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wtf-triassic · 5 years

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Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Sickle Reptile

First Described By: Pinna 1979

Classification: Biota, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Asgardarchaeota, Eukaryota, Neokaryota, Scotokaryota, Opimoda, Podiata, Amorphea, Obazoa, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Choanozoa, Animalia, Eumetazoa, Parahoxozoa, Bilateria, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Olfactores, Vertebrata, Craniata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiformes, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Amniota, Sauropsida, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Diapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Protorosauria?, Drepanosauromorpha, Elyurosauria, Drepanosauridae, Megalancosaurinae

Time and Place: 212 to 205 million years ago, from the Norian to the Rhaetian ages of the Late Triassic

Drepanosaurus is known from the Zorzino Limestone and Dolomia di Forni Formations of Italy, and the Siltstone and Petrified Forest Members of the Chinle Formation in New Mexico

Physical Description: Drepanosaurus is the Titular Member of the Drepanosaurs, aka the “Monkey Reptiles”! These weirdos got their name for a reason - they were extremely well adapted for climbing trees, to the point of having prehensile tails like many monkeys. Drepanosaurus had a long, slender body, with a very long and thick tail for grabbing onto branches and moving around the forest. It had a long, thin neck and a small skull on the end of it, which was superficially similar to the skull of a bird - it was round on the back end, with huge eyes and a small pointed snout. Still, that head looked more like the head of a chick any number of nonavian dinosaurs, rather than like birds. It had long, robust limbs, with claws on the digits. Most notably, one front claw on each Drepanosaurus hand was huge, used for aiding in gripping branches more easily. It had an arched shoulder region, and in general very high spines on its vertebrae. This made it look quite odd indeed - a lumpy, lengthy reptile that sort of looks like what would happen if you tried to combine a woodpecker, a monitor lizard, a monkey, and a bison into one small reptilian creature that lived in the trees of the Triassic. It was weird, okay. It was just weird. The tail may have even ended in a claw - that’s right, a claw - to help it grab onto branches better. And all of this weirdness was packed into a body only about 45 to 50 centimeters long - a truly specialized representative of Triassic Oddities.

Diet: Drepanosaurus was most likely an insectivore, using the claws to help get out various insects from tree bark.

Behavior: Drepanosaurus was a weirdo, but a weirdo with a purpose. All of these weird traits came together in one wild animal to aid it in climbing among trees, gathering food, and moving nimbly in the forest. The small, pointed mouth aided in digging out food from crevices and burrows, which it could open up bigger using the large claws. Its long and skinny neck also helped it to reach spots where insects were hiding, rather than wasting energy to move its entire body to where food was on the tree. The large, splayed out feet and strong claws were able to wrap around tree trunks, gripping the wood tightly and helping Drepanosaurus stay stabilized. The prehensile tail helped Drepanosaurus go from branch to branch and move among the tree canopy, and the claw would help to keep the tail in place during particularly slippery or dangerous swings.

Ecosystem: Drepanosaurus lived in a variety of environments, most importantly the Triassic shores of Northern Italy, around tidal basins and seasonal lagoons. In the Zorzino beach formation, it shared its home with its close cousins, Megalancosaurus and Vallesaurus; as well as the early Pterosaurs Bergamodactylus, Peteinosaurus, and Eudimorphodon; the very long-snouted Phytosaur Mystriosuchus; the marine reptile Endennasaurus; the Placodont Psephoderma; the Aetosaur Aetosaurus; the Tuatara Diphydontosaurus; the Tanystropheid Langobardisaurus; and plenty of fish such as Legnonotus, Gibbodon, Sargodon, Pholidorhynchodon, Parapholidophorus, Pholidoctenus, Dapedium, Dandya, and the shark Pseudodalatias. This was a very active and diverse fauna, placing Drepanosaurus in one of the truly uniquely Triassic locations of the end of the Period.

Dolomia di Forni was no sneeze either, a Tidal Basin surrounded by coniferous trees. Here we have some preservation of things that Drepanosaurus was likely to eat, such as the spider Friularachne. There were also plenty of crustaceans, including decapods and crab like things that would have been crawling all over the tidal pools. Fish were very common too, such as the Coelacanth Holophagus, the sharp fish man Saurichthys, other Ray-Finned fish such as Eopholidophorus and Sargodon, the shark Pseudoalatias, and the Conodont Epigondolella. There was also the Tanystropheid Langobardisaurus again, as well as the other Drepanosaur Megalancosaurus. However, the true heroes of the environment were the early pterosaurs - the whole gang was there, including Preondactylus, Eudimorphodon, Austriadactylus, and Seazzadactylus. It was just a huge chaos of flying reptiles, which Drepanosaurus would have had a tough time avoiding!

Drepanosaurus has also been found in the Siltstone and Petrified Forest environments of the Chinle Formation in North America. Now, even in the context of Pangea this was a long distance away, but it’s possible they migrated there during the end of the Triassic period. These were thick coniferous forest environments with a severely dry and severely wet season, indicating that Drepanosaurus really adapted to a new cliimate, and quickly. Here there were famous animals such as the dinosaurs Coelophysis, Daemonosaurus, Chindesaurus, Tawa, the Silesaurid Eucoelophysis, the Lagerpetid Dromomeron, Pseudosuchians like Hesperosuchus, Effigia, Vivaron, and the Aetosaur Typothorax; the swimming Archosauromorph Vancleavea, Tuataras like Whitakersaurus, Phytosaurs like Redondasaurus and Rioarribasuchus, and even other Drepanosaurs like Avicranium (which might actually be what all the specimens of Drepanosaurus in the Chinle are, so take this with a grain of salt). This is a very diverse ecosystem that has been touched on elsewhere on WTF Triassic, so I will leave it at that!

Other: Oh ye Drepanosaurs. With heads so birdlike and bodies so weird. Much like other triassic weirdos, BANDits (“scientists” who insist, though literally all evidence points to the contrary, that birds could not have evolved from dinosaurs), you have been fodder for speculation for ages. However, you have almost nothing in common with birds - even the skull is only similar on the outside, and lacks many of the features seen in bird skulls (that are, however, found in dinosaur skulls). In fact, many of these creatures were grouped together in a group called Avicephala, which was eventually abandoned as it was found that most of them were not closely related. That said, it was then found that Drepanosaurs were Archosauromorphs, showing that weird arboreal lifestyles were a trend in the Ruling Reptile group, rather than a unique feature of the birds. Though, it is possible that Drepanosaurs are actually very early Diapsids (reptiles proper), and thus may have evolved as early as the Permian - and somehow survived into the Triassic. More fossils are needed, but for now, they remain a fascinating and unique Triassic group, highlighting the weirdness of this timeperiod in a way few other animals can.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut

Carroll, R. L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution 1-698.

Colbert, E. H. 1947. The little dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch. Natural History 59(9):392-399-427-428.

Dalla Vecchia, F. M. 1991. Notes on the stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology of the Dolomia di Forni (Upper Triassic) of the Rio Seazza Valley (Preone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia)]. Gortania - Proceedings of the Friulian Museum of Natural History 12 (90) : 7-30.

Irmis, R. B., S. J. Nesbitt, K. Padian, N. D. Smith, A. H. Turner, D. T. Woody, and A. Downs. 2007. A Late Triassic dinosauromorph assemblage from New Mexico and the rise of dinosaurs. Science 317:358-361.

Harris, J. D., A. Downs. 2002. A drepanosaurid pectoral girdle from the Ghost Ranch (Whitaker) Coelophysis Quarry (Chinle Group, Rock Point Formation, Rhaetian), New Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 111: 247 - 264.

Pinna, G. 1979. Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus, nuovo genere e nuova specie di Lepidosauro del trias alpino. Atti della Societa Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 121: 181 - 192.

Pinna, G. 1986. On Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus, an Upper Triassic lepidosaurian from the Italian Alps. Journal of Paleontology 60 (5): 1127 - 1132.

Pinna, G. 1988. Un nuovo esemplare giovanile di Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus del Norico di Val Preone (Udine) [A new juvenile specimen of Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus from the Norian of the Preone Valley, Udine]. Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali - Museo civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 128:80-84.

Pinna, G., and S. Nosotti. 1989. Anatomia, morfologia funzionale e paleoecologia del rettile placodonte Psephoderma alpiunum Meyer, 1858. Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Milano 25(2):1-50.

Pritchard, A. C., S. J. Nesbitt. 2017. A bird-like skull in a Triassic diapsid reptile increases heterogeneity of the morphological and phylogenetic radiation of Diapsida. Open Science 4 (10): 170499.

Renesto, S. 1994. The shoulder girdle and anterior limb of Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus (Reptilia, Neodiapsida) from the Upper Triassic (Norian) of Northern Italy. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 111 (3): 247 - 264.

Renesto, S., J. A. Spielmann, S. G. Lucas, G. T. Spagnoli. 2010. The Taxonomy and paleobiology of the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian: Adamnian-Apachean) drepanosaurs (Diapsida: Archosauromorpha: Drepanosauromorpha). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 46: 1 - 81.

Senter, P. 2004. Phylogeny of Drepanosauridae (Reptilia: Diapsida). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 2(3):257-268.

Stefani, M., P. Arduini, A. Garassino, G. Pinna, G. Teruzzi, G. L. Trombetta. 1991. Palaeoenvironment of extraordinary fossil biotas from the Upper Triassic of Italy. Atti della Societa Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 132 (24): 309 - 335.

#drepanosaurus #drepanosaur #diapsid #triassic #triassic madness #triassic march madness #prehistoric life #paleontology

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zebraslovescupcakestoo · 4 years

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My BLUSH BLUSH wish list.

For those who likes the game, fan of the game or anything in between, I wanted to share my thoughts and what I wanted from the game in future updates.

Of course this is just MY thoughts, MY imaginations and just MY wish list so if you disagree, that’s OK! You can just leave what you wanted instead in the comments or in my ask box. I am open to what you have to say. So let’s go right into it:

1. Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Yes, I know I’ve posted this here after I made a screen shots of my conversations in the Steam community, but after the debut and full release of the game, we got up to date 2 DLC characters, voice audios, and a Halloween costume bundles. So if they came up with a special Christmas costume bundle, it would make me up for 2020!

In their older sister game predecessor, Crush Crush, all of their dateable girls have the Santa suit options after you max out their lover levels. (10 diamonds each.) Even though they’ve alternated each of their red Santa style suits, they’re pretty much the same.

Don’t get me wrong! They’re beautiful, but almost the same!

So that’s why if we get UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS instead, it would be more festive and think of how some would match their characteristics like for example: Imagine Nihm with a cute pastel colored sweater or Ichiban with a horror reference video parody. (Or imagine a certain guy with a Grinch vibe with a ‘Merry go f#k yourself’ ugly sweater.)

2. A new Diamond Boy bundle!

If you have an account with Crush Crush and you played long enough, you already know that there’s the Darya DLC bundle that gives you diamonds on the first run. (The bundle was 15 US dollars.)

So for this, I hope that the Sad Panda team studio would do the same in this game.

I have a few good ideas about what animal forms it could be before you un-curse them:

-A Pokémon knock off of Cloyster and probably friends with that Narcissistic mermaid on the phone fling. They have pearls that looks fabs!

-A dolphin if an Oyster isn’t ‘Shelling’ enough for you nor the others. Think about a treasure hunting dolphin like Ariel who’s collecting human treasures.

-A raccoon thief inspired by the Sly Cooper video games series. This was on PS2 series and had a remake later but this would be an interesting Easter egg reference. (Maybe add some Arsene Lupin reference to ‘compliment’ the detective phone boy fling.) *Wink wink!*

-I found this interesting when I search this topic but an Owl, specifically white barn owls, with ties of Hindu myth symbol of Wealth and Fortune. I’ll leave the link here if you’re interested, but this is like if Sascha was looking for him before scamming...

-A peacock! Think how back in time when you in one of the banquet Henry the 8th hosted and this was served. This was a symbol of pride and luxury so only rich people can have these.

If you have any alternatives references, please let me know in the comments or ask box if you have an ideal diamond bundle manimal and what’s their story. I would love to know and share!

3. Ideal Animal!!!

We all know how a basic Blush Blush dating game is by now: You found their animal forms, you un-cursed them by dates and they’re back to humans again. (For a good humping DLC d!k pic.) We all see that it can be either a real or a fantasy animal like a rabbit to a dragon. So here’s MY idea of the next animal:

-Marine Manimal options!

I’ve said this previously, but all of the guys so far are land animals. I would understand if it’s a bit hard to do, especially with dating scenes, but if it works, I’ll sing Part Of Your World whenever I want!

My personal options are a Dolphin, Shark, Orcas AKA sea pandas, Octopus, Lobster, Crab and Oyster.

-Bird Manimal!

The only bird species we have there at the time is Kelby as a Rooster.

So for the feathered fans of the bird community, MY personal options would be an Owl, Peacock, Hawk, Eagle, Seagal, Ostridge, a Kiwi (bird) (Yes, they’re called like that in New Zealand.) Duck, Parrot, Toucan, Pidgeon or Dove, Crane or any domestic pet birds.

I would like an honorable mention of a crow or raven but since the first phone fling boy winner is the college student goth Poe, there’s a high chances that’s gonna be our second bird at high predictions. But I could be wrong so we’ll see how this would turn out.

-Insect Manimal!

I know that there will be some that would disagree that ‘ThAT’s Not An ANImal CataGory!’ which I could agree. HOWEVER! Since the game creators broke that rule with fantasy creatures like a Pegasus and a Dragon, I thought maybe we can bend that rule a bit.

MY personal insect options would be a Scorpion, a Spider, a Bee, Butterfly, a ‘manly’ Ladybug inspired by Pixar’s A Bug’s life, Praying Mantis, Cricket inspired by Jiminy Cricket and a Beetle.

Imagine the last one inspired by either the rock band ‘The Beatles’ or ‘Beetlejuice.’

-Land Manimals!

So going back to land animals, here’s MY personal options that hasn’t been done yet.

A Raccoon, Squirrel, Elephant, Barn Pig, Zebra, Bat, Mice, Fox, Monkey, Turtle (Which COULD have been in the marine instead, but they’re are some in land forms too!) Koala, Kangaroo, Bear, Frog, Donkey, Buck (Adult Bambi) and Lizard.

I would add an honorable mentions or a domesticated Dog or a Cat breed, but we already have a Wolf and 2 Big Cat Boys on the team with DLC. (A Lion would be a nice option, but only if it’s the magical 3 times the charm!)

-Fantasy Manimal.

I’m not entirely sure cause Pegasus and Dragons are already taken, but would think that maybe just a Horned Unicorn, a Loch Nest creature inspired ‘Animal’ or maybe the Eastern version of the Dragon.

Imagine the last one being true and Scales got a rival!

If you have other suggestions, please share if you want.

4. Ideal Manimal characteristics that hasn’t been done yet.

We have some that has characteristic that defines themselves. Nihm’s a shy, cute guy. Eli’s a Bi pride boy. Dmitri is a Smooth talker adult. Anon’s technology attributes.

So for this category, here’s MY personal ones that hasn’t been done yet.

-A Boxing or Kung Fu fighter type.

-Italian Mafia/Gangster or a Yakuza

-Chef or a Baker

-Artist

-Demon (Unless we get Seth or a different guy.)

-Business men or CEO.

-Soldier or Army Officers.

