The Progressive Puppy

When Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

I have always been fascinated by dinosaurs, ever since I was knee-high to a Pteranodon:  Dinosaur exhibits in museums, dinosaur illustrations, dinosaurs in the movies, dinosaurs on television.  When I was a tyke, my favorite Christmas present was a set of twelve plastic dinosaurs and an accompanying picture book packed with artists' renderings of the creatures.  In those days - and this was in the late-1950's, you understand - our knowledge of the prehistoric beasts was sketchy at best.  Dinosaurs were commonly depicted as plodding, dull-colored reptiles, with tails dragging uselessly behind them. 

Of course we now know that dinosaurs were actually streamlined and bird-like, long tails balancing their gargantuan bodies, with air pockets inside many of their bones.  Some sported furculas and feathers.

Paleontologists have for many years been discussing whether or not dinosaurs were cold-blooded, the conventional wisdom for almost half a century - but recent evidence leads scientists to suspect that these so-called "terrible lizards" (neither terrible nor lizards) were in fact as warm-blooded as the family dog.  Jason Palmer reports for the BBC:  Prior studies of dinosaur bones uncovered what are known as "lines of arrested growth."  The creatures were presumed to be cold-blooded because modern cold-blooded animals show these same lines.  But scientists reporting in Nature have studied the bones of 41 modern mammal species from around the world, finding every one had these lines as well.  A number of discoveries in recent years have challenged the 40-year-old notion that dinosaurs were cold-blooded.  But because soft tissues such as organs and skin are not preserved, much of what is known about dinosaurs must be inferred from their bones, and comparisons made with modern animals that can be studied in greater detail...  David Weishampel, a palaeontologist at the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland called the new work "a wonderful paper" and said it was a welcome addition to the debate.  "I think most (palaeontologists) regard dinosaurs as being warm-blooded but there's a lot of waffling in the data that appeared before that wasn't conclusive," he told BBC News.  "It's about time we have a connection between the modern bone histology and fossil bone histology, through a very nice ecological and metabolic comparison."

Jennifer Welsh writes on CS Monitor:  The growth lines they found on the ruminants were similar to those seen in previous studies of dinosaur bones — indicating that both ruminants and dinosaurs have periods of high growth punctuated by "unfavorable" seasons with limited resources and little growth. This means that dinosaurs were likely warm-blooded like the ruminants.  "The argument we are giving in our paper, rather in favor of endothermy in dinosaurs, is that between the growth and rest lines, there's always a big region of highly vascularized [infiltrated with blood vessels] tissue that indicates very high growth rates," study researcher Meike Köhler, of the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, told LiveScience. "This is typical in dinosaurs and very different from reptiles, which have slow growth between the rest lines." 

This is exciting news.  Now if we can just convince fundamentalist Christians that velociraptors weren't playfully nibbling on fig leaves in the Garden of Eden, or that Noah and his sons didn't go rounding up baby T-Rexes and stuffing them inside the ark...  but perhaps that's too much to hope for.  (The cartoon below is by  TTTP.)

Louisiana Creationists Teach Students Loch Ness Monster is Real

Young earth creationists in the Deep South show increasing desperation in their attempts to cast doubt on evolution.  In some private Christian schools, students are being taught that Scotland's legandary Loch Ness monster is an honest-to-God, genu-whine dinosaur.  (This wolld occur before Purity 101 and after a class on how best to bully LGBT kids.) 

Claire McKin, obviously embarrassed for her less-enlightened neighbors across the ocean, reports for The Scotsman:  Thousands of American school pupils are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real – in an attempt by religious teachers to disprove Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.  Pupils attending privately-run Christian schools in the southern state of Louisiana will learn from textbooks next year, which claim Scotland’s most famous mythological beast is a living creature.  Thousands of children are to receive publicly-funded vouchers enabling them to attend the schools – which follow a strict fundamentalist curriculum.  The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme teaches controversial religious beliefs, aimed at disproving evolution and proving creationism.  Youngsters will be told that if it can be proved that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man, then Darwinism is fatally flawed.  Critics have slammed the content of the religious course books, labelling them “bizarre” and accusing them of promoting radical religious and political ideas.  One ACE textbook called Biology 1099, Accelerated Christian Education Inc reads: “Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence...  One former pupil, Jonny Scaramanga, 27, who went through the ACE programme as a child, but now campaigns against Christian fundamentalism, said the Nessie claim was presented as “evidence” that evolution could not have happened.  He added: "The reason for that is they’re saying if Noah’s flood only happened 4,000 years ago, which they believe literally happened, then possibly a sea monster survived."  (And maybe Bigfoot is a descendant of Ham?)

