#in color together darwin

[amazingdigitalstudioonelove]

Время Дудлов!

[yurki-posts]

Little fish boy

[o-craven-canto]

Rough timeline of the discovery of genes and DNA

(mostly condensed from the first half of S. Mukherjee, The Gene: An Intimate History, 2016, and this 1974 paper)

1857-1864: Gregor Mendel experiments with breeding peas at the monastery of Brno. The results show that information about flower color, pod shape etc. is transmitted in discrete blocks that do not mix, and can persist unexpressed in a generation to manifest again in the next.

1865-1866: Mendel's results are published in a minor journal and effectively forgotten for 35 years. He corresponds with physiologist Carl von Nägeli, who dismisses them as "only empirical" (???).

1868: Unaware of Mendel's work, Darwin proposes pangenesis as mechanism of heredity: every body part produces "gemmules" that carry hereditary information and merge to form gametes. This does not explain how new traits aren't immediately diluted out of existence, or why acquired changes aren't inheritable.

1869: Friedrich Miescher extracts a mysterious substance from pus on used bandages and salmon sperm. He calls it nuclein (later: chromatin), as it seems to be concentrated in cell nuclei.

1878: Albrecht Kossel separates nuclein into protein and a non-protein component, which he calls nucleic acid, and breaks it down in five nucleotides.

1882: Darwin dies, bothered -- among other things -- by the lack of a plausible mechanism to transmit new variation. Legend has it that Mendel's paper lay on a bookshelf of his study, unread.

1883: August Weissmann, noting that mice with cut tails always give birth to fully-tailed mice, theorizes that hereditary information is contained in a "germplasm" fully isolated from the rest of the body, contra pangenesis. At each generation, only germplasm is transmitted, and gives separate rise to a somatic line, i.e. the body, which isn't.

ca. 1890: Studying sea urchin embryos in Naples, Theodor Boveri and Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz notice large coiled masses of nuclein inside cell nuclei which can be dyed blue with aniline. They call them chromosomes, literally "colorful bodies". Simultaneously, Walter Sutton discovers chromosomes in grasshopper sperm.

1897: Hugo de Vries, after collecting hundreds of "monstrous" plant varieties near Amsterdam, realizes (also unaware of Mendel's work) that each trait is due to a single discrete particle of information, never mixing with the others, which he calls pangene in homage to Darwin. He also notices the appearance of completely new variants, which he calls mutants. In the same year, Carl Correns -- a former student of Nägeli, who had completely neglected to mention Mendel's work -- reproduces it exactly in Tubingen with pea and maize plants.

1900: Having finally found out about Mendel's publication, De Vries rushes to publish his model before he can be accused of plagiarism, which happens anyway. Correns does the same. Erich von Tschermak-Seysenegg also independently recreates Mendel's results with pea plants in Vienna. Come on, guys, this is embarassing.

1902: Boveri and Sutton independently propose that hereditary information is carried by chromosomes. Supporters of this hypothesis generally hold that information is carried by proteins, with the simpler nucleic acids (only 5 nucleotides vs. 20 aminoacids) serving as scaffold.

1905: William Bateson coins the word genetics to describe the field growing mostly from De Vries' work. He realizes it should be possible to deliberately select organisms for specific individual genes. Meanwhile, Boveri's student Nettie Stevens discovers in mealworms a strangely small chromosome that is found only in males -- chromosome Y. This is the first direct evidence that chromosomes do, in fact, carry genetic information.

1905-1908: Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students breed and cross thousands of fruit flies in a lab in New York. Contra Mendel, they notice that traits are not passed down in a completely independent way: for example, male sex and white eyes usually manifest together. This suggests that their information particles are attached to each other, so that the physically-closest traits are more likely (but not guaranteed!) to be transmitted together.

1909: Phoebus Levene and his coworkers break down nucleic acids by hydrolysis into sugars, phosphate, and nucleobases. They assume that nucleobases must repeat along a chain in a repetitive sequence. In a treatise on heredity, Wilhelm Johannsen shortens "pangene" to gene. It's a purely theoretical construct, with no known material basis.

1911: Using Morgan's data on trait linkage, his student Alfred Sturtevant draws the first genetic map, locating several genes along a fruit fly chromosome. Genetic information now has a physical basis, although not yet a mechanism of transmission.

1918: Statistician Ronald Fisher proposes that traits appearing in continuous gradients, such as height, can still be explained by discrete genes if multiple genes contribute to a single trait, resolving an apparent contradiction. (Six genes for height, for example, are enough to produce the smooth bell curve noticed half a century earlier by Francis Galton.)

ca. 1920: Bacteriologist Frederick Griffith is studying two forms of pneumococcus, a "smooth" strain that produces deadly pneumonia in mice (and people) and a "rough" strain that is easily dispatched by immunity. He finds out that if live "rough" pneumococci are mixed with "smooth" ones killed by heat, the "rough" can somehow acquire the deadly "smooth" coating from the dead.

