#and some may have soft tissue preserved!

[krindor]

Send help im experiencing childlike wonder and an academic study-bug at the same time

[alphynix]

Strange Symmetries #23: Convergent Earvolution

Although it's not visible externally, owls have one of the most striking modern examples of asymmetry. The ears of many species are uneven, with the right ear opening positioned higher up than the left, giving them the ability to pinpoint the sounds of their prey much more accurately.

But surprisingly this isn't a unique anatomical trait that only ever evolved once in their common ancestor.

Instead, multiple different lineages of owls have actually convergently evolved wonky ears somewhere between four and seven separate times.

The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), also known as Tengmalm's owl, is a small 25cm long (~10") true owl found across much of the northern parts of both Eurasia and North America. While most other owls' asymmetrical ear openings are formed just by soft tissue, the boreal owl's lopsided ears are actually visible in the bones of its skull.

But despite how many times owls have convergently evolved asymmetrical ears, and how successful this adaptation has been for them, for a long time it seemed to be something that no other animals have ever mimicked.

In the early 2000s asymmetric ears were reported in the skulls of some troodontid dinosaurs, which seem to have been nocturnal hearing-based hunters similar to owls, but proper details on this feature still haven't been formally published.

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, another example was finally announced.

The night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) is a small ground-dwelling parrot found in Australia, close to the same size as the boreal owl at around 22cm long (~9"). Critically endangered and very elusive, it's rarely seen and little is known about it – and it was presumed extinct for much of the 20th century, until more recent sightings of living individuals confirmed that the species is still hanging on.

Recent studies of preserved museum specimens have revealed that it seems to have poor night vision but excellent hearing, and that its right ear opening is noticeably asymmetrical, bulging out sideways from its skull. Much like owls the night parrot relies on acute directional hearing to navigate in darkness, but since its diet consists mainly of seeds it's probably not using this ability to locate food sources. Instead it may be listening out to keep track of the precise locations of other parrots, and for the approach of predators – so its sharp sense of hearing may be the reason this unique bird has so far just barely managed to survive the presence of invasive cats and foxes.

———

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[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s5 episode 15 thoughts

long day. i want scully and mulder time.

ooh, looks like this episode will be about mr. mulder! mr. william mulder, i should specify; i am not just referring to OUR mulder with that title.

will we also see baby CSM?! will the puzzle pieces fit together, or drift further apart?!

i think mr. mulder is kinda cute. like a clean matty healy.

(WORDS I LIVED TO REGRET TYPING!!!!!)

now, what mischief has he gotten up to today? killing people? i’m not really shocked. 

so, it looks like we will not actually get any scully and mulder time, but i’m open to change after the CSM episode. it was really interesting. let’s see what is in store.

‼️HATER ALERT‼️i should not have been open to change. this episode pissed me tf off. what do you mean we are changing mr. mulder’s face and making roy cohn put spiders in your belly? HELLO? can you even hear me? did i really just watch this? 

we begin in 1990 in wisconsin. strange place to be. a sheriff is here, coming to get someone who is locked in a house.

“i don’t much enjoy evicting old folks”, says the sheriff. wow. almost a conscience there.

but the guy he is with promises this old person shall change his mind. and from the spooky music that is playing, i am inclined to also think something is about to go down.

edward skur is being evicted, and he is not opening up his door. but something in the house smells very bad. uh oh. this is never a good way to start an episode.

this house is very messy and dark, and mr. skur seems to be watching from a distance. it’s covered in bugs. icky.

the other guy sees something horrible and throws up!! let me guess: a body? 

UGH! i wasn’t technically WRONG, but it’s a MUMMY in the bathtub!!! it looks really old!!!! like, ancient kind of old!! 

which raises the question: do mummies smell bad? i kind of assumed after a few centuries it just went sort of… neutral

i need to research this later.

anyway, skur tried to grab the sheriff, but he fired his gun. he hit mr. skur, and as he dies on the ground, foaming at the mouth (??), he calls for MULDER????

huh??

idk if either of the mulders can help you with your smuggled mummy... i just really do not know 💔 i fear we may need to call the authorities to get that mummy back to its sarcophagus or perhaps bog home

(i assume it will be some kind of alien, but you have to admit it looks like the result of a tomb robbery)

intro time!!! yeah yeah yeah make some noise!!

and they shortened the intro again...! must be for a good reason?

(NO. NO GOOD REASON)

so it’s still 1990 here. and mulder is going somewhere…. to an apartment. looking for arthur dales.

he introduces himself as a profiler with the behavioral sciences unit (aww! baby mulder! he looks pretty much the same as current mulder, but with longer hair)

oooo, this dales man used to work for the bureau… he opened up a case on edward skur in 1952!!!

arthur claims he doesn’t know what went down

mulder brushes some hair out of his face (aww, the slightly different hair style, they really want us to notice it)

“do you know what an x file is?!” “it’s uh… yeah, it’s an unsolved case” <- ohohoho, do i, the viewer, ever know what an x file is!

arthur clarifies: “no, it’s a case that’s been designated unsolved” <- hmm okay. so they basically didn’t want to bother solving it because it might be incriminating. pretty important distinction if he's telling the truth.

apparently, skur disappeared many years ago after killing a bunch of strangers and removing their organs. most of the report on the matter is censored. but now he was found and shot last week, and a man in his bathroom found with all his soft tissue removed. yuck.

so NOT a stolen mummy nor an alien. for the sake of historic preservation, i am glad skur was not a guy who kept mummies in his bathtub. we need those for research purposes.

ohhh!!! arthur tries to shut him out, but mulder asks how tf skur knew his name!!! an excellent question. 

“you ever heard of HUAC, agent mulder, the house un-american activities committee?” <- not sure if i knew before this that HUAC was pronounced “hew-ack”, which is a really terrible way of pronouncing a word, but i guess it makes sense for the time.

arthur says mulder wouldn’t know about HUAC… girl, that man is a walking encyclopedia. don’t doubt him.

“they found practically nothing. you think they would have found nothing… unless nothing… was what they wanted to find?” <- very cryptic. i like the idea that the red scare was a coverup for alien stuff. makes more sense than what actually went down. but on the other hand, it kind of undermines the senseless destruction that came with mccarthyism by giving it an in-universe purpose.

so i changed my mind. maybe i don't like it.

mulder again plays with his hair (lmao) and says that he’s sorry, but doesn’t see the connection. aww, he’s a little baby! he cannot even see a connection! and then arthur slams the door on him. rude af.

mulder is watching news footage from the mccarthy era to research this case. roy cohn is mentioned, and every time i remember that roy cohn was a real person, i have to take a deep breath. 

apparently the term “fellow travelers” referred to those sympathetic to the communist cause back then? i genuinely had no idea. damn, my modern history knowledge is lacking! listen, they don't teach you much past WWII in US history 101 and 102

god. roy cohn mentioned, again. he is said to be the man who “brought the rosenbergs to justice”. this makes my skin crawl.

(little did i know what this episode had in store for me...)

mulder has a little card that identifies edward skur as a member of the communist party. now, i understand that was a controversial group to be a part of, but i fail to see how this leads to stealing organs. we’re missing some context.

look at mulder with messy hair and glasses!!! he rewinds the tape and recognizes someone in the background of the hearing!!!

good lord…. he’s attractive.

(perhaps the highlight of this episode was mulder in glasses. it gets me every time)

anyway, it’s his dad he recognizes. which is obviously very shocking.

