Hottt news
May 15, 2008
Mike Taylor has a loooong interview up at Laelaps. It’s sauropawesome.
The picture above has nothing to do with that, we just like to put sauropod vertebrae in every post. Here are some CT sections of a Haplocanthosaurus cervical (abbreviations: fos – fossa, lam – laminae, nc – neural canal, ncs – neurocentral suture). I like them because they look nothing like what I expected. Not that the internal structure or laminae are unusual for sauropods, just that sauropod vertebrae themselves are unusual and sometimes the best way to be confronted with that is to see them from new vantages. I recycled this from Wedel (2007:fig. 13), and it basically just a rearrangement of Wedel (2005:fig. 7.3). The nice drawing of the Haplo cervical is from Hatcher (1903:pl. 2).
Well, now I’ve blabbed on for a paragraph and managed to cite myself twice in a post that is ostensibly about Mike. Seriously, go read the interview, it’s great.
References
Hatcher, J.B. 1903. Osteology of Haplocanthosaurus, with a description of a new species, and remarks on the probable habits of the Sauropoda, and the age and origin of Atlantosaurus beds. Mem Carn Mus 2:1-72.
Wedel, M.J. 2007. Aligerando a los gigantes (Lightening the giants). ¡Fundamental! 12:1-84. [in Spanish, with English translation]
May 29, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Matt, I just did, and it is. Mike, well done. Encouraging, and thought-provoking…
Looking into dinosaur stuff I keep finding there are just so many links to just so much stuff that I know I can never even get to grips with the rough outline of the ‘map’ of the field… nor even know one tiny bit in exhaustive depth. So I guess I just have to resign myself to doing what I do, which is: dabble widely, have my interest caught by especially interesting things here and there, and highlight these to others.
The bright side is that I will always have fascinating things still to learn!