1926: Hermann Muller, another student of Morgan, finds out he can produce arbitrary amounts of new mutant flies by exposing their parents to X-rays.

1928: Griffith describes the acquired "transformation" of bacteria in an extremely obscure journal.

1929: Levene identifies the sugars in "yeast nucleic acid" and "thymus nucleic acid" as ribose and deoxyribose, respectively. The two will henceforth be known as ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

ca. 1930: Theodosius Dobzhansky, who also had worked with Morgan, discovers in wild-caught fruit flies variations of wing size, eye structure etc. that are produced by genes arranged in different orders on the chromosome. This rearrangement is the first physical mechanism for mutation discovered.

1940: Oswald Avery repeats Griffith's experiments with pneumococci, looking for the "transforming principle". Filtering away the remains of the cell wall, dissolving lipids in alcohol, destroying proteins with heat and chloroform does not stop the transformation. A DNA-degrading enzyme, however, does. Therefore, it is DNA that carries genetic information.

1943: By mixing flies with different gene orders and raising the mixed populations at different temperatures, Dobzhansky shows that a particular gene order can respond to natural selection, increasing or decresing in frequency.

1944: Avery publishes his results on transforming DNA. Physicist Erwin Schrödinger writes a treatise (What Is Life?) in which he states, on purely theoretical ground, that genetic information must be carried by an "aperiodic crystal", stable enough to be transmitted, but with a sequence of sub-parts that never repeat.

1950: In Cambridge, Maurice Wilkins starts using X-ray diffraction to try and make a picture of the atomic structure of dried DNA (as Linus Pauling and Robert Corey had done earlier with proteins). He is later joined by Rosalind Franklin, who finds a way to make higher-quality pictures by keeping DNA in its hydrated state. By hydrolyzing DNA, Erwin Chargaff notes that the nucleobases A and T are always present in exactly the same amount, as if they were paired, and so are C and G -- but A/T and C/G can be different amounts.

1951: Pauling publishes a paper on the alpha-helix structure of proteins. Having attended talks by Wilkins and Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick attempt to build a physical model of DNA, a triple helix with internal phosphate, but Franklin notes it's too unstable to survive.

1952: Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase mark the protein envelope of phage viruses with radioactive sulfur, and their DNA with radioactive phosphorus. The phosphorus, but not the sulfur, is transmitted to host bacteria and to the new generation of phages. This indicates that DNA is not just exchanged as "transforming principle", but passed down through generations.

1953: Pauling and Corey also propose a structure of DNA, but they make the same mistake as Watson and Crick. These receive from Wilkins an especially high-quality photo (taken in 1952 by either Franklin or her student Ray Gosling). Combining this picture with Chargaff's measurements, they conclude that DNA must be a double helix, with a sugar-phosphate chain outside, and nucleobases meeting in pairs on the inside (A with T, C with G). The complementary sequences of bases give a clear mechanism for the storage and replication of genetic information.

1950s: Jacques Monod and François Jacob grow the bacterium Escherichia coli alternately on glucose and lactose. While its DNA never changes, the RNA produced changes in step with the production of glucose-digesting and lactose-digesting enzymes. So DNA is not directly affected, but different sequences are copied onto RNA depending on need.

1958: Arthur Kornberg isolates DNA polymerase, the enzyme that builds new DNA strands in the correct sequence. By inserting into DNA a heavier isotope of nitrogen, Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl show that each strand remains intact, separating during replication and then serving as template for a new one.

1960: Sydney Brenner and Jacob purify messenger RNA from bacterial cells. This seems to copy the sequence of a single gene and carry it to ribosomes, where proteins are built. RNA must encode the sequence of aminoacids of a protein, presumably in sets of 3 nucleotides (the smallest that can specify 20 aminoacids).

1961-1966: Multiple labs working in parallel (Marshall Nirenberg-Heinrich Matthaei-Philip Leder, Har Khorana, Severo Ochoa) map every possible triplet of nucleotides to a corresponding aminoacid. Synthetic RNA is inserted into isolated bacterial ribosomes, and aminoacids are marked one at a time with radioactive carbon to check the sequence of the resulting proteins.

1970: Paul Berg and David Jackson manage to fuse DNA from two viruses into a single sequence ("recombinant DNA") using DNA-cutting enzymes extracted from bacteria.

1972-1973: Janet Mertz joins Berg and Jackson, and proposes inserting the recombinant DNA into the genome of E. coli, exploiting the bacterium for mass production. Herb Boyer and Stanley Cohen perform a similar experiment merging bacterial DNA, and linking it to an antibiotic-resistance gene so that the recombinant bacteria can be easily isolated.

1975-1977: Frederick Sanger isolates template strands of DNA to build new ones with DNA polymerase, but uses altered and marked nucleobases that stop polymerization. By doing so, then segregating the shortened sequences by length and recognizing their final base with fluorescence, it's possible to read the exact sequence of bases on a DNA strand.

