Tumblr Roundup 1/31/15

I should do one of these; I foresee another break soon.

-Welcome back! (The irony...)
-Was Savape's character based on the Autobot Whirl?
-Has Savape taken on saber-toothed cats?
-Why is Zahavi so random?
-How many languages do the characters know?
-How did Zahavi get his powers?
-Do the characters ever meet the press?
-How do pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and mammoths at the museum feel about being called dinosaurs?
-Is Ebeff a Therizinosaurus or a Beipiaosaurus?

Self-Imposed Limitations

For today’s column I am reprinting, with a few minor changes, one of the monthly newsletters I wrote for the full-time missionaries in the California Roseville Mission in August of 2004. It is a vital topic, especially for youth and young adults.  I hope you enjoy it.

SELF-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS 

Introduction

Have you ever really thought about a bumble bee?  Really thought about one?  How in the world do they fly?  Actually, for a long time scientists have said that aerodynamically the bumble bee was too big to fly, and its wings were too small. It should never fly. But I guess nobody ever told the bumble bee he couldn’t fly, because kids in every backyard in the world have seen them. It is interesting what you can do if you don’t know you can’t do it!  In recent articles we have considered self-confidence and self-control. But there is also a negative side to what the self can do. One of the worst is what we call “self-imposed limitations” which are common. In this article we will consider what they are, how we get them, some of their consequences, and how we can overcome them. 

Letter From The Assistants

Christopher Columbus was an excellent example of overcoming self-imposed limits.  During a party, shortly after Columbus’s discovery of the new world, a jealous Spanish nobleman approached the admiral and said: “Senor Cristobal, even if you had not undertaken this great enterprise, we should not have lacked a [Spaniard] who would have made the same discovery that you did.”

Columbus said nothing in reply, but instead placed an egg on the table and challenged all the men present to stand the egg  up on end by itself, without the aid of any support. When they failed, Columbus tapped one end on the table crushing that end flat and stood it up on end.  The message is that when someone shows you how to break beyond self-imposed limits, anyone can copy the great feat. It takes a person of vision, determination, and courage to do something that has never been done before. We hope that each of us will decide to break through any and all self-imposed limits and achieve what we are really capable of.

Much love-

Elders Jensen and Gorbutt (Assistants to the President)

What Are Self-Imposed Limitations?

Self-imposed limitations are ceilings we set upon ourselves.  Limits, of course, are a good thing when we are exercising self-discipline and refuse to violate God’s commandments or engage in foolish, immature and destructive behavior. But too often the limits we place on ourselves prevent us from doing positive, necessary or productive things. Though we may be limited by certain disabilities, self-imposed limits are a handicap of a different sort. They arise in the mind. So, we may believe we were not born to achieve, succeed or be great. The most frequent expression of this mind set is “I can’t.” Self-imposed limitations are a case of conditioning ourselves to only try so hard because we have placed a cap on our effort and an imaginary lid on our potential.

How Do We Get Self-Imposed Limitationitis?

Why is this phenomenon so common? Well, it starts when we are children. Frequently parents and peers begin to label children. When labels place inappropriate limits on us, it has become hurtful. Insecurities and lack of confidence are sometimes ingrained in children by harsh or over protective parents. Society also reinforces our fears and doubts about ourselves. Over the years we are conditioned to accept these limits and believe ourselves unable to rise above them. We often hear: “It’s never been done before.”  “Take it easy.”  “It won’t work.”  “It’s too hard.”  “It can’t be done.”

There are many illustrations of these kinds of limits which we allow to be imposed upon ourselves. One famous example is the barrier of the four-minute mile. For a long time people believed that it was physically impossible for a man to run a mile in four minutes. And for the better part of a century they were right. In 1865 the world record was 4:36.5 minutes. For the next ninety years the record crept ever so slowly toward four minutes. In 1895 it was 4:15.6, but only 4:15.4 by 1911. It wasn’t under 4:10 until 1931 and remained in the single digits for another 23 years.  Then in 1954 Roger Bannister ran a sub-four minute mile at Oxford, England. His barrier shattering record was 3:59.4. Amazingly, the next year 37 others ran the mile in under four minutes. Within two years 167 people  did it! A few years ago in a single race in New York, thirteen out of thirteen runners broke the four-minute mile.  As of 1999 the record is 3:43.13. This story is a legendary  illustration of the liberation that comes when someone breaks through a barrier once thought impossible.  Similar stories can be told of other notable obstacles such as the sound barrier, the seven-foot mark in high jumping or putting a man on the moon.

