#an American evolution

[goshyesvintageads]

Chrysler Corp, 1985

[mindblowingscience]

The longest genome of all the animals on Earth belongs not to a giant, or a cognitively advanced critter, but a writhing, water-dwelling creature seemingly frozen in time, right at the cusp of evolving into a beast that can live on land. These are the lungfish, a class of freshwater vertebrates whose peculiar characteristics are reflected in a colossal genetic code. Able to breathe both air and water, with limb-like fins, and a well-developed skeletal architecture, these strange ancient creatures are thought to is thought to share a common ancestor with all four-limbed vertebrates known as tetrapods.

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[eattacheesepaw]

Todd: "Homeboy don' even have to work! Homeboy get dat paper all on his own!"

Kurt: *slaps Todd in the face* "Stop that. You're white."

Todd: *rubbing his cheek* "...I'm homeboy..."

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[alphynix]

Neolicaphrium recens here might look like some sort of early horse, but this little mammal was actually something else entirely.

Known from southern South America during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene, between about 1 million and 11,000 years ago, Neolicaphrium was the last known member of the proterotheriids, a group of South American native ungulates that were only very distantly related to horses, tapirs, and rhinos. Instead these animals evolved their remarkably horse-like body plan completely independently, adapting for high-speed running with a single weight-bearing hoof on each foot.

Neolicaphrium was a mid-sized proterotheriid, standing around 45cm tall at the shoulder (~1'6"), and unlike some of its more specialized relatives it still had two small vestigial toes on each foot along with its main hoof. Tooth microwear studies suggest it had a browsing diet, mainly feeding on soft leaves, stems, and buds in its savannah woodland habitat.

It was one of the few South American native ungulates to survive through the Great American Biotic Interchange, when the formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed North and South American animals to disperse into each other's native ranges. While many of its relatives had already gone extinct in the wake of the massive ecological changes this caused, Neolicaphrium seems to have been enough of a generalist to hold on, living alongside a fairly modern-looking selection of northern immigrant mammals such as deer, peccaries, tapirs, foxes, jaguars… and also actual horses.

Some of the earliest human inhabitants of South America would have seen Neolicaphirum alive before its extinction. We don't know whether they had any direct impact on its disappearance – but since the horses it lived alongside were hunted by humans and also went extinct, it's possible that a combination of shifting climate and hunting pressure pushed the last of the little not-horses over the edge, too.

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[fizziepopangel]

Baggage

"Should we start loving? Give this a try?

You got baggage but so do I,

you got baggage but so do I.....

let's give this a try..."

[kemetic-dreams]

House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970's disco. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s, and as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat

House was created and pioneered by DJs and producers in Chicago such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Chip E., Joe Smooth, Steve "Silk" Hurley, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Marshall Jefferson, Phuture, and others. House music initially expanded internationally, to London, then to other American cities, such as New York City, and ultimately a worldwide phenomenon.

In its most typical form, the genre is characterized by repetitive 4/4rhythms including bass drums, off-beat hi-hats, snare drums, claps, and/or snaps at a tempo of between 120 and 130 beats per minute (bpm); synthesizerriffs; deep basslines; and often, but not necessarily, sung, spoken or sampled vocals. In house, the bass drum is usually sounded on beats one, two, three, and four, and the snare drum, claps, or other higher-pitched percussion on beats two and four. The drum beats in house music are almost always provided by an electronic drum machine, often a Roland TR-808, TR-909, or a TR-707. Claps, shakers, snare drum, or hi-hat sounds are used to add syncopation. One of the signature rhythm riffs, especially in early Chicago house, is built on the clave pattern. Congas and bongos may be added for an African sound, or metallic percussion for a Latin feel

One book from 2009 states the name "house music" originated from a Chicago club called the Warehouse that was open from 1977 to 1982. Clubbers to the Warehouse were primarily African, gay men, who came to dance to music played by the club's resident DJ, Frankie Knuckles, who fans refer to as the "godfather of house". Frankie began the trend of splicing together different records when he found that the records he had were not long enough to satisfy his audience of dancers. After the Warehouse closed in 1983, eventually the crowds went to Knuckles' new club, The Power House, later to be called The Power Plant, and the club was renamed, yet again, into Music Box with Ron Hardy as the resident DJ. The 1986 documentary, "House Music in Chicago", by filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom, captured opening night at The Power House, and stands as the only film or video to capture a young Frankie Knuckles in this early era, right after his departure from The Warehouse. 