-Car/Motor/Boat Racer.

-Thief. (Arene Lupin, Sly the thief raccoon or Joker from P5 references.)

If there’s something else that hasn’t been done or that I haven’t posted it, please share with me what you think.

5. Outfit ideas!

I know this would be like a continuation from point numero uno, but here’s a couple of more.

-Swimming trunks.

-Winter apparels.

-Onesies Animal wear. (Cuz if we don’t get the Animal Options asides resets...)

-Summer apparels.

-Masquerade attire or wedding tuxedo.

-Pajamas.

If there’s more you wanted, again, please share.

6. MORE INCLUSIVITY IN EVERY FORMS!!!

The reason being is when I saw the reviews on the selected winner from Phone vote fling in Blush Blush.

On one hand, there were people who were happy while the rest... aren’t.

I know we all have different taste of either ‘I like cute boys’ or ‘I want a REAL man!’ but that got me thinking... and maybe if we can see guys in different skin tones or different cultures, that could be a nice inclusivity.

Imagine a Native from Southern America with a poncho or a real buff African who’s passionate with animals.

But what would you think? Let me know if this is a good idea or needs to rethink.

7. New dating places.

Like their counter part, they only have 4 date spots. So here’s a few more that would help change the scenery:

-The Beach.

-Theatre (But only showing the front, not the silhouettes.)

-Revisiting the same zoo and meet their counter parts.

-Ice cream shop or cart near the park.

-Their bedrooms. (plausible having the uncensored DLC alternate versions too...)

If you have a separate dating options, share that with me too!

8. Daily spin the wheel prizes.

Hear me out on this one! You probably seen these on numerous Gaming apps in any form, but if you think about it, this could be a nice change of pace!

In each chances, you can either get a boosters from Jobs or hobbies, Diamonds, exclusive outfits, or time skips.

What’s more, you’d get 1 free spin by daily and maybe get an extra 4 more for like 5 diamonds each. (like phone votes.)

9. Decorate your virtual room.

This is only an optional and unrelated to the game. (much..)

If you’d get the option to decorate your in-game room like plushies, posters, BF jackets that was ‘lend’ to you, you’d wanted IT in RL too!!! Also, it would also boost your intimacy's with your manimal such as love hearts intakes or ‘spend less on items with this!’

And this is all I have suggested for now.

If you have other suggestions on what you wanted in that game or update it, please let me know and we can share it here!

Thank you for taking your time to read this and have a wonderful day!

#blush blush #wish #list #opinions #bucket list #ideas #just for fun

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

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Humans are Weird “Keep them Warm”

Hey guys, Hope you are having a great week. This one is gonna be both awkward and funny hopefully. It was given to me as a prompt idea from one of my readers, and I hope they enjoy it as well. It involves a new alien species that I think you all might be interested in. I would suggest taking a look :)

“So you’re telling me we found another sentient omnivore species.” The commander grunted ripping his boot from a watery patch of mud and nearly crashing into the swampy water between two twisted tree roots.

Sunny reached out with one of her four armored arms, and caught him by the back of his pack pulling him back upright. He nodded a thanks to her and adjusted his gear. Behind her Ramirez ducked under a low hanging branch slogging through a pool of knee-high water, adjusting the containment pod, holding Krill more comfortably over both shoulders.

Krill, comfortable and warm inside his containment pod, watched the marines, scientists, and a linguist struggle through the mud under a covering of impossibly tall twisted trees their canopy blocking out all light that might have dared cut downwards towards the watery floor below. “Not entirely sentient, I suppose.” Krill answered , “Unfortunately the way in which they communicate is going to drastically reduce their ability to create complex structures and perform mathematical equations.”

Together they maneuvered themselves over a root, which at some point in the distant past, had decided to grow upwards instead of down. At about four feet high, it had changed its mind and arched back down into the water. Perhaps it had been smaller then, but at four feet wide, the root was an absolute monstrosity now.

The trees themselves were massive, challenging, and sometimes outgrowing the legendary redwood forests of the western Americas, but unlike the redwoods, these trees didn’t stand tall and proud. Instead, they chose a twisted path much like the branching veins which made up a human vascular system. They twisted and undulated interlocking past each other with branches that were well over two feet wide in many cases,and stretching to over four feet wide in others. No one direction was good enough, and the trees twisted ducked swirleded and reached grasping for any sort of light to be found.

On top of the darkness cast by the trees and the soggy nature of the forest floor, it was also horribly hot and humid giving the impression of a microwaved wet blanket thrown over the world. Where heat from the upper canopy met the cooler air of deep forest pools, it created a perpetually thick mist which writhed and undulated through the trees, leaving only the shadowy impressions of twisted trunks and clawing branches past distances greater than 50 feet.

“They communicate primarily through pheromones and heat modulation. From what I understand, the language in itself isn’t precise, and really only works in generalities and feelings than it does in absolutes.”

Commander Vir kicked a rotting log out of the way ducking as a massive green bug buzzed over his head and into the fog. Turns out the hotter and more humid a planet gets, the bigger the bugs get, “But we were still able to communicate with them.

KRill nodded from inside his case, “Yes, generally speaking.For a species that cannot communicate in absolutes, I hear they are quite reasonable. They seem willing to accept our friendship, and have….. invited, I guess, us to participate in some sort of primitive ritual.”

The commander nodded scrambling over another tree branch, “Alright, so….. where are these things anyway.” His boots hit solid ground, covered in some sort of wet spongy fungus and glanced down at his GPS. Behind him the other marines went silent heads lifted towards the sky in shock.

“Fuck me.” ONe of the marines whispered scrambling back behind a tree root.

Commander Vir turned and nearly fell into the water again eyes locked onto the creatures descending from high above.

They were huge, about the size of large horses, and horrifically spider like in their construction, or perhaps an ant. They had large-scale abdomens connected to a thinner thorax. All together they had ten appendages, three pairs of spider-like legs on the abdomen which, instead of ending in a pod or foot, ended in a sharp pointed spike. On the abdomen, they had two arm-like appendages, with two many joints and strange waves tentacles instead of fingers

The head was just as disconcerting. It seemed too large for the body, grossly out of proportion and strangely out of place, like some cosmic sentience had used a random animal generator to assign parts to its body. The head was wolflike, if you were to strip the skin and fur away leaving only the muscle underneath. You could see the line of teeth running up either side of the muzzle while the large red-pink ears rotated continuously.

Commander Vir had backed himself into the bowl of a tree eyes wide. Sunny slogged herself up from the water placing herself between the strange spidery creatures and the human.

They didn’t descend like a spider might, on threads of silk, but they used their back six feet, and the spikes on the end to dig into the bark of the trees with a disconcerting thud thud thud thu.

FInally the largest of the creatures reached the ground surprisingly silent for it’s massive bulk.

Glancing around Sunny’s tensed body, he noticed something he hadn’t before, and that was a strange small mass gripping onto the spidery creature’s underbelly. Upon closer inspection he counted ten legs and a surprisingly spidery head buried against its underside….. a completely separate creature holding on to it’s companion.

Behind the largest creature, he noted ANOTHER type of creature. It boasted the same sort of structure as the large creature, but its abdomen was devoid of scales, and covered in strange black bulbs suctioned onto its body by way of a strange, sticky black-green webbing. It’s head was also constructed differently more like a lizard than a wolf, with large bulbous eyes that could rotated behind it’s own head to look in all directions.

Commander Vir fiddled nervously with the advanced translation headset he wore strapped to his helmet, supposedly it was supposed to be able to understand what these things were saying.

“Sky….. friends.” The translation was somewhat garbled, but he understood it was the large wolf-head who spoke.

He walked forward, pushing Sunny gently to the side despite her clear reluctance, “Yes, we are friends, and we are here to offer peace to you, and the assistance of the Galactic Assembly.” He wasn’t entirely sure how that was going to translate over in smell, but the creature seemed happy lifting it’s head and gnashing it’s large K-9 teeth.

“Agreement….. for a favor.”

Commander Vir grew unsure then letting off a reluctant, “What favor.”

The spidery shape moved closer sniffing at him with it’s large wolffish nose. Sunny stiffened at his side, and he put a hand on her arm to calm her.

“Ritual…. you help.”

“None of us will get hurt ... will we?”

The creature stopped and pondered the question for a long moment, “No danger….. live ... healthy ... happy.”

Commander Vir nodded slowly, “Alright, what do we have to do?”

The creature hefted it’s large bulk, and turned in the opposite direction, “Follow.” It commanded scuttling off into the trees.

***

“This is very interesting.” Krill was saying to one of the accompanying scientists, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

“What’s so interesting.” Commander Vir whispered from where he stood at the edge of yet another, but larger fungus covered clearing, watching as the creatures scuttle back and forth.

The scientist learned in in excitement, “It seems that these creatures have a ternary gender system.” Before the commander could ask, the scientist continued, “For ease of speech, the large ones are the females, and those things on their bellies are probably the males. The medium ones are the third gender, the ‘they’ if you will. It looks like the male impregnates the female who then attaches the eggs to the third party. Dr. Krill tells me that the third party have a very high heat signature probably to incubate the young. Those attachments probably provide nutrients into the egg and may even transfer DNA over as well.”

“WOw…. freaky.” The commander muttered in fascination.

“Kind of gross if you ask me.” Sunny muttered.

“I’m with her.” Ramirez muttered receiving a few nods from the other marines.

“Oh please.” Krill whispered, “I know what human reproduction is like, and it’s arguable way worse.”

The scientist waved them all off, “The big one there, the one that’s been talking to us. I think she’s the queen, and judging from those egg sacks, this is probably mating season, if they have one.”

“Creepy, but cool, I guess.” The captain muttered.

They watched for a little longer as the queen scuttled around the clearing and then return to look at them lowering her meaty wolffish head to the Commander’s eyes level. “Ritual ... find…. eggkeeper.” SHe scuttled away

“Oh….. this is some sort of? Mating ritual maybe….. to choose that third party you were talking about.”

“This isn’t exactly the kind of “Mating ritual” I wanted to see.” One of the marines muttered. The other marines turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. Sunny stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Off in the clearing, some of the smaller females had moved themselves onto the high branches scuttling through the trees to examine the “they” who waited patiently. It appeared that side was very important in the ritual, as they all fought for the largest counterpart. Once found, the wolffish head would lower, and open up to reveal a tube under the tongue. From there she would…. disgorge the egg onto the abdomen of the ‘they’ and the mucus would solidify to hold them on.

“It has to do with size.” Krill hissed, “But it seems that it has more to do with heat. The big ones only get chosen more because they also happen to be warmer than the smaller ones. I’d say they incubate at an average of 90 degrees.”

They watched this for a while, the scientists taking notes and the marines making inappropriate jokes.

Eventually most of the creatures had finished leaving only the queen left over. Everything went still when she began to move, and she scuttled around the clearing looking over all the available ‘theys’ she could find, but she just didn’t seem satisfied.

Commander Vir tugged at the collar of his jacket, a line of sweat dripping down his face.

She continued her circuit once and then twice, at some point she turned her head large eyes locking on the humans. She sniffed at them.

The human laughter died as she advanced.

“What is she doing.” The commander muttered under his breath

The scientist that stood next to him hidden partially behind Sunny, “I…. I’m not sure.”

She scuttled even closer, and the humans backed away.

“Hey doc…. didn’t you say something about….. them being attracted to heat.” Ramirez wondered hiding himself behind a root.

“Yeah….. I did, why.”

“Not to freak anyone out or anything but….. isn’t average human heat about 98.6….”

What followed was a rather violent game of nose goes, but instead of involving touching ones nose to see who was the last person standing, it involved a mad rush to reduce body heat. The smartest marines took the initiative and dove into the water beside the clearing. Completely submerging themselves under the surface. Others chose to cover whatever exposed skin they might have in mud as if to mask the heat. Still others chose to cut and run.

Unfortunately, with his position at the head of the group, Commander Vir wasn’t fast enough.

She came at him in a scuttling rush, and in a frantic leap to get away, his boot caught on a root and he hit the ground hard. Sunny tried to leap in front of him, but was bowled over by the mad rushing form.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Commander vir repeated scuttling backwards across the ground as the large spidery shape loomed over him.

He stopped dead in his tracks backed against a tree root. She leaned closer.

He raised his hands above his head blocking his face, “Please don’t lay your eggs in me. Please don’t lay your eggs in me.”

She reached out one of her forward hands surprisingly delicate as she cut through the first layers of his jacket, and shirt. THey fell away in slices revealing the pale human skin underneath red and sticky with the tropical heat. His chest and abdomen heaved with his breath as he tried to scramble away, but she caught him with the prong of one of her back legs pinning him in place.

“Fuck…. Help…. HELP.”

Sunny wasn’t fast enough, having been tipped head over heels into the water, with the rest of the marines in similar positions, Krill contained inside his tube unable to help but unable to look away.

She lowered her head, and the man screamed. It was cold, gelatinous and slimy at first, but even as it touched open air, he could feel it fusing against his skin solidifying. He thrashed and wriggled, but she was far to strong holding him in place. Finally though, she backed away leaving him panting on the ground shaking and trembling leg throbbing where he had been pinned.

She leaned her head down to examine him, “Warm.”

THey locked eyes, “Friends…. now…. Keep them….. warm.”

SHe retreated, and he struggled to his knees turning to look down at his body which was now partially obscured by a sticky pod of six black eggs pulled tight against his skin. His hand were shaking as he reached down to touch them, cold and smooth. HE tried tugging on one, but nearly fainted at the pain it caused against his skin.

They were withdrawing back into the trees leaving him kneeling on the fungus hands trembling as looked downwards.

Sunny was the first to recover scrambling out of the water and over to him, placing a hand on his back as she examined the strange eggs attached to his skin, “Mother of-“

THe marines cut her off as they came wriggling from the trees, “Commander, Commander are you ok….” One of the marines cut around front frozen in his tracks eyes wide once he saw, “WHAT THE HELL!”\

Sunny reached out as if to tug on one of them, “NO!” He snapped jerking away from her.

The others gathered around to look with exclamations of shock and disgust. The commander looked up at Sunny pleadingly. She decided to take charge, helping him to his feet and then pulling him into her arms, “We have to get him back to the ship, let's move, NOW!”

***

“What do you think, Dr.”

Dr Katie examined the scan with a frown, “It’s very, very strange, that’s for sure.”

Commander VIr lifted his head to look down at them, “Well what the HELL does that mean.”

Krill shoved his head back onto the table, “Stay still.”

Dr. Katie hummed softly as she continued to examine the scans, “It looks like these little filaments have breached the skin ... and…. well at least one of them has made it to your liver, this one here has made it to your lungs.”

“What about white blood count.” Krill wondered, “THe body must have noticed something by now?”

Dr Katie shook her head, “Nothing, the body seems to have accepted it. I took some samples and….. well I think I might know why.” She rolled herself to the side in her chair and over to one of the adjoining computers, “See this, this is his DNA ...and this is the DNA of the strands.”

Krill pearled over her shoulder, “What the….. they look almost identical.”

“Yes…. I don’t think the body knows anything is wrong.” She turned her chair back around to look at the Commander, “Congratulations Commander, you are perhaps, in the weirdest way possible, the only man in the history of existence who might just experience the miracle of life.”

