DRAW A DINOSAUR DAY!

Alright ladies and gentlemen, the big day is here, and as promised, I present my (joint) submission for the 4th annual "Draw A Dinosaur Day!"

An adolescent male Corythosaurus casuarius, left lateral view.

I imagine this lanky fellow as a sexually mature, yet highly inexperienced and headstrong young buck on his way into his first breeding season. He still has to grow into his legs and tail, and he doesn't have a lot of meat on his bones, but one day he'll fill out, his crest will flush with color, and the ladies will be all over him.

Thanks to Barnum Brown for discovering and naming the species, and Christina for her imaginative color scheme!

Don't forget: Draw A Dinosaur Day!

I'm not going to lie to any of you. I'm kinda excited about this. Can you tell?

"Look ma, no trunk!"

Tomorrow is the BIG day, so get out your pencils, brushes, (Post-It Notes), whatever, and exercise your art muscles. Then submit your masterpiece here. The submissions are already rolling in, so take a peek, and then have fun drawing a dinosaur!

Happy Friday everyone!

Gotta clade 'em all!

My friend Peter has started his own blog (The Nameless Blog) about video games, and has published more posts in his first week than I did in my first month. If you're a gamer I highly recommend you check it out. But his writing has inspired me to write about one of my gaming experiences that, surprisingly, I can tie into the science/nature/education content I like to write about here at Superoceras.

I'm not going to lie to any of you. Back in the fall of 1998, my interests in speculative biology, video games, and collecting things all merged together in what I considered to be the coolest trend of the day: Pokémon. I probably shouldn't admit it, but I spent a great deal of time capturing, training, and battling those little "pocket monsters". I even did a phylogeny of the first 151 creatures as a gag with a friend of mine. I wish I could find it. Don't lie, you want to see it too.

Do you love nature?

I sure do. And so do the people over at NatureBreak.org. NatureBreak is a wonderful video blog/social network started by Vanessa Serrao "where members can use video, photos, and messaging to share stories about their experiences in the outdoors". It "offers people a refreshing 'break' from normal computer work to get in touch with what’s going on in the natural world" (from the "About NatureBreak" page).

I am a member of the site, and think it's fantastic. I was even featured as their "Nature Blog of the Week" (and they are currently looking for more to feature for all of those science/nature bloggers who may be out there reading this). I thought that even though it is in my blogroll, I would return the favor and feature them in a post. Go check them out, enjoy the videos and be inspired to go and have your own nature break in the great outdoors!

Save the Date: Draw A Dinosaur Day!

Just caught wind of this via ART Evolved and wanted to do a quick post to help spread the word. Two Saturdays from now will be the celebration of the 4th annual "Draw A Dinosaur Day". Anyone and everyone is invited to draw a dinosaur and submit it online to the website for display. Posting will begin January 29 and close on February 2. I'll post a reminder next week and my submission the day of. So spread the word, and have fun drawing a dinosaur!

Happy Birthday Kibibi!

This past weekend, the youngest addition to the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) family at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park celebrated her first birthday (photo at left by FONZ Photo Club member Jonathan Kang). Born 10 January, 2009 to mother Mandara, Kibibi lives with her half sister Kigali, half brothers Kwame and Kojo, paternal grandmother Haloko, and new silverback Baraka at the zoo's Great Ape House.