For Good Reason: Daniel Loxton - Evolution for Kids

[Jeff Wagg]

For Good Reason with D.J. Grothe presents:

Daniel Loxton - Evolution for Kids

Daniel Loxton, editor of Junior Skeptic, talks about his children’s book Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be. He explores why books about evolution for children are so rare. He explains how children can become filled with “spiritual” awe by learning about evolution. And he talks about how he challenged creationism and addressed the religion vs. science controversy in the book.

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[blobru]

I like Loxton's analogy of the weather describing evolution. Evolution as biological weather. I think even parents could understand that.

Nice cover, too.

 

[Foster Zygote]

Nice cover, too.

Yes. Although I read a well presented argument by Gregory S. Paul (I think) stating that archaeopteryx was unlikely to have been an aerial hunter. He pointed out that they were no where near as sophisticated as modern birds in terms of flight structures while flying insects, like dragonflies, are so nimble that few modern birds are able to hunt them on the wing. He pointed out that archaeopteryx is known to have lived near shallow water (that is, after all, how we come to have such spectacularly preserved fossils of them) and that they had an ankle structure and claw shape very similar to modern bats that hunt fish. So if we could somehow see a living archaeopteryx it just might be munching on a fish that it recently skimmed from the water.

 

[blobru]

Yes. Although I read a well presented argument by Gregory S. Paul (I think) stating that archaeopteryx was unlikely to have been an aerial hunter. He pointed out that they were no where near as sophisticated as modern birds in terms of flight structures while flying insects, like dragonflies, are so nimble that few modern birds are able to hunt them on the wing. He pointed out that archaeopteryx is known to have lived near shallow water (that is, after all, how we come to have such spectacularly preserved fossils of them) and that they had an ankle structure and claw shape very similar to modern bats that hunt fish. So if we could somehow see a living archaeopteryx it just might be munching on a fish that it recently skimmed from the water.

Sound speculation, I think. It's still an open question whether archaeopteryx was even capable of sustained flight, or more of a glider. In either case, a dragonfly does seem likely to have been a prey of opportunity only (I'll eat it if it flies in my mouth; otherwise, feh!), not a regular quarry.