Geekception - xkcd style phylogenetic trees!

Over at the awesome Phylogenetic Tools for Comparative Biology blog, Liam Revell has provided R code and instructions on how biologists can take thier love of phylogenies to a new level. xkcd style tree drawing. I kid ye not, here's proof:

This is a tree I'm working with at the moment for Spinicaudatan clam shrimp. Totally putting this in a presentation....

Mantis Bomb!

Cheeky-mantis-photobombing-spider-picture-of-the-day

Original article @ Metro

Geckos don't suck

They stick. Here's a cool article about my good friend Alyssa Stark's research (I have helped them with Scanning Electron Microscope Imaging in the past). Everyone loves Geckos (they just look so clueless, like naked, slow squirrels). The Niewiarowski lab at the University of Akron looks at a lot of cool evolutionary aspects of herps, they also work closely with our established polymers lab in making crazy bio inspired tech.

New paper re: sexual system evolution

(shamless self-promotion alert)

I had a new paper out recently in Palaeontologica Electronica! Woot!

Sexual discrimination at work: Spinicaudatan ‘Clam Shrimp’ (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) as a model organism for the study of sexual system evolution T.I. Astrop, L.E. Park, Brown, B. and S.C. Weeks

Invertebrate Round-Up

There have been some excellent blog posts about inverts this week... Two posts about Branchiopod Crustacea?! Hell yeah!

Water fleas (AKA "Flying Belly Monsters) @ Real Monstrosities
Sea monkeys @ Catalogue of Organisms

And then there's this video. Likely the best echinoderm-digestion-video-from-inside-a-bivalve you will see today.

All press is good press. Right?

So I'm back to the grind, processing data from my apartment in Cleveland and happen to have come across a couple of press pieces about my recent trip to Argentina. The first piece seems pretty harmless, however, the second piece has something rather wrong with it. Who's that guy in the picture?!?! It's certainly not my good self! And whats with pixelating students faces, this is a creeeeeepy picture. Odd. Well, just thought I'd share the absurdity Bye!

'The Institute'

Most days here I get up at 8 and go to the institute, This is where I am working, taking pictures and studying fossil material. Research is going great, making some unexpected discoveries that I'm sure will surface in the future (if you're thinking 'ecological signals in fossil freshwater crustacea!?', then yes, you guessed right). My hosts here are awesome, funny, kind and sincere, it is a real encouragement to be around other people so passionate about palaeontology and evolution, I often forget to realize that I am the only active palaeobiologist in my university and I really miss waxing scientific with increasing excitement over some minor detail and convincing ourselves of the discoveries significance. I love my job.

Anyway, enough 'Squee!'-ing about my awesome vacation research, here are some pictures of  'the institute'...

As you can see, it is a very harsh working environment. It's surprising anyone would sign up for this.

I was taken out by the two grad students in the lab (Lara & Mateo) last night to buy local Argentinian wine from a nearby bodega and then to a restaurant on the river to eat Pacú, the local river fish. I have to say this was one of the tastiest teleosts I've ever eaten, baked in a bag with cheese, walnuts, mushroom and potato. Bloody brilliant. The highlights of today included Mateo manning the BBQ to produce some fine Argentine beef:

nom nom nom. This meal was served at 1pm with wine, in the lab and lasted until 4pm. I hope you're taking notes Northern hemisphere!

This dude wanted in, but we don't want no vertebrates.

This guy however, made my day. Possibly the best behaved spider in the world. I named him Sid and we went through something similar to the sketch scene in Titanic, but without Kate Winslet. Or a boat. Or a drawing. Whatever. LOOK AT THE PRETTY SPIDER! HE'S LOOKING AT YOU!

Argy-bargy

So, it has been a while. Two things

1. I got funded

2. I am travelling

With these two revelations in hand, you should be able to bring yourself up to speed. I am in Argentina. Corrientes in Argentina more precisely.

 
View Larger Map

I am here meeting a long time correspondent concerning the little fossil shrimpy men I study. I will be taking images of fossil collections here. In the meantime here are some things wot I have seen!

BEHOLD! My strangely ornate bedroom ceiling. Score one Argy.

Big Iron dude on a horse. Every town has one.

OK, so this is the Paraná River, it's massive. This whole area of Argentina is flood plains fed by dozens of rivers and thousands of tributaries. I've been reliably informed the freshwater fish are tasty. I will confirm this as soon as I get a chance.

Not all rivers are this shiny. Fact.

So Corrientes is abbreviated (thankfully) from it's original moniker:San Juan de Vera de las Siete Corrientes("Saint John of Vera of the Seven Currents")Apparently, the etymology behind this has something to do with the shape of the vast river that forms seven 'banks' that channel wind in the region, explaining all the really bendy trees I keep seeing.

And here are some cool pieces of town I shot 'cus I liked them. there are scooters EVERYWHERE. People drive with a death wish and the patience of saints, it's so weird.

Anyway, enough of me using this as a poor mans flickr account. I might post some sciency stuff here soon! Woot!

Here goes...

I've been trying to blog for over a year now, with four failed attempts under my belt I've decided to try again. In this latest iteration I'm going to attempt to document the final part of my PhD, the projects I'm working on, travelling and things that happen along the way. I'm 3.5 years in to a doctorate degree in Integrated Bioscience. I am attempting to integrate palaeontology and evolutionary biology in a project that looks into the evolutionary dynamics associated with the origination, duration and extinction of sexual systems over geologic time (more on this later).

This blog is mainly an attempt to collect and articulate my thoughts and experiences. I'm looking to become more fluent in explaining science and concepts/ideas I find interesting. I want to be a good teacher. I find nothing more frustrating than not being able to explain myself. Actually that's a lie, I find queue jumpers on the interstate to be the scum of the earth and selfish driving infuriates me. Anyway, what I mean is that I'm hoping this endeavor will make me better at what I want to do. It's worth a try, right?

Posts about music and science fiction will likely work their way into this blog at points because a) I love them both & b) they save me from a life of that would otherwise consist entirely of multivariate analyses and paper edits (the dream-crushing, reality-dominating aspects of academia).

Don't hold your breath...