Quick post: Darwinius masillae

I just logged in for a quick post on the recently described fossil Darwinius masillae, a 47 MYO primate. Apparently, it's an early representative in the history of primate evolution and has received a lot of attention in the news and the blogosphere.

I'll leave the description of the discovery and its implications to an expert as PZ Myers at Pharyngula [Darwinius masillae].

I will however, say just one thing: the media has ridiculously exaggerated this finding. "Missing link"? Of course not. Nobody uses that "concept" in evolution; in fact I bet that only (some) "science journalists" do, which is just misleading to the general public.
Evolution is not a simple chain.

Notably, the article has generated a lot of controversy and discussion regarding its quality, and again has put PLoS ONE's 'peer review' system up for questioning [see Brian Switek's review: Poor, poor Ida, Or: "Overselling an Adapid", especially the comment's section].

Anyway, here's the original reference of the finding:

Franzen et al. (2009) Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology. PLoS ONE 4(5): e5723 (image is from this article).

Ok, back to preparing my qualification exam.
Cheers!

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The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12th, 1809, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.
As I have mentioned on previous posts [1][2], his contribution to both natural and social sciences has been unmatched and he is arguably one of the most important scientists of our time.
Nature will dedicate three specials to this English naturalist and has set up a website because of this special occasion, as 2009 marks his 200th birth anniversary and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species.
One thing I haven't mentioned is that, as would be expected, Science also set up a website (Online Collection) to commemorate this occasion, which features a blog, perspectives, research articles, etc.
Visit the site at http://www.sciencemag.org/darwin/

From the website:

The Year of Darwin

Science is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of the author's birth with a variety of news features, scientific reviews and other special content, all collected here.

[evolution]

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Nature on Darwin 200

The latest issue of Nature is packed with stuff celebrating Charles Darwin's 200 birth anniversary (which falls on February 12th, by the way), but in the context of the human condition.

This is the second of three specials Nature will dedicate to this scientist with an unmatched impact on the natural and social sciences.
You can check all of the issue's content and some web-only material at the Nature's dedicated Special website www.nature.com/darwin.

From the website:

The latest edition of Nature to celebrate Darwin's life and work looks at the human side of evolution. We have features on looking for Darwin in the genome, and on what evolution has done to shape human nature, while our editorial and two commentaries look at some of the problems inherent in applying biology to questions about humanity. We also have an essay on Darwin's pigeons and poetry by his great great grand-daughter Ruth Padel. And in a special insight we bring together reviews by a range of experts on current hot topics in evolution.

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Darwin year... or gear?

T Ryan Gregory, the author of the evolution-related blog Genomicron, has come up with a whole line of Darwin-related gear considering (for those who still don't know) that 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species".

There are lots of cool stuff for sale, so I invite you to take a look at the store at www.cafepress.com/darwinyear2009 or the main website www.darwinyear2009.com.

For example, you can buy a nice t-shirt with the following logo on it:

So, check it out and buy something: 50% of the earnings go directly to conservation charities, and the other 50% will be invested in developing other evolution-related websites. A gift from this site could get you on your PI's best side ;-)


Now, getting a little more 'scholar' about it, in case you haven't noticed, Nature published a document entitled '15 Evolutionary Gems' which "summarizes 15 lines of evidence from papers published in Nature over the past 10 years" on evidence for evolution by natural selection.
This document has been made freely available so there's no excuse not to check it out and read a little about the 'incontrovertible evidence' on evolution by natural selection.
[It will make a good 'beach reading' for those on their summer vacation (in the southern hemisphere)]

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