The Atavism

A Very Special edition of Sunday Spinelessness

David Winter • Jan 26, 2014

• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessnes

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote something here. Let's see if I can remember how this goes: I find a weird-looking bug and take some photos. Then I enthuse about that bug for a few paragraphs, hoping some broader point will emerge from all my ... Read More

Sequencing the tuatara genome

David Winter • Jun 17, 2013

• blog blogging,
• sci-blogs

Things have been quite around here for a while. Largely for the typical boring reasons, the pressure to get work done and on to journals that might publish it leaving little spare time. On top of that the non-science time I've had lately has ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Mostly True Facts about land snails

David Winter • Feb 17, 2013

• land snails,
• sci-blogs,
• snails,
• sunday spinelessness

The ailing laptop on which I write these posts has developed a new symptom - a non-deterministic keyboard. So, I hope you'll excuse me if I just paste a link and get on with something less annoying than trying to write a post via a cellphone. It'... Read More

Darwin and New Zealand

David Winter • Feb 12, 2013

• Darwin,
• Darwin Day,
• history of science,
• sci-blogs

February the 12th is the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Across the world people will be marking the day by remembering Darwin the discoverer of evolution by natural selection, Darwin the cautious husband, Darwin the barnacle boffin and maybe even Darwin the geologist who explained the origin of coral atolls. I might be the only person who takes … Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Cannibalism in the garden

David Winter • Feb 03, 2013

• arachnophilia,
• jumping spiders,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

The most common jumping spider in our garden, Trite auricoma, with the remains of it most recent meal... a smaller T. auricoma: Cannibalism,  animals eating members of their own species, is a pretty common and widespread behavio... Read More

Elsewhere

David Winter • Jan 31, 2013

• blog blogging,
• sci-blogs

A couple of links that might be of interest for readers of The Atavism: I've  been really remiss in linking to interview I did with Veronika Meduna for Radio NZ's Our Changing World. The bugs Veronika and I visited will all be familiar to reader... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Native bees again

David Winter • Jan 27, 2013

• bees,
• native bees,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

Last year, at about this time, I wrote a little about our native bees. Though I'm glad to have done my little bit to promote the existence of these all too anonymous members of our natural heritage  I've always felt a little embarrassed&... Read More

Cats aren’t evil, but they are a problem

David Winter • Jan 22, 2013

• cats,
• conservation,
• New Zealand,
• sci-blogs

  It seems Gareth Morgan has declared a war on cats. It will, I'm sure, come as a great surprise to you that Morgan's description of cats as ruthless and sadistic killers that we must eventually purge from the land  has met some opposition... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – 5 down…. quite a few to go

David Winter • Jan 20, 2013

• my research,
• phylogenetics,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

I got some good news this week - a paper I'm an author on was accepted for publication pending some minor revisions. That's great because career advacement in academia rests largely on what we publish, and this is a good paper that I'll be happy to add... Read More

Sunday Spineless – On the Wing

David Winter • Jan 13, 2013

• bee,
• bumblebee,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

Just a photo today, but a pretty awesome one I reckon. An inbound bumble bee from my parents' garden in the Wairarapa: (~50 out of focus shots from same session not shown!) … Read More