AWW, he brings mr. dales some coffee the next morning :,) he shall not be deterred!

mr. dales tells him to go ask his father, and mulder says “my father and i don’t really speak” <- damn… are we going to get the story behind that?? i mean, we know a decent part of it. maybe that is enough.

BAHAHA dales slams the door again and i was thinking “buddy, he will subpoena you” and then mulder says just that lmaooo

and this works on him; he opens the door back up and says that edward skur worked for the state department just like mr. mulder. our mulder must have known that, but said nothing! 

OHHH he asks if his father was involved, and dales just lets out a big sigh. (shocked mulder voice) how??

and how did he remove the organs but not the skin??

is mulder smoking right now?? i guess hearing your father was involved with a bunch of murders is stressful enough to make a guy open up a pack.

(i literally could not figure it out. it just looked vaguely smoky. i didn't see a cigarette being brought up into his mouth. does anyone know? because if mulder smokes or smoked at some point, i'm going to need to add that to my internal list of facts about his character and then analyze what that says about him. please tell me, and thank you)

dales says he can tell you how the organs were removed, but not why. what do you know?!?!

in regards to the communist allegations- that is what "they" all said "they" were!! this clears up very little

way back in the olden days, dales is arresting mr. skur!! they plant a communist card on him… or else they really did find it as soon as they arrested him, which i find hard to believe. his wife and kids watch this happen :( poor kids

dales is at the bar getting a drink after busting reds all day. someone calls the bar looking for him!! it’s his partner!!! skur was found dead! 

this is stressful for dales…. he drinks his bourbon.

he has to go tell mrs. skur that her husband died, and it was his fault for arresting him. drinking and driving is not advisable, but this is not stopping dales. he’s waiting outside the skur’s house trying to find the words when he sees edward skur run by!! this ought to be impossible!! due to the dying!!

chase scene!!! WHAT THE FUCK DOES SKUR HAVE LIZARDS IN HIS MOUTH??? he pins dales down and SOMETHING emerges???

the neighbor hears them scuffling and skur runs away!!!

HUH??? MOUTH LIZARDS?

okay.

dales clocked in the next day after almost getting eaten. his partner has something to tell him. now he has pictures of the dead skur taken BEFORE dales was attacked last night!

dales clarifies he didn’t have *that* much to drink. and his partner says to leave him out of the report, but he already turned it in!

the justice department is calling him!! they need to chat! oooo dales is in trouble...

(these scenes are very bright and foggy to indicate they take place in the past and it’s a little distracting lmao)

HE’S GOING TO SEE ROY COHN?? HE’S A CHARACTER IN THIS SHOW???

woah… he sits next to dales. scarily. and asks if he knows who he is. “then you know how important my work is” yeah. they must expel the communist vermin. sure, sure. 

“everything is political, agent dales” <- very ominous. 

dales seems to be the only one that can identify the man who attacked him as skur, because his wife and the neighbors sure deny it.

does roy cohn know about the aliens???

he’s just staring at dales. he knows he has to edit skur out of his report, but he’s not sure why. “you’re not supposed to understand; you’re supposed to follow orders” <- damn. very very creepy guy.

(tbh, i don’t really know what real young-ish roy cohn looked like, so i cannot comment on if this guy is the spitting image of him or not. but he is very unsettling)

so, dales changes his report, saying the suspect is unknown. and all the information on skur is blacked out, just as we saw in present mulder’s hand!

but skur was already out doing murders, so dales cannot leave this mystery behind. they go in the murder house where they find a german song playing, and a picture of the house's owner- a doctor- shaking the president’s hand. hmm. who is this german doctor guy?

it smells like hospital in there, his partner reports. not a great smell.

and they find the german guy’s body… it’s really grotesque!!!

the cops arrive at the scene, telling the agents to put up their hands. they have no idea who tf these agents are. then who called them there?!?!

ohhh, dales finds a coaster from the bar that says “come alone”….. secret code....

he’s in this little secluded booth thing at the bar (what? i thought it was a confessional at first? did bars back then have a random little private booth section? what was the purpose of this?)

anyway, this new guy says he was trying to SAVE the dead german doctor, but he was too late, and skur killed him. and dales will be next. 

meanwhile, his partner is at home bringing in the groceries, and i can imagine what will happen next….

OHHH HE HAS A CUTE ORANGE KITTY. highlight of the episode.

back in the booth at the bar, mystery guy says that skur and “the others” are patriots who work at the state department. skur, gissing, and oberman. and now the other two are dead by their own hand!! they couldn’t live with what they’d become!!

they (cohn and the government?) had to put out a story to cover up what they did to skur…. what did they do?!

WAIT, THIS GUY IS MR. MULDER? he looks different than the other mulder actor!! did he get a new actor?? did they just change?? am i crazy? is that the same guy? is he lying?

(i was second-guessing myself so much that i went back to rewatch the part of apocrypha that had him in it and i KNEW. i KNEW that was a totally different guy. one that looked like a clean matty healy and who i had grown attached to. this dude is just someone else entirely! is it some sort of plot trick? a recasting? what is afoot?!?!?)

((if this WAS done for plot reasons, you can tell me. because it would make me feel far less annoyed. even if the reason is a later surprise like "gasp! turns out bill and william mulder were DIFFERENT PEOPLE". you don't have to specify anything. you can just say they did it for a reason. but i have a feeling this is not the case)

“mulder” (i am suspicious) claims that he cannot keep this secret any longer, and he risked his family to come here and tell dales. 

meanwhile, his partner sits down to watch mccarthy do his thing on the TV, but the cat knocks his beer down

mr. bill mulder says that mr. cohn and mccarthy are involved in this…. skur wants revenge for what they did to him. and skur thinks that dales and his partner are involved!!

dales gets up and asks for the phone, and he’s calling his partner, whose number was “klondike 5 0133”, making me realize i know nothing about how old phone numbers work. but his phone has been unplugged!!!

 and skur is going lizard or bug mode or something on the partner!!

WHAT THE HELL?? I REALLY REALLY REALLY DISLIKE HOW THOSE LEGS CAME OUT OF HIS MOUTH AUGHHHH

the next day, the coroner is trying to examine the body. and who rolls in but roy cohn! he says that they can’t take the body to the morgue. 

OH SHIT: “what are you talking about, i’m no communist” “you are if i say you are” daaaaamn. that is crazy. backed right into a corner there. 

roy cohn, how did you turn that guy into a spider on the inside…

“when your partner dies, a piece of you dies with him” <- okay so mulder and scully, take notes. you can’t die on each other, okay? thank you.

dales needs to avenge his partner’s death!! so dales must find out what happened to the other two men who mr. bill mulder said are now dead, but also had that “thing” done to them.

OH this secretary put the info on one of those guys in an x file!! “why don’t you file them under ‘u’ for unsolved?” “that’s what i did until i ran out of room” <- LMAO queen… THE x file creator!!! everyone say thank you to her

(i feel this is a definite retcon of the x file lore, but whatever. what do i care? they already changed this dude's whole face)

gissing was found dead with his doctor, but the don’t know how the doctor just… collapsed.

gissing had some recent surgery… his body is still in the morgue. dales says CUT HIM OPEN NOW even though the coroner says the family will yell at him he does, in fact, do the cutting open

waugh… something in the esophagus… EAUGH I CANNOT LOOK. IT’S A SPIDER??? SPIDER SEWN INTO HIS STOMACH?? 

i do not like that.

dales runs back to mrs. skur to try and explain her husband was discredited to cover up roy cohn putting spiders in his belly, i guess.

