I've lately been rereading this book: [link].

I just bought it. Anything that you are rereading and is a field that interests me, I know I should just get it. Thanks for the unintended recommendation, billytea.

Even uglier than some of the creepy crabs.

Do you mean the spider crabs? I do like the spider crabs.

Hey, which penguin species do they have at Monterey now? Melbourne has only two, but they're an impressive two: gentoos and kings. Taronga Zoo has a display of plastic friezes of all seventeen species, though they're limited to the little penguins in the live variety.

Oddly and inexplicably, there are penguins at a hotel near here. In Hawaii. It doesn't seem right. There are also flamingos and ibexes. All outdoors.

Big Giant Head (Ocean Sunfish) for billytea.

Sea Turtle for Jessimoon.

Do you mean the spider crabs? I do like the spider crabs.

No, there were some spiny crabs and then this stone crab that was creepy. Also they had a HUGE 60 y.o. lobster.

Hey, which penguin species do they have at Monterey now?

I don't know! Smallish.

In the Flamingo exhibit they had a Scarlet Ibex! So freakin' cool. Also some very galumphing Spoonbills.

Leafy Dragon seahorse

Fancy jellyfish.

Emmett's iPhone takes better pictures than our digital camera.

I just bought it. Anything that you are rereading and is a field that interests me, I know I should just get it. Thanks for the unintended recommendation, billytea.

It's a fantastic read. The author has been at the forefront of evolutionary thought through the 20th century, so he speaks with authority. Frankly, more so than Dawkins, not to diss his ability either to communicate evolutionary ideas or to marry former Time Ladies. (This is not simply a gratuitous comparison, as there's at least one point of contention between the two in which Mayr is fairly scornful of Dawkins' position.) And he's not afraid to use that authority; he'll quite happily stake out a position on contentious issues and argue his case, objectivity be damned. (For instance: he argues against birds being descended from dinosaurs, arguing instead that they both evolved from a common ancestor. I should note that subsequent fossil finds in China have pretty much spelt the end of this particular controversy.)

His relationship to a lay audience is complicated, however, I think he does a great job of explaining key ideas with admirable clarity. (His section on explaining the five different concepts that went into Darwin's theory of evolution is superb.) However, where his explication runs into technical terminology, he'll simply use it, without either skirting or explaining (if it's not germane to his main point). That can appear daunting; I'm appreciative, however. I've been reading the book with Wikipedia open on my iPhone, and where he drops these nods to a deeper topic, I'll take a detour to gather what he's referring to. I spent an entire afternoon plumbing the details of archosaurs and synapsids, and following linky treasure hunts, before getting back to the printed page.

Plus, it has a seahorse on the front, and carries Ryan's stamp of approval. ("Seahorse!" Back cover: "No seahorse.")

Those are some excellent pics. I love the lighting for the jellyfish; I recall Monterey's presentation being simply arresting.

Clarification: Monterey has Blackfooted Penguins.

Otters: We saw Kit whose surrogate parent was Toola (she has a seizure disorder! But she's an excellent surrogate Otter Mommy.)

I recall Monterey's presentation being simply arresting.

Yep. I noticed that as well. One of the best I've ever seen.

Doesn't hurt that it was funded originally by David Packard (Of Hewlett-Packard) and has close ties to Silicon Valley.