To save a mockingbird

Darwin had a hand in this one. Probably a trigger finger too, but Darwin's mockingbird could help save some threatened populations. On the extinctionary note, find out what happened to all the giant deer, and if we had a hand in wiping out the mammoths.

Now you've heard of horses traveling long distances, but sea horses ?? Maybe there's even a hitch-hiker's guide to the deep sea. And for this week's pun-ch line, the one about the quick brown fox that wasn't quite quick enough: Ibex you can't catch me !

Before you go away, the llamasaurus decided to jump on the bandwagon and celebrate Darwin before the year is out. So announcing ..

The Darwinart Contest

It's easy, it goes like this:

1. Send in your entries for pieces of art -- books, movies, photos, stamps, kitchen utensils, ... -- that best celebrate Darwin or Evolution or great big 19th century Beards. They'll get posted up here for everyone to enjoy.

2. Write in, tell us what you like, vote for your favorite Darwinart.

That's it, told you it was simple. And to start it off, here's one of the best music videos of all time -- evolve, enjoy and let the soundtrack bring out your inner grey cockatoo.

Life, in three and a half minutes

P.S. It looks like somebody else decided to do their own Darwinarting ... here's a slideshow of some great photos from the Darwin 200 Photographic Competition.

Devils from the deep sea

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar;
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.

-- Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Many tales from the deep this week: giant stingrays, secret lives of mantas, tree (eating) crabs, corals eating jellyfish, right-flippered turtles and fish deep in the trenches.

The big story of course is the one about Dino Two-Legs, the sauropod that stood on its own two feet.

If you've got the stomach for it, read all about gladiatorial bees that fight to the death. If you don't, you can still look at this slideshow of wildlife from the Yucatan.

Oh, and it's official. There's water on the moon !

Life as we know it

The BBC television series Life has been generating a number of excellent news articles and videos. Can't wait for the DVD to come out ! This week from Life, tales of dancing sea dragons, humming (and dancing) birds and pelicans with a fowl appetite (it gannet get any worse really).

From other news, beaked whale superpods, the smell of salamanders, and for those of you settling into the first week of winter: furry stories of white black bears and grizzly polar bears. Have a warm-blooded one.