“it’s called xenotransplantation” <- that doesn’t sound gooooood. at all. THE GRAFTING OF ANOTHER SPECIES INTO THE HUMAN BODY??? augh. and i was going to have dessert after this. 

so it’s a nazi thing, and the german doctor must have been continuing his experiments in the US! yes, operation paper clip, we have spoken of this before on this TV program

dales wants to expose the truth, and he needs skur’s help to do so. he leaves mrs. skur the coaster with a mysterious message….

when who pulls up but mr. cohn!! telling dales to get in the car. and mr. bill mulder is there, too.

mrs. skur is sneaking out the back door, lifting up the hatch to a fallout shelter, going to find her husband. he’s in incredible pain, and he starts to go spider mode and eat his wife!!!!

roy cohn takes dales to the FBI. damn. and the lore dumping begins from mr. hoover. there are more soviets than capitalists now, btw, and this is very bad. 

dales points out that those random men who were experimented upon were not communists, which makes hoover counter that they must do even what their enemies would be afraid of. like put spiders in your belly.

dales has one chance to save himself. he is to go meet with skur and then the other men will come get him. so that is why mr. bill mulder was sent to talk to dales! not out of the kindness of his heart. “i follow my orders”, he says, and that famously is *not* a good reason to do terrible things. 

dales is alone in the bar, waiting for skur, pouring a drink. and skur arrives, saying his wife is dead. 

“they’re not coming, you know. they wanted me to kill you, or you wouldn’t be here” oh shoot… is he telling the truth…? is dales being set up?

now skur is going after dales, with mr. bill mulder having to be restrained from going in the bar to save him!!!

dales manages to handcuff skur before the spider can emerge, but he runs away and hides!!

cut to a baffled present day mulder. “i can’t believe my father threw in with these men (very deep sigh) he let them dictate his conscience” <- well, that seems to be a reoccurring theme with bill mulder

“you keep digging through the x files and they’ll bury you too” <- that is promising! /s

but how was skur able to get away and live in obscurity? was he kept in a lab? maybe someone let him go?

MR. MULDER GAVE HIM THE CAR KEYS AND LET HIM GO!!!

in the hope that the truth will someday be exposed??

the end.

huh. what am i even supposed to think here? 

well, all i can think about is how different bill mulder looked.

i can’t even fully articulate WHY this episode made me so mad beyond its sheer absurdity and the fact that i am obsessive about details and a recasting always gets under my skin. except that i am also darkly fascinated by the comic book villain level hijinks that the real roy cohn got up to, and using him as a prop in the alien show could have been kinda interesting, but i feel that making him the spider guy was NOT the move. who did this benefit? anybody? was there not another case for mulder and scully to tackle? who on the writing team said “you know what this needs? mouth spider”

and putting aside the whole new body mr. bill mulder somehow obtained- perhaps there is a good reason for that, and i am being judgemental without knowing the full story, but still, you cannot fool me- he let the spider guy go?? knowing that he would be slurping insides for the rest of his life? and is this supposed to be heartwarming? because my heart isn't warmed.

i mean, if skur managed to go most of his life without slurping, until the very end, that is... good, i guess? but then he slurped once more and an innocent guy died. so. uh.

earlier i spoke about the different categories of x files episodes, specifically the bad ones. i have copied those notes from before below:

"category a is: this is blatantly offensive. who approved this? (gender bender, excelsis dei)

category b is: this writing is so out of character i feel disgraced (3, the parts in oubliette where scully is just mean af to mulder and tells him to stop trying cpr??? and rift-era episodes)

category c is: just kinda boring af, monster isn't even camp it's just weird, also tends to be overly dark in theme to the point where no one is having fun (calusari, the walk)"

i'd place this in category c. if you were going to use some of the most notorious figures in 20th century history as plot points, DO something with them beyond "he puts spiders in their tummies to fight communism". i am not compelled by this. i do not think anyone would be. and if i am supposed to think "oh, poor mr. bill mulder, he was so morally conflicted" i guess i just don't... really care that much. at least not in this particular instance. choosing between his kids was intense and fascinating, plot-wise. choosing to free the lizard guy helped no one but lizard guy, who went on to do more murdering.

and there wasn't even scully!

[ocean-sunfish-hater]

An Ode to Tongues

Image description: A face-on photo of a model of Tiktaalik, an early tetrapod (Credit: Emma Lee via WHYY)

Ask most people what the most important step in terrestrial vertebrate evolution was, they'll probably say legs (boring, unoriginal, uninspired).

Ask me what the most important step in terrestrial vertebrate evolution was, and I'll say tongues (fun, freaky, blessed with divine knowledge).

"But Ocean Sunfish Hater," I hear you ask, "How the fuck did you get in my house, and why are you talking to me about tongues?"

My dear reader, the answer to one of those questions will be revealed to you in due time.

Tongues aren't just for tasting your food and licking your friends' weenuses. They serve a really important function in the swallowing mechanism of pretty much every terrestrial vertebrate. They're a really handy way to push chunks of food (sometimes called a bolus) down your throat. Try swallowing some food without moving your tongue, at all - it becomes really difficult, almost prohibitively so.

Now at this point you're probably thinking that fish have tongues as well, so how is this relevant to the transition onto land? While it's true that the tongue of a fish does help it to swallow food, its importance in this role is much less than in us. Every time a fish swallows there's at least a little bit of water in there exerting some pressure to help push that food down the oesophagus. It's like me when I try and house an entire wedge of brie in one bite and drink a litre of water to get it down my gullet.

Image Description: A face-on photo of a mudskipper on land with its mouth hanging open. (Credit: Richard Carey via Adobe Stock)

This hydrodynamic force is so important to fish that even the semi-terrestrial mudskipper often brings water onto land with its mouth to assist in swallowing. Maybe this was how my great great great great great great great great grandparents (like Tiktaalik) first started adapting to life on land. There's even speculation that an increase in the size of the tongue and its co-option of more of the musculoskeletal system away from gill support may have been a factor that drove animals onto land.

All of this is of course difficult to prove as definitively as "legs helped us to walk on land" because soft tissue is rarely preserved in the fossil record and therefore we can only really infer things about ancient tongues based off of fossilised skeletons. I'm not even saying that without tongues vertebrates would not have made the transition onto land. But I do think that the contribution of big, beefy tongues in our evolutionary history has been overlooked and underappreciated.

[captainswaglord500]

Totlohô

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Subclass: Nautiloidea

Superorder: Alysidaceratoidea

Order: Paratetrapoda

Superfamily: Cotylopodoidea

Family: Cotylopodidae

Subfamily: Anomaloteuthiinae

Genus: Anomaloteuthis

Species: A. magnificus (”magnificent unusual squid”)

Ancestral species: possibly Plectronoceras cambria

Temporal range: Early Jurassic (Toarcian) to Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) (180 - 130 mya)

Information:

While humans have long seen themselves as the first and only sapient species to inhabit their planet, in all truth, there existed another in Xenogaea several hundreds of millions of years ago, one whose legacy can still be felt throughout the region untold eons later in their bizarre ruins and artifacts: the Totlohô-tu-Tẋusko/Tẋusko-tu-Totlohô (IPA: /to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ tu t͡ʃusko̞/ OR /t͡ʃusko̞ tu to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ/, meaning "ancestor of (the) architect"), better known as simply the Totlohô (/to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ/, simply meaning "architect").