An even more insidious source of limits are those we impose upon ourselves.  Such restraints may arise from feelings of inferiority, fear, doubt, insecurity, and laziness. Sometimes the “Circle Of Fire” seems so intimidating and hard to penetrate that we don’t want to extend the effort. At other times our pride keeps us from doing things. We hear comments like, “I can’t memorize.”  “I’m just a farm boy, I’m not interested in intellectual things.”  “I’ll never try that again.”  “I can’t do that. ” “I have a learning disability, so I can’t read, or remember” or whatever.  A worse form is, “I don’t want to do that” or  “I’m not interested in that.” And the worst of all, “I won’t.” Recently, I learned of one missionary who defiantly told his companion he wouldn’t change unless Jesus Christ came and told him to!  That is real pride!  It reminds me of the guy who applied to the welfare office. They asked why he needed financial assistance. “I’m having trouble with my eyes,” the man said. “I can’t see myself going to work!” Nor could the unjust steward in the parable in Luke 16:1-8. When facing the realities of unemployment, he said, “I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”  (vs. 3)

What Are The Consequences Of Self-Imposed Limitations?

Well, it doesn’t always lead to failure, because in many instances people won’t even try. Many will not try things that are perfectly within their ability, thus losing opportunity for growth and achievement.  Sometimes we unconsciously buy into a philosophy which is contrary to the spirit and teachings of the gospel. It shows a lack of understanding and/or belief in the law of eternal progression. It also displays a certain lack of faith in Christ. Those who impose limits on themselves are unlike Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phi. 4:13.)  And to Moroni the Lord said, “If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.” (Moro. 7:33.) Obviously self-imposed limitations put the lid on our potential and make it almost impossible to truly magnify our callings. Like the classical flea circus, we continually live below our self-imposed limits, like this illustration:

Our Potential

Self Imposed Limits

Our Living

How Do We Overcome Self-Imposed Limits?

It requires a physical and emotional price to actually break through those perceived limitations and enter into a new area of further potential. Leadership guru John Maxwell, wrote, “One of the great discoveries we make, one of our great surprises, is to find we can do what we were afraid we couldn’t do. Most of the prison bars we beat against are within us; we put them there and we can take them down.”(1)You may be only an attitude away from becoming the person God wants you to be! Here are a few suggestions of how to do this:

∙ Turn your self-concept around. Through prayer and study gain a correct understanding of your potential and capabilities and begin living up to them.

∙ Through prayer and faith develop a desire and the courage to change.

∙ Focus on your positive qualities and soon they will begin to powerfully affect your actions and behavior.

∙ Once you realize that most of your limitations come from within your own mind you have the key to change.

∙ To reach beyond that which you have accomplished, you must eliminate negative thinking and speaking–especially about yourself. 

In these ways we can begin to live above our self-imposed limits in the rarefied air of greater potential, like this illustration:

Our Potential

Our Living

Self-Imposed Limits

Veteran Elder Hafen Learns A Lesson

I once had an experience that taught me a great lesson about the way a highly developed tolerance for "being realistic" can inhibit the workings of the Spirit in our lives. When I had been on my mission in Germany about a year, I was assigned to work with a brand new missionary named Elder Keeler, who had just arrived fresh from converting--or so he thought-all the stewardesses on the plane from New York to Frankfurt. Within a few days of his arrival, I was called to a meeting in another city and had to leave him to work in our city with another inexperienced missionary whose companion went with me.  I returned late that night.

The next morning I ask him how his day had gone. He broke into a big smile and said that he had found a family who would surely join the Church. In our mission, it was rare to see anybody join the Church, let alone a whole family. I asked for more details, but he had forgotten to write down either the name or the address. All he could remember was that the family lived on the top floor of a big apartment house. "Oh, that's great," I thought to myself as I contemplated all those flights of stairs. He also explained that he knew so little German that he had exchanged but a few words with the woman who answered the door. But he did think she wanted us to come back--and he wanted to go find her and have me talk to her that very minute. I explained to him that the people who do not slam the door in missionaries' faces are not all planning to join the Church. But off we went to find her, mostly to humor him. He could not remember the right street either, so we picked a likely spot in our tracting area and began climbing up and down those endless polished staircases.

