tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post79601674865568316..comments2024-03-25T09:31:36.926+01:00Comments on Furahan Biology and Allied Matters: Five years onSigmund Nastrazzurrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-40541277763732276922013-05-19T20:17:16.310+02:002013-05-19T20:17:16.310+02:00awesome! I love that herbivore head concept! gobli...awesome! I love that herbivore head concept! goblin shark meets a ceratopsian. wonderful! :DPetrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06537642993606964893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-55065634325661000452013-05-05T11:21:29.986+02:002013-05-05T11:21:29.986+02:00Evan: concerning a 3D representation of a cladogra...Evan: concerning a 3D representation of a cladogram, Attenborough used one in a documentary on plants, and there are some serious attempts elsewhere, I will look for links and report back afterwards. <br /><br />Dromicosuchus: Aha; so the word 'piranhakeet' has been around for some time. I guess it's possible that it came up independently.<br /><br />Warren: excellent. I'll buy it as soon as I find a paperback version. I'll probably write a post about it too!Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-44564625043548215192013-05-03T23:31:08.758+02:002013-05-03T23:31:08.758+02:00By the way, the sequel to Fragment, Pandemonium, i...By the way, the sequel to Fragment, Pandemonium, is out now... -WarrenWarren Fahyhttp://www.warrenfahy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-82528488495306088652013-05-03T19:33:44.670+02:002013-05-03T19:33:44.670+02:00Here we go: Matti's Evil Piranhakeet, from th...Here we go: Matti's Evil Piranhakeet, from the Specworld project (http://specworld-project.com/index.php?title=Sphenisciformes). Although the page is dated to 2012, it's been going on for far longer than that; I'm familiar with it from an older site that seems to have been devoured by the internet at this point in time, but which was referenced in a 2008 post on the Tetrapod Zoology blog (http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/12/30/speculative-penguins/), and which apparently was extant six years previous to that, at least according to one of the commenters. I slightly misremembered Spec's piranhakeets; although they are swarming birds, they're carnivorous <i>penguins</i>, and prey on large whale-like cephalopods. I wonder whether the developers for The Croods stole the name, or came up with it independently?Dromicosuchushttp://dejerara.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-84888931432054423282013-05-03T15:32:48.240+02:002013-05-03T15:32:48.240+02:00I'm just now noticing your epilogue. I know I...I'm just now noticing your epilogue. I know I've said it before, but I think it's remarkable that your blog attracts some widespread attention. My own website/blog draws quite a broad readership in terms of location, but I'm fairly confident that it's several views from repeat visitors spread across the globe. Congratulations on another spike!Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-66358268450809752202013-05-03T02:17:58.779+02:002013-05-03T02:17:58.779+02:00That's my concern about the spherical cladogra...That's my concern about the spherical cladogram too: what does the third dimension represent?<br /><br />The 'piranhakeet' is a specific creature from the Croods movie, which I ended up seeing, incidentally. It was an enjoyable movie, and I would recommend seeing it should the mood strike you, but the creatures were predictably more on the whimsical end of the continuum than the plausible. Though they were certainly conceptually interesting, I'm not really sure what purpose a serious analysis of the featured biology would serve.<br /><br />As far as adopting the term 'piranhakeet' in a more general sense, I don't know if it will catch on. These things are socially driven, after all, and while there are many things that the term has going for it (you hear 'piranhakeet' and you immediately have a general image in your mind) it all depends on what the community thinks is worthy of adopting as part of the local jargon.Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-63513574773480943642013-05-03T00:10:54.769+02:002013-05-03T00:10:54.769+02:00Evan: I'll keep my eyes open as regards the Cr...Evan: I'll keep my eyes open as regards the Croods and the creatures in the film. <br /><br />As far as a 3D spherical representation of clades ec., that is certainly doable, but the real problem is whether adding a dimension adds meaning. So far, I only managed to add 'prettiness', which is not enough.The circular 2D image you used is attractive while not doing more than needs be done. I'll not do more unless I'll find a reason to do so. <br /><br />Dromicosuchus: Thank you; if only the Publishers In The Skies would listen... <br /> I wouldn't know about the term 'piranhakeets', really; Evan used it, and as he is a moderator at the Speculative Biology forum he would know more about its use than I do. I do like it though! Who came up with it first? Some things are important enough to get the details right. As for 'ballonts', well, please forgive me for being flattered... Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-37980960557844845662013-04-29T07:09:17.102+02:002013-04-29T07:09:17.102+02:00I probably contributed more than my fair share to ...I probably contributed more than my fair share to the views of the biomechanics pages; I've found both invaluable when working on my own speculative fiction, and have consulted both more than once when trying to figure out whether some particularly large or particularly floaty animal is viable. <br /><br />I don't have much in the way of helpful suggestions for making The Book attractive to publishers, but I hope very much that it gets accepted by some party or another. I've loved what I've seen of Furaha thus far, and I'd be elated to get to see more.<br /><br />Oh, and I enjoyed The Croods immensely, personally. It's true that the creatures shown are implausible as all get-out, but they're also very imaginative and beautifully animated. The piranhakeets*, particularly, are amazing. They're biological eye candy, really; probably not very good for you, but nonetheless very, very sweet.<br /><br />*Is that becoming the accepted name for swarming carnivorous fliers? I seem to recall having encountered that name before, in the same speculative fiction world that featured "Ktulu" squid and screaming ninja penguins of DEATH!!! (the three exclamation marks are necessary, yes), but I didn't know that it was being used more widely. <br /><br />I heartily approve, in any case; it's a fabulous portmanteau, with much of the same appeal of "ballont" (which has become the mental label I tend to apply to my own attempts at viable floating beasties).Dromicosuchushttp://dejerara.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-73319792934060025842013-04-22T23:41:16.648+02:002013-04-22T23:41:16.648+02:00From what I've seen, The Croods seems like an ...From what I've seen, <i>The Croods</i> seems like an enjoyable family film dramatizing a paleolithic interaction between Neanderthals and modern humans. From what I can tell of the trailer, while the plot may be inspired by some scientific theories, its focus is more on a "whimsical journey" type of story than depicting anything plausible.<br /><br />And I think the creatures reflect this too. I haven't yet seen the movie, but <a href="http://the-croods.wikia.com/wiki/Croodaceous_Creatures" rel="nofollow">this wiki</a> seems to have at least a brief description of creatures associated with the movie. The names alone indicate that the creatures are arbitrary hybridizations of disparate species, and clicking on any of them seems to confirm that idea. The one I find most interesting is something called the 'ground whale,' a creature that's apparently a humpback whale with four stubby legs that can dig into the ground to avoid predation from swarms of piranhakeets. Eat your heart out Shai-Hulud...<br /><br />The circular format of the nereozoa cladogram may help it to stand out, but I can't claim that as an original idea. The Wikipedia page on Evolution (and I daresay other pages there) show <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/CollapsedtreeLabels-simplified.svg/500px-CollapsedtreeLabels-simplified.svg.png" rel="nofollow">this image</a>, and it's there that I got the idea for how I could show the complete cladogram of featured nereids and manage to save space in the process.<br /><br />I hope you didn't completely throw away your original taxonomy for Furahan life. The nomenclature and arrangement could still have some value when examining cladistics. Or am I wrong?<br /><br />A circular cladogram would be a fascinating construction, but I wonder how it could be presented in a way that's clear and easy to interpret.Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-11072094766020170312013-04-22T21:52:24.055+02:002013-04-22T21:52:24.055+02:00Nicky: thank you. I haven't seen it yet and ha...Nicky: thank you. I haven't seen it yet and had read a review that did not suggest interesting animals. I tried a Google search but did not find many animals there either. I guess I will have to see the film, unless you know of a site that shows the animals in question. <br /><br />Evan: I checked Yahoo, and found that your cladogram appears on the first page there too (twice, in fact, and both came from my blog this time). perhaps it is popular because it is circular, as the only one on the page. Perhaps that makes it stand out?