#Frontier work

[markscherz]

Meet the seven new frog species we just named after iconic Star Trek captains!

Artwork by A. Petzold, CC BY-ND 4.0

At the right time of year along rushing streams in the humid rainforests that stretch the length of Madagascar's eastern and northern mountain ridges, otherworldly trills of piercing whistles can be heard.

Are they birds? Insects? Communicator beeps? Tricorder noises?

No, they're little treefrogs!

Boophis janewayae. Photo by M. Vences, CC BY-SA 4.0

Until recently, we thought all of the populations of these little brown frogs across the island were one widespread species, Boophis marojezensis, described in 1994. But genetics in the early 2000s and 2010s showed that there were several species here, not just one.

Now my colleagues and I have shown that they are in fact eight separate species, each with unique calls!

These whistling sounds reminded us so much of Star Trek sound effects that we decided to name the seven new species after Star Trek captains: Boophis kirki, B. picardi, B. janewayae, B. siskoi, B. pikei, B. archeri, and B. burnhamae.

Photos of all new species described by Vences et al. 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0

I subtly and not-so-subtly built some Star Trek references into the paper, but probably the best one is this one:

'Finding these frogs sometimes requires considerable trekking; pursuing strange new calls, to seek out new frogs in new forests; boldly going where no herpetologist has gone before.'

— Vences et al. 2024

There’s a real sense of scientific discovery and exploration here, which we think is in the spirit of Star Trek.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that there are at least two Trekkies amongst the authors (including yours truly). As fans of Star Trek, we are also just pleased to dedicate these new species to the characters who have inspired and entertained us over the decades.

On a personal note, this marks a milestone for me, as it means I have now described over 100 frog species! I am very pleased that the 100th is Captain Janeway's Bright-eyed Frog, Boophis janewayae (if you count them in order of appearance in the paper)—she is probably my favourite captain, and I really love Star Trek: Voyager.

You can read more about the discovery of these new species on my website! You can also read the Open Access paper published in Vertebrate Zoology here.

[auroblaze]

I Love *clenches fists* Sonic Team's varied creechures designs

[wadesart]

in the absence of the klingons

[spacecolonie]

in memoriam (print, speedpaint video)

[elviradreaminess]

the blade of frontiers 🗡️

wyll is such a sweetheart!! he gives me disney prince vibes 🥰✨

[rapidhighway]

trying to paint after months of no painting (I have to go now they are making me go do work for class now 😔)

[descendant-of-truth]

I do think they kind of shot themselves in the foot when it comes to the events of Sonic Forces, not because they were bad ideas or even because they were poorly-executed, but because of how it necessitates a change in character dynamics that Sega isn't willing to let happen.

Sonic canon is now existing in a time where Eggman's succeeded in taking over most of the world before, along with imprisoning Sonic for, and I need to emphasize this every time I mention it, six months straight. If Sonic's going to be jokey and casual with Eggman after that, then we need to be able to tell that it's something of a front that he's putting up, or else the character continuity makes no sense.

Recall how, in Adventure 2, Sonic would mock Eggman a bit when he thought he had the upper hand with the fake Chaos Emerald, but not because he wasn't taking him seriously as a villain. He knew that the situation was tense, he was talking big just because that's his personality.

Also recall how he completely dropped the humor whenever things got really bad. Well, he's seen things get pretty much as bad as possible in Forces, all because of Eggman, and I just can't buy the casual nature of their interactions in Frontiers because of it. No matter how casually Sonic acts around him, it's gotta be clear that he doesn't feel comfortable with him. And as entertaining as their dialogue in Frontiers is due to that vibe, it's out of character at this point in the timeline.

Yes, Sonic was the same way with him during Forces. But Frontiers was fully willing to let Tails have more serious, grounded feelings about what happened in Forces, so why not Sonic?

And seriously, what's with this trend of letting literally everyone but Sonic experience residual effects of Forces? Tails shows lasting guilt/anxiety regarding Infinite's first attack in both the games and the comics. And in those comics, the Restoration is all about rebuilding the world after the war, pretty clearly being shaped by their experiences. Meanwhile, Sonic mentions his imprisonment exactly once, and it gets brushed aside immediately.

I understand that Sonic wouldn't want to talk about it, but at a certain point, he doesn't really need to. A shift in how seriously he takes Eggman as a threat, showing his distrust whenever possible, would easily be enough to get the point across. Maybe make a point about him being a little antsy in tight spaces or something (which is the same way Forces communicated the effects being captured had on him, by the way).

And honestly, Eggman should feel a little different, too. He's now someone who's come so close to complete world domination and still lost, I feel like we should be seeing... I dunno, something. A different edge to his hatred for Sonic after such a monumental failure, maybe. Anything to show that Forces mattered at all to the major players involved.

Like, I don't think I'm asking for much here. If we can shake up the status quo of the series by allowing Eggman to be an Actual Dad with a Child, we can allow Sonic and friends to treat him as a legitimate threat who can't be trusted. But nooo, Eggman has to be silly enough to continue the Brand Image, which means that Sonic doesn't even get to have retroactive character development like Tails did

[lunapegasus]

The unofficial official Robotnik family tree!

[silvers-starrway]

The two @sthbigbang pieces I did for @vaultbuggo's fic which you should read here! Scenes were based off of chapter 1 and chapter 4, go see if you can figure out which parts hehe.

You should also go check out the pieces done by the other artists @HomaHowi here and @hedgehomo here!

This was such a fun event to be apart of and honestly kind of life changing? I've met so many cool people through it that continue to inspire me. Congrats to everyone who participated in the event and y'all should go check all of the other pieces out too!!

[e-vay]

All that is to say, I actually freaking love this DLC so far oh my gosh. Can’t believe the AMOUNT of bonus content and story we are getting! We are being well fed, even if we’re simultaneously being murdered haha

The text in the last panel says:

LORD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?! IS IT BECAUSE OF ALL MY KISSY-HEDGEHOG DRAWINGS?! KNUCKLES, FORGIVE ME! I HAD NOT YET KNOWN TRUE HELL WHEN I CURSED YOUR NAME! WHEN WILL THESE TRIALS END?!

[yomi345345345]

DOING COLORED COMMISSIONS NOW- CHECK IT OUT ON KOFI !

[praleczka]

It looks like fishing was the right cure for my depression.

I have more time wohoo. Now I can draw more ^^

[hotdamnhunnam]

Me @ myself pretty much 24/7 whenever I do literally anything:

[flamemons]

just some guys being dudes. happy holidays

[antirepurp]

Hey! Are you still in there? I can still hear you, you know! Come on, say something, we're all waiting for you! Tell us your name!

[imaginationblur]

Ending of frontiers got me thinkin, you know what that means

FOREVER WIP HELL (Ref. Amy design)