tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-183213802009-06-29T08:05:14.977-05:00If you aren't moving at a snail's pace, you aren't moving at all. -Iris Murdochpascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-75331690979011028662009-05-28T10:22:00.002-05:002009-05-28T10:41:35.395-05:00

It is done. I have successfully navigated the maze of dissertation work and have a shiny new PhD as a result. I suppose I should actually post stuff again.

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-3533390061900234642008-10-13T08:58:00.002-05:002008-10-13T09:02:04.646-05:00

Just a quick note to let those who may be checking for interesting tidbits that I'm not gone completely. I'm just in that last stage of writing where free time is either non-existent, or devoted to NOT thinking about snails. I've got some interesting things queued up in the near future, however:•More updates about Driftless Area paleo•Some note about Oreohelix in Utah•Some responses to

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-10233945553585943042008-05-06T16:24:00.004-05:002008-05-06T16:30:57.571-05:00

Whew - the semester is drawing to a frantic close, and I'm still in the process of much dissertation writing/editing. One of the things I did to keep myself from going too crazy was to build a 3D skeleton of Allosaurus to help teach dinosaur anatomy to my class. Overall, I think the project was a success:Here's a close-up of the anterior portion of the critter:I may just try to formalize some

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-33469491633901760452008-04-14T08:49:00.002-05:002008-04-14T09:01:51.744-05:00

Apologies for those of you looking for updates about Ice Age snails. Writing chapters in the dissertation and I am in the throes of editing/revising. That leaves little time for blog-type rambles. Here are a few items to keep you busy:Mating succineid gastropods:Aydin over at Snail's Tales has an update on his mating Oxyloma retusa. A must see for anyone interested in the naughtier side of snail

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-56142188943581775902008-02-06T12:36:00.001-06:002008-02-06T12:59:48.722-06:00

Aydin over at Snail's Tales commented on my recent post regarding Hendersonia occulta:How do you know the post ice age climate change was the reason for the restriction of Hendersonia's range?That's a great question, as much of what we think we know about the late Pleistocene climate is based on critters. Primarily, 1) where they are now, and 2) where they were in the late Pleistocene.So, how do

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-22091081996972019052008-01-28T13:07:00.000-06:002008-01-30T08:22:52.381-06:00

Last year, ">Aydin over at Snail's Tales posted a note about an interesting land snail, Hendersonia occulta. This particular snail is one of the few operculate land snails in North America and represents an important evolutionary link between terrestrial and marine snails. It also is an important snail when one thinks about climate.In the late Pleistocene (a mere 20,000 years ago), this snail

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-75969880350197340462008-01-23T08:43:00.000-06:002008-01-23T09:09:57.999-06:00

A recent post by Aydin at Snail's Tales recently got some shells of an African land snail, which were the leftovers of a meal rich in snaily goodness. These are among the largest of terrestrial gastropods; very impressive critters. In some regions these are kept as pets.This brings up an interesting point: in the U.S., it is illegal to keep live GALS. The reasons being economical and ecological.

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-58413102380042226542008-01-22T09:04:00.000-06:002008-01-23T08:37:54.030-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while. What am I up to? I'm getting ready to teach my Dinosaur course again, that's what. For those of us in the paleo world, we are sometimes guilty of avoiding dinosaurs, because of their immense popular appeal. However, Dinosaurs are a perfect gateway science. They tell us about the history of life, the relationship between earth history and living organisms. They are an

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-16739887574913280922008-01-20T10:15:00.000-06:002008-01-28T09:23:28.140-06:00

I've been doing a little thinking about calcium. Snail's have one absolute requirement that has a rather striking impact on their distribution and diversity. Calcium-rich environments have enough free building material for snails to manufacture and maintain an external shell. It should come as no surprise that the dolomite (a type of calcium-magnesium carbonate rock) outcrops in eastern Wisconsin

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-19799995313909229552007-12-10T12:06:00.000-06:002007-12-10T12:38:37.892-06:00

Succinea cf. ovalis crawling up the side of the tank. The shell is about 1cm long, not quite maximum size for this species. The yellow splotches were from a pigment marker I tried to use to tell individuals apart, but it rubs off too easily.Last month (11/30), I mentioned that two of my Succineid snails (one very large individual and an intermediate-sized one (as above) were mating. I didn't get

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-17932094677872592382007-11-30T10:40:00.001-06:002007-11-30T10:40:59.625-06:00

I got in to work this morning, and two of my succineid snails were mating. How many people can say that?

