It was meant to be silly, especially when there were two important papers on evolutionary biology published in Nature last week (And one by a team of scientists led by an eminent professor of paleobiology at Carl Zimmer’s undergraduate alma mater.) and neither one has really received the attention that they deserve, especially the one on paleobiology.

There are two valid terms for the present geological epoch in which we live in: Holocene and Recent. IMHO the Anthropocene isn’t either one.

I personally think it is silly to have an Anthropocene Epoch, since that would be the first time that a geological time unit has been named primarily for one species, namely us. Really don’t think Kolbert should have used the term, period. Either the Recent or the Holocene should suffice.

@ Carl -

Just being a bit sarcastic, using a humor of the kind used by my favorite hight school teacher (In whose memory, a bronze bust of him was erected outside what was his primary school in Limerick, Ireland last Thursday.).

[CZ: John, Kolbert does not claim to be the first to use the term. She recounts the term's history and describes the current debate over it.]