[atomic-unknown]

Hello! I love your artstyle and its very cute!! I love the colors you pick and everything:3 can you draw gumball anais and darwin together where they are all happy? I would love to see how anais would look in your style :D ( if you want to )

Thank u!! I love this trio sm I just hate translating tawog art into my own style 😞🙏 but this one was actually fun to do and pose them together so thank u for requesting it :^))

If yall wanna see anything else don't hesitate to sent me a request and I'll get round to it as soon as possible ! (though I'm balancing school and 2 jobs so I'm sorry if it takes a while 😭)

[evignonita]

Random headcanons: Curious-Hogleg siblings ver. 💥💥

Names:

-Jenny's full name is Jenny Mary (Smith) Curious Hogleg, common ass name for a queen, she didn't want to burn her neurons by choosing her name.

-Pascal's full name is Pascal Galileo Curious Hogleg, he chose his name himself because 🏳️‍⚧️ and I feel that Pascal loves the names of famous astronomers and scientists in general, that's why Tycho is called Tycho, for Tycho Brahe.

-Vidcund's full name is Vidcund Charles Curious Hogleg because of Charles Darwin... Glarn named him.

-Lazlo's full name is Lazlo Johannes Curious Hogleg because I don't remember why, I think I read it somewhere and I liked it. Kitty named him.

Height (cm):

Jenny is 176 cm tall; Pascal is 163 cm tall; Vidcund is 178 cm tall; Lazlo is 175 cm tall. The shorty siblings

Age (2004) and birthdays:

-Jenny is 43 years old, she was born on May 16, 1961, Twinbrook, Simnation. (*)

-Pascal is 30 years old, he was born on October 30, 1974, Strangetown, Simnation.

-Vidcund is 29 years old, he was born on November 3, 1975, Strangetown, Simnation.

-Lazlo is 23 years old, he was born on December 11, 1981, Strangetown, Simnation.

(*) I'm not entirely sure about Jenny's age.

Sexual orientation and identity:

-Jenny is a pansexual panromantic trans woman.

-Pascal is an asexual biromantic trans man.

-Vidcund is a demisexual biromantic cis man.

-Lazlo is a bisexual biromantic cis man.

Personality (MBTI and enneagram):

-Jenny: ESFJ 2w3

-Pascal: INTP 5w4

-Vidcund: ISTJ 8w7

-Lazlo: ENFP 4w3

Random data:

-Jenny loves listening to the Backstreet Boys, when she lived with her brothers she always listened to them; Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo pretended to hate the musical group, but occasionally hummed their songs.

-Jenny distanced herself from her siblings and family in general because Glarn did not accept her relationship with Pol Smith, she never understood why (and that's why the Curious brothers and her don't have such a high relationship).

-Jenny taught Vidcund about botany.

-Pascal knows how to play piano (basic), write and draw, when he doesn't do anything, he feels stressed. He is a bit pretentious, but because he was only flattered as a child for his achievements, as he grew up he learned to be calmer and control his ego.

-Pascal was Glarn's golden child.

-Pascal wanted to study psychology, but he knew that he was going to excel more in physics.

-Pascal wears retainers for his teeth at night.

-Vidcund wore braces throughout his childhood and teen ages, he used orthodontics until adulthood, and he had to use them again because he never used his retainers and his teeth returned to how they were before.

-Vidcund bleaches his hair, eyebrows and beard, his natural hair color is black.

-Vidcund went unnoticed by his parents (the curse of the middle child).

-Lazlo loves monkeys because he and Kitty watched Animal Planet together, also because Kitty was a biologist and brought pictures with images of chimpanzees and monkeys just for Lazlo.

-Lazlo has a good relationship with Sinjin because Sinjin took care of him as a child when Glarn and Kitty asked him to (Sinjin and Jenny are the same age).

-Jenny, Pascal and Vidcund can speak Tagalog, Lazlo never learned the language and sometimes his siblings use it to their advantage.

Songs that give me vibes to them:

-Jenny: Cementerio Club - Pescado Rabioso (because of the green color of the album cover); Estación - Sui Generis; Lovesong - The Cure.

-Pascal: Lago en el Cielo - Gustavo Cerati; Mil Horas - Los abuelos de la Nada; Starman - David Bowie.

-Vidcund: Devuélveme a mi chica - Hombres G; A estos hombres tristes - Almendra; Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana; Heart of Glass - Blondie.

-Lazlo: Salir de la Melancolía - Serú Girán; Lobo hombre en París - La Unión; Blue - Eiffel 65.

I would like to add more things but😏🛌💤

[ausetkmt]

When Donald Trump talks about undocumented immigrants, he often brings up genetics.

Immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” he said at a rally last year.

“Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States,” he said earlier this month. “You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” 

The former president’s language underscores a larger trend, experts tell STAT. The eugenics movement is once again taking center stage in the U.S. — both in the immigration policies and rhetoric promoted by Trump, and through a rise in race science in academic literature.

Eugenics — the pseudoscientific idea of fixing social problems through genetics and heredity via policies ranging from selective breeding to forced sterilization and genocide — was popular at the turn of the 20th century, before the devastation of the Holocaust quelled public support for it. The reasons for its resurgence include an increase in funding of race science from private donors, as well as proponents of scientific racism and white nationalists manipulating the push to make science more public. 

Even well-intentioned scientists have fed into this shift by promoting genetic determinism — the idea that genes are the primary driver of traits and behaviors — and by platforming problematic work in the name of academic freedom. 

“I wasn’t surprised that people are being demagogic about this stuff, but I am a little surprised that they’re so clearly not even hiding [it],” said Paul Lombardo, a professor of law at Georgia State University who has done extensive work on the legacy of eugenics. “This is not just saying the quiet part out loud. This is coming up with quotations in which, instead of using quotation marks, you’ve got swastikas at each end of the sentence.”

‘Bad genes’ and the birth of eugenics

Trump is frequently accused of racism, but the fact that he is embracing eugenic thinking has not drawn sufficient attention, according to Shannon O’Brien, a political scientist at the University of Texas, Austin, who has written a book on eugenics in American politics. 

While racists harbor hatred for others because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin, eugenicists take it a step further and “like to legislate people out of existence,” O’Brien said. “They are OK with sterilization. They’re okay with extermination, and they believe that certain groups are superior and it’s OK to enact things that make it difficult for other ones to exist. I find that far scarier than racism.” 

Asked about Trump’s rhetoric and the eugenics movement and his remarks about “bad genes,” Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s press secretary, told STAT, “President Trump was clearly referring to murderers, not migrants.’’

The former president also has a history of statements suggesting that certain people are genetically superior. A 2016 documentary pointed out Trump’s father, Fred, introduced him to “racehorse theory” as a child — the idea that “that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get superior offspring.” He’s used this idea to promote his own intelligence as well. “I had an uncle who went to MIT who is a top professor, Dr. John Trump. A genius. It’s in my blood. I’m smart,” he told CNN in 2020. 

This way of talking about genetics is rooted in a long history that begins with the English anthropologist Francis Galton, who took his cousin Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and applied it to humans, first using the term eugenics in 1883. The nascent field of eugenics matured into a full-fledged field of study in the United States. Much later, in the 1990s, the sequencing of the human genome inadvertently created a new surge in eugenics — emboldened by the idea that scientists could isolate genes responsible for complex behaviors, like poverty, crime and intelligence. 

How companies like 23andMe bolstered genetic determinism  

Those affiliated with the Human Genome Project hoped sequencing the genome would end notions that genetics created significant differences in different groups — “that it would lead us to this post-racial world,” said Aaron Panofsky, the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

“But it turns out that both scientists and the public spend all their interest in the 0.1% of genetic variation that makes us different, not the 99.9% that makes us the same.”

In promoting their research to the public and getting research funding from the government, geneticists often hyped up the role genes play in people’s lives. The Human Genome Project “was a huge public undertaking,” said Emily Merchant, a historian of science at the University of California, Davis. “It was almost $3 billion and took more than a decade to complete. So it needed a lot of popular support. The scientists who were trying to generate that popular support did it by promoting genetic determinism.”

This sentiment persisted in ensuing years because of popular genetic testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, which marketed its products with the premise that an understanding of genetics held the secret to good health and could quantify people’s sense of belonging to racial or ethnic groups. 

In the early 2010s, there was another shift in how mainstream academic circles discussed ideas that intelligence was genetic or that race had a biological basis. Richard Lynn, a psychologist who claimed that people from certain countries had lower IQs, promoted a biased dataset on IQ differences between countries that became increasingly widespread in academia. Another theory, called “differential K theory,” began to circulate around this time, stating that Black people have lower IQs and are more aggressive. 

“The national IQ database, differential K theory, they should have died the death bad science deserves to die. They have no scientific merit,” said Rebecca Sear, an evolutionary behavioral scientist at Brunel University who has documented the resurgence in eugenics in demography. “They’ve both been extensively critiqued. They are both currently thriving in the academic literature.”

While controversial among the scientific community, ideas like Lynn’s continued to spread in academia, in part because of the ethos of academic freedom — the idea that scholars should be able to research and debate any issues in their field, and that rejecting a paper based on problematic findings is tantamount to censorship.  

“That’s a very, very problematic argument, but I think it is quite widespread,” Sear said. “Academic freedom isn’t the freedom to say literally anything in an academic forum. It’s the freedom to say anything with a sound methodological basis.” 

While these ideas lacked scientific rigor, Sear explained, they were often not intended for other scientists. “Scientific racism really is not aimed at academia. It’s aimed at the outside world. And this, I think, is why it’s so often such bad science,” Sear said.

