Sabertooth cats...

...were bad, bad, animals.  Four feet tall at the shoulder, and armed with foot-long serrated canines (in the case of Smilodon populator, the largest of the group).  And, apparently, massively strong in the forelimbs.  X-ray analysis reveals that the bones from the front legs of sabertooths were dramatically thicker, and presumably stronger, than those of similarly-sized modern cats.  The cats apparently used their powerful forelimbs to hold down their prey while they dispatched them with the canines.

Making it right

Grandmothers

Few female mammals live significantly past menopause.  We're glad they do of course, but it's still an interesting question - one that comes up routinely in my evolution class when we're discussing life histories.  It's a trait that humans share with killer whales and pilot whales, and a new paper appearing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and discussed here at Scientific American delves into what we might have in common with those species.  Good stuff.

So, there you go

Topic that came up in class tonight...  One of the "mini-project" topics that my students are addressing is the idea of "fish as pets", the idea being to find out a little about the natural history of the species that have come to be popular in people's homes.  A number of the fish that students have chosen to examine are tropical marine species, and we had a discussion tonight about the conservation impacts that the aquarium trade is having.  And then this.  A new paper appearing in Marine Policy examines just that issue, concluding that international law is not doing an adequate job of protecting reefs and reef species from decimation from collectors.  Collectors remove some 30 million fish per year, belong to perhaps 1,500 species.  Since many collected fish will die before reaching markets, collectors overharvest to be sure they have enough to meet their needs.  Some fish, like the Banggai cardinalfish, have disappeared from much of their previous range.  The authors recommend that to deal successfully with the issue, pressure must be exerted on the U.S. market which accounts for over half the trade in reef fish.

Day on the river

Fish guys and I spent the day on the Tombigbee yesterday.  Not terribly productive.  Shoreline waters over 90 degrees down to three feet or so - seining doesn't yield much.  We're trying some different techniques - more to come.

As some know...

...summer has not been kind thus far.  Long, hot days.  Long, too.  And hot.   And not terribly conducive to writing blog posts when I get in at 9 or 10.  However, a variety of clues have indicated that there are some folks out there, mainly students former and current, that actually look to see what I've put here.  Lately, that hasn't been much.  Gonna try to be better.  Do me a favor.  Drop  a comment occasionally, so I'll know that these aren't just Dear Diary entries.