurs (think Pterodactyls). Fluffy covering considered ancestral to all members of the Pterosaur-Dinosaur group, if not all animals more closely related to birds than to crocodilians. 

We have known birds are dinosaurs since before many people reading this were born - since before I was born. We have known dinosaurs had feathers since the mid-1990s. We have known Velociraptor was fluffy and had wings since the mid-2000s. This isn’t news. This isn’t up for debate. Please grow up. Thank you!