https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:50:50 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541675 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:50:50 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541675 Calling a species “ancient” has always annoyed me. Every extant species on Earth has evolved for the same amount of time! Some are morphologically or even genetically more conserved than others, but that (at least normally) has much more to do with a stable niche than with anything special about the species. Also, apparent similarity to examples in the fossil record doesn’t mean they were really all that similar… biochemistry and behaviour are really important and tend to be more evolutionarily fluid.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541674 Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:41:06 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541674 Russel: There are people in Minnesota who have just lit their torches and sharpened their pitchforks and are looking for you now.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541673 Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:39:36 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/08/09/the-end-of-the-skeptical-loon/#comment-541673 The nicest lake developments I’ve seen have a road between the shore and the nearest houses. Those houses still have the lake side view. And may have docks and boat houses, which they must cross the road to reach. But the shore isn’t sequestered. And obviously, there isn’t as much development of the shore itself.

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