Big top spineless number four.

It's up at Bootstrap Analysis here.

Snail biogeography

I drew the above distribution map for Columella columella alticola based on several sources (see graphic), including my own research. The open circles are Pleistocene fossils and the dark dots are modern sites where they are found. The species name indicates it's simlilarity to the European species C. alticola. So how does a snail so similar to its European cousin get across North America? Aydin at Snail's Tales discussed the distribution of another holarctic land snail. One of his suggestions for distribution on two continents was via plate tectonics. Personally, I think genetic drift would have resulted in greater phenotypic difference over the 200 million years since Europe and North America were last next door neighbors.

Columella columella alticola and snail eggs as Pleistocene fossils from the midwest.

If not tectonics, then what? Looking at the distribution, I wonder if many species of snail took advantage (if I may anthropomorphize a little) of the Bering land bridge. Given that there are several species that share this holarctic distribution (eg: Z. harpa, C. columella, P. muscorum). So, how do they do it? Birds, wind, large mammals? And how might one differentiate between distrubution via tectonics versus land bridges? DNA studies for one, but the other would be better time control on fossil distribution. A project too grand in scope for my own dissertation, but perhaps there are some paleontologists who have already started on this project?

Food for thought on the penultimate day of 2005...

Snail dispersal idea.

I have been wondering about snail dispersal - do they really get caught up with large mammals and birds? I'd be interested in doing a country-wide study next hunting season: taking a flea comb and looking for snails caught in the fur of deer taken during hunting season. Anyone else interested in looking for snails caught up in megafauna?

Yo y el pajaro, numero doce.

Twelfth installment of I and the bird up at Search and Serendipity. Check it out.

A bird in the hand...

Last year my wife and I took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Normally, one might go to a beautiful spot like RMNP and not take their camera out until they get within the park. But, this little campground just south of Estes Park provided me with the signature image of that trip. It's a Broad Winged Hummingbird female, waiting to get a shot at the nectar feeders set up near the camp check-in. Keep your camera handy - you never know when an image will come.

An obscure movie meme.

From Tony over at milkriverblog. Like Aydin at Snail's Tales, I have several obscure favorites. I'll just have list a few that are nowhere to be found on the IMDB top 250 (there's an extensive list of good obscure films tucked in between the obvious ones).

El Mariachi: Robert Rodriguez's debut. Filmed at a cost of about $9,000 where each scene was shot entirely with one take, this is a treat to watch. Unfettered by too much money, this is what a good action movie should be. A guitar-carrying mariachi singer tries to look for work in a small Mexican border town, while an identically dressed assassin (complete with identical guitar case) breezes into the same town. The mariachi and hit man unwittingly exchange guitar cases and hilarity ensues. Please watch this in the original spanish with english subtitles. Much better.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead: Tom Stoppard's heady, existentialist play turned into a movie. Watching the film after reading the play script, I was able to catch most of the subtle intellectual humor involved, but this movie still provides something new each viewing. Tim Roth and Gary Oldman are well paired as the two Shakespearian bit players, while Richard Dreyfus as "The Player" deftly spins the "life-as-art/art-as-life" motif.

The Snapper: Someone else already mentioned The Commitments, so I'll plug Roddy Doyle's second book/movie in the Barrytown Trilogy. It's funny, but not at the expense of the intelligence of the viewer, or dignity of the character. I haven't actually seen number three "The Van," yet, but it should probably go in with the other two as well.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai: Forest Whitaker as a mafia hit man (notice a theme in my meme?) who follows the Samurai code. The usual tale of betrayal and revenge are there, but the Haitian ice cream truck driver and the girl with whom he discusses literature make this more of a study of human nature than most action movies.

Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef Beautiful cinematography, a classic story retold via the Tibetan salt caravan. Go read the outline on IMDB if you want. A beautiful movie - and having read the "Snow Leopard" by Peter Matthiesson gave me a better understanding of the Dolpo region.

Yin shi nan nu (Eat Drink Man Woman): Another good film. A master chef living in Taipei with his daughters, life happens and is filmed beautifully.

Well, that's a bunch more movies than I intended. I'm going to stop now before I waste all my time with this meme.