Why should we worry?

So towards the end of December I wrote a post about why climate change causing extinctions is not a good thing and is not just evolution. In that post I outlined a few reasons why we should be protecting endangered species. Well it turns out that I somehow forgot that the beauty that is nature. Oh well Why Evolution is True took care of that for me.

Let us not forget that the early naturalists weren’t much interested in the practical or medicinal value of species, but were inspired largely by that driving force of science, simple curiosity. It is that curiosity, expressed in both author and reader, that has rightly made Richard Dawkins a best-selling author. His books are about the beauty and marvel of evolution, and barely say a thing about its practical benefits.

Take a look at the full article it is a well written and sums up my feelings exactly and those reasons are part of why I am working on the National Park Series.

Book Review #6

Have I really not done a book review since June 8th, wow! I guess that is what happens when you stop reading books and spend most of your time reading scientific papers. Oh well on to the review.

In 1859 when Charles Darwin first published The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection he knew that the keys to his theory would lie in the fossil record. In 1861 a fossil would be found that would lend huge credence to his evolutionary theory. This fossil would eventually be named Archaeopteryx lithographica, the name was originally just given to a feather but I will let this post flush out that problem, and would be come one of the most famous fossils in history. The fossil was found in rocks in the Bavarian region of southern Germany in a formation named after a small town known as Solnhofen. Since then the Solnhofen Formation (or Plattenkalk) is one of the most well known formations in the world famous for Archaeopteryx as well as several genera of pterosaur.

The formation has probably been known about for as long as humans have been in the region for its ability to split into thin sheets that are perfect for roofing [Image below and right is of a specimen of a Coelacanth Coccoderma nudum from the Solnhofen limeston by author at the Houston Musuem of Natural Science by author]. The Roman buildings in the region often incorporate pieces of the formation. Being a limestone, which dissolves easily in acid, it was eventually discovered that it could be used to make lithographic plates for art. During this time fossils had to have been discovered and eventually during the 1700s when science started to take off they were finally noticed. Fossils from the formation have now been scattered around the globe as they preserve beautifully the soft tissue of many of the organisms that lived in the region. The problem is that even though the area has been well known for a long time there has been very little published in English for an English speaking audience. That changed with the publication in 1990 of Solnhofen: A Study in Mesozoic Palaeontology by K.W. Barthel, N.H.M. Swinburne, and S. Conway Morris (Amazon page). This book will be the focus of this review, lets read the back cover.

The celebrated Solnhofen Limestone is among the most important fossil deposits because of its astonishing diversity of organisms, many exquisitely preserved. Marine and terrestrial creatures and plants, buried 150 million years ago in soft lagoonal muds, provide a unique glimpse into the true diversity of Jurassic life. Articulated skeletons are preserved, as well as some soft-bodied animals that otherwise would be too delicate to survive fossilisation. Among the highlights are superbly preserved jellyfish, crustaceans, squid, fish and flying reptiles. Perhaps most important of all is Archaeopteryx - the celebrated 'missing link' which has the skeleton of a dinosaur but is covered in feathers, revealing a crucial evolutionary transition between the reptiles and the birds. Solnhofen opens a window into a vanished world, and reveals the unexpected richness of a land and sea teeming with life.

This book is a revised and updated translation of Werner Barthel's classic work Solnhofen: Ein Blick in die Erdgeschichte. In revising the text, Nicola Swinburne and Simon Conway Morris have added a considerable amount of new material whilst preserving the spirit of the original book. This is an authoritative account of the geological history, palaeoecology, palaeoenvironment and fossil taxonomy of this classic location. Not only will it be of great interest to palaeontologists and evolutionary biologists, but it will also be of value to amateur collectors, natural historians and also those with an interest in the history of life.