Meanwhile, The Herald has discovered that many of these religious fundamentalists take a sympathetic position on white supremacist hate groups:  Textbooks of some state-funded Christian schools praise the Ku Klux Klan.  The violent, racist organisation, which still exists in the US, advocates white supremacy, white nationalism and anti-immigration.  One excerpt from Bob Jones University Press American history textbook has been reported as saying: "The [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians."  (Perhaps this happened when the bigots got tired of lynching, raping, beating, and mutilating black citizens, Latinos, and homosexuals.)  Other views taught include claims that being gay is a learned behaviour.  (This is the standard view of sexual orientation and gender identity, according to born-again fanatics.) The courses are based around the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme, which originated in Texas in the 1970s.  (The Lone Star State isn't known for its academic excellence.) 

(Painting, left, courtesy the gifted Alex Tomlinson. Center image is "St. Columba and the Loch Ness Monster" by Mairead Ramsay.)

Lonesome George Bites the Dust, Last Chance to See

The last of the giant tortoises living on La Pinta, a small island in the Galapagos, has died.  Conservation icon Lonesome George was approximately a hundred years old, and the only remaining member of his subspecies.  From Reuters via HuffPo:  Lonesome George was found in 1972 and had become a symbol of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which attracted some 180,000 visitors last year.  "This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George, his body was motionless," the head of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, told Reuters. "His life cycle came to an end."  ...  The giant Galapagos tortoises, which can live up to 200 years old, were among the species that helped Charles Darwin formulate his theory of evolution in the 19th century.  The Galapagos National Park is considering embalming George's body so that it can be displayed in the park, Naula said...  Scientists had been trying to get George to mate since 1993, when they introduced two female tortoises of a different subspecies into his pen. They laid eggs twice, but they were infertile.  (Did nobody consider extracting George's semen when he was in his prime and saving it for just such an occasion?  Perhaps they'll at least harvest George's DNA for cloning.)  

Not long ago, I read a fascinating book about endangered species called Last Chance To See, written by Douglas Adams (of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) and Mark Carwardine.  Although the book was originally published back in 1990, it's as fresh and timely in the 21st century as genetically modified blackberries.  As they hop across the globe in search of animals which will soon be lost to us, Adams and Carwardine mix sharp observations with some whimsical humor.

The chapter "Heartbeats In The Night" deals with a species of flightless parrots found in New Zealand.  Fewer than 150 are currently living in the wild.  The Kakapo (eerily reminiscent of the Dodo, hunted to extinction in the late 1800s) is flightless because it never had to deal with predators.  It's also alarmingly heavy, probably for the same reason. 

From Last Chance To See: 

"Until relatively recently - in the evolutionary scale of things - the wildlife of New Zealand consisted of almost nothing but birds...  No dogs, no cats, no ferrets or weasels, nothing that the birds needed to escape from particularly.  And flight, of course, is a means of escape.  It's a survival mechanism, and one that the birds of New Zealand found they didn't especially need. Flying is hard work and consumes a lot of energy. Not only that, there's a trade-off between flying and eating.  The more you eat, the harder it is to fly.  So increasingly, what happened was that instead of just having a light snack and then flying off, the birds would settle in for rather a larger meal and go for a waddle afterward instead.  When eventually European settlers arrived and brought cats and dogs and stoats and possums with them, a lot of New Zealand's flightless birds were suddenly waddling for their lives. 

