And that's all for today, folks.
Showing posts with label rosmarus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rosmarus. Show all posts
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Casey and the Walruses
I recently realized that my blog's title is a little outdated, though I suppose my scope was a little narrow to begin with. Casey and the Marine Mammals doesn't have the same ring to it. Casey and the Marine Ecological Studies? I don't think so. The URL would have been much too long.
It bears mentioning at this point that my whale days are not quite over, as I am still working on publishing my manuscript from my MS thesis. It has been a long and arduous process, which has definitely motivated me to write my PhD chapters in manuscript form. I never would have guessed it would be so difficult to pare a thesis chapter down into a clear, succinct paper. In light of these difficulties, I am happy to announce that a little side-project that developed in conjunction with my master's project was recently published in Marine Mammal Science:
Check it out here!
Thanks to Liz Vu and all our awesome collaborators for getting that one to press. It's fun when science works the way it's supposed to. In celebration, here's a picture of some humpbacks enjoying the crystal clear tropical waters of Hawaii.
I wish I could say I was doing the same, but I am definitely not. Still dark and cold here in Fairbanks, but after today it will only be getting brighter! Happy winter solstice everyone!
It bears mentioning at this point that my whale days are not quite over, as I am still working on publishing my manuscript from my MS thesis. It has been a long and arduous process, which has definitely motivated me to write my PhD chapters in manuscript form. I never would have guessed it would be so difficult to pare a thesis chapter down into a clear, succinct paper. In light of these difficulties, I am happy to announce that a little side-project that developed in conjunction with my master's project was recently published in Marine Mammal Science:
Check it out here!
Thanks to Liz Vu and all our awesome collaborators for getting that one to press. It's fun when science works the way it's supposed to. In celebration, here's a picture of some humpbacks enjoying the crystal clear tropical waters of Hawaii.
I wish I could say I was doing the same, but I am definitely not. Still dark and cold here in Fairbanks, but after today it will only be getting brighter! Happy winter solstice everyone!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Updating the Update
Hi again,
My last post was brief, to the point, and left much in the way off cliff-hangers, so I'm back to resolve some of those burning questions I'm sure you are asking. Did he say walrus?
That would be a resounding yes. The handsome fellow above is a member of my newest study species the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). Translated into English that comes roughly to "the animal that split off from the tooth walking horse of the sea." Makes perfect sense, right? Well, when you break it down, it does. "Odo" means "tooth" in Latin, while "benus" means "walk" or "walker." Walruses (and that is the correct pluralization, sadly, not "walri") were given this name because of the tendency of the males to use their protruding tusks to help haul themselves out of the water and onto the sea ice. "Rosmarus" has its roots in ancient Norse, meaning "horse of the sea." Finally, the subspecies designator at the end of the name, "divergens," indicates that the Pacific walrus broke off, or diverged, from the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) some time in their evolutionary history.
Now the catch here is this: despite the fact that I am beginning a PhD focusing entirely on walruses, I may or may not get to see a living walrus during the course of the project. How's that for another cliff-hanger? That's how I keep my readers coming back for more.
More details next time!
Casey
My last post was brief, to the point, and left much in the way off cliff-hangers, so I'm back to resolve some of those burning questions I'm sure you are asking. Did he say walrus?
That would be a resounding yes. The handsome fellow above is a member of my newest study species the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). Translated into English that comes roughly to "the animal that split off from the tooth walking horse of the sea." Makes perfect sense, right? Well, when you break it down, it does. "Odo" means "tooth" in Latin, while "benus" means "walk" or "walker." Walruses (and that is the correct pluralization, sadly, not "walri") were given this name because of the tendency of the males to use their protruding tusks to help haul themselves out of the water and onto the sea ice. "Rosmarus" has its roots in ancient Norse, meaning "horse of the sea." Finally, the subspecies designator at the end of the name, "divergens," indicates that the Pacific walrus broke off, or diverged, from the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) some time in their evolutionary history.
Now the catch here is this: despite the fact that I am beginning a PhD focusing entirely on walruses, I may or may not get to see a living walrus during the course of the project. How's that for another cliff-hanger? That's how I keep my readers coming back for more.
More details next time!
Casey
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