After a frustrating hour, I decided that I really needed to level with him. "Based on my many months of experience," I said, "it is simply not worth our time to try any longer to find that woman. I have developed a tolerance for the realities of missionary work, and I simply know more about all this than you do."

His eyes filled with tears and his lower lip began to tremble. (That elder was no dummy--he recently graduated from Boalt Law School at Berkeley.) I remember it so well--he said to me, through those tear-filled eyes, "Elder Hafen, I came on my mission to find the honest in heart. The Spirit told me that that woman is going to join the Church, and you can't stop me from finding her."

I decided that I had to teach him a lesson. So I raced him up one staircase after another until he was ready to drop, and so was I.  "Elder Keeler," I asked, "had enough?"

"No," he said.  "We've got to find her."

I began to smolder. I decided to work him until he plead with me to stop--then maybe he would get the message.

Then, at the top of a long flight of stairs, we found the apartment. She came to the door. He thrashed my ribs with his elbow and whispered loudly, "That's her, elder. That's the one. Talk to her!"

Not long ago, brothers and sisters, up on Maple Lane a few blocks from here, that woman's husband sat in our living room. He was here for general conference because he is the bishop of the Mannheim Ward. His two boys are preparing for missions; his wife and daughters are pillars of the Church. That is a lesson I can never forget about the limitations of the skepticism and the tolerance for ambiguity that come with learning and experience. I hope that I will never be so aware of "reality" that I am unresponsive to the whisperings of heaven.(2)

_____

It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though limits to our abilities do not exist.  We are collaborators in creation.

–Tieilhard de Chardin

WORDS

Did is a word of achievement,

Won’t is a word of retreat,

Might is a word of bereavement,

Can’t is a word of defeat,

Ought is a word of duty,

Try is a word of each hour,

Will is a word of beauty,

Can is a word of power.

–Anonymous

ATTITUDE

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't;

If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,

It's almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost;

For out in the world you'll find

Things begin with a fellow's will;

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;

You've got to think high to rise;

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.  

–Anonymous

NEVER SAY CAN’T

Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken; doing more harm than slander and lies; on it is many a strong spirit broken, and with it many a good purpose dies.  It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning and robs of courage we need through the day.  It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning and laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

Can’t is the father of feeble endeavor, the parent of terror and half-hearted work; it weakens the efforts of artisans clever, and makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.  It poisons the soul, the person with a vision; it stifles in infancy many a plan; it greets honest toiling with open derision and mocks at the hopes and the dreams of anyone.

Can’t is a word none should speak without blushing; to utter it should be a symbol of shame; ambition and courage it daily is crushing; it blights a person’s purpose and shortens their aim, despise it with all of your hatred of error; refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your mind; arm against it as a creature of terror, and all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

Can’t is the word that is foe to ambition, an enemy ambushed to shatter your will; its prey is forever the person with a mission and bows but to courage and patience and skill.  Hate it, with hatred that’s deep and undying, for once it is welcomed it can break you; whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying and answer to this unwanted thought by affirming,

“I CAN!”  

–Edgar A. Guest

Let’s think together again, soon.

Notes:

1. John Maxwell, The Winning Attitude, (Nashville:Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993), p. 131.

1. Bruce R. Hafen, "Love Is Not Blind" address of 9 January 1979 in 1979 Devotional Speeches Of The Year, pp. 14-15.

Why I Believe: Evidence Twenty-three: Joseph Smith and the Baptism of Jesus Christ

101 Reasons Why I Believe Joseph Smith was a Prophet.

Evidence Twenty-three: 
Joseph Smith and the Baptism of Jesus Christ© 

There is a passage in the Matthew account of the baptism of Jesus Christ that has puzzled students since the time of Christ. Matthew records that when Jesus came to John to be baptized, John demurred saying he needed to be baptized of Jesus. “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”  (Mt. 3:3, my emphasis.)

Many years ago I had a marvelous experience when I read Alfred Edersheim’s, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. There I encountered a discussion of this issue that has been important to me ever since. Edersheim writes that “From earliest ages it has been a question why Jesus went to be baptized.” He observed, “Objections lie to most of the explanations offered by modern writers.” He listed a dozen contemporary (to him) explanations: Jesus came:

1.  “For His personal sinfulness.”

2.  “As the Representative of a guilty race.”

3.  “As the bearer of the sins of others.”

4.  “Acting in solidarity with His people.”