"Of these the Kakapo is the strangest... If you look one in its large, round greeny-brown face, it has a gaze of innocent incomprehension that makes you want to hug it and tell it that everything will be all right, though you know it probably will not be.  It is an extremely fat bird (and) its wings are just about good for waggling a bit if it thinks it's about to trip over something - but flying is out of the question.  Sadly, it seems that not only has the Kakapo forgotten how to fly, but it has also forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly.  Apparently, a seriously worried Kakapo will sometimes run up a tree and jump out of it, whereupon it drops like a brick and lands in a graceless heap on the ground."

There there, poor sweet baby.  Everything will be all right.

Kansas Yearning to Teach Creation Myth in Public Schools

Fundamentalist Kansans Prepare to Eviscerate Science - Again

Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) warns us that religious conservatives in the Sunflower State are attempting to drive a stake through the heart of evolutionary science.  He points to an AP article which reads in part:  "Kansas is headed toward another debate over how evolution is taught in its public schools, with a State Board of Education member saying Wednesday that science standards under development are 'very problematic' for describing the theory as a well-established, core scientific concept."  (Oh yeah, prehistoric kids ridiing on a Tricerotops is much more plausible that Darwin's explanation of evolving species.)  Writes Branch: 

The standards in question are the Next Generation Science Standards, a first draft of which was released for public comment in May 2012. Evolution is prominent throughout the relevant portions of the NGSS: in life sciences, for example, Natural Selection and Evolution is one of five main topics at the high school level, and Natural Selection and Adaptations is one of five main topics at the middle school level. Kansas is among the twenty-six "lead state partners" of the NGSS development process, officially assisting in the development, adoption, and implementation of the standards; although the lead state partners are not required to adopt the standards, they have agreed to give them "serious consideration" for adoption when they emerge in their final form — which may be as soon as the end of 2012. But Kansas state board of education member Ken Willard told the Associated Press that the draft embraces naturalism and secular humanism ...

Naturalism and secular humanism!  Quick, grab your Bibles!  As reported on the Washington Post:  From 1999 to 2007, the state had five different sets of science standards for its schools as conservative Republicans gained and lost majorities on the board, which sets the guidelines. The debates attracted international attention — and some ridicule — before the latest standards, which reflect mainstream scientific views about evolution, were adopted...  (Board member Sally) Cauble said Kansas is participating in the multi-state effort to draft common science standards because it wants to ensure that its students can compete in a global job market. She said the board should defer to scientists, science educators and business leaders when considering changes.  ("Listen to actual scientists?  Nevah!" the religious fanatics shriek.)  Past debates in Kansas have pertained to key evolutionary concepts, such as a common origin for all life on Earth and how changes in species can create new ones.  (Here in Texas, the conservative State Board of Education once put the age of the universe to a vote.  Since these young earth creationists already promulgated the inerrancy of scripture, the panel's findings were hardly unexpected.  Science standards took a lethal hit, as did the quality of Texas textbooks.)

In November 2005, the Kansas BoE voted to incorporate state science standards that were promoted by "intelligent design" activists, with the goal of destroying the academic status of evolution.  Although the move was universally condemned by legitimate scientific organizations, "values" groups praised the Lord and declared victory over "godless heathens."

Below is a brief scene from the documentary film "What's the Matter with Kansas" in which a freshly-squeezed family of born-again zealots visit AIG's creation "museum."  You'll fall over laughing watching the animatronic cave girl nod and smile at an animatronic velociraptor.  (In a more authentic scenario, that little girl would be lunch and the raptor would be picking its teeth with her leg.  But of course dinosars and humans never coexisted, as any sane person knows.)

There's no point in refuting arguments and observations made by the brainwashed tourists at this ridiculous theme park.  Their ignorance speaks for itself.  We can, however, pity the children.

Related Post:  Creationism - Pseudo-Science That Lingers
Related Post:  When Skeptics Visit the Creation Museum
Related Post:  "UnChristian" Gay Couple Barred From Creation Museum Dinner

(Above cartoons by Gary Markstein courtesy of Cagle Post; and Mr. Fish, courtesy of TruthDig.)

