Bryan's Posts About Evolution
Butterflies in Tribute to Darwin and Lincoln
Butterflies in celebration of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, each born on this day 211 years ago.
Cheating Death
A moth, a carnivorous plant, a Barbara Kingsolver novel and its cover illustration launch me on a journey of natural history and mistaken identity.
Flowers and Light
New research on butterfly evolution helps explain the force that drove these insects from the darkness into the light.
On Darwin Day: Saving Songbirds
Today, Charles Darwin’s Birthday, I offer you a reflection from my annual bird survey at Bear Swamp in Wolcott, Vermont, where the Yellow-bellied Flycatchers call out no more.
RED ALERT
When a male dragonfly changes color — going from yellow to red — it’s a scene in a racy drama worthy of Shakespeare or a soap opera. It turns out that sometimes a male might get along better in life by impersonating a female.
Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin
Today, Darwin Day, we celebrate the 206th birthday of Charles Darwin. We also learn the answer to my twenty-fourth What’s This? nature challenge and get a short discourse (from me) on a philosophy of science and history made possible by Darwin.
What’s This? No. 24
Well, okay, you can probably tell that my latest What’s This? nature challenge is atypical — neither fur nor feather, fern nor fritillary. Or is it?
Fertility and Flight
In the angled light of November, a moth crossed my path through barren woods. Yeah, a moth, in the cold – a lesson in adaptation, fertility, and feminine sacrifice going by the name Bruce Spanworm.
Zebras and Us
When I saw this dragonfly, I wet my pants. Okay, I was standing in Lewis Creek, so that’s actually how I wet my pants. But this dragonfly makes me euphoric. And I’m not entirely sure why. So I’m developing a theory on wildlife and aesthetics.
DSA Update No. 4: Gomphicide
PICK ANY SCENE FROM THE DRAMA OF LIFE ON EARTH: birth, growth, courtship, sex, subterfuge, betrayal, murder. Find them all expressed in the lives of dragonflies. Shakespeare could write the script on these predators.
Life Among the Dead
Here in one of our great museum collections, I find warmth, diversity, shock, awe and innumerable stories of life on Earth.
“Settled in Quivering Contentment”
Like most of you, I spend my summer leisure time contemplating the proboscis of the Primrose Moth, which is about half the length of its body.
