Palaeoblog
@palaeoblog.bsky.social
News and views from Dr. Michael J Ryan, Dinosaurologist
Premiered This Day (1975): The Land That Time Forgot. Directed by Kevin O’Connor, and starring Doug McClure.
August 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Premiered This Day (1975): The Land That Time Forgot. Directed by Kevin O’Connor, and starring Doug McClure.
Born This Day: Jean-Baptiste de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (Aug 1, 1744 – Dec 18, 1829). In 1809 Lamarck published his theory of evolution (in Philosophie zoologique). Lamarck's theory found little favour among his contemporaries and he died blind and in poverty
August 1, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Born This Day: Jean-Baptiste de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (Aug 1, 1744 – Dec 18, 1829). In 1809 Lamarck published his theory of evolution (in Philosophie zoologique). Lamarck's theory found little favour among his contemporaries and he died blind and in poverty
Who was lined up to see the premiere of this movie on this day in 1993?
June 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Who was lined up to see the premiere of this movie on this day in 1993?
Born This Day: Clair Cameron Patterson (June 2, 1922-Dec 5, 1995). In 1956 made the first precise measurement of the Earth's age - 4.55 billion years. He established the patterns of isotopic evolution of lead thus creating a powerful tool for identifying lead contamination in the environment
June 2, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Born This Day: Clair Cameron Patterson (June 2, 1922-Dec 5, 1995). In 1956 made the first precise measurement of the Earth's age - 4.55 billion years. He established the patterns of isotopic evolution of lead thus creating a powerful tool for identifying lead contamination in the environment
Born This Day: Louis Agassiz (May 28, 1807-Dec 14, 1873). Swiss-born naturalist & geologist who published landmark studies on natural history and fossil fish. Emigrating to the USA in 1847 he become professor of zoology and geology at Harvard and founded its Museum of Comparative Zoology.
May 28, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Born This Day: Louis Agassiz (May 28, 1807-Dec 14, 1873). Swiss-born naturalist & geologist who published landmark studies on natural history and fossil fish. Emigrating to the USA in 1847 he become professor of zoology and geology at Harvard and founded its Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Man Is Still A Monkey: In 1930, the reknowned paleontologist William K. Gregory from the AMNH sat down with a reporter from "Popular Science Monthly" to talk about Man from a scientific point of view. Read the full article via my old: palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/man-...
May 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Man Is Still A Monkey: In 1930, the reknowned paleontologist William K. Gregory from the AMNH sat down with a reporter from "Popular Science Monthly" to talk about Man from a scientific point of view. Read the full article via my old: palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/man-...
BORN THIS DAY: WILLIAM WHEWELL (May 24, 1794 - Mar 6, 1866). He founded mathematical crystallography and developed Mohr's classification of minerals. He created the words scientist and physicist and coined word for his friends, e.g., Eocene, Miocene and Pliocene for Lyell.
May 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
BORN THIS DAY: WILLIAM WHEWELL (May 24, 1794 - Mar 6, 1866). He founded mathematical crystallography and developed Mohr's classification of minerals. He created the words scientist and physicist and coined word for his friends, e.g., Eocene, Miocene and Pliocene for Lyell.
BORN THIS DAY: CAROLUS LINNAEUS (May 23, 1707 – Jan. 10, 1778). His publication on plants in Systema Naturae (1735) introduced binomial classification to systematics, further expanded on in Fundamenta Botanica (1736) & Classes Plantarum (1738).
May 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
BORN THIS DAY: CAROLUS LINNAEUS (May 23, 1707 – Jan. 10, 1778). His publication on plants in Systema Naturae (1735) introduced binomial classification to systematics, further expanded on in Fundamenta Botanica (1736) & Classes Plantarum (1738).
Born This Day: Oliver Perry Hay (May 22, 1846 – Nov 2, 1930). His Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America (1902) became a standard reference. In 1908 he published an ill-advised reconstruction of Diplodocus with a sprawling stance.
May 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Born This Day: Oliver Perry Hay (May 22, 1846 – Nov 2, 1930). His Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America (1902) became a standard reference. In 1908 he published an ill-advised reconstruction of Diplodocus with a sprawling stance.
