Old Weblog - March 2004

Two previously unknown species of dinosaur have been found at separate sites in Antarctica by US scientists. The first dinosaur is a new type of theropod - a two-legged forerunner of birds - and is thought to have lived about 70m years ago. The second - a 200m-year-old sauropod similar to a diplodocus - was found on a 3,900-metre-high mountaintop.
Scientists have cast doubt on the well-established theory that a single, massive asteroid strike killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. New data suggests the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, supposedly created by the collision, predates the extinction of the dinosaurs by about 300,000 years… Understandably, the team's conclusions have met with strong opposition. "It appears to contradict many other lines of evidence that seem rather unambiguously to indicate that the [Chicxulub] crater formed at the K-T boundary," said Dr David Kring of the University of Arizona, US.
Mars was once 'soaked' with water (New Scientist: 03-Mar-04)
Liquid water once drenched the surface of Mars - offering conditions which may have supported life, NASA scientists announced on Tuesday. Accumulated evidence from NASA's Mars rover Opportunity which landed on the Martian plateau, Meridiani Planum, on 25 January strongly suggests the site was once "soaked," said Steve Squyres, the mission's chief scientist, at NASA headquarters in Washington DC.
Postscript: See also More signs of water found on Mars (BBC: 06-Mar-04))
Birds are capable of recognising warning calls from other species, according to scientists. University of St Andrews experts claim certain species are able to tell one warning call from another, ignoring those which do not concern them.
A fossilised louse that lived in the plumage of birds 44 million years ago has been found with the preserved remains of feathers in its gut… The find confirms that lice are a very ancient group of insects and suggests birds may have inherited the parasites from early feathered dinosaurs.
Ecuador's environment minister has stepped down amid controversy over fishing rights in the waters around the protected Galapagos Islands. Cesar Narvaez said he had resigned for personal reasons, but his announcement follows charges that he had bowed to pressure from striking fishermen.
A creature which lived six million years ago and which lacked sharp canines for fighting might be the first pre-human to branch off the ape line, says a US-led scientific team. Ardipithecus kadabba, a short, small-brained hominid, did not have the long teeth found in chimpanzees. The researchers believe this feature and the animal's age means it was possibly the first species after the evolutionary split in the lineage that led to modern chimpanzees and humans.
Birdwatchers from all over Britain who gathered in Grimsby to catch sight of a rare American robin were horrified to see her eaten by a passing sparrowhawk.
Two of Darwin's favourite subjects in one story: species' finding their ways to new continents, and the struggle for existence. Mind you, what a hoot!
Scientists have sounded the alarm after spotting changes in the environment in Brazil's tropical rain forests. They say they have found worrying signs that the forests may become less able to absorb the carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming.
Dogma on mammals' eggs scrambled (New Scientist: 10-Mar-04)
Contrary to popular belief, female mammals produce new eggs after birth, a new study in mice suggests. Since the 1950s, biologists insisted that no egg stem cell source existed in adult female mammals, so that a woman only has the eggs she was born with. The numbers simply decline until the menopause, when the supply is exhausted.
I was not a lab rat (Guardian: 12-Mar-04)
A new book has rekindled old rumours that renowned psychologist BF Skinner used his baby daughter in his experiments. Stop this rubbish about me and my dad, says Deborah Skinner Buzan.
Jennifer Hile, a correspondent for National Geographic On Assignment, travelled to the Galapagos Islands to investigate illegal fishing and shark fin harvesting by poachers. Here she reveals the difficulties faced by the park rangers fighting the problem.
…Charles Darwin was a naturalist. He wrote the Organ of the Species. It was very long and people got upset about it and had trials to see if it was really true. He sort of said God’s days were not just 24 hours but without watches who knew anyhow? I don’t get it.
A series of parallel lines engraved in an animal bone between 1.4 and 1.2 million years ago may be the earliest example of human symbolic behaviour. University of Bordeaux experts say no practical process, such as butchering a carcass, can explain the markings.
…They can't think of a practical purpose for the marks, so therefore they "can't be anything else than symbolism". Hmm…
Leafcutter ants have evolved several gardening techniques in order to become successful…
Earth faces sixth mass extinction (New Scientist: 18-Mar-04)
There is growing concern over the rate at which species of plants and animals are disappearing around the world. But until now the evidence for such extinctions has mainly come from studies of birds. "The doubters could always turn around and say that there's something peculiar about birds that makes them susceptible to the impact of man on the environment," says Jeremy Greenwood of the British Trust for Ornithology in Norfolk, and one of the research team. Now there is concrete evidence that insects - which account for more than half the described species on Earth, are disappearing faster than birds.
Human-like species living in Africa up to 1.5 million years ago may have known how to control fire, scientists say. US and South African experts analysed burnt bones from Swartkrans, just north of Johannesburg, using the technique of electron spin resonance. It showed the bones had been heated to high temperatures usually only achieved in hearths, possibly making it the first evidence of fire use by humans.
The western gorilla lives peacefully in human-like social groups, a study shows. Only the mountain gorilla, which is known for its aggressive behaviour, chest-beating and fighting, has been widely observed in the wild until now. But the new research suggests the western gorilla, another gorilla species, interacts peacefully when it comes into contact with other apes. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, may give an insight into the social world of early humans.
Penguin cameras reveal dive buddies (New Scientist: 24-Mar-04)
Miniature cameras mounted on penguins have recorded their social behaviour underwater for the first time.
Early humans swapped bite for brain (New Scientist: 24-Mar-04)
Humans owe their big brains and sophisticated culture to a single genetic mutation that weakened our jaw muscles about 2.4 million years ago, a new study suggests. The slack muscles relaxed their hold on the human skull, giving the brain room to grow. Other primates remained stuck with mighty muscles that squeezed the skull in a vice-like grip.
The great-great granddaughter of naturalist Charles Darwin has launched an appeal to help save the critically endangered plant species of Galapagos. Botanist Sarah Darwin is vice-president of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, which is hoping to raise £250,000 ($A616,000) over the next two years to fund conservation work in the Pacific Ocean islands.
The large blue butterfly, which went extinct in the UK in 1979, is making a dramatic comeback after the species was reintroduced by conservationists.
New exhibit explores human evolution (Yale Daily News: 26-Mar-04)
As far back as the John Scopes' Trial of 1925, otherwise known as the "Monkey Trial," humans have questioned their evolutionary origins. Spearheaded by the efforts of Charles Darwin pinning religion against scientific discovery, the 20th century introduced a new approach for understanding our ancestry. As we enter the 21st century, after more than 75 years of international research and discovery, "Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins," a new exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, proves that the intrigue endures.
The world's oldest biological society plans to make all its major collections available in a digital format. The Linnean Society's collections comprise almost 40,000 specimens of plants, insects, fish and shells, many of which date to the 18th Century. The society was founded in London in 1788 and takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. The scientist is perhaps best known for devising a system for classifying and ranking plants using Latin names.
Charles Darwin was a Fellow of the Linnean Society.
Cambridge win Boat Race (BBC: 28-Mar-04)
Cambridge won a controversial 150th Boat Race on Sunday, bringing an end to two years of Oxford dominance.

So what's the Darwin connection? Well, the very first Boat Race was held at Henley-on-Thames on 10th June, 1829. And who was in the 20,000-strong crowd that day (no doubt cheering for the losing Light Blues)? You've guessed it: our man Darwin.

For more about that first Boat Race, see the official Boat Race website.

Professor Steve Jones explains why, in spite of the rumours, men are biologically hard to get rid of…"In the great casino of life, they are essential, for any creature that always gambles with the same hand, however good, is bound to lose in the end."