The look on his face made it clear he wasn’t interested in being congratulated, “What the actual fuck does that mean?” He snapped

Dr. Katie rolled closer, “Well, to explain in terms you may understand. You are doing more than keeping them warm. Those filaments that you saw are acting like umbilical cords. The one at your liver is using it as a filter, and to take in nutrients as it seems to have branching filaments to the stomach and intestines. The one going to your lungs is taking in carbon…… not sure what that’s going to do to your breathing if anything. But at this point I don’t think that even Dr. Krill, as good as he can remove them. We would have to remove too much of your internal structure to it to be viable, plus they don’t seem to be hurting you.”

“Not hurting me! NOT HURTING ME! You said it yourself they are SUCKING OUT MY VITAL JUICES.”

Dr. Katie shrugged, “Welcome to pregnancy….. sort of. Look we will monitor you, make sure they aren’t sucking away to many nutrients. Look on the bright side, you can probably eat more, and judging form an analysis of the egg sacks, the average gestational period is only around two months.”

“TWO MONTHS!”

Sunny, who had been standing next to the man at the head of the exam table, couldn’t suppress a short chirp of laughter.

He glowered at her, “What’s so funny!”

She chirped again placing a hand on his arm, “You’re gonna be a mom.”

If looks could kill, shed be reduced to a singularity, “Get your hand off me or ill break it in half!”

She continued chirping, but removed her hand just in case.

This was going to be a very awkward call to the UNSC and the GA.

For that matter, it was going to be a very awkward call home.

#humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #humans are weird #earth is a deathworld #Earth is space Ausralia

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 5 years

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Eudyptula minor

By J. J. Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0

Etymology: Good Diver

First Described By: Bonaparte, 1856

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Ardeae, Aequornithes, Austrodyptornithes, Sphenisciformes, Spheniscidae

Status: Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: From 12,000 years ago until today, in the Holocene of the Quaternary

Little Penguins are known from the coast of Australia and New Zealand

Physical Description: Little Penguins are some of the most adorable penguins alive today, and the reason is clear: they’re smol! Little Penguins range in size between 40 and 45 centimeters in length, and none weigh more than 2.1 kilograms. They are a blue-grey on their backs and white on their bellies and necks. They have very small flippers, which can be entirely blue or blue only in the center with white banding around it. They have short little tails and small feet, which are formed into lightly orange flippers. Their beaks are short and round, and either light in color or dark depending on the population. The juveniles tend to be a somewhat duller color than the adults, but usually very similar overall.

By Magnus Kjaergaard, CC BY 3.0

Diet: Little Penguins feed mainly on fish that form schools in the pelagic zone of the ocean (rather than closer to the coast). They’ll also feed on cephalopods and crustaceans.

By Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0

Behavior: These nocturnal penguins will capture their food via pursuit-diving, mainly swimming around schools of fish in tighter and tighter circles until finally - woosh! - they dive into the middle and grab as much food as they can. In shallower water, they do pursue the fish more directly. They can dive as deep as 50 meters underwater, sometimes more - including 69 meters deep. They go up to 62 kilometers away from the nesting and sleeping colony sites, though they can usually only go a fraction of that in a single day and longer distances are reserved for multiple day trips. Females tend to forage more than the males. They feed alone, though they do forage in groups. They are extremely noisy in their colonies, making a variety of trills, brays, growls, grunts, yelping, trumpeting, and wailing sounds to one another. They do not migrate, but do stay near the breeding colony extensively during the moulting and nesting season. Juveniles will leave the colony for a large amount of time, but do eventually return to breed where they were born.

By Phillip Island Tourism, CC BY-SA 4.0

Little Penguins begin breeding in July and continue through December, though it varies from colony to colony and from year to year. They tend to stick to one nest site for their whole lives and are also fairly monogamous, though they do divorce from their partners around 76% of the time. If they are unsuccessful in raising any chicks one year, the next year they are more likely to divorce than not. The nests are made in a little bit far apart from one another in the colonie, usually a burrow in the sand lined with plant material. Usually two eggs are laid in the nest and are incubated for a little more than one month by both parents. The chicks hatch extremely fluffy and greyish-brown; they then molt to look dark brown and grey another month later. At this time young birds will form creches together for two more months, hanging out and learning from each other. They then fledge and become juveniles two more months later. They become sexually mature at two to four years of age, and can live for up to 20 years (though shorter is more common). The chicks and nesting colonies tend to feed at dusk.

By Mark Nairn, CC BY 3.0

Ecosystem: Little Penguins live mainly in sandy and rocky coasts, usually near the bases of cliffs and in sand dunes. They will spend most of their time in temperate to sub-arctic marine waters, many miles offshore. They are preyed upon by cats, dogs, rats, foxes, lizards, snakes, ferrets, stoats, seals, and some other ocean predators. They are mostly affected by introduced mammalian predators at this time.

By fir0002, GFDL 1.2

Other: While Little Penguins are, overall, doing alright and are even common in terms of population management; however, a number of human-created threats are affecting certain colonies and bringing many of them to the verge of collapse. Uncontrolled hunting by domesticated dogs and cats are major causes of colony destruction, as are oil spills, fishing interactions (including being caught in nets), human interference and development, as well as cullings by humans attempting to manage populations of other birds. As such, Little Penguins are of major interest for ecological groups in order to preserve their populations in light of these threats. Fossils of this species are known from its current range from the recent ice age.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut

Baird, R. F. 1992. Fossil avian assemblage of Pitfall Origin from Holocene sediments in Amphitheatre Cave (G-2), South-western Victoria, Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 44:21-44.

Banks, Jonathan C.; Mitchell, Anthony D.; Waas, Joseph R.; Paterson, Adrian M. (2002). "An unexpected pattern of molecular divergence within the blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) complex". Notornis. 49 (1): 29–38.

Bethge, P; Nicol, S; Culik, BM & RP Wilson (1997) "Diving behaviour and energetics in breeding little penguins (Eudyptula minor)". Journal of Zoology 242: 483-502.

Boessenkool, S., J. J. Austin, T. H. Worthy, P. Scofield, A. Cooper, P. J. Seddon, and J. M. Waters. 2009. Relict or colonizer? Extinction and range expansion of penguins in southern New Zealand. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276:815-821.

Carroll, R. L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution 1-698.

Chiaradia, A., Forero, M. G., Hobson, K. A., and Cullen, J. M. (2010) Changes in diet and trophic position of a top predator 10 years after a mass mortality of a key prey. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1710–1720.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017.

Flemming, S.A., Lalas, C., and van Heezik, Y. (2013) "Little penguin (Eudyptula minor) diet at three breeding colonies in New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Ecology 37: 199–205.

Fordyce, R. E. 1991. The Australasian marine vertebrate record and its climatic and geographic implications. In P. Vickers-Rich, J. M. Monaghan, R. F. Baird, T. H. Rich (eds.), Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia 1165-1190.

Grosser, Stefanie; Burridge, Christopher P.; Peucker, Amanda J.; Waters, Jonathan M. (2015-12-14). "Coalescent Modelling Suggests Recent Secondary-Contact of Cryptic Penguin Species". PLOS ONE. 10 (12): –0144966.

Grosser, Stefanie; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Anderson, Christian N. K.; Smith, Ian W. G.; Scofield, R. Paul; Waters, Jonathan M. (2016-02-10). "Invader or resident? Ancient-DNA reveals rapid species turnover in New Zealand little penguins". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283 (1824): 20152879.

Littlely, Bryan (10 October 2007). "Fur seals threat to Granite Island penguins". The Advertiser. p. 23.

Martínez, I., Christie, D.A., Jutglar, F. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2019). Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Numata, M; Davis, L & Renner, M (2000) "[Prolonged foraging trips and egg desertion in little penguins (Eudyptula minor)]". New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27: 291-298.

Rawlence, N. J., A. Kardamaki, L. J. Easton, A. J. D. Tennyson, R. P. Scofield and J. M. Waters. 2017. Ancient DNA and morphometric analysis reveal extinction and replacement of New Zealand’s unique black swans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284:20170876.

Rodríguez, A., Chiaradia, A., Wasiak, P., Renwick, L., and Dann, P.(2016) "Waddling on the Dark Side: Ambient Light Affects Attendance Behavior of Little Penguins." Journal of Biological Rhythms 31:194-204.

Saraux, Claire; Chiaradia, Andre; Salton, Marcus; Dann, Peter; Viblanc, Vincent A (2016). "Negative effects of wind speed on individual foraging performance and breeding success in little penguins". Ecological Monographs. 86 (1): 61–77.

Simpson, G. G. 1946. Fossil Penguins. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 87(1):1-100.

Tennyson, A. J. D., and P. R. Millener. 1994. Bird extinctions and fossil bones from Mangere Island, Chatham Islands. Notornis, Supplement 41:165-178.

Tennyson, A. J. D., J. H. Cooper, and L. D. Shepherd. 2015. A new species of extinct Pterodroma petrel (Procellariiformes: Procellariidae) from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 135:267-277.

van Tets, G. F., and S. O'Connor. 1983. The Hunter Island Penguin, and extinct new genus and species form a Tasmanian midden. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston 81:1-13.

Wallis, Robert; King, Kristie; Wallis, Anne (2017). "The Little Penguin'Eudyptula minor'on Middle Island, Warrnambool, Victoria: An update on population size and predator management". Victorian Naturalist. 134 (2): 48–51.

Wiebkin, A. S. (2011) Conservation management priorities for little penguin populations in Gulf St Vincent. Report to Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board. South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Adelaide. SARDI Publication No. F2011/000188-1. SARDI Research Report Series No.588. 97pp.

Williams, Tony D. (1995). The Penguins. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Williams, M., A. J. D. Tennyson, and D. Sim. 2014. Island differentiation of New Zealand’s extinct mergansers (Anatidae: Mergini), with description of a new species from Chatham Island. Wildfowl 6:3-34.

Wood, J. R., K. J. Mitchell, R. P. Scofield, A. J. D. Tennyson, A. E. Fidler, J. M. Wilmshurst, B. Llamas and A. Cooper. 2014. An extinct nestorid parrot (Aves, Psittaciformes, Nestoridae) from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172:185-199.

Worthy, T. H. 1998. A remarkable fossil and archaeological avifauna from Marfells Beach, Lake Grassmere, South Island, New Zealand. Records of the Canterbury Museum 12:79-176.

Worthy, T. H., and J. A. Grant-Mackie. 2003. Late-Pleistocene avifaunas from Cape Wanbrow, Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 33(1):427-485.

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royalreef · 4 years

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(( ENJOY A MASSIVE POST ABOUT MERFOLK TAXONOMY, because biology has long been my BIGGEST special interest ( yes I’m including paleontology under this, I know it’s more considered an earth science and part of geology, shush ).

Merfolk as a whole are a part of an ancient group of animals that diverged from basal amniotes around the same time amniotes themselves came about, 312 mya (million years ago). I say about, because I haven’t fully decided where exactly to put them in this case, whether they’re fully counted as amniotes or no, and I still need to do a large amount of research into this.

I classify this split as happening there, as opposed to somewhere else, because merfolk are obviously tetrapods, and have some adaptations for full land living that amniotes have, though the merfolk themselves are fully adapted for a watery niche. Their eggs certainly were carried internally for a long time, so there’s probably some convergent evolution to how mammalian live birth happened, hence all the more reason to put them under amniotes, but they’re definitely not synapsids and thus definitely not mammals.

These early ancestors also retained their gills and ability to breathe water. They do have lungs too, and conceptually they filled a very fluid niche, where they had to be able to rapidly switch from aquatic life to terrestrial life, with most being oppurtunists who used this wide variability to be able to get a wider variety of food and resources that other animals couldn’t.

I will say these early ancestors mostly resembled newts/salamanders or small lizards, and somewhere along the line they independently evolved scales, both for providing armor and for retaining water when they were on land, along with all the other reasons to evolve scales.

( Ideally, I’d say they never evolved hair, but considering that I can’t fully redesign Miranda for this blog for fear of inability to use my icons and basically making her fully an OC, she has to keep the hair on her head. Her eyebrows are a maybe, since I joke aplenty about them just being markings or her drawing them on. Landfolk get weird when they see her without any eyebrows, so she has to appear to have them! )

They also generally retained the same amount of digits as other tetrapods, so that’s how Miranda has five fingers still, though merfolk lost one of the toes on their feet, bringing that total down to four.

And yes, all of this does mean that merfolk have plenty of ancestors in deep time that probably fossilized and could be found by even human scientists, but they’re probably thought of in this world as an offshoot of tetrapods that has no extant relatives, with what fossils remain being sparse or incomplete, or even caught in nomen dubium hell. Certainly they weren’t featured in this world’s Jurassic Park, that’s for sure, and if they are represented it’d be in something like ARK.

This also does mean that there are plenty of ancestors that fell into more unique or odd niches, with stranger body plans or something much more different from the rest. 312 mya is a long time, after all! Lots of time for there to be more experimental species, though they didn’t pan out in the long run.

So, with merfolk themselves, I generally have the idea of them as coming from a branch of that tree that hung around the ocean’s edge, sticking closer to the shoreline than the mer alive today, though they were oddly social for a tiny, lizard-like species, probably already communicating through small squeaks and chirps. Lizardy kinda sounds. They spend a good amount of their time on rocky shores and cliffs, so they’re good at climbing over and up them. Likely already had something akin to their fins on the sides of their face, used for communication and display, along with pushing additional water over their gills, or maybe even the fins being used in addition to the gills to extract extra oxygen from the water is basal to merfolk, but only the abyssals really retained most of that feature.

As token as it sounds, I think the K/T extinction event was probably what pushed them to evolve into the branch that became merfolk. The death of much larger marine creatures opened up the ability to go more fully ocean-bound, and to take over a role akin to marine reptiles in the past and the marine mammals that were also evolving at that time, but with the addition of having gills to not have to surface for oxygen.

Their evolution from that point probably was a bit like primates - lots of trying out different shapes and styles, more of that basal form than true merfolk, except their roles being out competeted or otherwise led to extinction, until you get the “true” merfolk - which would occur with a focus on social behavior and language, along with tool use, as was the bonus to being a tetrapod that went back into the ocean but never lost their hands.

This is where we get to the merfolk family tree. I’d say probably the first mer was mid-size, generally had all of the traits of the merfolk you see today, very general, but very adaptive.

The abyssal (royal) merfolk were probably the first to branch off. Their tails resemble mosasaurs’ and early icthyosaurs’ a lot, having a much larger lower lobe of their tail where the bone is, and the upper lobe, being all fleshy, isn’t too pronounced. They went down into the deep sea, branching off early from the rest of the merfolk, and thus were generally super isolated from the rest, which you can see today in how the Merkingdom itself generally is conducted.

There are plenty of other species of merfolk, however, and the abyssals (and Miranda) are not representative of the entire group. There’s a lot of different takes on the same body plan, with different niches and different adaptations and different types of behavior associated with each. They’re all super vocal and adapted to be able to hear well, so that’s also basal to the group, but that also means when they all started forming their own societies and cultures and general settlements, it’s even weirder than how humans do it.

Effectively, merfolk are a lot like the homonid family tree, and for that reason they also generally take after the concept of the “braided stream” more than just the tree of life. It’s also why I can feel more confident saying they’re seperate species and not subspecies, despite being able to reproduce and make viable offspring - and anyway species as a whole are fake and weird. There’s a lot of hybridization going on, with some populations getting some genes from others that benefit them and get genetic and physical variation. In more nomadic merfolk, there’s a lot of their genes spread around in other species and a lot of genetic variation in them, because they roam and run into different species - meanwhile, the abyssals are much more genetically restricted, since the abyss is a generally isolated place that isn’t easy to access unless you’re made for it.