BORN THIS DAY:MARY ANNING (May 21, 1799-Mar 9, 1847). A prolific fossil collector, Mary made her first significant discovery at a young age of a Jurassic Ichthyosaurus. She sold her finds to scientists and the public. Late in life, the Geological Society of London granted her an honorary membership
May 21, 2025 at 1:10 PM
BORN THIS DAY:MARY ANNING (May 21, 1799-Mar 9, 1847). A prolific fossil collector, Mary made her first significant discovery at a young age of a Jurassic Ichthyosaurus. She sold her finds to scientists and the public. Late in life, the Geological Society of London granted her an honorary membership
DIED THIS DAY: STEPHEN JAY GOULD (Sept 10, 1941–May 20, 2002). Paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, & popularizer of science. With Niles Eldredge they developed the theory of punctuated equilibrium: long periods of evolutionary stability are punctuated by swift periods of branching speciation
May 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
DIED THIS DAY: STEPHEN JAY GOULD (Sept 10, 1941–May 20, 2002). Paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, & popularizer of science. With Niles Eldredge they developed the theory of punctuated equilibrium: long periods of evolutionary stability are punctuated by swift periods of branching speciation
BORN THIS DAY: THOMAS DAVIDSON (May 17, 1817 – Oct. 14, 1885). A Scottish authority on brachiopods, his Monograph of British Fossil Brachiopoda comprised six quarto volumes with more than 200 plates drawn on stone by the author. Upon his death he bequeathed his collection to the British Museum
May 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
BORN THIS DAY: THOMAS DAVIDSON (May 17, 1817 – Oct. 14, 1885). A Scottish authority on brachiopods, his Monograph of British Fossil Brachiopoda comprised six quarto volumes with more than 200 plates drawn on stone by the author. Upon his death he bequeathed his collection to the British Museum
palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/toda... Today In History (1856) Darwin Starts Writing The Origin of The Species
May 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/toda... Today In History (1856) Darwin Starts Writing The Origin of The Species
PREMIERED THIS DAY: REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955): The second of the three ‘Creature’ films, Revenge of the Creature was again directed by Jack Arnold, with Lori Nelson taking over the role of the damsel in distress.
May 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
PREMIERED THIS DAY: REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955): The second of the three ‘Creature’ films, Revenge of the Creature was again directed by Jack Arnold, with Lori Nelson taking over the role of the damsel in distress.
Died This Day: Georges Cuvier (Aug 23, 1769 – May 13, 1832). “Cuvier's scientific achievements are difficult to overestimate. It was widely recounted that he could reconstruct a skeleton based on a single bone. His work is considered the foundation of vertebrate palaeontology.”
May 13, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Died This Day: Georges Cuvier (Aug 23, 1769 – May 13, 1832). “Cuvier's scientific achievements are difficult to overestimate. It was widely recounted that he could reconstruct a skeleton based on a single bone. His work is considered the foundation of vertebrate palaeontology.”
Born This Day: Father Of Noosphere. Vladimir Vernadsky (May 12, 1863-Jan 6, 1945) was a biogeochemist who was the first to popularize the noosphere - the biosphere controlled by the mind of man. Humanity has been a powerful geologic force, moving more mass upon the earth than the biosphere
May 12, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Born This Day: Father Of Noosphere. Vladimir Vernadsky (May 12, 1863-Jan 6, 1945) was a biogeochemist who was the first to popularize the noosphere - the biosphere controlled by the mind of man. Humanity has been a powerful geologic force, moving more mass upon the earth than the biosphere
ARRESTED THIS DAY (1925): JOHN T. SCOPES. Arrested for violating a new state law against the teaching of evolution in the public schools in Tennessee, Scopes was found guilty at the ‘Scope's Monkey Trial’ and fined $100. His appeal over-turned the fine and found the new law unconstitutional.
May 5, 2025 at 9:21 PM
ARRESTED THIS DAY (1925): JOHN T. SCOPES. Arrested for violating a new state law against the teaching of evolution in the public schools in Tennessee, Scopes was found guilty at the ‘Scope's Monkey Trial’ and fined $100. His appeal over-turned the fine and found the new law unconstitutional.
