T-Rex tasted like chicken....

I saw this one coming:

T. rex was no chicken.

But scientists say soft tissue recovered from inside the leg bone of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex most closely resembles that of a modern hen.

This is the first time dinosaur protein has ever been sequenced. The feat — described in Friday's edition of the journal Science — means that researchers now have a new way to learn how ancient creatures are related to modern animals.

The discovery also bolsters the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs, and suggests that a T. rex drumstick might have tasted like chicken.

“What we knew, based on bone shape, was that dinosaurs are closely related to birds,” says Mary Schweitzer of North Carolina State University and lead author on one of the Science papers.

“The similarity to chicken is definitely what we would expect.”

Read the entire story here: Once a dinosaur, now a chicken.

How to build a dinosaur...

Here's a nice, concise take on how Jack Horner proposes we can build a dinosaur:

Horner worked with the makers of “Jurassic Park,” one of my all-time favorite movie series. As you may recall, the plot of these movies revolved around the re-creation of dinosaurs by scientists who had manipulated DNA taken from blood removed from the tiny guts of mosquitoes who had bitten dinos, only to be encased in resin that over time hardened into amber.


The so-called building of a dinosaur proposed in Horner and Gorman’s book would be done differently, however. Horner has long claimed that birds are not only descended from dinosaurs, but are in fact dinosaurs themselves, and so possess the same genes as their nonavian dinosaur ancestors. (I love the term, used frequently in the book, “nonavian dinosaur.”) It’s simply a matter of triggering the switches that control whether teeth, a lengthy vertebrate tail and those funny little arms instead of wings will manifest themselves as the embryo develops.

Read the whole article here: MARTHA ALLEN: How to build a dinosaur.

This is quite similar to what happens in Little Birdies!, except ... well, I really don't want to give too much away. The book should be available within a week or so...

Bird/Dino discussion with Jack Horner...

First, I had no idea that there was a weekly dinosaur news show. But there is - called Dinosaurs - Before They were Fuels - and they're up in arms about the recent attempts to discredit the links between birds and dinosaurs. Well, at least as up-in-arms as paleontologists get...

Jack Horner was, of course, a consultant on the original Jurassic Park movie, where his dino-bird theories were first exposed to the general public. His take on the controversy is typically clear-headed.

Brilliant! Liberty AND a little birdie...

Bill Whittle is the best. Here is his latest video over at PJTV, a monologue touching on liberty, the nanny state, and metaphysics, all through the eyes of a little birdie. Well worth watching...

http://www.pjtv.com/video/Afterburner_with_Bill_Whittle/__HowieBurner%3A_Whittle_and_Howie_Do_Some_Retro-Tweeting_About_The_Nanny_State/2093/

Dinos had bird-like skin...

I really hope we get to clone one of these suckers someday...

The duck-billed dinosaurs have been giving up their secrets lately. Just yesterday researchers revealed new details of how hadrosaurs chewed their food, using a set of teeth that look like a “cranial cuisinart.” Today, paleontologists have put the hadrosaur’s skin on display, thanks to a “mummified” creature that shows the shape of its soft tissue and cell-like structures...

For the study, which will be published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers used advanced imaging techniques to get under the hadrosaur’s skin. A study of the cell structures show that, like modern-day crocodiles and birds, the skin was made up of two layers: a surface epidermis against a deeper dermis layer made up of dense connective tissue. Although that finding is what might have been expected based on the presumed lineage of the modern animals, Dr Manning said it is “clean science” [BBC News] that further supports the theory that dinosaurs left behind some descendants.

There's even a picture. Read the entire article: Dinosaur “Mummy” Reveals a Creature With Bird-Like Skin.

Here's another article on the same subject -- Dinosaur mummy yields its secrets -- but with a slightly larger picture. Hey, we don't get to see that many pictures of dinosaur skin; might as well check it out while they're in the neighborhood...

Birdies leaving the nest...

I just approved the proof copy of Little Birdies!. The only issue I had was that the header/page numbers looked a little tight against the top of the page. I could have tweaked the manuscript and resubmitted it, but it would have cost me another week or two, and I decided it wasn't worth it. I'm not even sure the problem is with my manuscript -- I have the lower margins set at one-inch in Quark, and they measure a solid inch-and-a-quarter on the proof copy (at the expense of the upper margin), so it might just be some play in the way they cut the pages before binding. I don't know, I would have preferred that it be perfect, but, like I said, it's not worth delaying the release of the book over.

It should be available on Amazon in a week or two. I'll let you know!

Live life like a Budgie...

Here's a nice take on life with parrots:

Most of the time however, these energetic and lively little birds are comical, friendly and fun. They live their lives in a big way. Budgies don't do anything half-heartedly. It's all or nothing for them afterall they're big eagles on the inside. They whistle and chatter away often quite loudly. Domesticated budgies love playing with toys and bouncing around their cages, play room, or aviary. Budgies simply exude joy and happiness.

So what can we learn from these endearing little parrots? We can learn to make each moment count and count in a big way. We can put 100% of ourselves into all we do. We can dance and sing whole-heartedly, we can play with our children as if there were no tomorrow, and while listening to our spouses or friends we can hang on to every word knowing people and their stories matter. We can garden with joy and deliver a speech at work with enthusiasm and gusto. We can play tennis or swim in the ocean with a happiness that powers each muscle with energy and strength.