In the Channel 4 documentary Pump Up the Volume, Knuckles remarks that the first time he heard the term "house music" was upon seeing "we play house music" on a sign in the window of a bar on Chicago's South Side. One of the people in the car joked, "you know that's the kind of music you play down at the Warehouse!" In self-published statements, South-Side Chicago DJ Leonard "Remix" Rroy claimed he put such a sign in a tavern window because it was where he played music that one might find in one's home; in his case, it referred to his mother's soul and disco records, which he worked into his sets

[acillianproblem]

Cillian Murphy @ AFI Awards Luncheon 2024

[lov3rsr0ckk]

do you too sometimes think about all the undiscovered little stupid kids shows from the 90-00s and think about how. they could also be loved. and there is someone out there. who loves it so much more than i could ever imagine

[arminreindl]

So something that a lot of people are seemingly unaware off is the "rostral boss" or simply face bump seen in some American Crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus). I've seen it a few times now that folks are really surprised to see it, so I think its worth sharing a bit on that and its importance to understanding how crocs came to America.

For starters, the rostral boss is a large bump that is located on the snout of some crocodiles just before the eyes, covering the back of the nasal bone and areas of the prefrontals, lacrimals and parts of the frontal bone. This boss, among modern crocs, is most prominent in the American Crocodile. Sidenote, I know its a pain, but here American Crocodile (capitalized C) means Crocodylus acutus. When meaning the crocodiles of America, I'll use Neotropic crocodiles. Also tho I'm usually liberal with the term, here crocodile specifically refers to the genus Crocodylus. Good? Good. Anyhow, this kinda gives them a look thats been likened to the Triassic phytosaurs and makes individuals with said bump really distinct. Below are some pictures which show different indivudals with less and more pronounced bosses.

Now this feature is not unique to American Crocodiles (again meaning C. acutus, I know the terminology is confusing), but can be seen in at least some other neotropic Crocodylus species. Now I've yet to see images of either Morelet's or Orinoco Crocodiles with the same and they don't appear to have been recognized with them by older literature, but there are some Cuban Crocodile skulls also showing a slight boss. If you look at the two photos below, you can see an American Crocodile skull on the left and several skulls of Cuban Crocodiles on the right (from the Quaternary Sawmill Sink on the Bahamas). It's comparably subtle in the Cubans, but there is a boss present in these skulls.

The fun part is that this isn't just a random trait that these crocodiles got out of nowhere. No, the rostral boss is actually a trait thats likely to be ancestral to ALL Crocodylus species of the Neotropics (so again, Morelet's, Cubans, Orinocos and Americans). The oldest known Crocodylus species from the Americas is Crocodylus falconensis from the Pliocene of Venezuela. And guess what, it had that very same bump on its face.

But that's not where the trail ends. No. Back in the 1940s a crocodile was found in Miocene sediments of Northern Africa that had a similar bump. Meaning on the other side of the Atlantic. This was largely ignored at the time, despite the similarities to American and Cuban Crocodiles and their rostral bosses being known back then. But more recently, scientists have taken a second look at this species, Crocodylus checchiai, and concluded that it is a likely ancestor to today's Neotropic crocodiles.

We already knew that African crocodiles (Nile Crocodiles and Sacred Crocodiles) were more closely related to Neotropic crocodiles than to Australasian ones (like Salties, Freshies and Muggers), but this essentially provided some really solid evidence for how crocs got to America. Sometime between the Miocene and Pliocene, Crocodylus checchiai (or a relative or descendent) swam across the Atlantic and landed in the area around the Caribbean, spreading and giving rise to the four true crocodiles that still inhabit the region. Which I personally think is really cool.