The appropriation of open science 

The open science movement around this time also proved to boost the spread of flawed research on race, ethnicity, and genetics. Academic journals increasingly were publishing papers without paywalls, so anyone could access them, and often requiring the data underpinning research to be available. 

Some scientists had also begun posting early drafts of their work, called “preprints,” on public forums. By doing science in the public square this way, people with explicit political agendas could access, manipulate, and reinterpret published research in a way that sometimes took academics by surprise.  

Online, white nationalists used popular genetic testing websites to prove how white they were, and reanalyzed scientific data with a bent to affirming biological differences between races. They also seized on uncertainty among biologists about how to discuss race in the academic literature. Discussion forums on the subject might lean on anti-science conspiracy theories, but users could sometimes make sophisticated arguments about statistical uncertainties or the distinction between correlation and causation.

“They read both against and with the scientific literature, and that’s the way in which it becomes a very complicated dance that they sometimes make,” said Panofsky, who has studied the ways that far-right movements weaponize genetics. 

The solution to the weaponization of genetics isn’t gatekeeping research, experts studying the issue agree. But, they say that academia hasn’t confronted the ways science can be used to embolden bigotry. 

“We have basically a metric for how much Nazis like your research,” said Jedidiah Carlson, a population geneticist at Macalester College who led an analysis of how preprints circulate among right-wing extremists online. But it’s not a feature many are interested in. He wants to see researchers more attuned to the long-term impact of their work. 

Incentive structures in research are also responsible for the continued popularity of research on topics like the links between genetics and intelligence or educational attainment, Carlson said. It’s “easy to get money for it, because you can say this has immediate policy implications for education and immigration policy … It’s just treated as this generic ‘apolitical’ research when it never has been.”

Challenging the idea that genes are ‘in the driver’s seat’

The failure to deeply engage with the dark history of eugenics and the way it’s informed a number of academic fields is linked to current political hostility directed toward immigrants, according to Marielena Hincapié, an immigration scholar and lawyer at Cornell University who hosted a symposium on the 100-year legacy of eugenics and the Immigration Act of 1924. 

She points to recent attacks on immigrant communities carried out by people that believe in the Great Replacement Theory, a conspiracy that posits there is a concerted effort to diminish the power and influence of white people in the United States. The gunman behind one such attack, in Buffalo, New York, directly cited genetics research in his thinking.

The incident sparked some soul searching within the genetics community, which has also pushed back on problematic use of its research. In one case, a genetics consortium challenged the use of its data by a private company to screen embryos. On another occasion, a now-defunct app claimed it could test users on whether they had genes associated with same-sex sexual orientation, drawing on a paper published in Science. That prompted a protest petition signed by more than 1,600 scientists. 

There’s also growing interest in the scientific community in how social determinants, such as economic policies, racism, and climate change, shape people’s health, and in the field of epigenetics, which studies how the environment affects gene expression. These paradigms open up an understanding that “genes are not necessarily in the driver’s seat, but they’re in an interactive relationship with a whole bunch of other factors,” said Panofsky. “They seem to open a door to a post-deterministic biology and genetics.” 

Even so, the field has yet to truly rethink its buy-in of the idea that genes play a central role in people’s abilities and behaviors, Panofsky said. That thinking can inadvertently support the kind of problematic rhetoric Trump has applied to immigrants. While much of the U.S. has moved on and forgotten about its eugenic past, the country hasn’t done the work to refute the ideas it made so popular. 

“We presume that we’ve done the work of rooting these matters out of our society,” said Michele Goodwin, a professor of constitutional law and global health at Georgetown Law. “But that presumption is proving to be quite thin and weak in these times.”

Just over 100 years ago, eugenicist Harry Laughlin testified before the U.S. House of Representatives that “The character of our civilization will be modified by the ‘blood’ or the natural hereditary qualities which the sexually fertile immigrant brings to our shores.” His argument wouldn’t be out of place today.

[starryknight-dragonarts]

I have been following along with Truegreen7's series on Youtube where he and 3 other Fakemon artists get together to design a new pokemon based on the same prompt. This Prompt was: Pretty, Protector, Protagonist

I started my prompt with the word "Protagonist", what animal and type would I want to see be a Protagonist? Well as evident by my love of Charizard and Salazzle I really like Hot Lizards so I would go for a Fire type Lizard! They are meant to be Feminine but I don't just want to copy Salazzle's look so I decided to go with a different body type to emphasize her strength, if Salazzle is a Glass Cannon of Special attack then this pokemon would be a Tank that can take a hit and give it back.