Overall I would say this book is an interesting read. I first started this book over a year ago when I was trying to figure out the basic geologic background to the area and I was struggling to find much published on the area in English. The geologic background in this book gave me a good starting point so I could find other English sources and eventually understand where the current state of understanding of the formation is. It does a really good job of this but if you don't have much of a geologic background you may want/need to study up before you get there. All of the sources are cited but it gets a little technical at times. I recently figured I should finish reading it, aka today I have been referring back to the geologic setting portions a lot recently, and finished off the summary of the fossil organisms present. This was interesting because without mentioning phylogenetics the majority of the organisms are organized phylogenetically, except for the last three on dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and birds.

My only real complaint about this book, and one everyone trying to understand the geology of the region needs to understand, is that it is dated. This isn't bad considering it was published in 1990 and much of the geologic setting is the same but there are some minor changes that have occurred in the 20 years, wow really, since this was published. This includes the discovery of an additional four specimens of Archaeopteryx. If you want the most up to date geologic data in an easy to read book pick up Dr. Peter Wellnhofer's Archaeopteryx: The Icon of Evolution (Amazon page), I haven't read the whole thing yet (read: should be the next book review) but the geologic setting is up to date and easy to read.

Overall this book is easy to read and gives good background information on the formation and surrounding areas. It is a little dated so if this is your first foray into the geology of the area make sure you find some of the newer papers and catch up but this is a good starting point. If you do not have much of a geologic background it shouldn't be too hard to catch up but you will most likely need to do so before you get too far into the book or you will get left in the dust. I will end this post with an image I took of a the Thermopolis specimen of Archaeopteryx when it was on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (see post on this trip here).

Book Citation

BARTHEL, K. W., N. H. M. SWINBURNE, AND S. C. MORRIS. 1990. Solnhofen: A study in Mesozoic palaeontology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ix, 236 p.

Book review page

The anti-anti-Vaccinationist

*pause for dramatic effect*

Oh SMBC how you always give me a chuckle.




But yeah I wouldn't actually wish any harm come to an anti-vaccinationist I just wish they would listen to the evidence :'-( (yes that just happened).

What does the Ice say?

Another piece of the on going Climate Denial Crock of the Week by Greenman3610 takes on the climate change deniers who say the ice cores tell us that the world has been much warmer.

Debunking Monckton 3

Part 3 (part 1, part 2, part 4, and part 5) of Potholer54's series debunking Monckton

Debunking Monckton 2

Part 2 (part 1, part 3, part 4, and part 5) of Potholer54's series showing the flaws in Monckton's climate change denial arguments.

Debunking Monckton

One of the most prominent climate change deniers is a man who goes by Lord Monckton. Recently Potholer54 took the time to do the fact checking on some of the sources of Monckton's arguments. This is the first video, I promise to post the others when they are posted to YouTube and this one is long so if you don't have 15 minutes maybe watch it later. Also all of the sources are in the video description itself so obviously you can go fact check for yourself.



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Lubbock Paleontology

When I first moved out to Lubbock, Texas I wasn't sure what I was getting myself in for. I knew that the terrain would be flat but I had also heard stories that there is nothing to do here. While I have been living out here I have found plenty of things to do, including visits to the Museum of Texas Tech and the American Windpower Center (among others) within the city and trips further west to visit several national parks. One of the places in Lubbock that came as a surprise to me was the Lubbock Lake Landmark (LLL) (Wikipedia article) [Photo at left of Short Faced Bear, Arctodus simus, statue at the LLL]. The LLL is a primarily archaeological site that shows evidence of at least 12000 years of human civilization from Clovis time to present. Well an article in today's Daily Toreador, the Texas Tech University student paper, talks about a new exhibit at the LLL that shows the animals that have been found at, or near, the site through time.

The exhibit includes surprising animals once living in Lubbock. The Hub City once was home to many exotic animals no longer found anywhere near Lubbock.

“Short-faced bears, sloths and camels all lived in Lubbock at one time or another,” [Susan] Rowe [education program manager of the LLL] said. “Many visitors are very surprised about camels once living in our area.”

I saw the exhibit a few weeks ago and while it is small it is really well done. Most of the animals they show are from the site itself but some of them have not been found on site but at a nearby site, about an hours drive, and a formation that underlies most of the landmark, the Blancan Formation (yes the type locality for the Blancan Land Mammal Age). Overall worth a couple of hours of your time if you are in Lubbock.

Bill Nye FTW!!!!

Bill Nye may have been my favorite show when I was growing up, must prevent urge to buy DVDs. Over the last few years he has been making the rounds as one the the biggest proponents for science education here in the US. His comments made headlines when he said denying climate change was unpatriotic and now he has moved on to attacking evolution deniers. In response to a recent study saying that ~60% of teachers in the US ignore evolution to ignore the potential debate, Bill Nye was interviewed by Popular Mechanics. This interview is a good read and he includes some good ideas for teaching good science in US classrooms.

Well the longest journey starts with just a single step. Science education: We should support it. Especially elementary school science. Nearly every rocket scientist got interested in it before they were 10. Everybody who's a physician, who makes vaccines, who wants to find the cure for cancer. Everybody who wants to do any medical good for humankind got the passion for that before he or she was 10. So we want to excite a new generation of kids—every generation—about the passion, beauty and joy—the PB&J—of science. These anti-evolution people are frustrating in two ways. The first way is, almost certainly they know better. Those people really do believe in flu shots. They really do understand that when you find fossil bones of ancient dinosaurs, you are looking at deep time, not just 5000 years. And secondly, and much more importantly, having raised a generation of kids who don't understand science is bad for everyone. And with the United States having a leadership role in science and technology, having a generation of kids not believing in science is bad for the world.

Let's hope we can get this fixed!

Cherry Picking Data

When trying to determine long term climate trends all of the data for the planets climate must be taken into account. Many climate deniers choose to ignore data which does not fit their view on climate change. instead they choose things like well it is cold so that clearly means climate change isn't occurring, all the while ignoring data like this. Greenman3610 show another example of this in a recent video, below, and blog post.

Very well said Dr. Holtz

While going through all of my e-mails today from this weekend, so tired must sleep, I was reading though an e-mail thread on the Dinosaur Mailing List that had a great quote from Dr. Tom Holtz. The question had been raised about what does the lay person need to know about paleontology and dinosaurs.

Summarizing the key points of the history of life over nearly 4 billion years of evolutionary history is a big task. After all, there is a tendency to focus on the spectacular and sensationalized rather than the ordinary and humdrum. As Stephen Jay Gould and others often remarked, from a purely objective external standpoint we have always lived in the Age of Bacteria, and the changing panoply of animals and plants during the last half-billion years have only been superficial changes.

But the question wasn’t “what should a dispassionate outsider regard as the modal aspect of the History of Life?”; it was “What should everyone know about paleontology?” Since we are terrestrial mammals of the latest Cenozoic, we have a natural interest in events on the land and during the most recent parts of Earth History. That is a fair bias: it does focus on who WE are and where WE come from.

The full post can be read in one of three places:
Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week (SVPOW)
Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings
Superoceras

St. Louis Mastodons

While I continue to struggle with getting to a trip I was supposed to go to I figured I would share this video that someone made from an old St. Louis newspaper article.

Was Greenland Ever Ice Free?

The short answer is, Yes, but before the climate change deniers start getting too excited this was millions of year ago during a period that would not be considered icehouse conditions, like what we are in now. Anyway the ice cores we can get from Greenland and elsewhere show us just how big an effect we are having on the climate as Greenman3610 points out in his newest video.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Location: Culberson and Hudspeth Counties in western Texas.

Introduction
Located in the high desert of the American Southwest Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Wikipedia page) is like no other park I had ever been too. This was the first national park that I went to since moving to Texas from Pennsylvania. The park has amazing views from atop of the ridges and many hiking trails to get up there. I only spent a few days out here so I only had time to take one hiking trail, it was the geology trail so that will be helpful. The park also contains the highest point in the State of Texas, Guadalupe Peak. The hikes from the basin up to the top of the mountains are hard, typically over 2000 feet of elevation change with the hikes starting at around a mile high. This drastic change in elevation brings with it a drastic change in climates, from a true desert in the basin up to a cooler and more wet environment up on top of the mountains that allows for the growth of a forest. This park is a geologists dream, why you may ask? Well keep reading to find out.

