#Prehistoric Picture

[prehistoricpatrons]

Pov you realize your nerdy childhood friend has taken up a hobby of eating people

Based on a conversation with @koboldpreydrive <3

[miriamforster]

DID I TELL YOU I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BUGS???

Author copies came today and it is so beautiful!!!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

alright who do I have to sell my soul to in order to get a season 2 of prehistoric park

[milkweedman]

Proof of concept thorn tool. (Much better versions of) these are known throughout prehistory and were used to process plant fibers. I didn't know if they'd work well enough on milkweed to bother with, but now I have tried.

I probably need at least 30 thorns, and definitely longer ones. I was collecting and storing some in my rollator bag, and I think they might have been falling out because I definitely picked way more. But even like 7 or so very short ones bound together (badly) with flax was still, in fact, a far more effective tool than just my hands.

I only processed one milkweed stalk, since it was getting dark and this tool does absolutely suck, but I got it from whole rhetted stalk to fiber in about 10 minutes, and I think I could easily do 2 or 3 stalks at once and it would take the same.

I first smashed the stalk with a hammerstone against a wooden stump to get the hard pith out. The stone on wood technique is new to me but very effective. I'd been trying stone on stone (lack of available tree stumps to work on) and it hardly gets the pith out at all. But stone on wood is super effective as well, definitely will keep doing that.

After removing the pith I combed it repeatedly with the tool. This was made difficult by the fact that the tool was constantly wiggling around and falling apart. But it quickly stripped the outer layer off the fibers. Previously I had been rubbing them between my hands, which was very very slow and tended to damage the fibers. I got the idea from Sally Pointer's videos, but I think milkweed might just have too thin an outer layer ? Or some other reason (or maybe I was doing it wrong, but I don't see how as it is just rubbing). So the tool worked much better and faster. It did produce a lot of tow, although better technique and a better tool will probably help with that.

The line fibers

The tow fibers (top--I didn't have the energy to clean them up, but these should be spinnable as a rolag once I do)

Also tried a little cordage. My twist ratio was way off, which is a new cordage problem for me. I was curious how it would work up, but I don't plan to continue it. Not sure what to do with the rest of the milkweed though. I'm not very confident about spinning it, although maybe if I processed it more I'd have a better chance. At the moment it feels very rigid...not like the flax or hemp I've used.

Anyway, I need to go back to the hawthorn trees I found in the winter and look for new thorns I guess, although it might be too early. I really want a better tool so I can process the mountain of milkweed stalks before I move.

[monarchbutt]

this chart somehow convinced me for like a solid minute that the phanerozoic was the length of 5 precambrians. it looks so big :(

[muffinlance]

Got some excellent friends from @palaeoplushies (le website link)

Toddler stole the ichthyosaur straight out of the box and baby has decided the bristlenose is a superior teething toy

...Friends have been made and lost

[id: Photo of a stuffed ichthyosaur and bristlenose plecostomus along with pins of an ichthyosaur, pterodactyl, and archaeopteryx. End id.]

[x22817]

🌎 WHEN 🦖DINOSAURS 🦕 RULED THE EARTH 🌎

I think Bean kinda got sick of me taking pictures of her...

[tururi-tururu]

A Coruña, Spain, 10-11-2024

[mustelavison]

what visiting naturalis biodiversity museum once does to a mf

[hazelcongestion]

thinking about the stone age recently. I love how thomas the tank engine has neolithic AND Iron age lore

[would-you-eat-polls]

[prehistoricpatrons]

Scooter Snack

Featuring @koboldpreydrive's adorable dorky raptor Erwin <3 <3

[miriamforster]

IT’S OUT! My giant gorgeous book, Bugs, a Skittery Jittety History is out in the world!

Kirkus 🌟 review: “Aspiring entomologists, paleontologists, and artists won’t want to miss this one.”

My mother’s review: “wow this is a lot of information, like an entomology 101 class.”

And LOOK at the beautiful art Gordy Wright made for it! It’s even prettier in person.

Anyway if you like bugs, check it out.

[actual-haise]

This will only make sense to two people here probably but. Those two are the same to me. Two funny uncle types managing a place with a lot of entities from the past while SOMEONE is getting up in various shenanigans and brings back even more outrageous guys every damn time

[teokkusan]

I feel like when people talk about having caveman thoughts they're always thinking about being aggressive or hunting but there's this giant berry tree right outside of my house and whenever I'm picking berries and saving some for my siblings I always think "woah these could feed a whole tribe and we could make so many cave paintings with the ones that fell into the ground"

[surelookbutnothingtoseehere]