I decided to base mine off of the Marine Iguana, native to the Galapagos islands, they spend most of their time basking on hot rocky beaches to build up heat and energy to then go diving in the cold pacific ocean and graze on sea plants so Fire/Water type seemed perfect. They prefer being warm on land but they have adapted to a semi aquatic lifestyle. Another fun fact about Marine Iguanas that is relevant to this is that when they feed on sea plants they also end up swallowing some sea water and have to get rid of the salt somehow so they projectile sneeze the salt out their nose which is why their faces often look white and have salt crystals built up on their heads. I imagine this pokemon has a signature move where it fires hot salty steam out of it's big round snout that has a damage over time effect like Salt Cure.

Marine Iguanas are not what people often consider traditionally beautiful looking, Famous naturalist Charles Darwin called them: "Hideous looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid, and sluggish" and then spent time picking them up from the beach and throwing them in the ocean to watch them swim back…this obviously is now very illegal. Thank you for your contributions to Natural Science Darwin, you also married your first cousin!

Personally I think they are very cool looking like something reminiscent of prehistoric times, while usually a black volcanic color sometimes Marine Iguanas bear a mix of Red and Teal which looks majestic. I figured the pre-evolution should look small, cute, and like something you would want to protect but has the potential to be strong. Mariguna is a fun loving child who loves to play on the beach. When they go swimming they make a bubble jet from the heat vents on their hands and feet to propel them through the water. Mariguna sometimes get picked on by bigger pokemon so they stick around their much larger evolution for protection.

Then Mariguna becomes Ambroyroar, a Big Sunbaking Beach Babe with scales that make it look like she is wearing a Bikini, and has muscles like a powerlifter, not a traditional feminine aesthetic but very beautiful nonetheless. They spend most of their time laying on the beach and up on rocky cliffs by the sea basking in the sun and building up heat. If anybody messes with their Mariguna then they are ready to move and fight at any moment using the heat Vents on their hands and feet to inflict burns on enemies.

[practically-an-x-man]

AHA, get ASKED!! This is also making me realize I need to send you more funky asks again. Hmm. Anyway, get a whole bunch all in one :3

For Quinn (as a person):

5, 7, 15, 25

For her ship:

P and X

For Jimmy (as a person)

1, 18, 21 and 22

And for YOU🫵

🎬, 🤖 and 🤯

Thank you so much!!

OC/Ship Ask Game: Firsts

Quinn:

5. First time breaking a bone

She was about 8, and was at recess with her classmates and was dared to jump off the roof of the shed (where all the sports equipment was kept). She tried to roll on landing because someone told her that was the safe way to do it, but landed hard on her wrist when she tried and broke her arm. All she really remembers was how fun it was to jump off the roof, and how her parents got mad when she asked for a pink cast (they made her get a plain white one, and she colored all over it with markers anyway)

7. First time they experimented with their personal style

She didn't really have a rebellious period until she was in college, since her parents didn't really allow her to. And I think I've told this story before, but when she got to college, she went to see a drag show with a few friends and that led to her realizing she was trans. I think her first real experimentation came from that - trying out some hyperfemme styles back when she still thought she was just "trying drag", realizing she was female, then finally settling into her more punk style once she was comfortable with that realization.

15. First thing they remember feeling proud of

She was raised to take a lot of pride in her studies, though schooling didn't come naturally to her (they were plenty smart and clearly knew the material, but couldn't focus when they were cooped up behind a desk). She remembers feeling proud of her first aced exam, since she was otherwise more of a B and C student.

25. First major success in their story

Honestly, I'd say getting away from their parents and stumbling into their first pickpocketing gig. It's not really presented as a success in the context of the story, since she's so emotionally uprooted at the time, but as a whole it's what spurs her into the best periods of her life.

P. First time seeing the other all dressed up

They didn't have the opportunity or money to really dress up while in the Wolf Pack, so I think it was probably once they were with the Ghosts. One had them all dress up nice for one of the missions, and Quinn honestly had a great time going dress shopping with Two and Five (not her first time shopping for dresses, but definitely her first time wearing anything so fancy/formal).

It didn't look like a huge deal to the rest of the team, since they were all so focused on the mission at the time, but as soon as they got back to the Graveyard... you can probably guess how the rest of that story goes.

X. First major hardship they got through together

They went through a lot of hardships managing the Wolf Pack together - injuries, botched missions, team drama, you name it - but if you're talking about the first hardship they get through as a couple... it's probably learning to navigate around Quinn's disabilities. Because they'd known each other so well before the accident, there were a lot of physical routines and rhythms they had to relearn, as well as a lot of ingrained guilt and embarrassment to sort through. It's definitely a shift from what they were used to, and it took a while before they really fell back into sync with each other.

____

Jimmy:

First big aspiration (i.e. what did they want to be when they grew up?)

He wanted to work with animals, and specifically to discover new species like Charles Darwin did. Obviously, only one-half of that worked out (he did work with animals), but he's still satisfied with that.

18. First example of real character growth along their journey

After his death, it was hard for him to connect with people (both physically, since he's a ghost, and emotionally, since he had such a traumatic and bigotry-motivated death), and we do see him start to reach out again over the course of his story.