As soft tissues of this species have only rarely been preserved, and hard tissues consist only of armor plating and beaks, their size and general appearance alone must be inferred purely based on known proportions from living relatives, other members of the aberrant nautiloid clade Alysidaceratoidea, known more colloquially as the shrikehounds. The most reliable size estimate places them at around 12 feet long, 6-7 feet tall, and weighing close to 600 lbs. The appearance of these creatures, based on ancient stone murals, would seem to suggest that they were centaur-like in build, sporting six main limbs along with a menagerie of smaller tentacles around the face, which housed a long, narrow beak with a noticeable underbite. The exact coloration of this species isn’t known, though as murals exist which depict them, it can be inferred that they might have had a similar coloration pattern to living nautili, with a creamy-colored body and eyes with an earthy red shell and head piece.

Living shrikehound species are not particularly vocal, with only the paratetrapods having an analogue to proper vocal cords. This species was presumably vocal in some capacity, though the exact vocalizations cannot be deduced. It has been suggested that like their living relatives, they might have been able to produce clicks, grunts, warbles, rumbles, belches, screeches, and shrieks. It has been suggested, however, that they may have convergently evolved chromatophores like some of their living relatives and may have had a primarily visual language instead, one which has not, as of yet, been decoded.

Much of these organism's general biology is not known conclusively. Most evidence points to a carnivorous diet, consisting mainly of small dinosaurs/paravians, but also other terrestrial nautiloids, small mammals, and a bizarre group of terrestrial acanthodians known as coelospondyls. Though the exact place where they first evolved has yet to be conclusively found, fossilized beaks first appear in the Matansitra Formation in the southwest of the Isle of Perils, though later formations across the entire archipelago show that almost every habitable landmass sported a population of these creatures at one point. Dubious material from areas outside the archipelago, including what is now China and Australia, suggests they may have eventually left the archipelago at some point as well. At their peak during the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic epoch roughly 150 millions years ago, their population size was likely upwards of 40 million. Very little (if anything) can be inferred about their reproductive biology, though murals would seem to suggest that courtship and copulation was a very long, drawn-out process, treated almost as an art form unto itself. From their closest relatives, it can be inferred that the males, using a modified tentacle, deposited sperm into a small groove on the female’s underside, where it could be absorbed and used to fertilize the eggs. Their clutch size is believed to have been anomalously small compared to other species in their clade, possibly no more than 10 eggs at a time. The young appear to have matured at a similar rate to human young, if not slightly faster. Sexual dimorphism does not appear to be a prominent trait within their species.

Not much can be inferred about the behavior of this species from what remnants have been found, though it can be inferred that they were likely highly social creatures with complex social structures. They appear to have engaged in agrarianism and the farming of other animals in their later stages of societal development, as evidenced by a high correlation in dump beak remains found near dump sites for animal bones and shell, and even built cities. Murals would seem to suggest Totlohô society was ruled by a class of elders, the oldest respective members of their society, while the youngest members formed the work force. Song and dance appear to have been ways to bond with one another, and spirituality played a large part in their society’s function. Warfare appears to have been an isolated phenomenon in their society and frequently on a much smaller scale than as seen in humanity, though there exists some evidence of widespread warfare in the later years of existence. Even in their later stages, when they evidently had significantly advanced technology (or, as the more conspiracy-minded would suggest, magic of some kind), the Totlohô still preferred to build their homes out of stone.

During the later stages of their existence, the Totlohô appear to have dabbled in what appears to be highly-advanced technology or potentially even magic of some kind, as evidenced by massive, seemingly Totlhômade, carved, levitating stones covered in glyphs. In a place known as the Square Chasm (picture below, artwork by Dipfruit), a reportedly supernatural space some weary jungle travelers have stumbled upon near a triple-forked river, one of these stones appears to have formed a perfectly square-shaped pocket dimension around itself, where gravity itself appears to bend to the stone’s whim.

Fossilized beaks and hard shells are really the only physical parts of these creatures to have been preserved, and they are the only indication of their existence outside of aforementioned ruins and murals. Their written languages have yet to be decoded, and there are believed to have been several thousand at a given time. What exactly led to their extinction has yet to be conclusively revealed, though murals seem to suggest that, from their perspective, supernatural forces may have been at play, with recurrent imagery of what appears to be demonic figures showing up across several murals. Another recurrent image in these murals is a white bird-like creature with horns, which some have suggested may be related to the mythical white bird seen in Xenogaean mythology, which was said to herald the apocalypse. While some have suggested that these murals may have been painted by one of the last Totlohô, who had simply gone insane from isolation and began painting their hallucinations, others suggest that there might be a grain of truth in these murals, perhaps a war of apocalyptic scale which engulfed the entire species, the demagogues fueling it being portrayed as demonic figures. What this doesn’t explain, however, are the high number of artifacts which appear to be made from an unknown metallic substance, one which is highly durable and in near-pristine condition hundreds of millions of years later. This substance, referred to colloquially as “anomalous tungsten”, is paradoxically lightweight yet durable with a high melting point, seemingly higher than almost any other known metal or metalloid. As this metal has not been found anywhere on Earth or even in any known compounds on Earth or another planet, this begs the question of how and where the Totlohô obtained this substance, leading to a wide menagerie of conspiracy theories, with everything from extraterrestrials to divine beings being suggested as the source from which they obtained this material. Whatever the case, those who have studied the artifacts have claimed to have had vivid dreams where they spoke to the Totlohô shortly after contact. Perhaps this is just a form of confabulation or merely even group hysteria, but nonetheless, it would appear that even long after the Totlohô have left this world, their legacy still manages to touch the human spirit. Finally, they appear to have domesticated a species of coelospondyl, Platycephale aridus, the so-called “flat-faced coelospondyl” (1st picture below, artwork by me), and another species of shrikehound, which is currently unnamed (2nd picture below, artwork by me). These appear to have been utilized as livestock animals.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round Two: Daurlong vs Ambopteryx

Daurlong wangi

Artwork by @i-draws-dinosaurs, written by @i-draws-dinosaurs

Meaning: Wang’s Daur dragon (named for the Daur people of Northeast China)

Time: 121 million years ago (Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous)

Location: Longjiang Formation, Inner Mongolia, China

Daurlong was described in 2022, from a stunningly beautiful fossil that includes the entire body, crushed flat by pressure, and a whole lot of soft tissues like feathers along the back of the neck and even the shape of the intestines! Any part of the digestive system is extremely rare to find in fossils, so Daurlong provides an important glimpse into how the digestive systems of birdlike dinosaurs compare to living dinosaurs today!

Turns out, despite being closely related to the ancestors of modern birds Daurlong’s guts were pretty similar to other, much more distant theropods like Scipionyx instead. That helps fill in a pretty big gap in our knowledge of how the bird digestive system evolved, making this a very scientifically valuable fossil!

That, and it’s just adorable. Look at that lil smiley face!

Ambopteryx longibrachium

Artwork by Gabriel Ugueto, written by @i-draws-dinosaurs

Name meaning: Both wings with long arms

Time: 163 million years ago (Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic)

Location: Haifanggou Formation, China

Look, evolution has done a lot of weird stuff to dinosaurs. It put penguins underwater, and did whatever the hall mamenchisaurid necks are, and game lambeosaurs a built-in face trumpet. But I would argue there is one group that represents dinosaur evolution at its most unhinged, and that is scansoropterygidae.

