The Atavism

Sunday Spinelessness – A rare case of secondary spinelessness

David Winter • Dec 18, 2011

• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

These Sunday posts are about celebrating the spineless multitude - that under-appreciated majority of animal-life that makes it way around the world without the aid of a backbone. We usualy call thsoe creatures "invertebrates", but that name doesn't ap... Read More

(repost) Sunday Spinelessness – The origin and extinction of species

David Winter • Dec 11, 2011

• phoning-it-in,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

I'm still experiencing a severe spare-time deficiency down here, so, to stop myself from becoming one of those bloggers, here's something I prepared earlier.  I chose this post to recycle with good reason, I'm thrilled to say that ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Giant weta are amazing… but not the biggest bugs

David Winter • Dec 04, 2011

• conservation,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• weta

I'm probably as big a cheerleader as you'll find for New Zeland's unique and wonderful invertebrates. So, you'd think I'd be happy to see one of our insects make the pages (or the pixels) of the The Daily Mail, The Sun, Boing Boing, The Huffington Post... Read More

Kiwis blogging about evolution

David Winter • Nov 29, 2011

• blog blogging,
• phoning-it-in,
• sci-blogs

As any regular readers here may have noticed, my plate is pretty full at the moment. All you are likely to read here for the next little while are quick photo-centric posts about bugs and maybe a few results of my recreational statistics (I know, it's ... Read More

How did the pollsters go?

David Winter • Nov 28, 2011

• election,
• pretty data,
• sci-blogs

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post comparing the various polling companies that work in New Zealand, trying to see if there were any systematic biases in the results each company produces. In that post, it wasn't possible to compare each c... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – How long ’till they rise up and kill us all?

David Winter • Nov 27, 2011

• cephalopods,
• octopus,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

The title contains everything i have to say on this video:   … Read More

Will early returns accurately predict tonight’s outcome?

David Winter • Nov 26, 2011

• election,
• sci-blogs

It's election day. I'm sure that later this evening we'll be treated to one of the staples of election night coverage, results from early returns delivered with the qualifier that they are unlikely to represent a reliable estimate of the final result.... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Hover fly

David Winter • Nov 20, 2011

• hover-fly,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• Syrphidae

One of these days I'll use these posts to say something substantive and intersting about the nature of life on earth. Today is not that day. Instead, an old photo of the most common pollinators in New Zealand gardens: Melangyna novaezelandiae, the... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – The 95%

David Winter • Nov 13, 2011

• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

No the least bit original (1,2), but fun, and entirely featuring critters that have appeared here in the last year or so: Fans of the spineless may want to join the Octopi wall street movement of Facebook. Read More

Election graphics

David Winter • Nov 09, 2011

• pretty data,
• sci-blogs

As you may have noticed, there is an election around the corner. I'm not about to subject anyone to my political opinions, but I do have an area interest in which I could probably match the most tribal Labour or National supporter f... Read More