Greetings

[Mononykus]

Greetings all,


I finally decided to introduce myself. I have been lurking for a long time, and actually signed up a while ago to vote in a photo contest, but I am not a big online talker. So I may appear to come and go, but I am probably still checking in regularly.


Anyway, about myself:
I am a zoologist that mostly studied animal behavior, working with birds and with insects. My current University position is primarily a teaching position (no research lab), where I teach zoology (both vertebrate and invertebrate), evolution, ecology, and occasionally other biology courses. A few years ago I convinced by chairman to offer a course on dinosaurs for non-science majors. That has been fun (and this forum has helped, since I am not a trained paleontologist), and I get paid to indulge in my hobby!


My first dinosaurs that I can remember (besides some chinasaurs) was a Marx set from Sears, so that should date me (roughly late 60s or very early 70s). Not sure whatever happened to that set (parents, right?), but picked up casually collecting Invictas during graduate school, and started getting serious about 10 years ago. Now I have a lot that are split between home and office. I have come to discover that non-dinosaur Archosauromorphs are even cooler than dinosaurs.

[Halichoeres]

Welcome! I'm a zoologist too (defending the PhD in two weeks), and maybe with luck I'll land a job like yours where I can teach about my hobby

[Dinophile]

Greetings  Mononykus... from Newbie!

[Lanthanotus]

I have come to discover that non-dinosaur Archosauromorphs are even cooler than dinosaurs.

.. and you still name yourself after a theropod with avian like characteristics?....

Sorry, just kiddin'.... welcome to the forums

Your field of expertise sounds very interesting,... "animal behaviour" (in) "bird and insects", two goups that don't have a lot in common.

[Jose S.M.]

Welcome! I'm a zoologist too, but right now I'm more into teaching than research though.

[Mononykus]

[Your field of expertise sounds very interesting,... "animal behaviour" (in) "bird and insects", two goups that don't have a lot in common.

Well, they both fly


More relevant, they both are subject to sexual selection, and both groups court and choose mates and compete for mates. In reality, the choice of subjects was due to availability of options in a tough job market. while I consider myself more of a "bird guy", insects do have advantages in that they can be easier to keep and generally don't require much in the way of permits. And in the long run, it has given me the versatility that is useful for a general teaching job where I teach a variety of courses.

[Huskies]

Welcome to the forum.

[Libraraptor]

Hello and welcome to the Forum!