Scansoriopterygids were generally considered “weird little tree dinosaurs” in the 2000s, with long fingers to pick grubs out of bark or something. Then Yi qi swept along in 2015 and revealed that those long fingers were actually supporting membranous bat wings. With an extra bony rod (the “styliform element”) sticking out of the wrist to help support it, because well if you’re a dinosaur evolving bat wings why bother being normal about it after that? Although really, the dinosaurs did it first so bats actually have dinosaur wings.

Yi was sensational, but it was also extremely weird and completely unique. Even other scansoriopterygids didn’t have wing membranes, so the whole bat thing was a bit up in the air. Or not up in the air, as the case may be. But then along comes Ambopteryx, published in 2019, packing another set of skin wings, and the vindication of Yi is complete! 

Ambopteryx preserves a styliform element and wing membrane, as well as a thick coat of feathers, and honestly out of a whole selection of dinosaurs I think these might be some of the most huggable in the lot. Obviously this whole wing membrane thing didn’t end up working out for them long term, but Ambopteryx is part of an incredible lineage that challenged what we thought was possible for dinosaurs!

[ildarotyrannus]

Hi all, it's my first post here! I'll show my drawings with some info on portrayed animals. For first post I have my recent Tyrannosaurus rex portrait. Many of those who read (or will read this blog) are probably already familiar with the Cullen et al. (2023) paper concerning the question of whether theropod dinosaurs (and specifically Tyrannosaurus) had "lips". Having presented several lines of evidence (tooth sizes, tooth enamel thickness on different sides of the tooth, jaw closure tightness, etc.), paleontologists claim that "lips" are the most plausible option for theropod facial tissue reconstruction. Those who have read me on other sites (such as DeviantArt) know that many reconstructions of non-avian theropods that I have made have exposed teeth. I have never been completely against "lipped" reconstructions and I really liked many, at least from an aesthetic point of view. Now I will also draw these more often. Of course, without a fossil specimen with preserved soft tissues, it is difficult to speak confidently in favor of one or another version (because the oral anatomy of theropods has some differences from both lizards and crocodiles). This Tyrannosaurus has a well-developed upper "lip" and a lower one that occupies most of the length of the jaw… except for the tip. The reason for this is the large number of labial openings observed in tyrannosaurs in the tip of dentary bone. It looks more like animals with beaks or tight-fitting facial coverings than lizards. I am not an expert in this matter, so I may be wrong. But I decided to play with this interpretation in the drawing. In addition to this feature, the keratinized maxilla integument above the upper lip catches the eye in the drawing. This is inspired by the unusual osteological correlations of this bone in tyrannosaurs (a surface dotted with small holes, ridges and grooves from blood vessels). Otherwise, this is quite an ordinary reconstruction. Initially, I decided to make feathers on the upper side of the neck, but later abandoned them because I didn't want to spoil the well-drawn scales. What else can I say… I drew a platanus tree in the background. It was harder to draw foliage than to draw scales. Perhaps it's a matter of habit. I decided to blur the background. The result is generally good for the first fully digital work in a long time, but I feel that there is a little lack of contrast. Well, I'll learn my lesson. Done in Paint Tool Sai 2.0.

[saritawolff]

#Archovember Day 28 - Tapejara wellnhoferi

The Tapejarids were Cretaceous pterodactyloids famous for their impressive crests. I’ve drawn a handful of various tapejarids over the years, I figured it was finally time for the type species of the family: Tapejara wellnhoferi.

Smaller than their close relatives, Tupandactylus, Tapejara was still a mid-sized pterosaur. It had a bony semi-circular crest over the snout and a bony prong that extended back behind the head, which could have supported a number of different soft tissue crest shapes. Unlike the Tupandactylus species, Tapejara fossils did not preserve signs of a keratinous crest. Study on Tapejara’s scleral rings have shown that these pterosaurs may have been cathameral (active at irregular periods during both day and night, whenever resources are available). There were a variety of pterosaurs in Early Cretaceous Brazil, filling both land predator and fish-eating niches. Tapejara could have filled a different niche as an omnivore or full herbivore.

Like most of Cretaceous Brazil, the Romualdo Formation was a hotspot for pterosaurs. Tapejara wellnhoferi would have lived alongside many species of Anhanguera as well as other anhanguerids like Maaradactylus, Cearadactylus, and Tropeognathus. There were also ornithocheirids like Araripesaurus and Brasileodactylus, and targaryendraconids like Barbosania. It wasn’t the only pterosaur with an impressive crest either, as it would have also shared the environment with other tapejarids like Thalassodromeus, Kariridraco, and Tupuxuara. While pterosaurs dominated the landscape, there were also dinosaurs here, such as the spinosaurid Irritator, the compsognathid Mirischia, and other indeterminate theropods like Aratasaurus and Santanaraptor. There were even some pseudosuchians here, including an Araripesuchus species, Araripesuchus gomesii.

[to-the-sun-with-love]

Don Giovanni.

(Per queste tue manine)

Cracked skin. So dry, it bled pathetically like looking for respite.

You wanted me to see you in Collingwood.

You stake a claim on this city, as though I didn’t live 20 kilometres outside of it. Looking in, trying to see what I’ve been missing.

You were named after a carrion bird, or so you tell me. But the things you eat always still seem to have a heart beat.

Torn raw at the very seams, hands that have chafed from being scrubbed with concrete.

The day the ground shook beneath me for the very first time, your words raised around you like open palms and slow poisoning gas leaks.

Sorry I couldn’t be sad without all of the weight pushing through behind me.

Life made sure I couldn’t just hold all of this together, for some sort of devastation pageantry, to force others to perceive me.

I loved before you and that was the cause for weeks of being displeased.

I felt you, I promise, in every breath squeezed out of me. Pushed through a thinning throat, up and out, like the very world was punishing me for whatever shape your absence took that day.

Thoughts in a slow moving carousel of envy, will the rain that touched your skin salt the earth for not have seeped in? Will the wind that blew through your clothes, find itself in a prison of stasis?

Kafka once wrote, ‘you are the knife I twist inside of myself’ and I find it to be lacking. You are a deliberate injection of poison, melting muscle, rending tissue, scraping through nerves to harvest attention. You are the gasps of the dying, screeching through the dreams of the wanting. A soulless strand of pure entropy. The muse of the writers that came up with eschatology. You are the malevolence of my silent god personified in a single body, so capable in spinning harm. There should be no part of me left unimpressed with just how much I am still willing to drown.

Soft, so disgustingly soft, a dithering fool with a penchant for ignoring self-preservation. A walking, talking advertisement for hindsight dripping in revulsion. An awareness of debasing myself and still following through with it. I should rip my femur out and beat myself to death with it.

You made of a mirror of me and stepped on it to shatter the reflection. Crackles of starlight in the edges of broken faces. Pain, literal, in my chest, like death was rushing in for a mercy kill.

No time will soothe this. No hope will un-break this. No forgiveness will soften this.

Closure is an ending and a one way flight ticket.

If I return, it will be my city then.

I hope your cause of death says asphyxiation caused by ego. May every person you have ever met, pop champagne when it happens.

Rot of the human race, crude waste, may every person you see, kill a part of you for justice and avarice. It is the utilitarian way.

(Questo è il fin di chi fa mal)

[nuadox]

New fossil brings us a step closer to unravelling the mystery of feather evolution

- By Zixiao Yang , Maria McNamara , University College Cork , The Conversation -

Strong but light, beautiful and precisely structured, feathers are the most complex skin appendage that ever evolved in vertebrates. Despite the fact humans have been playing with feathers since prehistory, there’s still a lot we don’t understand about them.