5.  “To separate Himself from the sins of Israel.”

6.  “Surrendering Himself thereby unto death for man.”

7.  “To do honor to the baptism of John.”

8.  “To elicit a token of His Messiahship.”

9.  “To bind Himself to the observance of the Law.”

10.  “To commence His Messianic Work.”

11.  “To consecrate Himself solemnly to” his Messianic work.

12.  “To receive the spiritual qualification for” his Messianic work.(1)

Edersheim objected to all of the above for two reasons:

“...the most reverent of these explanations involve a twofold mistake. They represent the Baptism of John as one of repentance, and they imply an ulterior motive in the coming of Christ to the banks of Jordan. ... As applied to sinful men it was indeed necessarily a ‘baptism of repentance;’ but not as applied to the sinless Jesus. Had it primarily and always been a ‘baptism of repentance,’ He could not have submitted to it.”  (2)

In other words, for Edersheim baptism was not just for repentance. It had another purpose, but here too the scholars had missed it.

“Again, and most important of all, we must not seek for any ulterior motive in the coming of Jesus to this Baptism. He had no ulterior motive of any kind: it was an act of simple submissive obedience on the part of the Perfect One–and submissive obedience has no motive beyond itself.” (3)

Say what you may about Alfred Edersheim, the man was a true believer and he could think! But is he correct in his analysis where the others went wrong? Enter Joseph Smith, Junior as translator of The Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 31 contains a marvelous discussion of this same issue.  Here it is:

5) And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfill all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy to be baptized, ye, even by water! 6) And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfill all righteousness in being baptized by water? 7) Know ye not that he was holy?  But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. 8)Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. 9) And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. 10) And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?  (My emphasis.)

In one verse (7), Nephi solves the age-old issue of the meaning of Christ being baptized to fulfill all righteousness.  Jesus began and finished his ministry by submitting to the will of God.(4) God’s will is wholly righteous and embraces all righteousness. For the Savior to covenant with the Father to obey his commandments is therefore, the very essence of righteousness itself. Mankind, on the other hand, “...seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god...”(5) Thus, Jesus “showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.”

So far so good, but what about the “ulterior motive” of which Edersheim spoke?  He said obedience had no other motive. Does Nephi have anything to say about this?  Indeed, he does.  In his commentary about the passage cited above, Nephi continues,

13) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism, yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost....(6)

Nephi mentions three things the candidate for baptism must do. Follow the Son, 1) with full purpose of heart, 2) acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, 3) with real intent. If that is not a description of not having an “ulterior motive” I do not know what the phrase means. Though this counsel is given to baptismal candidates, surely, Christ of all God’s children would have been baptized with full purpose of heart. Surely, he would have done so “acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God.” Surely, he would have come to John with “real intent.” As Christ had no “ulterior motives” behind his baptism, neither should we.

I love Alfred Edersheim. I love Nephi. And I love Joseph Smith. I have said before in this column, and I am sure I will say it again, one of the things which I love most about the Prophet Joseph Smith is his uncanny ability to answer spiritual questions which have plagued the religious world. He most often does so simply, directly, and clearly. It is almost as if he went through the Bible and made a list of all the problems people have encountered and then set out to answer them. This, of course, is foolishness. The answers we find such as this are interwoven into various narratives through about 900 pages of new scripture which he produced. There is not a scintilla of evidence that he made such a list or had such a goal. But it is not impossible, nor improbable, that God himself may have had such a list and such a goal to be achieved in the Restoration of all things until we may eventually enjoy the “fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Joseph Smith was his instrument in bringing about much of this restoration and fullness.

Thank God for Joseph Smith.

Let’s think together again, soon.

Notes:

1. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977, part one p. 279.

2. Ibid., 279-280, emphasis in original.

3. Ibid., 280, emphasis in original.

4. Jesus began his ministry at his baptism, which as we have argued above was a submission to the will of God.  He finished his mortal ministry by dying on the cross, once again in submission to the Father’s will.  See Mt. 26:39-44 in reference to the atoning suffering in Gethsemane which carried over to the cross. But the idea is made explicit, even on the cross in JST Mt. 27:54 which reads "...a loud voice, saying, Father, it is finished, thy will is done, yielded up...."  Among his first recorded words in the pre-mortal life were, "Father, thy will be done...."  (Moses 4:2)  At age twelve he told his mother, "It must needs be that I be about my Father's business." (Lk. 2:49) I might add that we have several statements in John showing that Jesus maintained this commitment to his Father's will.  See, for example, Jn. 8: 16, 19, 28, 38, 42, and 49.  See also 3 Ne. 27:13.  Among his first words to the Nephites is this statement, "I have suffered the will of the Father in all things." (3 Ne. 11:11.)  Relative to this last point, Elder Jeffery Holland has observed:  

