Nautilus pompilious and some chordate
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Friday Cephalopod: Face to face
Nautilus pompilious and some chordate
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
“Some chordate” – such elegant disdain! I imagine it being accompanied by the merest shrug of the shoulders and a look of casual disinterest, as befits a representative of our cephalopod overlords :-D
PS. Why does the chordate have an adjustable spanner? Surely the only Nautilus that needs a spanner is Captain Nemo’s?
Nautilus’ are awesome. Reminds me of the beautiful picture of a nautilus posted at Uglorable (Ugly + Adorable) http://www.uglorable.com/
Do nautili have faces?
The Minnesota Daily has a fairly execrable article on “Expelled” in today’s issue that contains a few quotes from PZ.
Actually, it’s really nothing BUT quotes. I hate the Daily, I don’t understand why my University paper isn’t written at a higher level than my High School one was.
(This post brought to you with the assumption that Friday Cephalod posts can be used as open threads. If this is not the case, I apologize)
Always one of my favorite cephalopods…..
uunnggghhh way to rub it in I’m not going diving for another few months.
Well at least I was in a circle of mating sepia once so HA.
Fox1 said: “I don’t understand why my University paper isn’t written at a higher level than my High School one was.”
No doubt your unenlightened high school editor held to the elitist, antidemocratic notion that only those who can write well should be allowed to participate.
For the same reason one brings a cricketbat when one goes to feed the ducks: Dinner!
THE NAUTILUS AND THE AMMONITE
The Nautilus and the Ammonite
Were launched in Storm and Strife,
Each sent to float in its tiny boat
On the wide, wide sea of life!
And each could swim on the ocean’s brim
And anon, its sails could furl;
and sink to sleep in the great sea deep,
In a palace all of pearl.
And theirs was a bliss more fair than this
That we feel in our colder Time
For they were rife in a tropic life
In a brighter, happier clime.
Thus hand in hand, from strand to strand,
They sailed in mirth and glee,
Those fairy shells with their crystal cells,
Twin creatures of the sea.
But they came at last to a sea long past,
And as they reached its shore,
The Almighty’s breath spoke out in death,
And the Ammonite liv’d no more.
And the Nautilus now, in its shelly prow,
As o’er the deep it strays
Still seems to seek, in bay and creek,
Its companion of other days
-G.F. Richardson
My parents are alumni of UWF, whose mascot is the argonaut (though I think their emblem resembles a nautilus more than it does an argonaut). I remember asking them if they had any argonaut-themed cheers at sporting events. They said they just did the wave a lot, based on an overall maritime theme. :)
Nice poem. One pedantic point, though: the nautilus basically never strays over the deep. They stay near the bottom, and don’t voluntarily go more than a few hundred metres down…
Rather amusing that PZ is so fascinated by squids. Somehow reminds me of little kids who are passionate about their pets. Makes a great debater very human & likeable person, indeed. :)
Here’s a great video clip narrated by David Attenborough.
PAZJ (@ # 2) wrote:
Awwww – I’ve seen the video of the cuttlefish reacting to the camera before (cool!).
One can vote for the pictures/videos. Couple more votes and the Cephalopods may be # 1 (hint, hint ;-)
Mutual gazes
Spanning deep ages.
You feed cricket bats to the ducks?
I’m not certain I even want to know what eats spanners. (Shudders.) But why adjustable?
Thanks so much for this! This is exactly what I was looking for