Our new study found that some of the first animals with feathers also had scaly skin like reptiles.

Following the debut of the first feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx prima, in 1996, a surge of discoveries has painted an ever more interesting picture of feather evolution.

We now know that many dinosaurs and their flying cousins, the pterosaurs, had feathers. Feathers came in more shapes in the past – for example, ribbon-like feathers with expanded tips were found in dinosaurs and extinct birds but not in modern birds. Only some ancient feather types are inherited by birds today.

Paleobiologists have also learnt that early feathers were not made for flying. Fossils of early feathers had simple structures and sparse distributions on the body, so they may have been for display or tactile sensing. Pterosaur fossils suggest they may have played a role in thermoregulation and in colour patterning.

Fascinating as these fossils are, ancient plumage tells only part of the story of feather evolution. The rest of the action happened in the skin.

The skin of birds today is soft and evolved for the support, control, growth and pigmentation of feathers, unlike the scaly skin of reptiles.

Fossils of dinosaur skin are more common than you think. To date, however, only a handful of dinosaur skin fossils have been examined on a microscopic level. These studies, for example a 2018 study of four fossils with preserved skin, showed that the skin of early birds and their close dinosaur relatives (the coelurosaurs) was already very much like the skin of birds today. Bird-like skin evolved before bird-like dinosaurs came around.

So to understand how bird-like skin evolved, we need to study the dinosaurs that branched off earlier in the evolutionary tree.

Our study shows that at least some feathered dinosaurs still had scaly skin, like reptiles today. This evidence comes from a new specimen of Psittacosaurus, a horned dinosaur with bristle-like feathers on its tail. Psittacosaurus lived in the early Cretaceous period (about 130 million years ago), but its clan, the ornithischian dinosaurs, diverged from other dinosaurs much earlier, in the Triassic period (about 240 million years ago).

In the new specimen, the soft tissues are hidden to the naked eye. Under ultraviolet light, however, scaly skin reveals itself in an orange-yellow glow. The skin is preserved on the torso and limbs which are parts of the body that didn’t have feathers.

These luminous colours are from silica minerals that are responsible for preserving the fossil skin. During fossilisation, silica-rich fluids permeated the skin before it decayed, replicating the skin structure with incredible detail. Fine anatomical features are preserved, including the epidermis, skin cells and skin pigments called melanosomes.

The fossil skin cells have much in common with modern reptile skin cells. They share a similar cell size and shape and they both have fused cell boundaries – a feature known only in modern reptiles.

The distribution of the fossil skin pigment is identical to that in modern crocodile scales. The fossil skin, though, seems relatively thin by reptile standards. This suggests the fossil scales in Psittacosaurus were also similar in composition to reptile scales.

Reptile scales are hard and rigid because they are rich in a type of skin-building protein, the tough corneous beta proteins. In contrast, the soft skin of birds is made of a different protein type, the keratins, which are the key structural material in hair, nails, claws, hooves and our outer later of skin.

To provide physical protection, the thin, naked skin of Psittacosaurus must have been composed of tough reptile-style corneous beta proteins. Softer bird-style skin would have been too fragile without feathers for protection.

Collectively, the new fossil evidence indicates that Psittacosaurus had reptile-style skin in areas where it didn’t have feathers. The tail, which preserves feathers in some specimens, unfortunately did not preserve any feathers or skin in our specimen.

However, the tail feathers on other specimens show that some bird-like skin features must have already evolved to hold feathers in place. So our discovery suggests that early feathered animals had a mix of skin types, with bird-like skin only in feathered regions of the body, and the rest of the skin still scaly, like in modern reptiles.

This zoned development would have ensured that the skin protected the animal against abrasion, dehydration and pathogens.

What next?

The next knowledge gap for scientists to explore is the evolutionary transition from the reptile-style skin of Psittacosaurus to the skin of other more heavily feathered dinosaurs and early birds.

We also need more experiments studying the process of fossilisation itself. There is a lot we don’t understand about how soft tissues fossilise, which means it is difficult to tell which skin features in a fossil are real biological features and which are simply artefacts of fossilisation.

Over the last 30 years, the fossil record has surprised scientists in regard to feather evolution. Future discoveries of fossil feathers may help us understand how dinosaurs and their relatives evolved flight, warm-blooded metabolisms, and how they communicated with each other.

Zixiao Yang, Postdoctoral researcher, University College Cork and Maria McNamara, Professor, Palaeobiology, University College Cork

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

--

Header image: The studied Psittacosaurus under natural (upper half) and UV light (lower half). Credit: Zixiao Yang (author provided).

Read Also

Evolution: Primitive fish fossils reveal origins of teeth

[twicecursedmonk]

Dissection at Dawn: A Pendulum Story

Gerard looked at the gift left on his processing slab overnight with disgust. When he was assigned the role of head mortician, he believed that he would eventually get used to the desiccated husks of the bio-computers. Each operation proved his past self wrong.

Gerard inspected the remains in front of him. The death tag on the toe read “46664 -3.75”.

“Fuck,” Gerard muttered imperceptibly.

There was no-one in the room aside from him and the bio-computer laid supine in front of him. His junior had completed initial processing by collecting the first order recoverable material from the specimen, but after just 4 hours on the slab the outer layers of soft tissue had already begun to turn to ash. The effects of the Scouring were well known to Gerard, but the time before their onset was growing shorter and shorter. The brain would have to be removed immediately to ensure it remained in usable condition.

Gerard readied himself for his task. As senior mortician, his primary responsibility during a dissection was ensuring the integrity of the brain. He began with a steel brush, and scrubbed the cranium clean of any flakes of ash and other signs of biological decay. He worked in a spiral pattern from the top of the cranium outwards toward the edge of the calvaria. He then positioned the cranium in the jig for the oscillating saw, the whining of the blade drowning out any thoughts of disgust while he cut a thin line around the crown of the head.

Gerard wrenched the skull plate from the incision and was promptly met with a billowing poof of ash and dust; the dura mater had also decayed within the skull after the blood was drained by the junior mortician. He inspected the thin layer of powder coating his uniform, he hoped being thorough while brushing off the ash would have kept him clean.

“Some things just can’t be helped,” he thought.

An observation that seemed contrary to the nature of Pendulum, a city whose residents deny the inevitable each day.

After brushing whatever residue he could off his uniform, Gerard inspected the skull’s contents. He was relieved to see that a thick layer of mineral deposits had built up on the outside of the brain. A common side effect of prolonged exposure to the Blood Network, the calcification had the upside of preventing the rapid breakdown of the underlying tissue. If this unit was in better condition, the brain may have been completely lost.

He worked a metal bar towards the bottom of the skull, near the olfactory bulbs. Once in position, he levered upwards until he heard the satisfying snap of a brain with late-stage ossification detaching from the spinal cord. A more precise approach may have been called for under different circumstances, but even with the protective shield of calcium, he did not wish to risk decay setting in. The consequences for failing to recover the material would be the end of his career.

Pulling the brain out of the skull, Gerard gently placed it into a vat of liquid. The calcium deposits, while useful for short term preservation, would prevent the absorption of Ichor into the tissue. He placed 2 probes into the solution, a current would run between them to assist with the decalcification. He took a step backwards and stretched. While time was still of the essence, the electrolysis would take time to complete.