“I cannot think it either accident or mere whimsey that the Good Shepherd in his newly exalted state, appearing to a most significant segment of his flock, chooses first to speak of his obedience, his deference, his loyally, and loving submission to his father.  In an initial and profound moment of spellbinding wonder, when surely he had the attention of every man, woman, and child as far as the eye could see, his submission to his Father is the first and most important thing he wishes us to know about himself.

Frankly, I am a bit haunted by the thought that this is the first and most important thing he may want to know about us when we meet him one day in similar fashion.  Did we obey, even if it was painful?  Did we submit, even if the cup was bitter indeed?  Did we yield to a vision higher and holier than our own, even when we may have seen no vision in it at all?” [Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Will of the Father in all Things,” Brigham Young University 1988-89 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, (Provo: BYU Publications, 1989), pp. 76-77.]

5. D&C 1:16, emphasis added.

6. 2 Nephi 31:13.

Favorite Maniraptor of 2013 Results

Acheroraptor took the lead and Aurornis was runner-up! Not terrifically unpredictable. My personal choice was Piscivoravis, which didn't do badly for a Mesozoic euornithine that didn't get much press.

I'll put up a new maniraptors of 2014 poll at some point, but I figure a month will not make a big difference for a survey that runs for nearly a year, so I'm going to poll a different subject this time for a short while. Several readers have told me their favorite Raptormaniacs characters lately and the results are quite varied across the board, making me curious about overall preferences. In addition, the Tumblr has been running for a fair amount of time now and with the completion of last year's storyline, I feel that I have provided enough incipient characterization introduced for decisions to be made. I look forward to seeing/reading your responses.

Review of 2014

I am still far from being a regular blogger (and I have no issue with that), but I have at last broken the trend of increasingly shirking the blog with each passing year. On the other hand, I posted significantly less on the Tumblr in 2014 than in 2013. (There was, in fact, a greater absolute number of posts on the Tumblr last year, but the average concentration of posts per month was far lower.) This was, at least in part, due to the fact that I was working on a story arc for the comic over the summer months, something I have not done since the first year of this blog. The basic concept for that story had been drifting in my mind for at least a couple years, so it was good to get it out of my system. While that translated to my falling behind on answering Tumblr questions, it was also an important contributor to last year's increased post count on here. Circumstances permitting, there is more to come.

In retrospect, I did quite a large amount of traveling over the past year (to New York, Arizona, Tokyo, and Ohio), which further added to the blog post boost. In spite of long periods of stagnation on the comic (per usual), I continued to receive fan art, for which I am immensely grateful. Last but not least, I did not forget about April Fools'.

Cover image for the "Turn to Stone" storyline.

What's new with maniraptors? I don't yet foresee a year where the answer will not be "Lots!" In January, new specimens of Hongshanornis, Pengornis, and (the possibly raptorial) Bohaiornis were described. A review on bird behavior in the fossil record was published. The enigmatic paravian Zhongornis, known only from a juvenile specimen, was suggested to be a scansoriopterygid, but there are reasons to be suspect of this result. A hoatzin from the Miocene of Kenya was reported. Powered flight was found to have driven the reduced genome size of birds. Falcons were discovered to pursue prey using visual motion cues. New studies came out on the benefits of V-formation flight, the aerodynamics of Microraptor, and timing the origin of neornithines. Newly-named maniraptors included the enantiornithines Parvavis chuxiongensis, Parabohaiornis martini, and Longusunguis kurochkini, the troodont Gobivenator mongoliensis, the Eocene hoatzin Protoazin parisiensis, and the Paleocene avialan Australornis lovei.

The skull of Gobivenator mongoliensis, from Tsuihiji et al., 2014.

