BEARSCARE

The journal, Nature, is reporting that geneticists have discovered that crab claws and eagle talons are genetically identical. According to Dr. Derek Wright’s article,

We were searching for ways in which both species related to their common ancester, the trilobite. We mostly focused on the major organs, but got nowhere. By chance, one of our interns noticed a similarity between x-ray images of the upper bone in the claws of both crabs and eagles. It turns out that, genetically speaking, the crab claw and eagle talon are identical

Actually, it wasn’t just a similarity. The two animals’ claws are indistinguishable to the naked eye, as shown in the image featured in the article, used with permission, below.

Left: crab claw upper bone structure, Right: eagle talon upper bone structure

Dr. Wright continued,

Today is a new day for science. A bird and crustacean sharing an entire body part? This has never been observed in written history. Now that we know that entire bone structures can survive one billion years of evolution, we can examine even human features, particularly those in the wrists and ankles. The holy grail of science has always been to connect humans to a common ancestor, often theorized to be the trilobite, but we’ve never even come close to realizing this dream. My guess is that in 1,000 years, no one will even care who invented the airplane because this will be, by far, the greatest contribution to science since the discovery of the wheel. I’m serious.

Early reactions to the controversial article have mostly been very positive. “I can not believe we overlooked this,” remarked Gerd Levensen. “We spent years looking for similarities in the brain. The claw? It’s so simple.”

Congratulations to Dr. Wright and his team. We hope to get an interview soon.

As this page establishes itself as a true colossus of the internet with TEN THOUSAND page loads, I would like to take a moment to discuss pelicans. Today, a pelican landed on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA, stopping traffic for a long time. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to that bridge.

I first noticed pelicans while photographing crabs and flying men in North Carolina earlier this summer. They captured my imagination and also the imaginations of generations before me–the graceful wings, the dump-truck beak–they’re probably just the best birds. Here’s a picture of one from Wikipedia’s article on them.

Also, Pelican is a pretty great band.

I think pelicans were featured in The Flintstones, which is fine. But I could be wrong about that.

As far as I can tell, nothing of any interest whatsoever happened in the news today. So, we’re going to have a frank discussion about barn owls for a bit. Personally, I’ve always been a fan. I find owls to be totally sweet, but also totally creepy (in a good way). Figure 1 shows a pretty cool picture of one.

Figure 1

The barn owl is perhaps the most widespread of all the owls. This medium-sized predator is found on all continents except for Antarctica; they are scarce in the extreme northern reaches of North America and also in the Sahara Desert–but who would want to live in those places**? Not me.

Barn owls love rodents. Rats, mice, whatever–they eat them ALL. They have been known to eat more than one rodent per night and a nesting couple can consume over 1000 per year**. Figure 2 shows a barn owl flying. He’s probably looking for rats or mice.

Figure 2

These birds have really done a great job evolving. They’re pretty unstoppable and it seems like there’s no chance they’ll ever be extinct. My hat is off to barn owls. Now, I will leave you with this great film.

**All factual information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl

I think eagles and I have a lot in common but I don’t think I could ever be one. Today, I left work slightly after noon to get lunch. Salad was the plan, but as I neared the Balducci’s in Alexandria, VA, I began to doubt myself. I decided to go with sushi instead. I like fish the way bears like fish: raw. I’ve never had the chance to eat live salmon, but I have eaten raw bits of salmon on clumps of rice. One time my family went to an Asian restaurant and I ordered sashimi thinking it would be fish on rice, but it was just fish. I became closer to the bear than ever that day, though I’ve drifted–through no fault of my own–slightly since.

As I was eating my sushi and reading CNN, I spotted this article. It seems a bunch of bald eagles dove into a TRUCK OF FISH GUTS. I guess they were so pumped up by the smell of raw fish they couldn’t take it any more. I can relate, but not totally. Some of the eagles did not survive–they probably drowned. The lucky ones were washed off and suffered the indignity of being left to dry out in a warehouse. If you ask me, it just wasn’t worth it. Below is what an eagle looks like wet.

I guess dogs and cats probably eat fish guts in their food, but it’s generally nonlethal and the smell is disguised with the smell of old fish. I bet my dog, Resi, would jump into a tank of fish-anything. She can swim really well.

Below is an excellent video targeted at viewers who have little to no knowledge of eagles. Intermediate eagle fanciers will find this mostly review. Eagle experts should move on to something else right now.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1x1m6SB4ks&rel=1]

Peace out.