BORN THIS DAY: JOSEPH BARRELL (Dec 15, 1869–May 4, 1919: Proposed that sedimentary rocks were produced by the action of rivers, etc (1917); used radioactive dating to reinterpret Earth's age to billion years; argued that severe climate drove the evolution of air-breathing vertebrates
May 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
BORN THIS DAY: JOSEPH BARRELL (Dec 15, 1869–May 4, 1919: Proposed that sedimentary rocks were produced by the action of rivers, etc (1917); used radioactive dating to reinterpret Earth's age to billion years; argued that severe climate drove the evolution of air-breathing vertebrates
Born This Day: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (May 1, 1881–April 10, 1955). Paleontologist/Jesuit priest/philosopher,his book, The Phenomenon of Man, published posthumously, argues that humanity is in a continuous process of evolution towards a perfect spiritual state.
May 1, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Born This Day: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (May 1, 1881–April 10, 1955). Paleontologist/Jesuit priest/philosopher,his book, The Phenomenon of Man, published posthumously, argues that humanity is in a continuous process of evolution towards a perfect spiritual state.
Died This Day: Joseph Leidy (Sept 9, 1823 - April 30, 1891). The Father of American Vertebrate Paleontology described the holotype of Hadrosaurus foulkii, the 1st American mostly complete dinosaur. He also mentored a young E.D. Cope and pointed he and Marsh to the rich fossil resources of the West
April 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Died This Day: Joseph Leidy (Sept 9, 1823 - April 30, 1891). The Father of American Vertebrate Paleontology described the holotype of Hadrosaurus foulkii, the 1st American mostly complete dinosaur. He also mentored a young E.D. Cope and pointed he and Marsh to the rich fossil resources of the West
Premiered This Day (1956): The Creature Walks Among Us. The 3rd in the Creature trilogy tackles the ethics of animal experimentation and touches on the consequences of meddling with nature making it much more than just a ‘monster of the rampage’ flicker.
April 26, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Premiered This Day (1956): The Creature Walks Among Us. The 3rd in the Creature trilogy tackles the ethics of animal experimentation and touches on the consequences of meddling with nature making it much more than just a ‘monster of the rampage’ flicker.
BORN THIS DAY: WILLI HENNIG (Apr 20, 1913–Nov 5, 1976) is best known for developing phylogenetic systematics. He first summarized his ideas in 1950 in German which became more widely known with the publication of the English revision, Phylogenetic Systematics (1966)
April 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
BORN THIS DAY: WILLI HENNIG (Apr 20, 1913–Nov 5, 1976) is best known for developing phylogenetic systematics. He first summarized his ideas in 1950 in German which became more widely known with the publication of the English revision, Phylogenetic Systematics (1966)
BORN THIS DAY: SIR WILLIAM LOGAN (Apr 20, 1798 – Jun 22, 1875). Logan was the Father of Canadian Geology. As Director (1842-69) of the new Geological Survey of Canada he produced the monumental Report on the Geology of Canada (1863) which recorded 20 years of research, fieldwork, & maps.
April 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
BORN THIS DAY: SIR WILLIAM LOGAN (Apr 20, 1798 – Jun 22, 1875). Logan was the Father of Canadian Geology. As Director (1842-69) of the new Geological Survey of Canada he produced the monumental Report on the Geology of Canada (1863) which recorded 20 years of research, fieldwork, & maps.
DIED THIS DAY: LOUIS DOLLO (Dec 7, 1857–April 19, 1931). Dollo researched the Iguanodons found in 1878 in a mine at Bernissart, Belgium. He is also noted for ‘Dollo's Law of Irreversibility’ which states that a complex structure once lost in evolution never reappears exactly in its former state
April 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
DIED THIS DAY: LOUIS DOLLO (Dec 7, 1857–April 19, 1931). Dollo researched the Iguanodons found in 1878 in a mine at Bernissart, Belgium. He is also noted for ‘Dollo's Law of Irreversibility’ which states that a complex structure once lost in evolution never reappears exactly in its former state