Fossils turn up in the most unusual places. Simone Casati, an amateur paleontologist, was exploring the famed vineyards of Italian winemaker, Castello Banfi, when he came across a small piece of bone poking out of the soil. He started digging and realized that he had unearthed more then he had e anticipated: a 10m (33ft) long skeleton of an ancient whale.The rich soil of the vineyards was laid down five millions years ago in the Pliocene, a time when Tuscany was covered by a warm, shallow sea rich in fauna.
The skeleton, which resembles a modern rorqual whale, is almost complete and well preserved. It belongs to the group of large baleen whales that includes the blue, humpback, and fin whales.
The excavation team, led by palaeontologist Menotti Mazzini of the University of Florence, are working on a month long excavation, after which the skeleton will be removed to be cleaned and restored. The winery has requested permission from Italy's Department of Cultural Heritage to host the fossil and display it to the public in Banfi's museum.
Cristina, M. March 23, 2007. Ancient Whale Fossil Uncovered in Tuscan Vineyard. National Geographic News.

Unfortunately such comments have often been made by Watson and while I don’t agree with him, I certainly defend his freedom of expression. I also don’t think he has a special ‘responsibility’ being a Nobel Prize scientists to censor himself. It is unfortunate that a man with so much knowledge and experience is drawing such conclusions but sweeping his remarks under the rug doesn’t help people. The organizers of events across the country are sticking their heads in the sand. By canceling these talks and making the decision that we shouldn’t be subject to his perspectives, they have denied us the opportunity to see a great scientist and to question him on his views.
Fraternal twins are an entirely different matter. Fraternal twins are no more identical than any other sibling pair and are the result of two separate sperm fertilizing two separate eggs. This is can occur naturally, the result of the mother releasing more than one egg at ovulation. It may also be the result of medical intervention as many women take fertility drugs to improve their chances of conception. There is also a hereditary link as the incidence of fraternal twins do occur more often within a family.
Some of the odd developments (gill slits and tails as examples) can be explained by the research of a 19/20th century German researcher, Ernst Haeckel. This eminent man was more than a scientist, he was a physician, philosopher, artist and teacher. Haeckel’s contribution to biology was immense, in addition to naming and identifying thousands of new species, he contributed many large-scale concepts to the fields of ecology and biology. His most controversial theory is often referred to as Recapitulation Theory.
American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, died on 12 Apr 1897. Cope is best remembered for his rivalry with O.C. Marsh, often referred to as the Great Bone Wars. These two antagonists shared a lot in common: a fierce sense of competition, unbounded arrogance and a deep driving force that led them to unbelievable lengths to outdo each other. Cope led many great expeditions into the American West and was prolific in the naming of dinosaur species. Cope was also an ichthyologist, an evolutionist, and a founder of the Neo-Lamarckian school of thought.
In response to inquiries after a previous blog entry,
A recent issue of Nature celebrated Linnaeus’ 300th birthday with a series of editorials, essays and features on the continuing work of taxonomists. One of the more provocative articles discusses the definition of species, including the status of the beloved polar bear, Ursus maritimus.
I took a long weekend so I guess this story is a few days old but I had to relay it because it is so funny! Thanks to Hank Campbell who organizes 
Continuing on the whale theme today, an Australian couple has had an extraordinary windfall: walking along a remote beach they found 32-pounds of sperm whale puke, for which the proper scientific word is ambergris. At first this may seem like a disgusting curiosity worth no more than a moment of notice for its scientific value, but in fact the monetary value of the discovery is estimated to be over $1 million USD!
The Encyclopedia of Life project will detail 1.8 million known plant and animal species in the format of an online archive. Each species will have its own page with descriptions, photographs, videos, and maps, compiled by experts.
After eight years and I am still learning new things my husband: we were walking down the street yesterday when the clouds parted, revealing a bright sun and he consequently sneezed! Now I realize that this phenomenon affects a significant number of other people I know. So in case you were ever wondering why looking at the sun on a bright day makes you sneeze here is the answer:
Some criminals get caught in the act of smuggling strange cargo and are not always very clever about heir tactics. In the United States, wildlife smuggling is the nation’s second-largest black market, (behind narcotics), worth $9 billion a year.

The beautiful thing about the Antarctic is that it is one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers. New information about climate, geology, and paleontology is discovered regularly and today, the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology announced the discovery of a fossilised amphibian which lived more than 245 million years ago in the Triassic of Antarctica. Its presence suggests that the climate at the time was mild enough to allow cold-blooded creatures to live near Pangea’s southern margin, at least seasonally. 
Beluga whales are distinctive for their pale skin and large melon shaped head. These animals can grow up to 5m (16ft) in length and live in large pods, mainly in the Arctic and Canadian Subarctic. Belugas live close to coastlines and in winter they occasionally become trapped in savsatts, small openings in ice packs. Belugas can find themselves the victims of shrinking savsatts, which they use to breath. Each animal will take a turn coming up for air and in the worst of winter, their movement is all that keeps the savsatt open.
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