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Croc hunter passes on...



I know this is a bit off topic - but the guy was close to archosaurs...

A wave of sms text messages just came through the lab an hour or two ago -
and appears not to be a hoax.

Steve Urwin "Crocodile Hunter" was killed by a stingray in Port Douglas, on
the Great Barrier Reef (North Queensland, Australia) filming a shark
documentary.

OK, some could criticise him for his style on TV, but the guy earned a lot
of money and a fair bit of that was funnelled back into conservation and
research. His wildlife park is just up the road from here (Brisbane) and a
top crocodile physiologist here at University of Queensland had apparently
just received a lot of funding from Urwin's foundation/group.

One of the guys in my lab happens to be working on sting ray spines and is
being approached by the news crews. 

Whatever we thought of his on screen antics, he will be hard to replace. Sad
to see him go.

Cheers,
Chris


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] On Behalf Of
franklin e. bliss
Sent: Monday, 4 September 2006 1:49 PM
To: dannj@alphalink.com.au; dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Cold could contribute to croc chlamydia outbreak

Opportunistic infections as a result of environmental stress.  One  
more of the many effects from the initial cause to add to our list.   
Not a final nail, just one of the many.  It wasn't just an impactor,  
but the secondary effects, all of them together contributing to the  
overall result of extinction to any one particular species.  STD's  
are the gift that keeps on giving though I would suspect that  
reproduction was the last thing on any particular dinosaurs mind  
under the severe environmental stress of the moment.  Novel way to  
stay warm through a nuclear winter.

Frank (Rooster) Bliss
MS Biostratigraphy
Weston, Wyoming
www.cattleranch.org


On Sep 3, 2006, at 8:24 PM, Dann Pigdon wrote:

> I saw this news item, and wondered whether it had any bearing on  
> dinosaurian K/T survivors (the 'final nail in the coffin' as it were):
> -- 
>
> Cold could contribute to croc chlamydia outbreak
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1731653.htm
> Northern Territory researchers looking into an outbreak of  
> chlamydia among the Top End's crocodiles say the cold weather  
> during the dry spell may be to blame.
> Last month thousands of captive baby crocodiles tested positive to  
> the sexually transmitted disease.
> Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries staff believe the  
> strain of chlamydia is unique to salt water crocodiles.
> The researchers also believe the unusually cold dry season and  
> exposure of hatchlings to older disease-carrying crocodiles is  
> contributing the outbreak.
> The researchers will conduct DNA analysis of the outbreak and hope  
> to find out the origin of the disease within the next few weeks.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Dann Pigdon
> GIS / Archaeologist         http://heretichides.soffiles.com
> Melbourne, Australia        http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
> ___________________________________________________________________