Syzdekistan

My biggest goal in my life right now is to have a species named after me. Stephen Colbert just demanded and got a spider named after him and I think it is my turn.
I’m not against other things being named after me. The most “honorable” way would be to discover a comet. The first discover […]

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Today, I received word that Mojave Max, the desert spokestortoise for the Clark County Desert Conservation Plan died. I had the pleasure of feeding and taking care of this tortoise at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in the early 1990s. He was a very friendly tortoise with a great personality and he lived in the […]

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I snapped this picture of a male vermillion flycatcher last week. Vermillion flycatcher’s are arguably one of the prettiest birds in Southern Nevada and they are quite rare. They like to nest in mature mesquite woodlands. This one was photographed near Moapa Nevada near the headwaters of the Muddy River.

Here is a picture of aphids […]

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I’m peripherally involved with this project to study the breeding success of burrowing owls in the urban areas in the Las Vegas Valley. As natural areas become more and more urbanized, understanding how wildlife functions in urban areas is very important. And burrowing owls are very cute.

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Wouldn’t be fun to live in a place where the dominant land animal is a crab?

Nice article on coconut crabs on Daily Kos tonight.

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I just found this fascinating tale of evolution in action. Researchers in 1971 placed a species of lizards on a small Croatian island where they did not previously exist. After 36 years of neglect due to war and polictical turmoil, scientists returned to the island. The native lizards to the island had been eliminated and […]

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After years of promising not to discuss work after hours but always failing, botanists at Hampshire College’s Agricultural Studies Farm Center told reporters yesterday they have finally made a pledge to ban any and all talk of plants during drinks this Friday.
read more | digg story

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From the “I had no idea” department. Tree living ants in the Amazon rainforest have recently been observed to glide back to the tree truck if dislodged from the the canopy. A straight fall to the forest floor would be deadly because the forest is often flooded and there are dangerous ant predators in the […]

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A few years ago, my friends and coworkers Anthony and Aaron were out in the desert when they spotted a velvet ant. This flightless wasp is cute and fuzzy as I scurries about the desert floor. Anthony said: “I think I can pick it up without being stung” and he reached down to grab the […]

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Just saw this interesting post on the amount of money raised for breast cancer awareness and research compared to money raised for much more deadly cancers such as lung, liver, and colorectal. Gonna have to get me one of those brown colorectal cancer bracelets.

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