[dougdimmadodo]

Wimple Piranha (Catoprion mento)

Family: Serrasalmid Family (Serrasalmidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

A tiny (15cm/5.9 inches in length) relative of the more famous Red-Bellied Piranha, the Wimple Piranha is found in the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraguay and Essequibo river basins, and is notable for its unusual diet; adults of this species feed almost exclusively on fish scales, feeding by ramming into larger fish at high speeds with their mouths wide open, biting and generating suction to dislodge their target’s scales and pull them into their mouths. The practice of eating scales, known as lepidophagy, is rare in animals as scales are difficult to digest and require considerable amounts of energy to obtain, and it is likely that it developed in response to the intense competition between fish species in the biodiverse rivers to which Wimple Piranhas are native - although their nutrients-poor diet limits their size, feeding exclusively on scales (occasionally supplemented by small insects or small amounts of the meat of their otherwise unharmed targets where possible) allows Wimple Piranhas to find food while largely avoiding competing with larger and less specialised carnivores. Besides their unusual feeding habits little is known about the biology of wild Wimple Piranhas, although through the observation of captive individuals it has been found that unlike many piranha species they are solitary (possibly avoiding living in groups to avoid competing with other members of their species,) and that like other members of their family females of this species lay eggs.

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/342485-Catoprion-mento

[okubunny]

Evolution of my Miku drawings 2020-2023

[nickysfacts]

Easily the star attraction of Jurassic Park, I wish she made more appearances in the series!

😎🐟

[a-roguish-gambit]

Do have any headcannons about rosemary being in the turn of the century au?

I do!

So these will just be for early life stuff.

Rosemary would be a Greatest generation kid, born early 1920s.

I would not be surprised if she was a result of a last call drinking binge between Gambit and rogue (rogue has gotten control of her powers at this point) before prohibition went into effect. Either that or a result of them taste testing some strong yet safe still whiskey.

Gambit fell back into his their ways and got into bootlegging a little bit, but stops when he finds out rogue is pregnant. Spite, money, and alcohol isn't worth potentially putting another stain on his future child’s life.

Rogue is excited to be pregnant but is ducking suffering. She cannot stand how pregnant people are treated at this time. If another man makes a comment about her being visibly pregnant without her husband around she will be breaking noses. And she does.

With greater control of her powers she's gone full flapper. Very vamp aethstetic. She will make custom fitting dresses if she has to so she can keep up her aesthetic. The loose short dresses are just very freeing.

She's enjoying the dance crazes of the time and so the other x men are having to give her a gentle Inthervention that fast dancing probably isn't the best to do later on in the pregnancy. This only goes so well but after a talk from Gambit she caves.

Magneto has caused mutants to be outed to the world at this time some time around 1917. Trask debuted his metal man powered sentinels in New York built from Great war scrap he imported from all sides and they were caught on film fighting it The world is not super accepting. Logan managed to pull some strings and got an endorsement of the x men and mutants from former president Teddy Roosevelt (they had been friends via a few hunting trips. Probably one of the few men who could keep up with Logan) so thankfully mutants are not public enemy number one, but the discrimination is there and not great. So Gambit and rogue are worried about how their kid will be treated.

They consider homeschooling her but she really really wants to be in public school with other kids. Gambit and rogue are not about to challenge her moxie.

Despite a lot of hardships at first, she manages to put down bullies and make friends. It's not perfect but she's carving out her own niche in her own way. Her parents couldn't be prouder of her.

She does also have a support network through the x men too which helps A LOT. And despite being not the best moms, Irene and mystique are more than happy to help keep their grandaughter safe.

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

SUMMARY: Picking up directly from the previous movie, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.

mod L may or may not have written self-insert fanfic about this movie in tenth grade and said fic may or may not still be floating around the internet somewhere, but I'm certainly not telling.