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-7608137748709794932007-11-29T10:58:00.000-06:002007-11-29T12:19:26.157-06:00

I recently updated my blog with some information about amino acid racemization (often called AAR). By looking at the proportion of L-amino acids to D-amino acids, one can use this as a basic "clock" to compare the relative ages of organic material. There are some important caveats, however. I will cover those in more detail later. But Aydin, over at Snail's Tales had an interesting comment about

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-45243315635911024682007-11-28T05:03:00.000-06:002007-11-28T11:17:19.876-06:00

I have been surveying our local woods and found this particular snail:At first, I thought I had come across Columella columella alticola. It has a narrow penultimate whorl, tall, columnar shape, and prominent transverse striae. I was rather excited, as this species hasn't yet been found in Minnesota yet. Alas, after talking to several people who have seen multiple Columella edentula (=simplex),

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-39447193462935249952007-11-25T19:17:00.000-06:002007-11-25T19:24:15.420-06:00

Since I had a request for a topic of discussion, I'll start with that. If any of my readers would like to see anything specific, be sure to let me know. One of the results from my current research deals with the breakdown of Amino Acids in the shells of terrestrial gastropods. Before I dive into the nuts and bolts of my work, I figure I'll start with an explanation of how Amino Acids are used in

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-66174253612951364942007-11-15T10:43:00.000-06:002007-11-15T10:52:13.979-06:00

What has Pascal been doing? Here's a list:Writing his dissertation outline, assembling necessary figuresTeaching sedimentology/stratigraphyA little photographyWriting his dissertation chaptersPresented a poster at GSA last month based on Amino Acid results from Ice Age snailsStudying pterosaur flight and building gliding and rubber band-powered models of RhamphorhynchusCollecting modern snails

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-21037371652888408072007-11-01T12:59:00.000-05:002007-11-03T01:04:03.086-05:00

Yet another post in what is still a woefully under-updated blog. But, just a quick shout to interesting happenings at the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting I attended for the last week. Among the interesting items, was a poster on a fascinating set of full-body imprints from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania (go figure). This was presented by Spencer Lucas at the New Mexico

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-10396581041714073562007-10-20T14:00:00.000-05:002007-10-20T14:05:03.147-05:00

I was browsing BBC news and this article caught my attention:80 Million Years Without SexI found it interesting, but even more so because Aydin over at Snail's Tales introduced me to the world of bdellid rotifers a few years ago.Makes me think I should write about sex (in a paleobiological sense, you naughty viewers...).

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-6801323260112129292007-10-08T14:54:00.000-05:002007-10-08T15:02:25.726-05:00

While working on my project (picking snails), I came across a super, time-saving invention. Featherweight forceps. These are tweezers made of super thin spring steel, which allow me to pick up snail shells without crushing them (even the tiny Vertigo shells). In addition, tweezing them takes a fraction of the time the old "moist brush" method would take. Meaning I can get snails counted in less

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-38346742794990028592007-10-04T11:41:00.000-05:002007-10-04T12:14:50.828-05:00

Aydin over at Snail's Tales posted the "Interesting Animal" meme. Considering how long it's been since I updated, I'll entertain the brave souls that occasionally check this site with something to read:An interesting animal I've had:For several years, our family had a pet Eastern Tiger Salamander.His name was "Coco" (my little sister named him) and he lived with us for nearly 8 years. He loved

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-58393329153153554402007-07-10T13:48:00.000-05:002007-07-12T12:06:02.459-05:00

Well, The Other 95% and Snail's Tales among others are doing the "8 Random Things" meme. While I have not been posting often enough to warrant tagging others, I figure it'll give anyone stopping by something to chew on while I cook my data in a statistical stew and prepare to share it with the world...1). I have loved dinosaurs since about age 3. I can say that I have discovered dinosaur bones,

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-41808269680374061002007-06-06T11:12:00.000-05:002007-06-06T11:18:43.504-05:00

It's been nearly four months since my last post. See what teaching a college course on dinosaurs as well as dissertation research will get you? A whole lot of "time for nothing else." Here's a shot of me in the field - digging for snails:I've gotten a few comments that deserve a response, especially as it relates to the Driftless Area. But I'm off to Ohio to meet up with some geologists for a few

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-1158938383921325112006-09-22T10:08:00.000-05:002006-09-22T10:19:43.936-05:00

The above map I put together based on the summary paper by Jass (2004). In this paper, she echoes the call of Hubricht (1985) and others that much of the upper midwest is woefully undersurveyed for snail abundance. Notice the large number of Wisconsin counties with fewer than five land snail species reported for that county. The most populous counties (Dane, Milwaukee, Brown), those with state

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-1158234904520204872006-09-14T06:55:00.000-05:002006-09-14T06:55:04.520-05:00

Science and Reason: Philosophia Naturalis #1Sorry for any repeat links - I'm trying out a remote linking option on blogger. But hey, this is the first carnival for this one, so it deserves two links :)

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-1158234659641048252006-09-14T06:42:00.000-05:002006-09-14T06:52:34.156-05:00

In short order, I have three posts at three different carnivals - including a brand new carnival, sure to please all you physical science types.The first is over at The Tangled Bank #62:A travel bingo edition complete with drawings by the host. Very cool - and check out the rest of his site - very talented artists over there.Next up is I and the Bird #32:A fellow north-woodser gathers a slew of

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18321380.post-1158113742309474032006-09-12T21:14:00.000-05:002006-09-13T12:39:13.493-05:00

How did the Driftless Area form?In the previous post, I talked about the what and where of the Driftless Area. This is a brief discussion on how. During the last Ice Age, the thick sheets of ice that covered much of the northern part of the US and nearly all of Canada went around the Driftless Area. How did that happen? There are a couple of primary thoughts regarding this. The first and most

pascalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18168846490598155683noreply@blogger.com6