Dinosaur Blog Carnival Edition #2, Part I

New Blogs on the Block: The paleosphere offers a hearty welcome to Jeffrey Martz, a self-described “underemployed vertebrate paleontologist” who has started blogging over at Paleo Errata. (Originally, he wanted to call his website Bonerific, until he was wisely advised about the “complications” this would create for finding his blog on Google.) Also, John Scannella—a PhD student at the Museum of the Rockies & Montana Sate University in Bozeman, Montana—has started his own site, focusing on Triceratops research. Be sure to check out his Triceratops overview, highlighting the many mysteries that still surround this famous, three-horned dinosaur.

Artistic License: Darren Nash at Tetrapod Zoology reviews the book, Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds, by Australian paleontologist John Long and artist Peter Schouten. “Schouten’s attention to detail is so good that we see the ticks nestled in the folds of skin around the eye of Alioramus,” writes Nash, “Tyrannosaurs have eyelashes and fine hairs in their ear.”

However, Nash has some bones to pick: the avian dinosaurs look too birdlike. And, channeling the spirit of the recently deceased Mr. Blackwell, he deems many of the non-avian species “far too chunky.” (Oooh…Snap!)

Pleasant Dreams: So, there’s a website called Upscale Baby Blog, which sounds a bit like it’s devoted to toddlers who are already applying to Ivy League universities. (In fact, it’s a shopping guide that focuses on “new products and emerging designers that you may not find in stores.”) One of their latest finds is a stunning quilt, sold by Posh Tots, featuring a collage of realistic-looking dinosaur images. Priced at $225, I would hesitate to call it a bargain, but it’s a nice departure from the purple dinosaurs and their cartoon kin that usually decorate children’s products.

Check out more links in part two, coming later this week.

Mark Strauss | | READ MORE

Mark Strauss is the Departments Editor at Air & Space magazine.