He had about 30 minutes to prepare for the final cleaning, where he would remove any remaining calcium deposits with a scalpel. He found this part of the process therapeutic. The husks were too human for him to be comfortable around them. The brain, however, was simply a component of the divine machine, its maintenance was his expertise.

Gerard considered this, reflecting on the person he had become. After a moment however, he remembered the one truth of Pendulum:

It is the only choice.

He uttered a short prayer to the goddess, and then left to pour himself a cup of coffee.

[twst-the-night-away]

Danica: Happy birthday Savvy! I really hope you like this! *hands Savvy a small glass container wrapped in purple tissue paper, when opened, it reveals a golden crystal perfume bottle with a blue stopper* I think I finally have a grasp on how to properly blend fragrances and created this just for you! Using florals and other scents I felt were best suited to your personality. Even if I’m ever fortunate to open up a fragrance line under my family’s company, this particular perfume will be yours only! 💙

Farron: Happy birthday Savvy! Hoping you have a wonderful day today and all your wishes come true. Here is something from both me and Yuulan! *gives Savvy a gift bag with a fine blue cashmere scarf inside with an elegant motif of Savvy’s initials embroidered at one edge in gold thread* Isn’t this shade of blue lovely? It’s the exact same hue as your headband! I made the scarf myself but Yuulan hand stitched the embroidered motif herself! We hope you like this gift! 

Sidonie: Congratulations on becoming another year older and another year wiser! Here’s a little something from me to you! *hands Savvy a small jewelry gift box wrapped in silver paper, inside is a small pair of red rose earrings* If you’re wondering, yes they are real! With some help of one of my Science Club buddies, I was able to preserve two perfectly sized roses and from them, made these for you! A very happy birthday to you, my dear! 

Maximilian: Savvyyyyyyy!! Happy birthday, darling! Hope you’re enjoying this special day! Please accept this small token so you may shine even brighter today! A little preview of what my family will be offering this spring! *gives Savvy a metallic red gift bag with a long rectangular box inside of the same color. In the box is an elegant white gold bangle encrusted with diamonds*

"Ohhhh!" Savvy's eyes light up when Danica says the magic words. Custom perfumes are always her jam. "I can't wait to see what you came up with!" She opens the bottle and takes a delicate sniff, then closes her eyes happily. "Mmm, it smells like tropical flowers. Like a warm Southern garden! You really made it smell like home. Thank you, Danica, sweetie."

Savvy gasps when she opens the gift from Farron. "OM7, and you both did such a great job on it! It's so soft and elegant, and the stitching is so lovely! Let me just ..." Savvy can't resist rubbing the soft cashmere on her face a little. She giggles. "It's so warm, too! I'm gonna get a lot of use out of this."

When Savvy opens Sidonie's present, she smiles - but when she hears that the roses are real, her jaw drops. "Are you serious?! ... How?? I mean, I'm sure it's a big scientific secret, but ... these are from real roses?! You never fail to impress me, Sidonie! They're so pretty and delicate, I love them!"

Savvy grins wide when Maximilian approaches. "I am loving this day, and all of y'all have been spoiling the heck out of me! My goodness!" She opens the box and squeals a little. "It's so gorgeous! I'm sure this'll be a hit for sure!"

"Perfume, a scarf, earrings, a bracelet - I'm gonna be the most well-accessorized girl on campus!" Savvy's ready to offer hugs to anyone who'll accept. "You're all so sweet, I can't wait to spoil you back when your days come!"

[realty12]

Periodontal Treatment: Key to Healthy Gums and Teeth

Periodontal treatment is crucial for managing gum disease and preserving your oral health. Gum disease, or periodontal disease, affects the tissues surrounding your teeth and can lead to tooth loss if not treated promptly. The treatment process varies depending on the severity of the disease but typically begins with a deep cleaning known as scaling and root planing. This procedure removes plaque and tartar from beneath the gumline, helping to eliminate bacteria and reduce gum inflammation.

For more advanced cases of gum disease, periodontal treatment may involve surgical procedures, such as flap surgery, to clean deeper pockets of infection and promote tissue regeneration. In some cases, bone grafts or soft tissue grafts are performed to restore damaged tissue and prevent further tooth mobility.

In addition to professional treatments, maintaining good oral hygiene practices is essential for the success of periodontal treatment. Brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash regularly help prevent the recurrence of gum disease and support long-term oral health. Periodontal treatment not only protects your teeth but also reduces the risk of other health complications, such as heart disease and stroke, that have been linked to poor oral health.

With early intervention and proper care, periodontal treatment can effectively halt the progression of gum disease and improve your overall quality of life.

[ashokamarketing]

Root Canal Treatment in Hyderabad

A root canal treatment is a dental procedure used to treat infection or damage inside the pulp of a tooth. The pulp is the soft tissue at the center of the tooth, which contains nerves and blood vessels. When the pulp becomes infected or inflamed due to deep decay, cracks, or trauma, it can cause pain and discomfort.

During a root canal, the dentist or endodontist removes the infected pulp, cleans and disinfects the inside of the tooth, and then seals it. In most cases, the tooth will be restored with a crown to protect it and restore its function.

Root canal treatment is generally effective in saving a tooth that would otherwise need to be extracted. The procedure is often performed under local anesthesia, so it’s typically painless during the treatment. Afterward, you may experience some soreness, but it usually subsides in a few days.

Root canal treatment in Hyderabad is a common and effective solution for preserving teeth that are severely damaged or infected. We have a wide range of experienced specialists who use advanced technology and modern techniques to perform the procedure. Whether you're dealing with deep decay, trauma, or an infected pulp, the treatment is designed to eliminate pain, prevent further infection, and restore the function of your tooth.

Who needs Root Canal treatment?

Severe Tooth Decay: When a cavity is left untreated and grows deep enough, it can reach the pulp, causing infection and pain.

Trauma or Injury: If a tooth is knocked or hit hard, even without visible cracks, the pulp can become damaged or inflamed, requiring treatment.

Persistent Tooth Pain: If you experience sharp, intense pain, especially when chewing or applying pressure, it could indicate pulp damage or infection.

Swelling or Tender Gums: If the gums near the affected tooth are swollen, tender, or have pus, this can be a sign of infection that might require a root canal.

Sensitivity: Extreme sensitivity to hot or cold that lingers, or pain when chewing or touching the tooth, could suggest pulp damage.

The Procedure:

Diagnosis and Preparation:

The dentist or endodontist will take X-rays to determine the extent of the infection or damage.

Local anesthesia is administered to numb the area around the tooth to make you comfortable during the procedure.

Removing the Infected Pulp:

The dentist drills a small hole into the top of the tooth to access the pulp chamber.

The infected or damaged pulp is carefully removed using specialized tools.

Cleaning and Disinfection:

After removing the pulp, the space inside the tooth is cleaned and disinfected to ensure no bacteria remain, reducing the risk of further infection.

Filling the Tooth:

Once the inside is clean, the dentist fills the empty space with a rubber-like material called gutta-percha to seal the tooth and prevent bacteria from re-entering.

Restoring the Tooth:

In most cases, the tooth is weakened after the procedure, so a crown or a filling is placed to protect it and restore its function.

The crown helps strengthen the tooth and provides protection against future damage.

Aftercare:

You may experience some tenderness or discomfort for a few days, but this typically goes away with over-the-counter pain relievers.

You’ll need to be mindful when chewing or biting on the treated tooth until it’s fully restored with a crown.

Benefits:

Root canals are very effective at saving teeth that would otherwise need to be extracted.

