This is a really exciting palentological find:
The turtle is said to have been just under ten feet long from nose to tail. So unless the diver in the “artist’s rendition” is a little over three feet tall, the graphic is not to scale (see image below).
Quick mock-up for scale.
Still, I’d have to say that ten feet makes for a truly large turtle!
I wish I could see this humerus in person.
I never thought of myself as a writer.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that for much of my adult life I’ve hated writing. And there was always something that needed to be written: papers for school, copy for websites, and so on.
I just assumed that I must not be very good at writing. Otherwise, I’d enjoy it, right?
One fine day I had an idea for a novel. Actually, the idea had been nagging me for years. But remember, I wasn’t a writer!
So I tried to get my friend to write it for me. After all, she had studied writing. She enjoyed writing.
Soon it became apparent that she just wasn’t interested in writing my book for me. Looking back now, I think why should she have been?
While she enjoyed discussing the novel’s theme with me, the subject matter was my passion not hers.
So I bit the bullet and decided to write it myself.
And to my great surprise, I loved it! Writing was FUN! I loved everything about it. Yes, even editing.
Recently, my mother was cleaning out her closet. She came across a large bag packed with some of my old creative projects from the ages of 3 to about 8 years old.
Wouldn’t you know it? I was a prolific writer as a child! I wrote story after story – and even a few graphic novels. I may even “publish” some of them here.
I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t writing I hated, but rather being forced to write for work or school. Without that passion for what I was writing – without that creative spark – my heart just wasn’t in it.
It is now.
When I was deciding on a subject for my graduate thesis, I thought it would be great fun to write about Neanderthals. Specifically, whether or not they were capable of complex speech. I thought I’d look at the skeletons of some Neanderthals with a focus on the structure of their larynx & pharynx.
Unfortunately, I could not get any of my professors to agree to be my thesis advisors for such a subject (I needed three). Nor, for that matter, did they like any of my other ideas for a thesis.
So, I ended up taking the comprehensive exams.
But I digress . . .
Apparently, the recent 3-D modeling of a Neanderthal hyoid bone (found in 1989) suggests perhaps they did have the capability for it:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25465102
While is doesn’t prove anything definitively (does anything in archaeology?), it’s still pretty cool!
I do so enjoy the Smithsonian’s human evolution interactive timeline:
I’ve always been fascinated by anthropology, so I got my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the subject. My focus was on physical anthropology and evolution. We asked such questions as “What does it mean to be human?” and “How did we become human?” I also studied forensics and faunal analysis (i.e., bones).
Despite the fact that I’m an experienced web developer (the career I took on when I couldn’t make a living at anthropology), I have managed to avoid living my life on Facebook, Twitter and other social media venues. I just always seemed to have better things to do with my time.
However, it’s time for that to change.
ML Stover - Writer / Screenwriter 