In February, mutualism was documented between green-backed firecrown hummingbirds and cryptogamic plants. The pale eyes of jackdaws were found to function in deterring intruders. Chickens with artificial long tails were used to study how non-avian dinosaurs might have walked. Brown thornbills were reported to mimic different alarm calls in response to different threats. Isotopic evidence was used to support the notion that Gastornis, frequently portrayed as a fearsome predator, was probably herbivorous. New studies came out on avian forelimb development, the evolution of melanosomes in maniraptors and other feathered dinosaurs (which also discovered that the feathers of Caudipteryx may have been black), the aerodynamics of diving flight in peregrine falcons, the relationship between avian ecology and caudal skeletal morphology, and the efficiency of lift generation in common swifts.

Experimental design of chicken walking study, from Grossi et al., 2014.

In March, great tits were reported to deliberately withhold information from competitors. The mechanisms of color production in the plumage of male Lawes's parotia were described. Retaliatory behaviors by avian brood parasites were found to be promoted by plastic defensive behavior in their hosts. Another study showed that there are circumstances under which a host can benefit from brood parasites. The reconstruction of colors from fossilized pigments that has been a growing field these past few years was questioned, suggesting that supposed fossil pigments are really traces of bacteria. There were multiple presentations on both sides of this controversy at the SVP conference later in the year, so little doubt there will be much more to say about this subject in the near future. New studies came out on the phylogenetic position of the spotted wren babbler, causal understanding in New Caledonian crows, and the extinction of moas. Newly-named maniraptors included the Pliocene penguin Eudyptes calauina and the long-awaited large caenagnathid Anzu wyliei, too late for the oviraptorosaur-heavy 2013 but very much welcome.

Skeletal reconstruction and fossil material of Anzu wyliei, from Lamanna et al., 2014.

In April, visual effects of bowers built by great bowerbirds were described. The interpretation of Archaeopteryx as having had elongate covert feathers was disputed. Field observations of the rare black-throated blue robin were published. New specimens of Yanornis were described. New studies came out on the diversification of hummingbirds, the growth of Gargantuavis, the ability of birds to learn structural efficacy of nesting material, the understanding of social relations among common ravens, quantification of feather wettability, and the running performance of bar-headed geese under low oxygen conditions.

Phylogeny of hummingbirds, from McGuire et al., 2014.

In May, flexible alarm mimicry by fork-tailed drongos was published (which had been previously filmed in the 2013 BBC documentary series Africa). The braincase of Nothronychus and the jaw musculature of the laughing kookaburra were described, as was a new specimen of Zhouornis. Long-axis rotation was found and quantified in avian bipedal locomotion. An extremely well-preserved griffon vulture fossil specimen with soft tissues was reported. Pseudaptenodytes macraei was redescribed. Pumiliornis was found to have eaten pollen. Hoopoe eggshells were discovered to enhance adhesion of symbiont-carrying secretions. New studies came out on the function of therizinosaur claws, paleognath phylogeny, the development of feather asymmetry, the evolution of WAIR, and the post-fledging dispersal of king penguins. Newly-named maniraptors included the confuciusornithiform-like Cretaceous pygostylian Evgenavis nobilis, the Cretaceous euornithine Tianyuornis cheni, the Eocene gruiform Galligeranoides boriensis, and the possibly scansorial enantiornithine Fortunguavis xiaotaizicus.

Virtual cast of exceptionally-preserved griffon vulture fossil, from Iurino et al., 2014.

In June, "Saurornitholestes" robustus was reevaluated as a troodont. Eurasian jays were found to use acoustic cues to pilfer the caches of others. The Wakatobi flowerpecker was re-split from the gray-sided flowerpecker. The possibility of finding carotenoid pigments in feathers preserved in amber was evaluated. New studies came out on the bite performance of loggerhead shrikes, the identification of Euryapteryx moa chicks, the population fluctuations of passenger pigeons, the genomic landscape underlying the carrion-hooded crow complex, the evolution of avian egg patterns, elaborate signals in tanagers, and carotenoid-pigemented plumage, the leap and strike kinetics of barn owls, and the development of zygodactyl feet. Newly-named maniraptors included Spizelloides, a new genus for the American tree sparrow.

Wakatobi flowerpecker (right column) compared to gray-sided flowerpecker (left column), from Kelly et al., 2014.