I’m pretty bad at clarifying when I’m talking about abyssal mer vs all merfolk, since there’s a huge amount of difference between the two. Abyssals are probably the merfolk with the most bioluminenscence - while some species probably do have a little or even a lot, it’s not as much of a need as with the abyssals. The abyssals also might have gone through deep-sea gigantism? They’re pretty big by merfolk standards. And yes, that is taking into account how tiny Miranda herself is - since she’s kind of an exception to the rule, being that she didn’t really grow right and her bones didn’t get the chance to form correctly, leaving her as a rather unhealthy-looking runt of an abyssal. I’m generally thinking mer grow throughout their entire lives, as something that’s also basal to the group, they just slow down after a point - so if you got proper care for Miranda’s health issues she might be able to fix some of that problems, and mer medicine is waaaaay more sophisticated and generally ahead than current human medicine, so if it was treated she might be able to come up to a respectable height and avoid some of the isssues of that kind of deformity that’ll occur later in life.

I do believe as a whole, merfolk are rather large. Some are more sleek than others, but especially with abyssal mer, they put on fat and muscle really easily. They’re a lot like large crocodiles in that respect. Again, Miranda is an exception to this rule, as she’s really not healthy - but overall, merfolk are DENSE. Abyssals tend to have tough armor, dense bones, put on muscle and fat easily, and generally should be MUCH heavier than a human of the same size. Not to mention their tails, as unless a mer is in the really late stages of starvation, they keep most of the muscle on their tails. It’s how they swim and get around, so losing that muscle is basically a death sentence to merfolk.

There’s also variation in diet, dentition, and what they can digest. I will say all merfolk generally can handle meat - some of them are more adapted towards eating coral or plant matter or filter-feeding, but generally they can all digest and handle it and won’t turn it down if they do get it. The abyssals do tend towards being carnivores and most of their diet should be meat, but they can handle other biological material as well. They’re equal parts predator and scavenger - their jaw strength is a lot like a hyena’s or a T. rex’s (at least, in the theory of them being scavengers and not predators). It’s VERY useful in getting into any hard material the ocean can throw at them, cracking not only bone but shell and scale and cartilage and shell too, and to extract as much nutrition from any food they find. I can say their jaw strength is probably the strongest among the merfolk for that reason.

This also means, while abyssal mer have their triangular, serrated teeth like a great white shark’s - that tooth shape is more unique to them and their specific niche than to merfolk as a whole, who have a LOT more variation. I imagine at least one has teeth that come together a bit like a parrotfish’s beak, and one has teeth more similar to a crabeater seal’s, useful for seiving through water.

Abyssal mer are also the ones that really retained the ability to extract extra oxygen from the water through their facial fins. That’s why Miranda’s fins are so fluffy and large - they’re basically pseudo-gills, and that’s why they’re so sensitive. Other mer do also have some of that ability, but it’s to a lesser degree than abyssal merfolk, and most are probably less sensitive because of that. That being said, the shape of the fins is kept, as is the “fluff” closer to the cheek. That fluff actually has a purpose beyond oxygen extraction - they’re little outgrowths of flesh and skin that act a lot like an owl’s facial feathers. They’re effectively radar dishes, helping pick up on sounds in the water and assists their hearing and communication. The fins are also universally used for communication and display - they move with a merfolk’s emotions for a reason! They’re really good silent communication when hunting.

I also think mer do universally have the pads on their hands and feet. Honestly, they aren’t really anaogous to a cat’s or dog’s paws. They’re far closer to what you’d find on an Osprey’s foot, and provide a lot of the same uses - namely being used as a grip in holding onto slippery prey, but also in movement, when mer cling to sheer rocks or climb over coral or what have you. Normally they’re very rough and thick - but because Miranda is a royal, she files hers down, and so they’re much softer and thinner. They’re all pretty squishy though.

I’d add more but I think that’s MOSTLY it. Can you tell I have a special interest?

#Most secret royal advisor || OOC #Given by Divine Right || Headcanons #You built up a world of magic ; Because your real life is tragic || Self #(( spell check gave up on me like a third of the way through so...#(( im very very sorry #(( rip mobile users #long post

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aaaaagaronia · 5 years

Note

T E L L M E A B O U T T H E N E W O C S

ok sO

i was going to answer this with my new dinosaur sitcom oc bUT i ended up making a new story so instead!!

imma share that instead

aNYWAYS

the story goes is theres this child and like they dont know what theyre doing or like where they are rjfgvkhfdjvfd and like they find their way to like this farm house that's home to a shit ton of big ol lizards :)

so now its 7 lizards and a child in a farm house

and sometimes currently unexplained situations come up and the kid ends up caught up in whatever it is and their 7 chaotic lizard parents have to go and get them fjkgbvhfdjbgvfd

and now for the characters! :3

Cesarine (Cesa): leachie gecko, nonverbal, communicates through sign language mostly, grows strawberries, actually owns the farmhouse, likes to give hugs, makes patches for jackets in free time, c h o n k y, a tall lad, can and will pick everyone up

Isaias: marine iguana, very long, lowkey has a resting :^) face, very chill though, legally cannot shoveltime anyone, likes a nice rock to lay on, every time he comes home he tracks sand inside

Iago: blue anole, medium, very!! energetic!!, has braincells but is very impulsive, always hungry but never has any food on them, lanky, appreciates horrible jokes

Cam: borneo earless monitor, medium but on the shorter side, tail is dummy long, has the :3 face almost all the time, has the baybee gene, a nerd, really likes to crunch oranges, can be found trying to fit in the washing machine for reasons unknown

Akuchi: uromastyx, smol but feral and stupit, spends most of her time outside trying to track birds just to see where they go, unironically apologizes to trees when she bumps into them, almost burnt the farmhouse down trying to make toast

Sari: blue monitor, lanky, the most functional adult of the bunch, likes to sit on the roof of the farmhouse a lot, falls asleep up there too sometimes, can and will eat nothing but chips if given the chance

Xavier (Xavi): thorny devil, tiny, looks scary but is actually just a babie, doesn't like to get wet, very organized, always has snacks on them in case anyone needs food, picks up worms to put them back in the grass

Deirdre: a 12 year old, the only human actually named in this story jkgfvbfd, a rascal, likes big jean jackets and long socks, likes snacks, sells custom lanyards to make money, used to steal small amounts of crops because they didn’t have a stable source of food but now they dont do that because they have 7 lizard parents making sure theyre fed properly

#ocs #cesarine #isaias #iago #cam #akuchi #sari #xavier #deirdre #i dont have a title yet for this jfdfhjdd

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captainignis · 5 years

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Hey Ignis, do you think that the Gems of Steven Universe (a show on Cartoon Network) played a role in causing the extinction of the dinosaurs? If so, why or why not? Please limit your response to 500 words or less. You will have 15 minutes to answer, after which you will be required to move on to the next essay question.

Asking my girlfriend as a source non-avian dinosaurs lived more than 66 million years ago, up until the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event. This means the Gems, who have only started their Earth colonies around 6,000 years ago. This means that the gems could never have met, much less play a role, in the extinction of dinosaurs.

That said, the idea that dinosaurs, much less anything, lived 66 million years ago is absurd. It is common knowledge that the world was only created 6,000 years ago.

The gems, likely analogous to angels, have arrived on Earth very very early after its creation. Their empire and the subsequent rebellion would have many effects on the growing human population and, more relevant to the discussion on hand, the dinosaur population. Human expansion, the gem conflict, and infighting between dinosaurs (Their hedonistic scaly existence implies that they worshiped the devil, atheism, and rock n roll) means their numbers were likely reduced before the ark, where Noah (נֹחַ) likely decided they weren’t worth it.

This said, as Rebecca is Jewish, not whatever religion I’m pretending to be for the sake of padding out words, so this theory is likely untrue.

More likely is that dinosaurs aren’t real.

The Bone Wars, fought over 20 years from 1872 to 1892 by Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, involved two early paleontologists describing of 193 different species of dinosaurs, many later found to be members of the same species. However, I claim that none of their discoveries were real. Most described species were either Cenozoic Mammals, Paleozoic Synapsids, or marine animals. Everything Mesozoic didn’t exist and was a fabrication or something attributed to this new era. Being propagated by big bone over the last few years it is unlikely that this would ever become public knowledge.

Why would this happen? To figure this out, we need to peer into the events of 1872.

In 1872 the Third Carlist War began in Spain. This prompted the idea of large, slow lizards (initially a demeaning comparison to King Amadeo I) which became an attempt to raise capital for each side. This funding experiment ended up outlasting the war, and subsequently the Carlist political party, as dinosaurs famously held more seats that Carlists in Francisco Spain. While both parties suffered after the dictatorship fell, both being fringe parties in the modern day (With notable exceptions being Sabastian Alonso and Ricla Aragones, two dromaeosaurs which have held office in the spanish senate since 2011), diasporic spanish dinosaurs have received political support in both Argentina and Chile with 28% and 30% representation in both parliaments, respectively. (Editorial note: Dinosaurs aren’t real. That said large, feathered animals that coincidentally evolved to resemble dinosaurs did and still exist. And they can vote.)

Tangent aside, we can’t say that the Carlists exist in Steven Universe. Unfortunately, the coverage of this major part of history is lacking in this series. Until the remainder of Steven Universe Future comes out and addresses this I have to say this essay is unfortunately cut short.

#Ask #Steven Universe #Personal #Anonymous

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fymonsta-x · 6 years

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[ARTICLE] Get To Know K-Pop Boy Band Monsta X With These Fun Facts! (Exclusive)

Monsta X are officially taking over!

With catchy tracks like “Shine Forever,” “Dramarama” and “Jealousy,” the superstar K-Pop boy band – made up of members Shownu, Wonho, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon and I.M – have already amassed a huge following all across the world. (Their fanbase is called Monbebe!)

As a result, the group is heading out on their second U.S. tour, which kicks off on July 20 in Chicago and makes its way throughout the United States, wrapping up on August 3 in Los Angeles.

Before they bust a move on stage all over the country, the boys were kind enough to supply us with some fun facts about themselves. Find out more about Monsta X inside!

Shownu

Date of birth: 1992.06.18 Blood type: O Favorite Color: Black Favorite Animal: Cat Favorite Food: Fried food Favorite Season: Autumn

Most memorable trip: Our recent tour in Europe Most memorable moment: Our first performance on the stage after debut Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Insa-dong Recommend Korean food: Stir fried spicy octopus and pork belly Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “DRAMARAMA” / Can’t get enough of it Most favorite Monsta X Music Video and reason: “DRAMARAMA” / Good visuals My strength: Calm and steady My weakness: Too consistent Most favorite Monsta X member and reason: I like all of our members Secret about one Monsta X member: Minhyuk becomes loud when he plays a computer game Words to Monbebe: Always thank you and I love you all. Take care ^^

Wonho

Date of birth: 1993.03.01 Blood type: B Favorite color: Black and white Favorite animal: Cats and dogs Favorite food: Ramen and meat Favorite season: All four seasons

Most memorable movie: Last movie I watched Most memorable trip: I went snowboarding together with Monsta X members before our debut Most memorable moment: Every moment with our members and fans Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Myung-dong Recommend Korean food: Kimchi Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “From Zero” / My biggest hit song Most favorite Monsta X Music Video and reason: “Jealousy” / It’s our latest music video My strength: Decent, honest, and sincere My weakness: Being naive Most favorite Monsta X member and reason: I like all 7 of our members Secret about one Monsta X member: It’s not secret anymore if I speak out about it! Words to Monbebe: Always love you and thank you for making me feel fulfilled

Minhyuk

Date of birth: 1993.11.03 Blood type: A Favorite color: Blue, Orange, Black and Red Favorite animal: Lizard Favorite food: Pizza Favorite season: Fall

Most memorable movie: 500 Days of Summer Most memorable trip: I cannot remember one Most memorable moment: Getting roller blades as a gift when I was in kindergarten Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Jeju Island Recommend Korean food: Soy sauce marinated crab Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “Blue Moon” / Easy listening song Most favorite Monsta X music video and reason: “Trespass” / I like the intensity My strength: Easy to mingle with others My weakness: Try to be proactive, but not quite so Most favorite Monsta X member and reason: Jooheon / He’s cute Secret about one Monsta X member: I.M seems to have insomnia due to jet lag these days Words to Monbebe: I’m always on your side anytime and anywhere

Kihyun

Date of birth: 1993.11.22 Blood type: B Favorite color: White, Black and Purple Favorite animal: Dog Favorite food: Chicken Favorite season: Fall and Winter

Most memorable movie: About time Most memorable trip: A trip to Singapore with my family when I was young Most memorable moment: When I debut as Monsta X! Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Sheep ranch in Kangwondo Recommend Korean food: Chicken Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “Blue Moon” / feeling calm and peaceful Most favorite Monsta X music video and reason: “Rush” / Fun movie My strength: Always energetic and smiling My weakness: Little imperfect perfectionist Most favorite Monsta X member and reason: I like all of our members Secret about one Monsta X member: Shownu can cook better than me. Words to Monbebe: Always thank you and admire you all Monbebe!

Hyungwon

Date of birth: 1994.01.15 Blood type: O Favorite color: Black Favorite animal: Dog Favorite food: Meat Favorite season: Winter

Most memorable movie: Notebook Most memorable trip: Monsta X World Tour Most memorable moment: No Mercy survival show Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Kwangju Recommend Korean food: Grilled Short Rib Patties Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “Broken Heart” / Good to listen to with mellow vocal line by our members Most favorite Monsta X music video and reason: “Trespass” / Song we debut with, precious My strength: I like people My weakness: Having too much sleep Most favorite member of Monsta X and reason: I like them all Secret about one Monsta X member: Jooheon does workout consistently Words to Monbebe: I always want to say thank you for supporting me in any circumstances. They are the only people who motivate me to make a progress.

Jooheon

Date of birth: 1994.10.06 Blood type: O Favorite color: Red Favorite animal: Tiger Favorite food: Dumpling Favorite season: Autumn

Most memorable movie: Eternal Sunshine Most memorable trip: Family trip when I was young Most memorable moment: First concert with our fans Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Hongdae! Recommend Korean food: Kimchi dumpling Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “Trespass” as it is our debut song. Most favorite Monsta X music video and reason: “Rush” as it looks fun and exciting. My strength: I try to be positive and energetic. My weakness: Easily become sulky Most favorite Monsta X member and reason: Love them all Secret about one Monsta X member: Shownu often says he’s hungry when he goes to bed. Words to Monbebe: How can I live without my beloved Monbebe.

