Tag Archives: Homo erectus

Dreamcatchers

If you think of the weirdest mammal you can, chances are a tapir would pop into your mind. They are pretty odd. Kind of like a mad-scientist’s experiment between a pig and an elephant gone wrong. Perhaps naively, I had … Continue reading

Posted in Giant tapir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Globe trotter

Horses are one of Europe’s last big mammals. They shouldn’t really be here: they should have vanished a long time ago with most of the other large mammals from the Pleistocene. Europe once had herds of gigantic, hairy mammoths; solitary, … Continue reading

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The beast of the woods

I love a good walk in the woods. Breathing the clean fresh air into my lungs. Spotting a bird hop on a branch nearby. Listening to the almost silence as the wind gently rustles the leaves above. Feeling the crunch … Continue reading

Posted in Eucladoceros | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On the origins of our species

As families go ours is pretty amazing. You have ancient cousins who effortlessly chomped through the toughest of roots and hardest of seeds. Another relative was the first of our family to make it all the way to China around … Continue reading

Posted in Denisovan, Homo sapiens, Neanderthal | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The dreams of dogs

Late afternoon sunlight floods the back of my house, rendering the wide first floor landing a luminously golden Byzantine capsule, bathed in light-shafts of ruby, emerald and sapphire from the old Edwardian stained-glass window. I do much of my writing … Continue reading

Posted in Xenocyon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An elusive giant

For thousands of years traditional Chinese medicines have used all sorts of slightly bizarre ingredients. From enigmatic creatures of the animal kingdom, to the more toxic elements of arsenic and mercury, there is little that hasn’t been pounded, grounded and … Continue reading

Posted in Gigantopithecus | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments