#and glee did THAT to it

[markscherz]

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

Artwork by A. Petzold, CC BY-ND 4.0

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

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

No, they're little treefrogs!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Vences et al. 2024

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

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

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

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

[addictsitter]

also it has been twelve years and i am still not and never will be over what they did to “candles”

[thepoisonroom]

the thing is that if i say "we all thought nbc's heroes was going to be good" i would sound incredibly stupid and weird to the modern ear. but it is true. was true

[backslashdelta]

"if you want me I'm here" ♡ ~ happy birthday @mdverse!

[michaun]

scenes with no hetero explanation

[witchofthemidlands]

cannot believe the doctor got kissed tenderly by a futuristic man for the first time since series 1 only for said man to end up getting almost immediately sent to superhell.

[thedreadblog]

I was thinking about this:

"Fen'Harel is said to have spent centuries in a far corner of the earth after his great deception, hugging himself and giggling madly in glee."

And of course things get changed over time. The Evanuris became kind gods, the vallaslin became a dedication to one of them instead of a slave marking, etc., etc..

And it led me to think that perhaps he wasn't giggling madly in glee. Perhaps he was laughing in the way you do when you succeeded at something you didn't expect. The kind of laughing that turns into bitter tears, sobs that wrack your body, the laughing that brings up all your sadness and brings it to the surface.

That kind of sadness that makes you hug yourself to self-soothe because you successfully did what you set out to do but it means losing everything you knew, the entire world you loved, the connection you had to the Fade and magic and the spirit friends you have there.

In order to save the world, you had to destroy the one you knew and loved and needed to save.

Imagine the grief he felt in that moment.

[tallertysupremacy]

I love everything about this interaction (Alec literally flirted with Raphael and I will never get over it akrjsbwkdj) but the absolute best part it how long it took for the joke to come full circle😂

First pic from Ghost of the Shadow Market, 2019

Second is The Bane Chronicles, 2014

[allegedly-human]

I'm absolutely haunted by that scene. The little "hehehehe", the dancing, the fact he was rapping "thong" repeatedly at this woman's pussy.

[valiantvillain]

A Crow never abandons a contract, they say. Meanwhile somewhere out in the world Zevran is doubling over laughing.

[justgleekout]

Struck by his beauty. Had to draw.

[mynonah]

For someone who loves clothes so much, I can't believe you haven't noticed that I'm not in my Warbler outfit.

pose ref: (x)

[versusvirtuous]

[backslashdelta]

I like to imagine that Kurt has that photo of Blaine in his locker the moment after they meet because Blaine is just pretentious enough to give it to Kurt unprompted, and Kurt is just enough of a freak to think that's normal behaviour

[chappelroan]

GET TO KNOW ME ♡ Favorite Ships ↳ Rachel Berry & Quinn Fabray "Look, you have nothing to be scared of. You're a very pretty girl, Quinn. You're the prettiest girl I've met, Quinn but… you're a lot more than that."

[kazz-brekker]

i present: my extremely long and highly specific list of book recs for my fellow rings of power fans