Linnaeus' Legacy #6

Better late than never, right?

The Invertebrate Battle Royal and the Circus of the Spineless has taken its toll, and I have not been able to give this month's Linnaeus' Legacy the attention it deserves. So, since the month is almost half over, I figured I needed to get something down ASAP. So, without further delay or, unfortunately, pomp and circumstance, I give you the 6th edition of Linnaeus' Legacy.

Matt at Birder's World introduces us (or at least me) to the mostly-forgotten flightless seaduck of California and the fact that it may be one of the earliest examples of the catastrophe rained down by humans on flightless birds

Nimravid has a report on recent research into the evolution of ant agriculture. A very interesting read as it turns out the various types of fungal farming done by ants align very nicely with the ant phylogeny. Nimravid also has an excellent summary for understanding evolutionary trees - a must read for the cladogramatically-challenged.

Mike at 10,000 birds muses about horned larks, populations, subspecies, and clines. And Great Tits. Mustn't forget the Great Tits.

PodBlack Cat discusses the taxonomic crisis (taxonomist crisis?) in general and the "Michael McRae" crisis in particular (go read it and find out). (PodBlack Cat also submitted a post on the gender gap in education, which, while I do not think fits with this carnival, is an excellent read. Does the fact that I just linked to it mean that it fits with this carnival?)

Speaking of crises in taxonomy, Christopher Taylor, founding father of Linnaeus' Legacy, reports on biopiracy policies in India adversely affecting entomological research there as well as some naming issues revolving around the protist genus Monas

GrrlScientist reports on a newly discovered bird species in Indonesia.

Greg Laden brings us up to date on the Flores "Hobbit" saga with a summary of some statistical work which suggests that the Flores hominids were not diseased humans, as some suggest, but a separate species. (if you need a refresher, check out Carl Zimmer's timeline of hobbit-related events)

John at A DC Birding Blog implicates political meddling in the difficulty of getting new endangered species listed under the Bush (v.2) administration.

The World We Don't Live In (a blog new to me, but one that I will be checking out regularly from now on) had several posts nominated by Christopher Taylor, including a nice descriptions of the ostracodesque Tuzoia and the elaborately-adorned protoceratids.

OK, folks, that's it for this edition of Linnaeus' Legacy - my apologies for its tardiness. The next edition will be hosted by The Ethical Palaeontologist (does this imply that other palaeontologists are unethical?) - hopefully, Julia will be more punctual than I.