The procedure relieves pain caused by infection, and the treated tooth can function normally for many years.

Conclusion

A root canal is a dental treatment to remove infected or damaged pulp from inside a tooth. The pulp is cleaned and sealed, and the tooth is often capped with a crown. This procedure helps save the tooth from extraction and is typically done under local anesthesia to prevent pain.

[pearldental12]

Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic: Your Trusted Destination for RCT Treatment in Kota

When it comes to maintaining a healthy smile, finding a reliable dental clinic is essential. Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic in Kota stands out as one of the premier destinations for top-quality dental care, including RCT Treatment in Kota. Whether you're dealing with a persistent toothache or seeking preventive dental care, Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic offers expert solutions tailored to meet your specific needs.

Why Choose Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic?

At Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic, patients are treated with the utmost care and professionalism. The clinic prides itself on using the latest dental technologies and techniques, ensuring that each treatment is precise, effective, and as comfortable as possible.

Here are some of the reasons why Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic is a trusted choice for RCT treatment and more:

Experienced Dental Professionals: The clinic is staffed with highly skilled dentists and specialists who have years of experience in performing root canal treatments (RCT) and other dental procedures. Their expertise ensures that you receive the best possible care.

State-of-the-Art Technology: Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic utilizes advanced equipment and cutting-edge technology to perform RCTs and other dental treatments. This technology ensures that procedures are done with the highest accuracy and efficiency.

Comfortable and Relaxing Environment: Going to the dentist can sometimes be anxiety-inducing. The clinic offers a calming and friendly atmosphere, making it a comfortable experience for both adults and children.

Personalized Care: Every patient is different, and at Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic, the team tailors treatments to suit individual needs. From the first consultation to post-treatment follow-ups, you can expect personalized care and attention to detail.

What is RCT (Root Canal Treatment)?

Root Canal Treatment (RCT) is a dental procedure used to treat infection or damage to the tooth’s pulp. The pulp is the soft tissue inside your tooth that contains nerves and blood vessels. When this area becomes infected due to cavities, trauma, or other causes, RCT is often required to save the tooth from extraction.

During the RCT procedure, the infected pulp is removed, and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. This prevents further infection and allows the tooth to function normally. At Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic, RCT treatments are performed with utmost precision, ensuring that the procedure is as painless as possible and that your tooth remains healthy and strong for years to come.

The RCT Treatment Process at Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic

The RCT treatment in Kota at Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic involves several key steps:

Consultation and Diagnosis: The first step is a thorough consultation with one of the clinic’s experienced dentists. They will conduct an examination, possibly including X-rays, to determine whether an RCT is necessary.

Anesthesia: Local anesthesia is administered to numb the area around the affected tooth, ensuring you are comfortable and pain-free throughout the procedure.

Root Canal Cleaning: The dentist removes the infected pulp and thoroughly cleans the inside of the tooth to eliminate bacteria.

Sealing and Restoration: Once the root canal is cleaned, the dentist seals it to prevent future infections. In some cases, a crown may be placed on the tooth for added strength and protection.

Follow-Up Care: After the procedure, the clinic provides comprehensive post-treatment care and guidance, ensuring that you recover smoothly and that your treated tooth continues to function properly.

Why RCT is Important

Many people are hesitant about undergoing RCT due to fear of pain or the belief that extraction might be a better option. However, saving the tooth with RCT is often the best choice for preserving your oral health. If left untreated, a damaged or infected tooth can lead to more severe problems, including further infection, pain, and even the loss of the tooth.

Opting for RCT treatment in Kota at Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic ensures that you get the right treatment to save your tooth, reduce pain, and avoid more costly procedures down the line.

Sujok Therapy: A Unique Approach to Wellness

In addition to dental treatments, Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic also offers Sujok therapy, a holistic approach to health that can complement dental care. Sujok therapy uses pressure points on the hands and feet to help heal various physical and emotional conditions. This unique therapy can promote overall wellness and support recovery after dental procedures like RCT.

Conclusion

If you’re in need of RCT treatment in Kota, look no further than Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic. With a dedicated team of experts, advanced technology, and a focus on patient comfort, the clinic offers a top-tier experience for anyone in need of quality dental care. Whether you're dealing with a tooth infection, or seeking preventive care, Pearl Dental & Sujok Clinic has the skills and expertise to keep your smile healthy and bright for years to come.

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Post Root Canal Recovery Tips and Treatment Care

Recovering from a root canal might sound daunting, but you can ensure a smooth healing process with the right approach. This standard procedure is crucial for saving your tooth and alleviating severe pain caused by infection or decay. If you're searching for expert care, scheduling your root canal near Port Huron can help address your dental needs with precision and care. Post-treatment, it's essential to prioritize recovery and maintain good oral health. Here are some helpful recovery tips and treatment care practices to guide you.

What to Expect After a Root Canal

While root canals effectively restore dental health, it's normal to experience some discomfort during the healing phase. Understanding what to expect can help you prepare and adopt the proper recovery habits.

Immediate Post-Treatment Symptoms

After your procedure, you might notice mild discomfort or sensitivity in the treated area. These symptoms usually subside within a few days as your tooth and surrounding tissues heal. Swelling around the affected area is common but can be managed with over-the-counter pain relievers.

Your dentist may recommend a temporary crown until a permanent one can be placed. Be cautious during meals to avoid putting too much pressure on the treated tooth.

Recovery Tips for a Smooth Healing Process

Proper care is essential to ensure the treated area heals without complications. Following your dentist's advice and maintaining these habits can make all the difference:

Maintain Gentle Oral Hygiene

It's essential to keep your mouth clean without irritating the treated area. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and gently clean the surrounding teeth and gums. Avoid vigorous brushing near the treated site, as this could aggravate sensitivity.

Avoid Hard or Chewy Foods

Stick to soft foods for the first few days after your procedure. Hard or sticky items can stress your tooth, which may cause discomfort or damage the temporary crown. You can opt for soup, mashed potatoes, yogurt, or similar options that are easy to eat.

One of the surprising benefits of root canal treatments is their ability to relieve pain while preserving your natural tooth, offering a long-term solution for improved oral health.

Use Cold Compresses for Swelling

Mild swelling is normal, but applying a cold compress to your cheek near the affected area can help reduce it. Do this in short intervals to provide relief and ease inflammation.

Preventing Further Dental Issues

A successful root canal doesn't mark the end of maintaining your oral health. Long-term care is vital to prevent future complications and keep your teeth healthy.

The Role of Regular Checkups

One of the best ways to prevent future dental issues is by scheduling regular visits to your dentist. They'll monitor the treated tooth and ensure everything is healing correctly. Consistent care also helps address other potential concerns early, reducing the need for more extensive treatments.

For further reading, this article on tooth cavities explores the causes of decay and ways to protect your teeth. Understanding these factors can help you avoid scenarios requiring another root canal.

Invest in Good Oral Hygiene

Continue healthy habits like brushing twice daily, flossing, and using mouthwash. An intense oral hygiene routine prevents plaque buildup and supports the overall health of your treated tooth and surrounding teeth.

Conclusion

Recovering from a root canal doesn't have to be overwhelming. By following these tips and maintaining regular dental care, you can ensure a quick recovery and protect the longevity of your treated tooth. Small steps make a big difference, Whether managing swelling with a cold compress or sticking to soft foods. If you're yet to book your procedure, finding an experienced professional for your root canal guarantees a comfortable and practical experience. A commitment to oral health now will safeguard your smile for years.