I.M

Date of birth: 1996.01.26 Blood type: O Favorite color: Black, White and Purple Favorite animal: Jaguar Favorite food: none Favorite season: Fall and Winter

Most memorable movie: Perfume Most memorable trip: Boston Most memorable moment: I got lost in Israel Recommend place for people who visit Korea: Insa-dong Recommend Korean food: Raw beef Most favorite Monsta X song and reason: “FALLIN” / DOPE Most favorite Monsta X music video and reason: “DRAMARAMA” / Super DOPE My strength: Wild and young free My weakness: Um.. too DOPE? lol Most favorite Monsta X member: MonstaX is one Secret about one Monsta X member: Um.. NO Words to Monbebe: U know why our company name is starship? It’s because you guys are the star and we are going to u by ship

Full article on justjared.com

#monsta x #t: news #180713 #justjared

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ancientmarinereptiles · 6 years

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Plotosaurus bennisoni, P. tuckeri

Art by: Robinson Kunz, https://www.deviantart.com/teratophoneus/art/Plotosaurus-bennisoni-645366517

Name: Plotosaurus bennisoni, P. tuckeri

Name Meaning: ‬‭Swimmer lizard

First Described: 1951

Described By: ‬Camp

Classification: Chordata, Tetrapoda, Reptilia, ‭Squamata,‭ ‬Mosasauridae, Mosasaurinae

Plotosaurus, so far is the most derived mosasaur that paleontologists have come across. Plotosaurus was very derived because it had unique characteristics not seen in other mosasaurs. They had increased hyperphalangy in their flippers, powerful tail, and a streamlined body in which many speculate that it may have had a dorsal fin on its back. Plotosaurus also had big eyes as well. As you can see, they were evolving an ichthyosaur-like body plan as they began to dwell into deeper waters. I hypothesize that had the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Extinction not happened, maybe mosasaurs would’ve become more ichthyosaur-like in their appearance. Also, Plotosaurus specimens were found with scaly skin impressions, which further provides evidence that mosasaurs retained their scales and did not lose them over time while keeping their aquatic lifestyle.

Sources:

Lindgren, J., Jagt, J.W.M., and Caldwell, M.W. 2007. A fishy mosasaur: the axial skeleton of Plotosaurus (Reptilia, Squamata) reassessed. Lethaia 40:153-160.

Lindgren, J., Alwmark, C., Caldwell, M.W., and Fiorillo, A.R. 2009. Skin of the Cretaceous mosasaur Plotosaurus: implications for aquatic adaptations in giant marine reptiles. Biology Letters doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0097

http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/p/plotosaurus.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotosaurus

#Plotosaurus #palaeoblr #paleontology #palaeontology #prehistoric #Mesozoic #ancient marine reptiles #Not a dinosaur #mosasauroidea

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silvokrent · 6 years

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An excerpt from the zoological text The Hunter’s Encyclopedia of Animals (First Edition).

Chapter VI: Plesioth

The plesioth (Plesichthys coxa) is a species of pelagic wyvern found off intertropic coasts across the globe. At a weight of 4.7 tons and a length averaging 26 meters, it contends for the title of largest marine predator. The plesioth’s physiology is adapted to a life spent transitioning between land and water — it is capable of diving to depths of 450 meters at speeds of 54 km/h (34 mph), and remaining submerged for 40 minutes at a time. The plesioth’s ability to fly was forfeited early in its evolutionary history, replaced by adaptations that allow it to withstand extreme deep-sea pressure and low concentrations of dissolved O2. Its vestigial wings, meanwhile, underwent exaptation and have been jury-rigged into fin-like appendages that assist in swimming. According to one study, the plesioth’s lifespan is approximately 50 years.

The plesioth has few natural predators as a result of its venomous spines. Laterally-visible, horizontal orange stripes advertise the neurotoxin to any potential predators. Every so often, juveniles are susceptible to predation by sympatric predatory megafauna. In addition to its aposematic coloration, the plesioth can ward off predators by forcefully ejecting a fluid from a pair of glandular sacs inside its mouth. This liquid projectile can be accurately sprayed as far as 5 meters (16 feet). The fluid is miscible in water, and therefore exclusively used on land. Both of the aforementioned adaptations are utilized as antipredator mechanisms and have no function in hunting. Rather, the plesioth is an ambush predator that kills its prey through a combination of stunning (tail-slaps, high-velocity breaches) and drowning. Countershading obliterates its outline in the water, with its dark dorsal scales making it inconspicuous to animals looking down on it from above. The bulk of its diet is comprised of fish, and as the plesioth matures it begins to incorporate larger prey species such as pinnipeds, pseudophids, and ornithischians. Because of the plesioth’s moderate fecundity and wide distribution, its conservation status is classified as least concern.

The plesioth has a recurring presence in the cultures of seafaring people. Although it doesn’t actively hunt humans or wyverians, plesioths have been known to follow ships at a distance. They scavenge on bycatch and waste jettisoned from vessels, and occasionally raid nets and fishing lines for an easy meal. As a consequence of conditioning them to associate boats with food, plesioths are the most likely culprits of attacks on shipwreck victims. Their ghostly white, translucent third eyelids, in conjunction with their habit of congregating near sunken ships, may have influenced the myth of plesioths being psychopomps. A number of equatorial communities honor the plesioth through week-long ceremonies and parties. Such festivals are accompanied by the custom of mounting a plesioth’s skull or severed head on an ornately-carved pole, not unlike a Mari Lwyd. Anthropologists speculate that a misunderstanding led to the belief that the mounted head was actually a hammer. Traditional dishes include a ceviche marinated in citrus, and rotten flesh fermented in lactic acid. In medicine, the plesioth’s venom has potential as an anesthetic and a pharmaceutical drug for treating insomnia.

Other names for the plesioth include the plesio, water wyvern, and shark wyvern. The latter is a title it shares with the cephadrome (Selacharena alata) and anorupatisu (Pristocephale glaciesecans).

The plesioth’s name is an example of semantic drift. The word is originally derived from the clade Plesiosauroidea, a group of long-necked marine reptiles. Plesiosaurus is a compound of the Greek words plēsíon “near” and saûros “lizard,” and refers to the group’s resemblance to limbed squamates. Over time, the prefix plesio- was recontextualized to have the meaning “like or similar to a plesiosaur.” Thus, the plesioth was named for its resemblance to plesiosaurs, and was assigned the suffix -ioth to maintain the naming convention already established in the common names of other animals (like the lavasioth and epioth). Ironically, the genus Plesichthys is a portmanteau of plēsíon and ikhthús “fish,” and was named for the plesioth’s near fish-like appearance.

Taxonomy and evolution

Fossil evidence suggests that the plesioth evolved from a unique lineage of diving wyverns 10 million years ago. Unlike other vivernans of that period, the plesioth’s ancestor Marincola marincola [†] was semiaquatic, roosting in small colonies on seaside bluffs. Its streamlined body reduced drag when plunging from flight, allowing it to hit the water at breakneck speeds exceeding 80 km/h (50 mph). Air sacs in the face and chest cushioned the impact, a feature which was later lost in its descendant (along with skeletal pneumaticity). The ancestral plesioth moved underwater via foot propulsion, with the wings used for steering. Today P. coxa primarily swims using a combination of its webbed feet and an undulatory locomotion reminiscent of BCF (body-caudal fin) swimming. A comparison of the foot morphology between the holotype M. marincola and modern gannets supports the diving → swimming transition theory, and proposes a convergence amongst semiaquatic theropods.

While the plesioth shares a common ancestor with flying wyverns, it has a long history of genetic independence from its closest relatives (raths, khezus, and other vivernans). Molecular systemic DNA research places the plesioth in a basal lineage of gymnopteronoid.

Subspecies

There are only 2 extant representatives of the family Marincolidae. Each subspecies is characterized by scale coloration, distribution, circadian rhythms, and preference for hunting techniques.

The oil-backed plesioth, or informally simplified to oil-back (P. c. coxa), is the nominate subspecies. Its range encompasses the subtropic and tropic coastlines of the West Dragon and East Dragon Oceans, and the interior seas of South Elde: Jyuwadore, Shikuse, and Moga. It inhabits seagrass meadows, kelp forests, coral reefs, and coastal alcoves which have a water temperature between 13°C and 29 °C (56°F and 85°F). Although P. c. coxa is active during the day it is primarily a crepuscular predator, and has greater success at hunting during the hours of dusk and dawn. It gets its name from the appearance of its dark blue scales when seen in clear water with low turbidity; the contrast gives it a resemblance to “an oil spill come to life.”

The green plesioth (P. c. viridis), unlike P. c. coxa, dwells in brackish ecosystems, including wetlands, swamps, and estuaries. They typically avoid venturing out into saltwater, although fishermen have reported seeing them as far as a mile from the nearest coast. It’s generally accepted that the presence of green plesioths in mangrove swamps (near Jumbo Village) and river mouths (like those of the Metape Jungle and Flooded Forest) reduces competition with the oil-back. P. c. viridus takes advantage of its green pigmentation by concealing itself amongst hydrophytic plants such as water lettuce and duckweed. Perhaps because of its greater reliance on camouflage, this diurnal subspecies almost never breaches when hunting.

Characteristics

Physical description

As a member of the clade Viverna, the plesioth’s body plan is largely representative of the wyvern archetype: a bipedal stance and horizontal posture with the tail held parallel to the ground. Where the skeletal structure differs is in the wings. While the thumb in other wyverns is short and supports the leading edge of the wing, all of the plesioth’s metacarpals and phalanges are elongated and involved in supporting the membrane. The pleated patagium can be tucked against the plesioth’s torso while swimming, thereby reducing surface area and contributing to its streamline, hydrodynamic shape. The wings range in color from white to cream, with orange spots on the outer edge of the dactylo- and iliopatagium. The backside of the torso and head are deep blue, while the underbelly features white scales. The ventral and dorsal regions are sharply delineated by lateral orange stripes that run from the conical snout to the tail along the frontal/coronal plane. Imbricate, ovate scales flow down the body in a head-to-tail configuration that allows for a smoother flow of water over the body to reduce drag. Their visual and functional similarity to cycloid scales on teleosts is homoplastic. The feet are totipalmate.

The plesioth partly owes its charismatic appearance to its white red-tipped semifins. The semifins are webbed structures supported by cartilaginous spines, attached to an endoskeletal base with associated muscles for movement. Being cartilaginous makes the semifins flexible and allows them to flare or collapse against the body. They are classified according to location on the body: dorsal, supercaudal, subcaudal, cranial, tarsal, and pseudopercular. The semifins’ spines are the site of venom conduction.

When submerged, the palatal valve at the back of the mouth creates a watertight seal which barricades the esophagus and trachea. This enables the plesioth to seize prey underwater without drowning, although it has to return to land in order to eat. When hunting, its cone-shaped, slightly recurved teeth allow it to tear through small and medium-sized fish. The carinae (edges of the teeth) are finely-serrated with denticles on the front and back, suited for biting prey outside of an exclusively piscivorous diet. The dentary and premaxilla/maxilla hold 36 teeth that are more densely-packed toward the front of the jaw, and that decrease in size toward the back of the mouth. During attacks, the nictitating membrane is drawn across the eye to protect it from abrasions.

The loss of tyrosinase function results in a genetic mutation called amelanism. Colloquially known as seabream plesioths (after fish in the genus Pagellus), individuals with this pigmentation abnormality don’t produce melanin and have white in lieu of their typical aegean coloration. Because the mutation only disrupts melanocytes, the chromatophores responsible for their orange and iridescent properties — erythrophores and iridophores — are still expressed. The continued production of light-reflecting and carotenoid pigments is what gives the seabream plesioth is distinctive white and reddish-orange look.

Venom

In total, the plesioth has 31 spines distributed across its body. They form part of the semifin, which occurs either in symmetric pairs, or along the medial region of the body. Although the semifins are superficially reminiscent of the ray-fins found in actinopterygians, they aren’t homologous. Semifins are classified into 6 categories according to body region, with the following spine distribution: 4 cranial, 8 pesudopercular, 7 dorsal, 4 tarsal, 4 subcaudal, and 4 supercaudal. The largest spines measure at 7’ 4” (2.2 meters) and are more than capable of penetrating the skin of the largest marine animals.

The primary structural element of the spines is cartilage, a supple and elastic tissue comprised of a dense network of collagen fibers embedded in a gelatinous ground substance. Its composition gives the spines tensile strength, enabling them to resist changes in weight and pressure while possessing greater flexibility than bone. Because cartilage is an aneural, avascular tissue, spines cannot be regrown if they’re damaged or removed. A protective integumentary sheath obstructs the opening of the spine. During envenomation, the sheath is pushed back as it enters the attacker. This process compresses the venom gland at the base of the spine, and allows the venom to diffuse into the puncture wound by travelling through shallow grooves in the now-exposed spine.

It’s thought that the semifins originally evolved as accessories for swimming, and that venom acquisition was a supplementary feature. The plesioth’s venom glands produce a subgroup of neurotoxins known as hypnotoxins, a soporific venom that depresses the central nervous system and affects the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) at the GABAA receptor. Its symptoms are much like the effects of anesthesia, and can be divided into the same 4 stages of the Guedel’s classification: induction, excitement, subconsciousness, and overdose. At Stage 1, the victim progresses from analgesia without amnesia to analgesia with amnesia. It’s entirely possible that the lack of pain — coupled with memory impairment — can lead to the victim’s inability to recall the initial sting and recognize that they are in danger. Stage 2, arguably the most dangerous, is when life-threatening conditions occur, such as delirium, arrhythmia, vomiting, respiratory distress, pupillary dilation, and spastic movements. Species that lack gills can quickly become disoriented after envenomation and drown as a consequence of the respiratory system becoming compromised (through pulmonary aspiration, apnea, et cetera). Stage 3 is the cessation of the previous symptoms and the onset of subconsciousness. Branchial predators become incapable of pursuing the plesioth, while air-breathing predators at this stage are all but 100% guaranteed to drown. Stage 4 is incredibly rare, and usually occurs if the spines puncture the victim for a long enough duration, or if multiple spines are involved in envenomation. Overdose results in brainstem or medullary depression, followed by complete respiratory and cardiovascular arrest. Without medical intervention this stage is always fatal.

Additional health risks posed by envenomation include: pieces of the spine breaking off and embedding themselves in the wound, leading to infection; and anaphylactic reactions to the venom.

Water-spitting

Before the plesioth’s phylogeny was properly understood, a common misconception was that P. coxa had gills and was descended from an unknown clade of branchial tetrapods. Its ability to spit a high-pressure jet of water from its mouth was likened to various species of archerfish. Later studies proved that the plesioth is a theropod, which made the archerfish’s mode of liquid projectile an impossibility as it involves contracting the opercula (gill covers). Dissection and field observations led to the discovery of paired sacs at the back of the mouth. Dubbed the paralingual glands, these poorly-understood organs can expel up to a quart (32 ounces) of liquid at once and possess just enough of the chemical for 10 discharges (2.5 gallons’ worth), before the glands have to produce a new supply over the next fortnight. The expulsion release is controlled by muscles behind the jaws. There is insufficient data as to what the liquid is composed of, but preliminary chemical analysis suggests a high presence of hydrogen and oxygen.

Diving adaptations

Even though the plesioth is most frequently observed inhabiting the photic layer (the uppermost layer of the pelagic zone, 0 m — 200 m), it can also be found within the mesopelagic layer (200 m — 450 m). At these depths, pressure can be greater than 40 times that of the surface. A combination of stressful deep-sea conditions such as high pressure and low oxygen can cause mechanical barotrauma. To eliminate the risks of physical damage like decompression sickness and organ rupture, the plesioth’s bones became depneumatized. The loss of postcranial air-sacs in the skeleton makes the plesioth denser and prevents embolisms (from buildups of dissolved N2) by decreasing the total air volume in the body. Similarly, the presence of air-filled pockets in the skeleton would have increased buoyancy, a trait that would have been disadvantageous to a diving animal.

