Darwins' Islands

The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles off the mainland of Ecuador. When Charles Darwin first stepped foot onto one of they islands in 1835 he had come across a biologists dream. I have been lucky enough to have visited the island on two separate trips. I recommend it to anyone with a love for biology. Do it soon because time is running out. Four of the main islands have a population of 17,000 people that keeps growing. As with any population of us human being comes pollution. Worse than the pollution is the introduction of non native animals. Many of the native animals have never had natural predators so they are tame as can be. You can walk up any animal without it running away. There were many occasions where i wanted to pick up marine iguana's because i knew it was possible but i would have broken a federal law. Now imagine an animal that tame to something as big as me and now introduce dogs. Dogs eat and kill just about anything they can get a hold of. Biologists on the islands are doing their best to protect these animals that are found nowhere else in the world. The biodiversity is astounding. Of course you could see all the finches made famous by Darwin but there is so much more. Blue footed boobies that arch their backs and whistle to the sky during mating rituals. Giant turtles you could literally ride on. The wave albatross that looks more like a hand glider than a bird. The span of diverse life goes on and on. Just don't be too late.

Sources:http://www.galapagos.com/

Mummified Dinosaur Rocks World of Science

Dakota, named after her discovery in North Dakota is no ordinary dinosaur find. The 67 million year old hadrosaur has begun unlocking secrets to the evolution of dinosaurs. This herbivore was mummified then fossilized preserving tendons and ligaments. It is very common to only find fossilized bones of dinosaurs, and very rare to find them joined together as they would be in real life. Some paleontologists say that if you find a complete fossilized dinosaur skeleton within your lifetime, you have hit the jackpot. For such an epic and preserved find the body had to come by many specific circumstances. The hadrosaur had to escape predators, scavengers, as well as decomposition due to the elements. Before bacteria was able to consume the tissue, it is believed to have been mineralized through a chemical process. It is miraculous how such an important specimen to science survived undamaged for approximately 67 million years. Using a CT scanner paleontologists were able to discover exactly how much muscle was in between the bones and skin of the tail. Dinosaurs are now believed to be even larger than first thought. The muscles at the base of the tail prove that this dinosaur moved much faster than predicted. A whopping estimate of 45 kilometers per hour. The muscle mass at the rear end of Dakota was calculated at 25% larger than first believed. This is an incredible find. Are all dinosaurs bigger and faster than first thought? Would mankind survive against these colossal reptiles? Will we ever find preserved cells leading to possible cloning? Would it really be a smart idea? All we can do is keep digging.

Sources:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071203-dino-mummy.html

Religion, evolution and science...can they coexist?

For many people religion has all the answers, for others it's all about science. For people like me there are doubts (sometimes a lot of them) but discussion is always welcome and interesting. We might agree on many things, and disagree on others but mutual respect is the way to go. I created this BLOG for you, students of BIO124. You will be blogging as well because you will have marks for this...but mostly because, like me, you just might like to blog and share your ideas and opinions.

Looking forwards to meet you soon!