<br /><br />As for clades on Furaha, a long time ago I had long lists of species, genus, familia, ordo, etc., but with the advent of cladistics I threw those away. I think I will show a minor branch of a cladogram here and there, without going for a complete full one (mind you, I have been thinking about making 3D cladograms. A sphere instead of a circle?Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-88278793749110352752013-04-22T07:07:11.322+02:002013-04-22T07:07:11.322+02:00There are two things I note about the cladogram th...There are two things I note about the cladogram that was copied onto that blog. One is that it doesn't seem to be a blog with any specific biological focus, let alone <i>speculative</i> biology. I agree it's a pretty cladogram, but it's not even real critters! Why did they pick it?<br /><br />The other thing I note is that it's incomplete. That's obviously because your post was published before I finished the first set of nereophytes. There's a completed one out there now, and for those who are interested, I'm also working on a great big cladogram that includes the nereophytes too.<br /><br />You could always call the clade of threshers, shufflers and marshwallows Keratotheria, Greek for "Horn beasts". That's just the first thing that came to mind, so maybe there's something better.Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-89288846453267514252013-04-21T18:19:28.128+02:002013-04-21T18:19:28.128+02:00Congrats on your blog's 5th birthday, though i...Congrats on your blog's 5th birthday, though i still seek of you making an entry concerning your opinion(s) about the Croods film. If you watched, good for you. If not, do so, it maybe a family film, but the creatures are something you can't miss.Nickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17892007791072992567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-3917459767083553712013-04-21T10:08:10.304+02:002013-04-21T10:08:10.304+02:00Anonymous: thank you.
Evan: Still, there must be ...Anonymous: thank you.<br /><br />Evan: Still, there must be a reason for the prominent place of the Nereus cladogram on Google searches; perhaps people click on it often because it is attractive?<br /><br />As for the thresher: yes, it is related both to the shuffler and the marshwallow; I should think of a clade name, probably with 'large' and 'horns' in it. <br /><br />Thanks for the suggestion; I will use it. Sigmund Nastrazzurrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16449461215427527447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-5415168943446996832013-04-20T19:24:40.165+02:002013-04-20T19:24:40.165+02:00Excellent post! I plan on doing something similar...Excellent post! I plan on doing something similar on my own blog soon (just to recognize some milestones)<br /><br /><i>"There is a definite interest for Dougal Dixon's Greenworld, so I hope it will see an English version in addition to the existing Japanese one."</i><br /><br />Me too! I love his work! I've only been able to see snippets here and there of Greenworld, but what I've seen looks fascinating.<br /><br /><i>"I was much surprised by 'cladogram'."</i><br /><br />I'm not. Much of my site traffic comes from you, whether it's your link to me from the Furaha page or from links in your blog.<br /><br /><i>There was also some bad news: my posts were copied verbatim on someone else's blog.</i><br /><br />Sad to hear. I hope everything can be resolved with that soon. People don't realize the ramifications of plagiarism.<br /><br /><i>"I sculpted the head of an 'Ochreback Thresher' (Ira tarda) in Sculptris as a help with perspective."</i><br /><br />Interesting creature. When I look at the model, it seems that there is morphology similar to both the marshwallows and the shuffler. Are those three lineages closely related? Which one is the thresher more closely related to?<br /><br /><i>"In my covering letter I wrote that it should appeal to people who like science fiction art and biology.... Is that a good description of the possible readership? Is there a better one?"</i><br />Congratulations on getting it out there to publishers! Readership may be relatively small, but it will be avid! The description of the potential audience seems like a good one to me. If you didn't already, I would suggest including a nod in your cover letter to similar works out there: Barlowe's <i>Expedition</i>, Dixon's body of work, Cameron's <i>Avatar</i>, and anything else that seems to inhabit the same 'niche.' It might help publishers get ideas for where and how they could market the book.Evan Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10493966209787828900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821098719340852065.post-36954733037363221382013-04-20T18:24:59.908+02:002013-04-20T18:24:59.908+02:00That is great! I would certainly buy it.That is great! I would certainly buy it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com