Enhanced anaerobic capacity and hypoxemic tolerance are essential for facilitating long dives. When submerged at certain depths, the heart rate is reduced to as low as 20 — 30 bpm. Bradycardia occurs when the plesioth exceeds its aerobic dive limit (ADL), at which point tissue perfusion and oxygen uptake are decreased in order to preserve respiratory and blood oxygen stores. Non-essential organs are shut down and muscles are isolated from circulation, which together cut down on oxygen depletion and extend dives for as long as 40 minutes. Hemoglobin in plesioths shows high cooperativity with oxygen, a phenomenon whereby the binding of one molecule of oxygen with hemoglobin facilitates the binding of the next oxygen molecule and so on up to binding four oxygen molecules by one hemoglobin. The degree of cooperativity hemoglobin has is expressed by the Hill coefficient, which is estimated to be well above 4 in P. coxa. High cooperativity increases the efficiency of the oxygen delivery to tissues. Without these traits, the plesioth wouldn’t be able to withstand the extreme demands placed on its respiratory and circulatory systems that would otherwise result in unconsciousness.

To compensate for diminished olfaction and the mesopelagic layer’s low visibility, the plesioth has evolved powerful visual acuity. Its emmetropic eyes possess a flattened cornea that makes the cornea’s refractive power in air and the corneal power loss in water negligible. Roughly 10% of the eyes’ refractive power is contributed by the cornea, unlike in humans, which contribute up to 70%. Instead, the lens performs the majority of the focusing. This feature minimizes the optical effect of submergence. Sharp images above and underwater are formed by plesioths changing the shape of the lens through muscle contractions.

Behavior

Intraspecific interactions

Plesioths do not routinely seek out conspecifics outside of the breeding season. When plesioths do encounter others in the water they tend to ignore each other, though they demonstrate a remarkably high tolerance for each other’s presence. Socialization isn’t unheard of, however; plesioths may engage in cooperative hunting behavior if two or more are pursuing the same target. Juveniles and subadults will sometimes swim in small bands of three as an added precaution against predators.

Hunting and diet

The plesioth is a predominantly piscivorous animal, with 60% of its diet featuring a large diversity of fish species that are obligate shoalers. Despite this, they are not fastidious in their food choice and readily vary their prey selection according to availability, as evidenced by the remains of other animals found in their stomachs and fecal matter. Juveniles are restricted to hunting fish and other small vertebrates, and only begin to diversify their diet around the age of three. Mature adults are slightly more opportunistic, having the required size to take on larger non-fish prey items. A 30-kilo (66 lbs) meal can sustain a plesioth for up to 5 to 9 days before it is required to hunt again. Scavenging on carcasses isn’t overly common, nor is venturing inland to hunt. Plesioths only go after terrestrial prey when it’s near the water’s edge and within striking range. There are three generally-accepted hunting tactics employed by plesioths, with a slight skewing of preference between the subspecies: ambush-drowning, breaching, and tail-slapping.

The preferred method of taking down non-aquatic animals involves the plesioth motionlessly dwelling along the waterfront. The blue (P. c. coxa) and green (P. c. viridis) dorsal coloration is cryptic for each subspecies’ respective habitat. Concealment allows the plesioth to remain undetected long enough for it to ambush prey. Its conical, recurved teeth are suited for preventing prey from escaping once it seizes them in its jaws. The blinding speed with which it strikes gives the plesioth enough time to drag its prey into deeper water, where it then holds it beneath the surface until it succumbs to a combination of exhaustion, blood loss, and oxygen deprivation.

Breaching is a tactic reserved for animals such as epioths, ludroths, and seals, and is almost exclusively seen in P. c. coxa. The oil-back slams into prey from the deeper water below, with the momentum often taking it partially or fully clear of the water (achieving a max height of 10 meters). At speeds of 54 km/h, the g-force behind the impact is sufficient enough to fully stun prey.

The final hunting strategy is a tail-slap deployed either overhead or sideways. A kinematic study of plesioths attacking bait balls found that the tail-slap occurred with such force that it caused dissolved gas to diffuse out of the water column, forming small bubbles. Due to acceleration of waterflow around the leading edge of the tail, turbulent pressure drops below the saturated vapor pressure, causing the aforementioned plume of bubbles. The associated shockwave is powerful enough to immobilize as many as 20 fish in one tail-slap, which cuts down on the energy costs of hunting active prey.

The diet of P. c. coxa includes a wide array of aggregating fish such as pin tuna, speartuna, glutton tuna, Moga tuna (Katsuwonus katsuo), knife mackerels, wanchovies, sardines, and blue cutthroats. Oil-backed plesioths may sometimes take medium-sized sharks (most commonly Centrinis armatus). Epioths (Cetuserpens repandus and Pseudophis nitidus), immature ludroths (Harpaga leo), and island narwhals (Monodon mysticus) are hunted in deeper waters. Qurupecos (Cantio sirenius) that fish along the shore and passing aptonoths (Parasaurolophus cristatus) are known to have been attacked as well.

The diet of P. c. viridis contains a variety of freshwater and euryhaline fish such as gajuas (Palustincola ferox), fen catfish (Palustincola gravis), silverfish, red-finned arowanas (Osteoglossum esculentum), and burst arowanas (Osteoglossum authothysia). The green plesioth’s proximity to biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems allows it to feed on animals such as slagtoths, immature ludroths (Harpaga blattea), otters, bullfangos (Ossispina taurus), epioths (Pseudophis esmeraldus), congas (Flovorator altilis), and assorted frog species.

Enemies and competitors

Very few attacks made on the plesioth are successful, and are only perpetrated by a handful of species. The venom glands are active at birth and even juvenile plesioths are capable of delivering a potent sting to would-be attackers. Nevertheless, there have been a few documented cases of immature plesioths being killed and consumed by sharks and adult ludroths. The remains of adult plesioths found in the digestive systems of lagiacrus (Heres jormungandrii), pliosaurs, and large placoderms suggests that these predators are capable of hunting them. A counterargument often made in response is that these remains are not the result of active predation, but rather scavenging on the carcasses of plesioths either adrift in water or washed up on shore.

Resources such as nesting sites are highly competed for. The caves and abandoned cliff dwellings of Moga in particular are sought after by both P. c. coxa and H. leo. As a conflict-avoidant organism, plesioths go to extreme lengths to ward off predators and rivals through complex agonistic signaling such as wing-flapping and stomping. If these threat displays fail, the plesioth may discharge a warning shot with its paralingual glands. Plesioths will only retreat and abandon a nest if it’s unoccupied by eggs or chicks, or if there are a significant number of intruders. The culprits behind nest raids are immature royal ludroths and jaggis (Magnaraptor ebrius) for P. c. coxa, and immature purple ludroths and wroggis (Magnaraptor paluster) for P. c. viridis.

Attacks on hunters

To date, there is still a lack of consensus over whether or not attacks on humans, wyverians, and lynians are motivated by predatory intent. While there is evidence to suggest a correlation — as testified by shipwreck survivors that watched plesioths bite passengers in the water — it could be possible that the plesioths are drawn by the sounds of struggling, and are merely exploiting an otherwise unusual opportunity to feed. Outside of narrow circumstances like capsizes and founderings, plesioths don’t actively engage people. Most hostile encounters appear to be the result of provocation by people, whether intentional or accidental. Divers that were unaware of their surroundings ,or that deliberately approached the animal, either spooked it or provoked it into envenoming them with its flared semifins. Spear-fishers have reported accounts of theft, where an emboldened plesioth (typically a juvenile or subadult) stole fish off the end of the spear tip but didn’t try to attack the person holding the equipment. On average, there are 10 deaths associated with plesioths every year, with 8 being attributed to envenomation and 2 to bites. This number excludes fatalities of hunters under the employment of the Guild, whose careers necessitate engaging these animals for the sole intent of combat.

Immunologists studying the venom of P. coxa have dispelled the myth that injections in successively larger doses can achieve mithridatism.

Reproduction and life cycle

Each spring, male plesioths return to the area where they hatched as chicks to participate in a lek. These yearly aggregations commence the start of the breeding season, in which males vie for mates through courtship displays. As many as 25 to 30 individuals — each guarding a territory a few meters in size — occupy the lek mating arena, which consists of shallow cliffs and the adjacent water. Competition manifests in the form of elaborate diving and breaching rituals, meant to demonstrate fitness and overall health to the observing females. Preferential selection by the female results in the formation of monogamous pair-bonds that only last for the duration of the spring and summer. After copulation, the pair retreats to land where they scrape out a saucer-shaped depression in the ground. If the materials are available, plesioths may line the perimeter of the nest with debris, vegetation, stones, shells, or driftwood. A clutch can contain up to 4 eggs, which are monitored and incubated in shifts by both parents until they hatch around 26 days. The eggs are buff, cream, or brown, marked with streaks or blotches of brown or gray to camouflage them. Plesioths that are unable to secure a nest site beneath an overhang or within a cleft must contend with the heat. On hot days, the brooding parent may dive into the water to wet its body before returning to its eggs, thus regulating the temperature. The nest site is defended by the mate that isn’t preoccupied with tending to the eggs or hatchlings. Intruding conspecifics are usually chased off from individual nest sites, while wandering chicks are tolerated. All of the adults in the colony will collectively repel potential predators.

Hatchlings are altirical, and have minimal motor coordination and thermoregulatory capacity. Over the next 12 weeks they undergo rapid development while under the care of their parents. They are fed a protein-rich diet of fish and are presented with suitably-proportioned stones to swallow. These stones become the young plesioths’ first gastroliths, which serve as ballast. By the twelfth week, the chicks are developed enough to now accompany their parents on hunting expeditions. At the onset of autumn and the end of the breeding season, the mated pair departs, as do the now-independent offspring.

Health

Diseases and parasites

The plesioth is a host for epibionts and ectoparasites across multiple taxonomic divisions. Some organisms — like algae and barnacles — have a minimal impact on the wellbeing of the plesioth, and only inconvenience it by increasing hydrodynamic drag. Other organisms that anchor themselves to the plesioth’s body have measurably more harmful effects. Isopod larvae of the family Gnathiidae have serrated, piercing mouthparts, including a pair of toothed mandibles and maxillules, grooved paragnaths, and strong maxillipeds. They feed on blood and tissue fluids at the site of attachment, and are transmission vectors for protists of the phylum Apicomplexa (haemogregarines) which parasitize red blood cells. Sea lice cause abrasion-like lesions on the skin as a result of physical and enzymatic damage. Feeding on epidermal tissue and blood creates a generalized chronic stress response in the plesioth. Monogenean flatworms use attachment organs called haptors, which are specialized structures in the shape of hooks and clamps that adhere them to the host. Infestations on the skin can cause lethargy, infection, scale loss, and respiratory distress.

To rid itself of hitchhikers, the plesioth solicits help from fish at cleaning stations. In a cleaning symbiosis, cleaner fish gather in conspicuous areas and advertise their services through bright hues and stripes. Convergent patterns/colorations amongst different cleaner species reinforce their recognizability to clients, a phenomenon known as Müllerian mimicry. When the plesioth approaches one of these stations it opens its mouth and flares its semifins to signal that it needs cleaning. Wrasses, tangs, and neon gobies maintain the health of the plesioth by removing dead flesh and parasites from its skin, nostrils, and mouth. The relationship is a mutualistic service in that the cleaners are provided a free meal without the threat of predation from the client, and the client is ridden of ectoparasites.

Outside of these accepted congregation sites plesioths have to rely on other means for treating their parasites. Remoras and pilot fish can usually be found in the company of P. coxa. In the case of the former, they are suctioned onto its body by a modified dorsal fin comprised of slat-like flexible membranes. Both groups of fish associate themselves with plesioths for not only protection from other predators, but for the particulate matter left over from the plesioth’s meals, and its nutrient-rich feces. In exchange for tolerating the presence of both species, the plesioth benefits from the removal of ectoparasite and loose flakes of skin.

Distribution and habitat

Plesioths are a common sight in the waters of the Moga Archipelago. The abandoned ruins that sculpt the cliffs are prime nesting grounds for them. The leeward side of the Deserted Island (the largest isle in the chain) is sheltered from the prevailing wind by the area’s elevation, making the ruins above the alcoves and beaches comfortably dry. The islands’ coral reefs and sunken ships teem with prey capable of supporting large numbers of plesioths. The nearby island of Tanzia is similarly rife with the habitats and resources needed to support them, but strangely, plesioths avoid the waters outside of the harbor. It’s thought that the hydrothermal vents and geothermal activity in the Tainted Sea exceed P. coxa’s temperature threshold. Other well-known plesioth congregation sites include Cheeko Sands and Sunsnug Isle.

A popular rumor that continues to circulate (much to the chagrin of the International Hunters’ Guild) is that there exists a colony of oil-backed plesioths in the Dede Desert. Allegedly cut off from the ocean by an isolated river system, these plesioths are believed to have acclimated to the biological, geological, and meteorological properties of their new environment. To date, no evidence exists of plesioths managing to venture upriver and permanently establish a colony there. More than likely the idea was proposed by travelers that were hallucinating as a result of heat exhaustion and dehydration. It’s possible that what looked like a plesioth lifting its head above the water was actually a piece of debris or a branch, making its origins a case of mistaken identity. Another more credible theory is that a cephadrome was somehow mistaken for a plesioth. Despite assurances from the scientific community that a plesioth couldn’t travel hundreds of miles from the sea and survive in a desert climate, dozens of undeterred hunters and explorers make the dangerous expedition each year in search of proof.

#monster hunter #monster hunter thought dump #plesioth #zoology #the hunter's encyclopedia of animals #speculative biology #my posts #i speak #mh dossier

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wheremyscalesslither · 7 years

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An Excellent Summation on Ball Pythons Myths and the call for Enrichment by Francis Cosquieri

Below is a very long, but detailed explanation of the myths of keeping ball pythons in small tubs and how enrichment directly benefits snakes and other reptiles.

[This guy wrote it in this facebook group on this post]

Mobile users, please click the tumblr source for the entire post.