21. First major change in their life, and how they dealt with it

His family went through some financial ups and downs, especially based on the job market. One of the biggest changes Jimmy remembers is a new family moving into the spare room of their condo - he was too young to realize his parents were subletting the place to make a little extra money, he just knew that all of a sudden his house was very crowded and he didn't really like it. It was one of the things that spurred him into his love of reading, since he'd escape off to the library when he needed a little more peace and quiet.

22. First introduction in their story (share a snippet or description)

A-ha! I'm actually really proud of this one, because I don't actually start HIYH with Jimmy's, or even Lars' POV! The first chapter is this sort of dramatic, folklore-y introduction about the ghosts of Coney Island, and I think it sets a really neat atmosphere for the rest of the story. Here's Jimmy's introduction:

Perhaps the most peculiar is the ghost of a young man named James Luciano. He walks the fair with a smile on his face and a wound gushing blood, appearing as tangible as any living human but soon vanishing without a trace. On his more daring days, as the stories suggest, he’ll appear to bachelors at the carnival booths and ask them to win him a prize. History states that he died in the year 1915, shot straight through the heart by a jealous ex-lover while floating through the Tunnel of Love. History rarely tells the truth.

____

🎬 - First fandom(s) you wrote for, and if you still write for them

Technically I wrote a 5-page fic in the Terfy Wizard Fandom when I was like 11 and didn't even realize what fanfic was. Other than that, it was X-Men, which I ABSOLUTELY still write for.

🤖 - First nonhuman character you wrote

Again... I started writing X-Men, so if you count mutants as "nonhuman", then it would be my OC Mira Hart. If that doesn't count... idk, Robin has a pet cat named Yoda?

🤯 - First story that gained traction/attention, and how it made you feel

Oh man, Catch and Release gained a ton of traction right after I first started posting it, and it was a huge shock to me. I remember intentionally making the decision to just start even though I usually let my stories marinate a bit before I write them, because I wanted to take advantage of the No Way Home hype before it died, but I didn't expect that to actually work! I actually started getting regular kudos and comments (they've since slowed down significantly, but there was a big spike at the beginning), and it was outrageously surprising to me.

[total-drama-takes-takes-2]

aftermath 3

A dark blue, fish-eyed globe turns itself across the screen, starting in Canada and traveling eastwards around the world. Five words flash over the globe: TOTAL - TAKES - WORLD - TOUR - AFTERMATH!

A static flash to Fiji, at the beach: 

---

Ass looks back to the other teams, all waiting in anticipation. Chris rubs his hands together, chuckling to himself as if he’s been waiting for this. 

“Albert and Michela never kissed. Mal lied to… well… to cover for us,” Ass says. “Courtney and I are the ones who kissed.”

Max’s expression drops. Michela sighs a breath of relief. 

Julia turns red. 

“YOU… YOU WHAT?”

---

Then to in the plane, on the way to Sweden:

---

Max trails off again, and sighs. “I feel like if this doesn’t work out, nothing ever will,”

Kelly’s smile droops a bit and they turn away from Max. 

---

The Title Card flashes again and fades into a pink, warm-lit studio. The peanut gallery is crowded now as former contestant upon contestant squeezes into the narrow rows. Patrick steps onto the platform and forces himself a seat between Alistair and O, elbowing them both out of the way to make room. Scruffy smiles as the camera settles on them, though they don’t look entirely happy. Peter waves both hands merrily. 

In the other corner of the room, Joner, McLovin, and Sha-Mod are crowded around an amplifier, each holding a different colored plug as they scratch their chins and flip coins to see what goes where. 

Finally, the lights dim. The audience chatter dies, blowing out like a candle. McLovin shoves a red plug into a blue socket and electrocutes himself, then lies flat on the ground as a single spotlight hovers over the center of the stage. 

Then… 

Nothing. 

The audience waits for a little longer. The peanut gallery begins to exchange confused glances. Joner and Sha-Mod poke McLovin’s unconscious form until even he stirs. 

A harsh whisper comes from backstage. “I don’t want to,”

“Well, I’m busy!”

“I’m busier!”

Finally, the sound of dull footsteps echoes across the dead-silent stage. Noco- shoulders slumped and eyes focused on his feet- trudges into the spotlight. He sighs dramatically as he pulls out a cue card and reads off it in a voice so monotone it sucks every ounce of charisma from everyone else on stage. 

“Welcome. To the Total Takes Aftermath. I’m your no-co-host, Noco. Today we have a very special episode. So get ready for mayhem. Drama. And more drama,”

He sighs and tosses the cue card aside. The audience responds with scattered applause- though before Noco can say anything to sour the already rotten entrance, Caesar slides in. 

“Thank you for your patience, everyone! We’re a little behind schedule today, but don’t worry- we’ve got an action-packed episode,” he winks. “Unfortunately, due to… a scheduling mishap,” 

He pauses to glare sharply at Noco. 

