Cephalopodcast

Hello Arthropodcast

This is a difficult decision, but I’ve been thinking about making some serious changes to the focus of this Web site. As you may have noticed, I have not been especially productive in the output of actual podcasts. I finally realized the problem was with the name. For whatever reason, I settled on cephalopods as a mascot and icon for this site. I thought the name was clever. I thought cephalopods were cool. It was a mistake. As my buddy Lirpa Sloof said, crustaceans are really the coolest creatures in the sea (and by extension, so are all arthropods). So I am officially changing the name of the site to the Arthropodcast. This will have several advantages.

First, the recent Invertebrate Wars have made me realize that neither group of organisms (echinoderms or molluscs) really captures the imagination and hearts of ocean enthusiasts. I think people are much more excited and interested in the arthropods, especially terrestrial ones like insects and spiders. This name change will also make it easier for folks to get the pun in the title (i.e., it’s a podcast about arthropods).

Second, arthropods are more abundant and diverse than both molluscs and echinoderms combined. As I mentioned, they are also masters of both land and sea. Compare this to the other two groups. There are no living examples of terrestrial echinoderms. There is only a rare fossil specimen of an arboreal urchin, but that species died out with the tree ferns. Also, the few examples of terrestrial mollusks are pretty pathetic, consisting of only a hand full of thin-shelled snails. True, there are rumors of an arboreal cephalopod, but most of those sightings can be ascribed to Bigfoot chasers high on mescaline and urchin envy.

So there you have it. My rationale for changing this Web site. It will take me a little while to make all the necessary changes. But I hope you will agree it’s for the better.

*I also briefly considered calling it the Isopodcast, but quickly realize that was in fact too obscure.

UPDATE: This compelling argument from Craig helped me come back to my senses and restore the original mascot and moniker to the Web site. But for historical purposes, here’s a screenshot.