Royal Pythons are not actually all THAT sedate - the idea of the "sedentary" Royal Python that spends its life in dark holes has been bandied about for a few decades because the snakes aestivate in burrows during the hottest parts of the year, and this is when they are easiest for the trappers to locate. This does not mean they spend their whole lives underground, nor does it mean they are "ambush predators" that sit and wait most of their lives - on the contrary they are surprisingly active "search hunters" that happen to do most of their hunting at night and, in the case of adult females, hunt in burrows for rodents. Males and smaller animals exhibit a completely different mode of hunting - they climb trees and target a completely different source of food. We know this from a variety of sources: "Survey of the status and management of the Royal Python (Python regius) in Ghana" lists pythons being found in trees, although points out that the species is very adaptable to the point of being semi-invasive and responds well to anthropogenic disturbance. It also mentions a specimen being found up a tree. "Food resource partitioning of a community of snakes in a swamp rainforest of south-eastern Nigeria" lists woodpeckers and warblers (both consummately arboreal species that do not spend much if any time on the ground) as among the most numerous prey retrieved from Royal Python stomach (Cisticola warblers were the single prey genus that had the highest number found in Royal Pythons during the survey). "Why do males and females of Python regius differ in parasite load" points out that males (which are more arboreal) carry different and much higher parasite loads than females, possibly as a result of the differences in habitat use. "Jebels By Moonlight" lists a first hand observation of a Royal Python hunting in a tree in Sudan. "Sexual size dimorphism and natural history traits are correlated with intersexual dietary divergence in royal pythons (python regius) from the rainforests of southeastern Nigeria" - half of the male pythons encountered over a two year period were found on trees. The diet of male pythons under a certain size had a huge percentage of birds and arboreal mammals. "Species trade and conservation: Snake trade and conservation management (Serpentes.spp.) An assessment of the impact of the pet trade on five CITES-Appendix II case studies" lists the species as being both terrestrial and tree-dwelling animals. The fact is Royal Pythons are extraordinarily adaptive snakes that can tolerate a wide variety of habitats and are not negatively affected by anthropogenic change to the same extent as many other reptiles are. They can be terrestrial AND semi-arboreal depending on the habitats they inhabit, although according to studies by authors such as Luca Luiselli they reach their highest population densities in forested areas as opposed to grassland. It is worth noting that males especially seem to have adapted to fit a different niche to the larger females to the point that diet composition is almost totally different in several studies, and includes a significant percentage of birds and arboreal mammals that are most likely being stalked and captured in trees at night. They are also picking up a completely different parasite load because of this! Within the confines of a terrarium, there is no reason whatsoever to not provide at least one or two branches for the snake to climb on. Nor is there no reason not to provide overhead lighting or UV. It is simply common sense. To quote Frances Baines from another post on the subject in this group , "Why, for example, do we have to find a 1961 book on African Reptiles (by G. S. Cansdale) to find that the Royal Python "in the wild is often encountered sunning in bright light" (quoted by Sillman, A.J., Carver, J.K. and Loew, E.R., 1999. The photoreceptors and visual pigments in the retina of a boid snake, the ball python (Python regius). Journal of Experimental Biology, 202(14), pp.1931-1938. Indeed that was my experience also with at least one specimen I found in the wild! (Another good point there - Royal Pythons see UV very well. That is not really something you would expect a nocturnal animal to do). Personally I think if people like the security and humidity of a tub for their Royals - put one with an access hole inside the vivarium and let the animal decide where it wants to be. That pretty much approximates a burrow with a constant temperature and humidity in a much drier environment. If the snakes like security and confined spaces soooooooo much, they surely would never come out, right? Having tried this myself, and having seen first hand other people's enclosures offering a choice of places to climb, correct lighting, and an enriched habitat - along with seeing how the snakes themselves respond to it - I simply cannot see how anybody thinks a sterile tub with newspaper compares,

There are actually no specific papers regarding enrichment studies in Royal Pythons that I am aware of, however there ARE very convincing ones for a wide range of other snakes including Jamaican Boas and Burmese Pythons that are fairly categoric on the effect enrichment has on these animals. As a result, there is actually quite a lot of evidence that it DOES matter if a snake uses everything in its enclosure and is given an enriched environment as opposed to a sterile one.... there is simply NO way to refute the accumulated body of evidence on that score whatsoever. Whatsmore, the notion that "there is no way of telling whether the snake is happier/ acting differently" or that "the snake won't act naturally" is quite mistaken - reptiles provide a unique opportunity to investigate the influence of experience and the environment on behaviour. Their very morphology and dependence on real variables such as temperature link them to both physical forces and the spatial configuration of their environment and thus, they may be particularly responsive to environmental manipulations via enrichment. Most importantly, they are precocial and typically do not live in social groups thus eliminating this confounding variable in enrichment studies. What this means is that it is actually very easy to study behavioural changes and preferences in these animals and there have been quite a few studies presented that attempt to do just that by behaviourally testing snakes housed in enriched and standard conditions. I can list some very good papers here that are well worth checking out for those that are not sure whether there really is a difference for reptiles kept in enriched enclosures, many of them available for free on this page: Environmental Enrichment Alters the Behavioral Profile of Ratsnakes (Elaphe) Lynn M. Almli and Gordon M. Burghardt Habitat Manipulation in Hunting Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Species) Pitman B and Clarke R. Some Observations on Snakes Riot Takatsuki, Psychological Institute, Keijo Imperial University. The importance of enrichment for advancing amphibian welfare and conservation goals: A review of a neglected topic Christopher J. Michaels , J. Roger Downie, and Roisin Campbell-Palmer Using student-centred research to evidence- base exhibition of reptiles and amphibians: three species-specific case studies Rose, Nash, Ferguson et al. Experiments of Odor Enrichments Affect Behavior of Species of Snakes Mao Jie Zuo Zhili Yang Xiaoyi Cheng Jian Xie Yi (Chengdu Zoo & Chengdu Wildlife Research Institute,Chengdu,610081,China) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 391 - 398 A Critical Review of Zoo-based Olfactory Enrichment Does Enrichment Improve Reptile Welfare? Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius) respond to Five Kinds of Environmental Enrichment Bashaw, Gibson et al. The physiological and behavioural impacts of and preference for an enriched environment in the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) Beth C. Casea,*, Gregory A. Lewbarta, Phillip D. Doerrb An Assessment of Environmental Enrichment on Morphology and Behavior of Yearling Rat Snakes (Elaphe obsoleta). ***8220; Almli, Lynn M., 2004. Master***8217;s Thesis, University of Tennessee Corticosterone suppresses immune activity in territorial Galápagos marine iguanas during reproduction. Berger, S. et al., 2005. Hormones and Behavior, Environmental enrichment and cognitive complexity in reptiles and amphibians: Concepts, review, and implications for captive populations. Burghardt, G. M., 2013. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Problem of reptile play: Environmental enrichment and play behavior in a captive Nile soft-shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis. Burghardt, G. M., Ward, B. & Rosscoe, R., 1996. , Zoo Biology Personality Traits Are Expressed in Bullfrog Tadpoles during Open-Field Trials. Carlson, B. E. & Langkilde, T., 2013. Journal of Herpetology Visual discrimination and reversal learning in rough-necked monitor lizards (Varanus rudicollis).. Gaalema, D. E., 2011. Journal of Comparative Psychology Using Operant Conditioning and Desensitization to Facilitate Veterinary Care with Captive Reptiles. Hellmuth, H., Augustine, L., Watkins, B. & Hope, K., 2012. Exotic Animal Practice Spatial learning of an escape task by young corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata, Holtzman, Harris et al, 1999. Animal Behaviour Vol. 57, Issue 1 From slither to hither: Orientation and spatial learning in snakes. Holtzman, D. A., 1999. Integrative Biology Investigatory behavior in snakes, II: Cage cleaning and the induction of defecation in snakes Chiszar, Wellborn et al, 1980. Animal Learning and Behaviour, Vol 8. Issue 3 Spatial learning of an escape task by young corn snakes,Elaphe guttata guttata. Holtzman, D. A., Harris, T. W., Aranguren, G. & Bostock, E., 1999. Animal Behaviour Environmental Enrichment for Dendrobatid Frogs. Hurme, K. et al., 2003. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science Operant conditioning in the indigo snake. Kleinginna Jr., P. R., 1970. Psychonomic Science Zoo-Academic Collaborations: Physiological and Psychological Needs of Reptiles and Amphibians. Kreger, M. D., 1993. Herptologica Behavioural flexibility and problem-solving in a tropical lizard. Leal, M. & Powell, B. J., 2011.Biology Letters Experimental evaluation of environmental enrichment of sea turtles. Therrien, C. L., Gaster, L., Cunningham-Smith, P. & Manire, C. A., Zoo Biology 2007 An experimental test of the link between foraging, habitat selection and thermoregulation in black rat snakes Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta G Blouin-Demers, Journal of Animal Ecology 2001 Assessing environmental enrichment for juvenile Jamaican boas Epicrates subflavus Stejneger, 1901 Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife and Preservation Trust 1996 Investigatory behavior inthe plains garter snake (Thamnophis radix) and several additional species Chiszar, Carter et al, 1976. Animal Learning and Behaviour, Vol 4, Issue 3 Each of these studies (and there are many more, this is really just a sampling) presents a different example of how experimental procedure can be used to infer preference and the effects of enrichment among reptiles and amphibians. In short, there may be no paper specifically on the effects of enrichment on Royal Pythons (YET) but to expect that because of this the evidence for it is inconsequential would be a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of the evidence provided above (some of which concerns other pythons and boas). One more point to make to wrap up this post - many will state that "breeding" in tubs is evidence that they are adequate. In fact there is recent evidence presented that long-term stressful environments can encourage breeding in snakes (biologically this is a sound strategy - in an inhospitable environment, producing as many offspring as possible so that there is a greater chance at least some will survive is a common reproductive strategy!). So the idea that people having successes breeding this hardiest of pet snakes, which is known to be so adaptive as to be semi-invasive in parts of the world, is not really that strong evidence at all.

#enrichment #tiny tubs #tiny tub discourse #ball python myths

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tripsterguru · 5 years

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What to see in Varna in 1 day - 20 most interesting places

New Post has been published on https://tripsterguru.com/what-to-see-in-varna-in-1-day-20-most-interesting-places/

What to see in Varna in 1 day - 20 most interesting places

Bulgaria, in the view of many Europeans, is a country where you should fly in the summer, bask in the golden sands of seaside resorts. But not everyone knows how many different attractions there are – natural, cultural. Take Varna – people have lived on these lands since time immemorial, archaeologists have found a lot of evidence to this. And the heroic past of this city! You can come here at any time and for any period of time, there will be enough impressions for a long time. What to see in Varna for 1 day on your own? Choose for yourself.

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This is not just a beautiful cathedral, but also a real symbol of independence. For centuries, Bulgaria was an Orthodox country, inheriting religion from Byzantium. After this land was conquered by the Turks, Christians had a hard time. Many temples were destroyed, the values were removed from them. Conquerors who converted the remaining churches turned into mosques. Only in the second half of the 19th century the Bulgarians with the help of the Russian army were able to achieve independence of the country.

In memory of this war, in gratitude to the liberators, a cathedral was built. They built it with the whole world – money was donated by both ordinary people and the nobility. The decision was initiated by a special committee – the opinion of the townspeople and the local bishop Simeon was taken into account. And the first stone in the foundation of the cathedral was laid by Prince Alexander the First. The Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of the emperor-liberator Alexander the Second, was the first person in Bulgaria to be her own aunt. The prince decided to dedicate the cathedral to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Heavenly Patroness of Maria Alexandrovna.

The project was completed by Odesa I. Maas, and the construction was headed by the Bulgarian I. Kupka. This is not to say that the cathedral is designed in the same style. Here is the legacy of Byzantine culture, and features characteristic of Russian churches, and even some elements of Gothic architecture. Golden domes are a real decoration of the city, and the inhabitants of Varna are rightfully proud of their cathedral. It is worth examining it not only from the outside, but also go inside. You will see very beautiful murals.

Archaeological Museum

This wonderful museum can give its guests a lot of impressions. Scientists and enthusiasts began collecting exhibits for him a very long time ago – in the second half of the 19th century. Then in Varna there was already an archaeological society, which initiated the creation of the collection. At first it was small and housed in the city library. But soon it was decided to relocate the museum to a beautiful neo-Renaissance mansion built by the famous architect P. Mamchilov. The museum opened in a new place at the beginning of the 20th century.

The abundance of exhibits is due to the fact that people have lived in Bulgaria since ancient times. Several halls are devoted to the Paleolithic era, and finds related to Ancient Thrace are presented here. The following are Antiquity and the Middle Ages. You can see a wide variety of objects – tools and jewelry, weapons and utensils, works of art and preserved documents – evidence of a particular era. Orthodox art is a very interesting find. And the main treasure of the museum is gold items that are already several thousand years old. Found them during the excavation of the necropolis, located near Varna.

Boulevard Prince Boris I

A charming boulevard that simply cannot be avoided. It stretches from Independence Square and is the main pedestrian street of the city. You can come here for different purposes. Including, to – as they used to say – to look at others and show yourself, take a walk in a beautiful outfit. Here you can buy souvenirs – the choice is huge. From rose oil in original bottles to the craftsmanship of local craftsmen. Although this boulevard is a very popular place with the townspeople, the prices will not be too high.

If you come here with children, they will surely find new friends among their peers. Adults can have a beer or sit in a coffee shop. And the most curious tourists will pay attention to the buildings lined up along the boulevard. They are all ancient, all have their own history. They are amazingly beautiful. Some are built in the Baroque style, others make you remember the Gothic. It is best to walk along the boulevard, accompanied by a guide who can tell you the story of each house.

Seaside park

This ancient park (another name for it is “Marine Park”) has become a favorite vacation spot for residents of Varna. You can come here with the children for the whole day. The park was designed by Anton Novak, an architect from the Czech Republic, and this happened in the 19th century. Prior to this, the territory was an abandoned piece of land on the seashore. Now you can see beautiful alleys surrounded by trees, among which there are many conifers. Therefore, the air here is truly healing.

Broken flower beds, fragrant flowers. Sparks of fountains sparkle in the sun. You can stroll slowly, sit on benches, admire sculptures – they are presented here in abundance. In addition, the Marine Park has museums and such attractive tourist centers as a planetarium, zoo, dolphinarium. You can go down to the beach, swim, or take the child to the rides. The Summer Theater regularly hosts recreational activities. Well, and, of course, on the territory of the park you can have a bite to eat at the cafe and buy souvenirs at small kiosks.

Planetarium and Observatory of Nicholas Copernicus

In the second half of the 20th century, interest in astronomical observations sharply increased. This was due to the launch of an artificial satellite, and then to the space flight of the first astronaut. In 1960, the Club of Astronomy and Cosmonautics opened in Varna. A few years later, the city was visited by German Titov, a follower of Yuri Gagarin. He arrived as part of a congress of members of the International Federation of Aviation and Cosmonautics. Then it was decided that an observatory would appear in the city.

First, she occupied the premises of the Summer Theater, then the construction of her own building began in the Seaside Park. The architect was K. Goranov. The result was a whole complex – not only an observatory, but also a planetarium, as well as a turret with a Foucault pendulum. Thanks to him, you can make sure that the Earth makes rotational movements around its axis. The complex conducts astronomical observations, here you can listen to lectures, admire the stars and planets, read books about them – there is also its own library.

Zoo and Terrarium

It will be interesting to visit the zoo for both adults and children. The menagerie is quite old – it was opened back in 1961. The money was allocated by the sailors of the Maxim ship. The terrarium appeared much later – almost 40 years later. Today, here you can see over 70 species of fauna representatives. These are animals and birds, including rare ones, their names are listed in the Red Book. You can admire predators – lions, tigers, panthers.

Feed the camel and llama, see how the beautiful peacock spreads its tail. The pride of the zoo is the most beautiful black swans. The menagerie works daily. The terrarium contains various types of snakes, spiders, lizards, turtles, frogs. Good conditions have been created for everyone, guests will be told what insects and reptiles eat, what kind of life they lead.

Naval museum

The first exhibits for this museum began to be collected by naval officers in the 80s of the 19th century. Much later, already in 1923, the first spectators were able to look at the collection. And in the 50s, the museum entered the system of the Ministry of Defense. Today it is located in a building built in the 19th century – it in itself attracts attention. The museum presents ancient anchors, finds made at the bottom of the sea – fragments of ships, bow figures.

