December 21, 2016

Christmas 2016, When I Finished All the Fishes

It is that time of year once more...

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Well, 2016 is nearly at an end, you might have noticed. And all that remains before I sign off for the holiday season is for me to wish you a very happy Christmas. But I’m going to do that in a somewhat unusual way. Those of you who know me, or who are vaguely aware of what I do, will know that my 2016 has been overwhelmingly dominated by an on-going project that involves fish. A lot of fish. You can learn more about that project – and support it – here. But the big deal? I finished. Well... I finished the fish section of said project, more or less (‘fish’ in the non-tetrapod sense of course). And thus, here is my Christmas card for the year…

Credit: Ethan Kocak *The Black Mudpuppy*

Yes, that’s me, gleefully slaying fishes. Yeah yeah, I know it’s a bit weird, but Happy Christmas! The card was designed and illustrated by the brilliant Ethan Kocak (of The Black Mudpuppy fame) who, entirely coincidentally, has recently been making a name for himself as The Twittersphere Science Avatar Guy (support Ethan here).

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While we’re here, suppose you want to buy someone something Tet Zoo-themed for Christmas. Well, you can’t, you’re too late, what kind of a last-minute-gift-buying person are you? But here are some suggestions for next year. I hear that Darren Naish’s and Paul Barrett’s new book Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved is quite liked by those interested in dinosaurs, and it’s highly affordable too. I must also mention the Tet Zoo redbubble shop where you can buy t-shirts and other products with smartass comments (new, improved designs are due to appear as and well time allows).

At left: that book again. Credit: Darren Naish and Paul Barrett. At right: my most popular t-shirt design. Yes, really! Credit: Darren Naish

I could plug stuff by other people in the TetZooniverse – John Conway, Gabriel Ugueto, Rebecca Groom of palaeoplushies fame, David Orr of BlueAsterStudio – but that would be, I dunno… Remember to also consider supporting worthy charities. And on that note, farewell, best wishes to all.

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