The Born-Again Dentist and The Revisionaries

Former SBOE head Don McLeroy, that creaky old nemesis of science and progress, is the subject of a new documentary called The Revisionaries.  The film is garnering rave reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival.  McLeroy, an evangelical dentist and young earth creationist, believes that it's perfectly all right for a dozen or so Texas wingnuts to decide what information is included in - and excluded from - public school textbooks across the United States.  Since Texas buys the most books, our citizens get to set the standards lower the standards for everybody.  (An example of their unlimited power?  SBOE members, nary an academic among them, once put the age of the Universe up to a vote.)  Here's the trailer for the movie:

Before the Biblical reign of Rick Perry, the Texas State Board of Education was run by actual educators.  These days it's controlled by religious fanatics who whitewash history (skipping over unpleasant episodes like slavery and the systematic annihilation of Native Americans) and denigrate science, focusing exclusively on Christian-positive propaganda.

Below, the faux-academic slash born-again dentist is ridiculed on The Colbert Report ...

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Related Post:  Thirty Percent of Texans Think Dinosaurs Lived With Humans

"Ex-Gay" Academic Disavows Past Research About Homosexuality

Coming To Terms With A Monumental Error

Notable "ex-gay" researcher and psychiatrist Robert Spitzer, who is often cited by religious zealots as "proof" that sexual orientation can be changed through daily prayer and the oft-discredited "conversion therapy," has renounced his previous scientific studies in an impressive article for The American Prospect called "My So-Called Ex-Gay Life."   When author Gabriel Arana asks the distinguished academic about criticism he received by from the LGBT community regarding his past work, Dr Spitzer replies candidly:  “In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct.  The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more."  He added that attempts to rid oneself of same-sex attraction “can be quite harmful.”  (It should also be noted that, to his credit, Spitzer was instrumental in removing the term "homosexuality" from the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental disorders.  For that effort we should be grateful.  But we also recognize that Religious Right groups have a nasty habit of skewing the most tenuous scientific observations to fit their agenda.)  Arana writes: 

The study infuriated gay-rights supporters and many psychiatrists, who condemned its methodology and design. Participants had been referred to Spitzer by ex-gay groups like NARTH and Exodus, which had an interest in recommending clients who would validate their work...  Spitzer was drawn to the topic of ex-gay therapy because it was controversial - “I was always attracted to controversy” - but was troubled by how the study was received.  He did not want to suggest that gay people should pursue ex-gay therapy.  His goal was to determine whether the counterfactual - the claim that no one had ever changed his or her sexual orientation through therapy - was true...  Now 80 and retired, he was afraid that the 2001 study would tarnish his legacy and perhaps hurt others.  (It did and it has.) ... Spitzer was growing tired and asked how many more questions I had. Nothing, I responded, unless you have something to add.  He did. Would I print a retraction of his 2001 study, “so I don’t have to worry about it anymore?” 

And this is exactly what Gabriel Arana and American Prospect have done.

Zach Ford on Think Progress:  The magnitude of this disavowal cannot be overstated.  Almost every anti-gay organization has used Spitzer’s 2001 study to help justify its opposition to LGBT equality, including the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and numerous ex-gay organizations like PFOX and NARTH.  National Organization for Marriage spokesman Frank Turek once highlighted Spitzer’s study as his sole proof that ex-gay therapy works. Jerry Falwell himself cited the study to defend his belief that God commands that “homosexuals must change.”  And as Jeremy Hooper points out: Focus on the Family’s Candi Cushman still uses the study to support the “Day of Dialogue,” which encourages Christian students to condemn their gay classmates as a response to GLSEN’s Day of Silence.  Will these groups purge their websites and resources of citations to Spitzer’s research per his retraction?

I'll climb out on a limb here and guess 'no.'

Snapping The Leash:  Did you know that Brigham Young University, that bastion of spiritual education for Mormon youths, once used electric shock treatments in a misguided attempt to alter gay students' sexual orientation?