Read the entire article here: Budgies teach us to live with a little spunk.

Bird toys good for business...

Maybe Detroit can convert the old GM and Chrysler plants over to making really big bird toys...

Twin Leather in Brockton, Mass., was founded by Richmond and Raymond Castano, twin brothers, in 1949. The company made leather soles.

Brockton was known throughout the world as the epicenter for shoe making (and leather). (Historical note: The U.S. government ordered more than half of the boots for Union soldier during the Civil War from Brockton manufacturers.) Related businesses to feed area shoe manufacturers grew, then the trade waned as the industry gradually moved business overseas.

“A local bird toy manufacturer kept coming in and buying all our vegetable-tanned leather scraps, that resulted from miscut leather washers,” said Castano. “Curious to what was being done with them, I found out the answer was toys. Bird toys. This came at a good time because our shoe finding trade was dwindling. The vegetable-tanned leather is a pretty important element for bird toy makers.”

He notes that an alternative process for leather curing involved chrome, which is highly toxic to pets.

Read the entire article: Bird Toy Makers Thrive in Niche Market.

Can't find that bird book?

Having difficulty locating that rare, out-of-print, bird book? We may have found out where they've all been hiding:

Today, Hale offers one of the largest selections of bird books in North America, from common field guides to rare books valued at more than $10,000. While other businesses have been battered by the recession, Halesays his business is steady and he’s looking to expand his offerings.
He lives in a cabin down a secluded gravel road. His home is 35 acres of forested land, providing a perfect haven for bird-watching.

Mr. Hale runs Buteo Books, and if he doesn't have what you're looking for, he likely has something you didn't know you needed but can't live without. Article here: Birds: Avocation to vocation.

Top Ten Famous Parrots....

1) Alex - Dr. Irene Pepperberg's talking African Grey parrot, Alex has garnered more media coverage than any other parrot in modern history. Alex flew off to birdie heaven on September 6, 2007, at the age of 31. His story is immortalized in Dr. Pepperberg's book, Alex and Me.

As recounted in her book, Alex's last words to Dr. Pepperberg were:
"You be good. I love you," Alex said.
"I love you too."
"You'll be in tomorrow?"
"Yes, I'll be in tomorrow."


2) Snowball - of YouTube dancing fame. Snowball is a head-bopping, foot-stomping Medium Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, and subsequent studies have shown that he can move in time to differing rhythms and to different songs.

3) Einstein - yet another chattering African Grey parrot of YouTube fame. Einstein has been a regular on prime time TV and late night talk shows. It's a great act; I especially like his spaceship and laser sound effects.

4) The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill - stars of both a film and a book, they are feral cherry-headed and blue-crowned conures in San Fransisco. The birds are free to jet across the open sky and generally act like parrots, while the humans spend their days cooped up in restrictive, enclosed spaces. While you're thinking about that, do the right thing and run out and buy your parrot a larger cage.

5) Paulie - star of the 1998 movie by the same name, Paulie is a wise-cracking blue crown conure, who sounds remarkably like Jay Mohr.

6) Fred - Tony Baretta's Triton Cockatoo. Baretta was a detective series that ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. If the bird is still alive and collecting residuals from the show, I imagine it must be the wealthiest parrot in the world by now.

7) Gerald - a character in the late, great Michael Crichton's novel, NEXT. Gerald is a transgenic African Grey parrot who helps a transgenic chimp with his math homework and sings country music. Gerald's vivid memory, detailed powers of recall and intelligent banter land him in hot water with his humans.

8) Parrot Heads - Jimmy Buffet fans. Party with a purpose... and generally with a funny parrot hat.

9) Monty Python's dead parrot - a Norwegian Blue - they prefer lying on their backs.

10) Fawkes - Albus Dumbledore's phoenix. Okay, Fawkes may not be a parrot, but its beak has enough of a hook to qualify as such for the purposes of this list. It might pass for a ratty Scarlet Macaw if you were drunk enough and didn't know anything about birds. Finding ten famous parrots is more difficult than you might think.

Bison help restore prairie...

Best way to restore the grasslands on the American Serengeti is to restore the bison:

"One of our goals is to restore this area to pre-settlement conditions," said Steigman, explaining that drought, fire and large grazing animals like bison are essential to prairie ecology.

Only tough, deep-rooted plants could survive the area's periodic droughts. Fires, often sparked by lightning, prevented tall trees from gaining a firm foothold but allowed quick growing grasses and other prairie plants to flourish.

And buffalo, which roamed the prairies west of the Mississippi River in the millions before their numbers were devastated in the late 1800s, were an integral part of the ecosystem.

I covered this in some detail in both The Third Revolution and Middle America.

Mohonk Mountain House celebrates 140 years...

The famed Mohonk Mountain House is celebrating their 140th anniversary this year. They've been entertaining guests since the start of the Ulysses S. Grant administration, and play host to the runaway Little Birdies! for more than a few chapters.

There's an excellent photographic retrospective here, and more here. It's a spectacular establishment set within a truly unique environmental ecosystem. It's well worth the visit, even if only for a day hike.