In July, an excellent new specimen of Archaeopteryx was described. (This paper additionally coined the name Pennaraptora for the least inclusive clade containing oviraptorosaurs and paravians, a term we had been sorely in need of.) Anatomical change through ontogeny in chickens was documented in detail. Ichthyornis was reported from Mexico for the first time. New material of Itemirus was described, supporting the idea that it was a dromaeosaurid, though skepticism exists about this assignment and conclusion. New material representing very large specimens was also described for Palaeeudyptes. The oldest known avian eggshell, hailing from the Early Cretaceous, was reported. New studies came out on the wing dynamics and efficacy of hovering hummingbirds, the vocal repertoire of African penguins, and the evolution of the modern avian tail. Newly-named maniraptors included the pelagornithid Pelagornis sandersi (one of the largest known flying birds), the microraptorian Changyuraptor yangi, and the Miocene duck Bambolinetta lignitifila (formerly a species of Anas), while the Miocene stem albatross Chenornis was sunk into Plotornis.

New specimen of Archaeopteryx, from Foth et al., 2014.

In August, sustained miniaturization in avian evolution was supported. Aerial righting behavior was documented in juvenile chukar, suggesting yet another possible function for incipient wings. No evidence for attraction to shiny objects in magpies was concluded by one study. New studies came out on tinamou phylogeny, the evolution of migration in New World songbirds, sweet taste perception in hummingbirds, and the semilunate carpal in theropods, and the coevolution of the avian caudal skeleton and tail feathers (with implications for reconstructing the tail feathers of extinct birds). Newly-named maniraptors included the enantiornithine Grabauornis lingyuanensis.

Aerial righting behavior in juvenile chukar, from Evangelista et al., 2014.

In September, social transmission of tool use was documented in Goffin's cockatoos. The Rodrigues solitaire was digitally reconstructed. Anchiornis and Sapeornis were argued to lack sterna. The elaborate tail plumage of peacocks was found to not hinder their ability to take off. New studies came out on the evolution of avian wrist bones and rates of evolution in coelurosaurs (including maniraptors).

Evolution of wrist bones in theropods, from Botelho et al., 2014.

In October, great antshrikes were reported to have learned to use tools in order to prey on invasive land snails. The Eocene paleognath Palaeotis was restudied. Long-billed hermit hummingbirds were found to have sexually dimorphic bills used as weapons by the males. Extreme nomadism in banded stilts and prenatal learning in superb fairy wrens were documented. The skull anatomy of Haplocheirus was described. Male great bustards were shown to consume more poisonous foods than females do. Running birds were discovered to prioritize leg safety on uneven terrain. New studies came out on cotinga phylogeny, the diversification of crown-group rails, the aerodynamics of Microraptor (again), ontogenetic scaling in the hindlimb muscles of greater rhea, the expansion of ostriches into India, and the function of wing tucks in steppe eagles. Newly-named maniraptors included the enantiornithine Eopengornis martini, the Cretaceous euornithine Iteravis huchzermeyeri, and the basal avialan Jeholornis curvipes (the holotype specimen of which was initially going to be described in a different manuscript).

Long-billed hermit hummingbird, photographed by Kradlum, licensed.

In November, the cranial anatomy of Erlikosaurus was described. Brood parasitism was elicited in zebra finches by nest destruction. The osteohistology of Hesperornis and pygoscelid penguins was compared. Juvenile cinereous mourners were reported to mimic toxic caterpillars. New specimens of Scaniacypselus were published. New studies came out on the evolution of avian egg shape, the microbiome of New World vultures, and the function of cassowary casques. Newly-named maniraptors included the Pliocene vulture Aegypius varswaterensis, the Cretaceous euornithine Gansus zheni (which, as it turns out, is probably the same as Iteravis), and the Sulawesi streaked flycatcher (Muscicapa sodhii).

Juvenile cinereous mourner (left) and contemporaneous toxic caterpillar (right), from Londoño et al., 2014.

In December, a massive paper drop landed on our heads as the numerous findings of the Avian Phylogenomics Project were simultaneously published. Hummingbirds were found to control hovering flight by stabilizing visual motion. New cultural traditions were experimentally introduced to great tits. The endocranium of Conchoraptor was redescribed. Bird tracks were reported from the Cedar Mountain Formation for the first time. Spontaneous analogical reasoning in crows was documented. The white-faced ground sparrow was split from the Prevost's ground sparrow. New material of Microraptor (used a couple years ago to reconstruct its plumage coloration) and Caenagnathasia was described. New studies came out on wing versus leg investment in birds and the anatomy and ontogeny of paleognath hindlimbs.

Phylogeny of extant birds based on whole genome analysis, from Jarvis et al., 2014.