BiologyJanuary 8, 2017
The Asian Dove That Ate Europe Alive
The story behind one of Europe's most familiar columbiforms...
Stories by Darren Naish
Darren Naish is a science writer, technical editor and palaeozoologist (affiliated with the University of Southampton, UK). He mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs but has an avid interest in all things tetrapod. His publications can be downloaded at darrennaish.wordpress.com. He has been blogging at Tetrapod Zoology since 2006. Check out the Tet Zoo podcast at tetzoo.com!
BiologyJanuary 2, 2017
The Strange Case of the Minnesota Iceman
The modern-day corpse of a human-like hominid, preserved in a block of ice, encountered by researchers in the 1960s, you say? Surely the zoological discovery of the century!
EvolutionDecember 21, 2016
Christmas 2016, When I Finished All the Fishes
It is that time of year once more...
EvolutionDecember 18, 2016
Nonstandard Ideas in Amphibian Evolution, Part 2: Salamanders and Caecilians Evolved Independently of all other tetrapods
Might it be that salamanders (and caecilians) are not close kin of frogs, that they evolved wholly independently of all other tetrapods?
EvolutionDecember 14, 2016
Nonstandard Ideas in Amphibian Evolution, Part 1
Have the animals we call frogs actually evolved separately—from distinct ancestors—on two or three separate occasions? Err, no, but let's see what people have said about this sort of thing anyway...
BiologyDecember 5, 2016
The Remarkably Weird Skeletons of Frogs
Frogs and toads—anurans—have profoundly modified skeletons and are among the most atypical of tetrapods...
EvolutionNovember 28, 2016
Naish and Barrett's Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved
A new, state-of-the-art book on dinosaurs has arrived...
BiologyNovember 23, 2016
Tet Zoo Bookshelf November 2016: of Flying Dinosaurs, Extraordinary Birds and Camera Traps
Time once again to look at a few recently-ish published books relevant to our interests. Hey, some would make ideal Christmas gifts—don’t you think? Without further ado…
BiologyNovember 14, 2016
The Ridiculous Nasal Anatomy of Giant Horned Dinosaurs
Giant horned dinosaurs had very special nostrils...
BiologyNovember 6, 2016
The Natural History Museum at South Kensington
It’s visited by over five million visitors a year, houses over 80 million specimens, and changed the very perception of what a museum is meant to be...
BiologyOctober 31, 2016
The Pacific Giant Salamanders
They have robust skulls, big teeth, they reach a reasonable size and they're restricted (today) to northwestern North America. They're the Pacific giant salamanders...
EvolutionOctober 17, 2016
Thoughts on the Passerine Tree, 2016
About 60 percent of all living bird species belong to one group. Let's take a quick look at them...
BiologyOctober 8, 2016
Rilla Martin's Ozenkadnook Tiger Photo, Revisited
Can we ever really explain a weird 'monster' photo, taken in Australia in 1964? Well, we can try...
BiologyOctober 2, 2016
The Day After TetZooCon
TetZooCon 2016 was held on Saturday October 1. Here's what happened...
BiologySeptember 24, 2016
It's World Cassowary Day 2016
The cassowaries are here, and it's a shame that we know so little about them...
EvolutionSeptember 20, 2016
The Stem-Mammals--a Brief Primer
Mammals are but the only surviving members of a far grander, older lineage
BiologySeptember 13, 2016
Tet Zoo Bookshelf September 2016: of Fossil Primates and Nightjars
Quick reviews of two great new(ish) books...
BiologySeptember 6, 2016
Coming Soon: TetZooCon 2016
We are but weeks away from the prime Tet Zoo–themed event of the year
BiologyAugust 31, 2016
Ode to the Great Blue Heron
Spear-billed, long-necked, wading marsh dinosaurs that eat... well, whatever they can catch and cram into their throats
EvolutionAugust 25, 2016
The Dinosaurs of Crystal Palace: Among the Most Accurate Renditions of Prehistoric Life Ever Made
Often derided, and today somewhat neglected and forlorn, the famous prehistoric animal models of Crystal Palace in London have a lot to teach us...
BiologyAugust 8, 2016
Tet Zoo Reviews Zoos: Edinburgh Zoo
An excellent Scottish zoo with an impressive number of mammals, birds and more...
EvolutionAugust 3, 2016
Stegosaurs and the Species Recognition Hypothesis
Does the species recognition hypothesis explain why Stegosaurus possesses the distinctive giant plates that run along the top of its neck, back and tail? Dear Species Recognition Hypothesis: look, we need to talk...
BiologyJuly 26, 2016
Squeakers: Frogs with Claws, Frogs with "Hair"
Fame at last for a poorly known group of African frogs...
BiologyJuly 13, 2016
Meet the Shreats
A quick look at the obscure, striped, worm-eating mice of the Philippines.