Rib connections
My friend Eric loves a good meal, so to encourage him to read the posts and recognize how awesome ribs are, I'll be starting each post on rib anatomy with an example of ribs from restaurants near the museum!
Alton Dooley
Paleontology
A celebration of ribs
Ribs don’t need barbecue sauce to be interesting!
More alligator lizards...this time with teeth!
The Western Science Center's alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) moved into its new habitat earlier this week, beside our display of Pleistocene microvertebrate fossils from Diamond Valley Lake. As I mentioned last week, these lizards are native to the area, and have been for a long time. We actually
Armor-plated lizard
Pest control is a big deal for museums, as they can severely damage certain types of collections. But despite our best efforts wildlife will occasionally make its way into the museum, sometimes even including small vertebrates. Generally we release these back into the wild, but we do have a small
167 years of California mastodons
Some years ago I was making numerous trips to museums all over California documenting mastodon remains across the state, a project that eventually led to the description of the Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus). The four largest mastodon collections in the state are at the Western Science Center (where I work)
Bourbon and Geology
Why is Kentucky so great for bourbon production? A big part of the story involves geology, and what was happening 450 million years ago.
Western whiptail lizard vertebra
I learned a thing about lizard vertebrae.
Bayou Manchac mastodon
Even with only a few pieces of the skeleton, we can infer quite a lot about a mastodon that died in the Louisiana swamp thousands of years ago.
Ice Age rattlesnake
In modern, well-run excavations, when a fossil skeleton is discovered the goal isn’t just to rip the skeleton out of the ground. Lots of contextual data is also collected, including the nature of the sediment containing the skeleton as well as any associated bones, fossil plants, pollen and other
Sloth armor
Vertebrates have a long history of armor-plating themselves with bones embedded in the skin. These are called osteoderms - literally "bone skin" (but it sounds so much cooler in Greek). While many vertebrate groups have osteoderms, they aren't something mammals have really adopted, with the exception
The Making of a Scientist
*Author's note: this is an edited republication of a post I originally wrote for my old blog, "Updates from the Paleontology Lab", on 4 March 2011. A question that I’m frequently asked by museum visitors (especially parents with young children) – why did I become a
Tiny mastodon from the bayou
"That's how, two months after our marriage, my wife and I headed off to prison." Subscribe to read now! Otherwise, the paywall comes down on Friday.