Also here are the uniforms of sailors and officers. Museum guests can look at flags, marine equipment, ship models and much more. But of most interest are those exhibits that are in the open. This is the famous destroyer “Daring”, famous in the battles, a yacht that circled the world, a minesweeper, various types of guns, even Bulgarian helicopters. The inhabitants of Varna are rightfully proud of this museum.

Roman baths

Roman baths – or thermae – is another confirmation that people inhabited this land in ancient times. They were built around the 2nd century A.D. These are the largest baths on the territory of the Balkan Peninsula, but if we take Europe into account, they will be in 4th place. Presumably, the terms have been used for 150-200 years. It was a whole complex.

Inside was a courtyard that housed merchants’ shops. Then men and women went to their departments. In the thermal baths there were vestibules and swimming pools, halls for dousing with water, lounges, restrooms, office premises. Marble floors were heated. A water tower the size of a 6-story building provided uninterrupted water supply. The complex itself occupied approximately as much space as a modern football field.

Evksinograd Palace

It is not difficult to see the summer residence of the rulers of Bulgaria – it is located a few kilometers from Varna. Those who have visited Crimea, visiting Evksinograd, will remember the places where the family of the last Russian emperor rested. The construction of the palace began at the end of the 19th century by order of Prince Alexander Battenberg, and work was completed under the next ruler of the country, Prince Ferdinand. The Renaissance palace looks luxurious.

Until now, important state receptions are held here periodically. Preserved furniture made of precious wood, stylish chandeliers, interior items – paintings, watches, jewelry. The name of the palace comes from the ancient Greek name of the Black Sea “Euxinus Pontus”. Around the palace is a beautiful park. For this, it was necessary to import both land and seedlings of trees – palm trees, cedars.

Guests can explore the Greek Garden and the English Garden, and admire the sculpture of Neptune that adorns the pond. The pride of the complex are the wine cellars, built and equipped according to the project of the German architect. There are still excellent wines stored there, a tasting room is open. You can also see the ruins of an ancient fortress located in the park.

Varna Opera House

The theater building is relatively small, but at the same time one of the most beautiful in the city. Empire style emphasizes the impeccable taste of the architect. The theater’s creative team is so good that it has already been invited to perform in other European countries. The inhabitants of Varna consider the day when they got here to the performance a real holiday. The theater opened in the distant 1947. Since then, his doors have not been closed. Concerts are held here, viewers come to watch opera performances, operettas, musicals, and performances for children.

Moreover, there are both classical productions and performances created by modern authors. It was once planned that the Summer Theater and even a casino would be added to the main building. But in the end, they decided that for these objects in the city there are other places. Today the Varna Opera House is the second most popular in the country, second only to a similar theater in Sofia.

The most famous opera singers of the world performed here. It is possible that during your visit to Varna, some celebrity will also sing on stage. And how wonderful it will be to hear the divine music of Strauss or Legrand again! Finding a theater is very easy – it is located next to the Seaside Park.

Armenian Church of St. Sarkis

Armenians have lived in what is now Bulgaria from time immemorial. Therefore, naturally, their churches are here. Once upon a time in the place where the temple of St. Sarkis is now located, there was a modest wooden chapel. It burned down during a fire, and several decades later, in 1844, a new church was built here. It has a multi-faceted dome, and the bell tower has a square shape. Inside, Orthodox believers will be surprised to note the absence of an iconostasis separating the altar. The walls of the temple are decorated with beautiful paintings.

According to the lives, Sarkis was a brave warrior and successfully fought with the pagans. Like St. Valentine, he patronizes lovers. It is believed that if he gives a good prayer, you can see in his dream his narrowed or narrowed. Inspecting the church from the inside is not so easy – it is open mainly during worship. But if you get here, you will be surprised. Nondescript from the outside, inside the church looks luxurious and somehow airy. You can put candles on the icons, and ask the Savior and St. Sarkis for what you most want.

Dolphinarium

Dolphinarium “Fiesta” is very popular with viewers of all ages. It opened in 1984, and the bottlenose dolphins that arrived here from the Atlantic became its first artists. In a short time they mastered a large number of tricks. Smart mammals perform real acrobatic numbers, jump through a hoop, play a ball, dance and even sing songs. And, of course, you can take a picture with them. There are souvenir kiosks that sell funny gizmos that will remind you of a visit to the dolphinarium.

There are also discs with recordings of the performance. It is very convenient that the comments sound in several languages, including Russian. The total show lasts approximately 30 minutes. If you agree in advance, you can even swim next to the dolphins. Impressions will remain unforgettable. If during your stay at the dolphinarium you want to have a bite, a cafe works here. You can sip a cocktail through a straw while viewing dolphin games through a panoramic window.

Museum of the History of Varna

This interesting museum must be visited. There is nothing pompous – it is simply shown what Varna was before, starting from the second half of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War II. The atmosphere of the friendly resort town has been recreated. You can see how the workshops and shops of artisans looked, the studio where the photographer worked, the cafe where customers drank coffee. Even a small courtyard looks “as if alive.”

The museum opened in 1969, and since then the number of exhibits has increased. Clothing is presented, both civilian and military. Many old photographs were collected, exhibits from Evksinograd replenished the collection. An invaluable exhibit is the piano, which was purchased in 1926, when Varna was preparing to meet the first international music festival. Since then it has been going on regularly. Maybe you will catch the Varna Summer.

Ethnographical museum

The museum was opened in 1974. It contains everything related to the cultural traditions of the region in the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the local population was engaged in agriculture and viticulture, cattle breeding and beekeeping, fishing and various crafts. The tools that were used for plowing the land, dishes, suits were preserved. It is in clothes that national features are well traced. After all, immigrants from various countries came to the lands surrounding Varna.

Of great interest is wedding and festive clothing. You can learn a lot about the customs and traditions of local residents. Buy books and souvenirs. The building itself breathes antiquity, and the photos here are wonderful. Models of mills and houses, an old clock with a pendulum, a bed with metal backs … In this museum you will feel the authentic atmosphere of old Varna.

Retro Museum

Bulgaria from the time of socialism – is it possible to see how everything was then? You can, if you look at this museum. It opened recently, in 2015. And the exhibits that are presented here relate to the time period 1944-1989. Things of that time are exhibited here – cigarettes and perfumes, household appliances, including Russian ones, cosmetics, clothes and much more. Want to know what a popular brand vacuum cleaner looked like? Or Bulgarian cigarettes without a filter? And the famous cosmetics, which in the USSR could be bought exclusively in Moscow, and the Sofia store?

Here they will tell you everything and show. The pride of the museum is a collection of cars. Then they were luxury – “Lada”, “Moskvich”, “Volga”, “Skoda” and others. There is even a Chaika limo, which was driven by the most important statesmen. By the way, you can see them yourself. Many tourists are photographed next to the wax figures of great politicians.

Park Museum “Vladislav Varnenchik”

In the middle of the 15th century, more precisely, in 1444, a grand battle took place near Varna: Christian warriors tried not to let Ottoman Turks enter Europe. The death toll was scored in the thousands. Here Vladislav III Jagiello also died. His body could not be found. According to the most reliable version, the Turks erected Vladislav’s head on a spear, and triumphantly carried along the streets of Bursa. According to another legend, Vladislav could not survive the shame of defeat and became a hermit. One way or another, a mausoleum was built in the park, where a stone sarcophagus was installed in memory of the hero. It seems that the guests see the hero with their own eyes – the sculpture was made very reliably, the lying commander clutching the sword in his hands.

Big changes took place in the park in 1964, when the 520th anniversary of the battle was celebrated. A museum was built here, in which everything related to the famous battle is stored. From weapons, banners and knightly armor, to works of art dedicated to this topic. Of great interest are the various layouts that allow you to recreate the details of the battle. Although the park museum is far enough from the city center, an excursion here will not be tiring. In order to make everything clear to the guests, they are given a text printed in English

Varna burial ground

This famous burial ground was discovered by chance. In the 70s of the last century, during excavation work, several gold jewelry fell into the bucket of the excavator. To date, about 300 graves have been found, which, according to scientists, is about two-thirds of the necropolis. Over 3 thousand gold items and several hundred ceramic samples were discovered. It is proved that the people who are buried here lived around the end of the 5th millennium BC. Men were buried lying on their backs, women were resting on their side, in the “fetus” position. They put in the graves what the deceased in the afterlife might require – utensils, jewelry, weapons, idol figures, talismans.

If the body could not be delivered to the burial place, the clay head was buried, and instead of eyes, nose and mouth there were precious stones. One of the graves turned out to be a real treasury. Numerous gold items rested here with the man, their weight was about 1.5 kg. In total, the necropolis “gave” to scientists more than 6 kg of gold. But the main wealth is the new knowledge about the life of ancestors that was obtained by exploring the burial places.

University Botanical Garden “Ecopark”

If you love nature, you can appreciate this ecopark with its natural and artificial ecological systems. It occupies a large area of 36 hectares. It grows rare trees, shrubs, herbs. Amazing irises, many varieties of roses grow here. You can see how the tulip tree, sea pines, iron and paper trees and other wonders look like.

In addition, there is a jockey club, where a horse lover can afford any whim. For example, ride in an old cabriolet along the alleys, or ride a horse. National tournaments are held here, and in March they celebrate the Horse Festival (Todorov Day) – the event is very beautiful. There is a biological station where students are trained, there is also a market where you can buy seedlings for summer cottages or exotic indoor plants.

Those who like to rest in nearby hotels love to come here. Part of the garden resembles a pristine corner of nature, where no one will stop you from spending time. You can come here for a picnic, order a barbecue. Children are delighted with the small waterfall, and inveterate gardeners do not leave the garden without buying new plants.

Historical and Ethnographic Complex “Fanagoria”

This complex is designed to show the important place of the pro-Bulgarian culture in the history of the country’s development. It will be interesting to visit for children, adolescents and adults. Fanagoria appeared relatively recently. Construction work began in 2001, and opened the complex in 2002. Now here you can clearly imagine what the military camp looked like at about 8 in AD Protective structures made of wood, workshops, yurts and a temple. Reconstructed costumes of the time, weapons, household items. On the territory there is a shooting range, places for spectators. Lectures and master classes are held here, in the evening you can watch an equestrian performance.

There is also a school where children are taught to ride. If you want to bring unusual souvenirs from Varna – you will buy them here. They are copies of antique objects. You can visit the complex on any day of the week, except Monday. Entire families come here, and leaving, leave rave reviews. They write that even the air here is somehow special, “historical”. Subsequently, much more will be built in Fanagoria: a real fortress, a suspension bridge, even an Orthodox church. One can see with what love the people of Bulgaria relate to their past.

Aladzha Monastery

The monastery is located in the Golden Sands Park. Its name “Aladzha” is translated as “motley”. Most likely, it came from the fact that the colored murals seemed especially bright on the gray stone. The real name of the monastery is still not exactly established. According to one version, he was dedicated to the Savior. Monks lived here in the 13-14 centuries. Interestingly, a few hundred from the monastery there is a network of caves. Apparently, people settled in them in the first centuries of Christianity, as they remained here: ceramics, coins, various products.

As for the monastery, it was badly damaged by the Ottoman Turks, but the hermits stubbornly returned to their caves until the 18th century, and at the end of the 19th, scientists became interested in the monastery. In 1968, the monastery was recognized as a cultural monument of national importance. There really is something to see. On the first level there were monastic cells, there was also a temple, refectory and kitchen, pantries, a room where the remains of the deceased were stored. On the second level was a chapel.

There are many legends associated with this place. Until now, tourists who are not alien to the extreme spirit hope to find treasures hidden by hermits in Aladzha or to see ghosts. A museum was built near the monastery, where the past of the monastery was recreated. You can also buy books and souvenirs here.

As you can see, in Varna there are a lot of attractions that you can explore at any time of the year. Take your time and try to visit the museums and memorial sites that interest you. Only then will you fully appreciate this wonderful Bulgarian city.

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 5 years

Text

Kuiornis indicator

By Ripley Cook

Etymology: The Demigod Kui’s Bird

First Described By: Worthy et al., 2010

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Australaves, Psittacopasserae, Passeriformes, Acanthisitti, Acanthisittidae

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 19 and 16 million years ago, in the Burdigalian of the Miocene

Kuiornis is from the Saint Bathans Fauna, a distinctive snapshot of the evolution of New Zealand’s unique birds - from the Bannockburn Formation of the South Island of New Zealand

Physical Description: Kuiornis is known from limb elements, so we don’t know much about it, but it seems to have been only a little smaller than the living Rifleman, its closest relative - so it was probably around 7 centimeters long. It would have looked similar to the living Rifleman as well - a round bird, with a distinctively thin tail, and a small head with a triangular beak. As for differences from living New Zealand Wrens, it had differently formed and more compact legs. Beyond this, it’s difficult to say more about the specific appearance of Kuiornis; it probably would have been green and brown in color, like its living relatives.

Diet: Without fossil evidence of the beak, we have to assume that Kuiornis was an omnivore; given that New Zealand Wrens today favor invertebrates but still eat other forms of food, this is not an unreasonable assumption.

Behavior: Kuiornis would have been very skittish like modern New Zealand Wrens, flitting back and forth between the shrubs and vegetation in its habitat. It would have probably been only moderately social, like living New Zealand Wrens, and making high pitched, non-musical calls. Kuiornis would then spend most of its time foraging for food. When not doing that, it would have taken care of its young, building nests out of grass and in secluded spaces. It is difficult to say much about its breeding behavior - or behavior in general - however, since very little is known from this dinosaur.

Ecosystem: At the end of the Paleogene, New Zealand flooded. This completely erased the previous ecosystem, killing most things that had been on the island before that point. Afterwards, the only things that were able to colonize the space were creatures that floated over, and creatures that could fly. This included lizards and snakes and other reptiles, bats, and most notably of all - birds. New Zealand had one of the most unique avifaunas of all time, with many birds evolving to fill roles that mammals took in other locations - things like the moas, the large birds of prey, the adzebills, and living forms like the New Zealand Parrots that are like avian rodents and rabbits. The Saint Bathans Fauna is a snapshot of that initial colonization, showing how these unique birds began to diversify after New Zealand reemerged, in a lush lake enviroment. Kuiornis is just one part of that - showing the origin of the weird New Zealand Wrens. There was also the early Kiwi Proapteryx, the small Manuherikia ducks, the stiff-tailed Dunstanneta, the shelduck Miotadorna, the goose Cereopsis, the wood duck Matanas, the weird pigeon Rupephaps, the early Adzebill Aptornis proasciarostratus, the flightless rails Priscaweka and Litorallus, the swimming flamingo Palaelodus, the herons Matuku and Pikaihao, the bittern Pikaihao, the New Zealand Parrot Nelepsittacus, and potential eagles and hawks. There were also many geckos, skinks, crocodilians, turtles, and tuatara present as well. Weirdly enough, there was a mammal other than bats - but that mammal is what we would call a Mystery.

Other: Kuiornis has been extensively studied in phylogenetic analyses, and these analyses consistently recover Kuiornis as a New Zealand Wren, so it is an important find in understanding how this unique group of little dinosaurs evolved in such an isolated environment as New Zealand. Interestingly enough, it consistently comes out as very much nested in the group, extremely closely related to the Rifleman. This indicates that Kuiornis is not a decent model for the ancestor of the New Zealand Wrens, and also that advanced members of this group were present as recent as the mid-Neogene period.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut

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153 notes · View notes