Geology:
Most of the information from this section is summarized from Bebout and Kerans (1993). As I said this National Park is a geologists dream for a couple of reasons. The first reason is the amount of exposed rock, this is typical of many of the western parks because of how dry try are does not promote the growth of much vegetation. The other reason is what has been preserved. Guadalupe Mountains National Park represents a complete reef system from the deep water turbidity deposits up to the more shallow water reef system. If you have looked at the map you may be wondering how this worked since this park is many hundreds of miles from the present ocean. This was not the case during the time of deposition, the Permian, where the ocean came up to the area that is now the park. If you look at this image you will see two shallow water fingers on the western edge just north of the equator. These two fingers represent the two main portions of what is known in the oil and gas industry as the Permian Basin. The more western basin is known as the Delaware Basin, this is where the park is located, the eastern basin is known as the Midland Basin, this is where most of the oil was found. Back to the park during the Permian this reef was building up but unlike modern reefs that are primarily formed by corals the reef that formed the mountains in the park were actually formed by more hard bodied sponges than what we typically find alive today [photo at left one of these sponges taken by author]. These sponges like modern coral secreted calcium carbonate meaning that the mountains are almost entirely limestone. As I mentioned earlier the full reef system can be seen while walking along the trails. This includes many fossils of the reef builders and those that lived on the reef which unfortunately makes it prone to being looted and having fossils hacked out of the rock itself. The limestone is easily dissolved when it comes in contact with acid, this a very good way to test for limestone and is done in most introductory geology labs (see video here), and because of this there are plenty of caves and similar bodies around the area (foreshadowing of a future post).

What makes the geology of the park even more impressive is that it represents a paleotopography [photo at right of El Capitan by author]. This means that if you are standing at the bottom looking up at the top of the mountains it would about the same elevation change as it was during the Permian millions of years ago only it would have all been covered with water. This is the main reason why the entire reef system is preserved since we are looking at the system as it was millions of years ago. So why is all of this visible now? One of the reasons is that after the reef was formed the shallow sea that covered the area went through periods where there were large amounts of evaporation. This leads to large amounts of salt deposits that cover the region on the way west from Lubbock and the rest of more eastern Texas. This area was probably covered during the Mesozoic and the uplift that formed the modern Rockies began to uplift this area as well. Salt dissolves very easily in water and so as the area was uplifted a lot of these salts were dissolved away this exposed the relatively harder limestones in the mountains and allowed the paleotopography to be shown in the park. Of interest to those interested in the history of oil and gas would be what this all means for that field. The oil and gas in the area is typically found in the limestones that are equivalent to those that make up the mountains. Oil would not naturally stay in a porous rock like these limestones but in areas such as the Midland Basin these evaporties form a great caprock which kept the oil from escaping until it could be reached and it made the region rich in oil money which basically created many of the large cities, like Midland and Odessa, in western Texas.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park shows the geology of the Permian so well that it is in fact home two 2 GSSPs. These symbolize the type sections for the Capitanian, the upper most of the Middle Permian, and Guadalupian, or Middle Permian, rocks. This is really interesting and it is exciting in that there are very rarely two GSSPs in one country let alone that close together.

More Pictures All images below are by the author.









Further Reading:

National Park Service's web page on the Geology

Bebout, D.G. and Kerans, C. 1993. Guide to the Permian Reef Geology Trail, McKittrick Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, West Texas. Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, 48 p.
(I really recommend this last one if you are going to do the geology trail because it includes stops and talks about the geology of the are. A digital copy can be found here but I recommend buying one from the park when you get there, support your parks!!!)

National Park Service Series homepage

Offit on Colbert

As you may have guessed the anti-vaccine movement really angers me so I was glad to see that on last night's episode of the Colbert Report that Colbert's guest was Dr. Paul Offit author of the new book Deadly Choices.

Enjoy:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Paul Offit
www.colbertnation.com
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