“Your would-be old-new co-host, Bonnie, has been sent out on the field! They’re traveling from continent to continent, interviewing Total Takes superfans!” Caesar says. His eye twitches. “Stay tuned for our first superfan, who is inexplicably Noco-Obsessed! Somehow!”

The peanut gallery seems to let out a collective groan. 

“Didn’t you take that blonde bimbo out last episode? What happened to her?” Scary snaps. “Darwin help me, you romantics must have some kind of brain damage...”

Noco shrugs. “The date went fine. I picked her up, we went to a fancy restaurant, and then I talked to her about my theories for two hours. She hasn’t called back,”

“Unbelievable.” Scary says, completely monotone. 

“ANYWAY! The schedule,” Caesar says, tapping his watch. His smile is as bright as always, but he seems far more jittery today. He leans in to mutter to Noco. “Remember that your little stunt has prevented me from even one conversation with Bonnie since they came back. You are on thin ice!”

Noco rolls his eyes. “What? I don’t like travel. I didn’t want to do it,”

Caesar looks like he’s about to wring his neck, but quickly straightens his posture and turns back to the audience as the overhead monitor lowers. “Now, let’s check in with Bonnie in… somewhere in the desert, USA?”

A loud static screech jolts the peanut gallery, forcing everyone to cover their ears as the monitor hums itself to life. The image finally settles in on the beloved goth, shielding their eyes from a cloud of dust whipping around them. Nothing besides Bonnie against the grayish-brown backdrop of sand is visible. 

“H-hello? Can you hear me in there?” they shout into the microphone in their hand. 

Caesar runs before the monitor, shouting as if they’re separated by a pane of glass. “BONBON! Are you okay!? Where are you?”

“Hell- I mean, California!” they shout back. “Who is that?”

“It’s me, Caesar! I’m so sorry about the scheduling conflict, if I had known-”

“BOOO! Get on with it!” Noco says, kicking back on the couch. He sets his feet on the table. Caesar’s eye twitches again. 

“Alright… yeah, okay!” Bonnie shouts. “I’m here with, uh… um… What was your name again?”

The camera zooms out to an annoyed-looking teenage girl in khaki shorts and Tevas. She scoffs. “It’s Anna, interview-person-thing”

Bonnie grits their teeth and points at her. “Listen, you hippie-wannabe, I didn’t sign up for this, I’m not a people person, and if mauling you with my bare hands is what it would take to get back to the studio and see my best friend again for the first time in weeks, I would gladly do so. You do not get to push me around!”

“Wow,” Noco clicks his tongue. “Ruler of boundaries over here, huh?”

Caesar shoots him a glare. Back on the screen, Anna looks sheet-white. Bonnie sighs, mumbles an indistinct “Sorry” and then clears their throat. “Okay, so… You’re a Noco fan, huh? What’d you hit your head on?”

Noco glares at the screen while Caesar chuckles. The teenage girl on screen looks more than displeased. “He’s a hell of a lot better than you phonies. Noco keeps it real,”

Bonnie rolls their eyes as Noco cheers and snaps his fingers. “She gets it,”

“I like, like Total Takes, or whatever, but the drama is so fake! And I like, totally value honesty and genuineness,” she goes on. “I mean, let’s be real, these plot points- it’s like they were written in a drama show. Like, the ships? Totally rushed! The hate is so contrived! When Noco started pointing out the inconsistencies, I listened. As president of the Noco Fan Club in the Pursuit of Truth, I say Chris McLean RELEASE THE RECORDS!”

Bonnie grits their teeth while Noco claps in the studio again. “Again, nothing on Total Takes is staged,” they sigh, massaging their temples. “What the hell happened while I was on World Tour?”

Caesar shakes his head. “So much, Bonbon. I wish I could catch you up, but-” 

The dust storm suddenly picks up and the two scream right before the screen fizzles out. 

“Bonnie? BONNIE?”

Noco pops a stick of gum in his mouth and slouches on the sofa again while Caesar runs around the room, trying to get a better connection by pulling at cables and shouting at interns. He runs back in view of the camera, looking disheveled. “We’ll be right back!”

---

The studio fades back into view, scattered applause following. A silence hangs over the room for a moment before Noco sighs dramatically, sitting up and spitting his gum onto the floor. 

“Welcome back. I’m your substitute host. Or whatever. I think Caesar’s on the roof, waving around the antenna to get a better connection. But while I’m here…” he stands, walking back and forth on the stage. “Let’s talk about my theories.”

“Do we have to?” Scary mumbles. 

Patrick nods. “Yes, I’m with the freak. I’m tired of listening to you prattle on,”

“You’re just scared of the truth!” Noco hisses, pointing at the peanut gallery with pure malice. “I have proof!”

A sudden scoff from backstage. The peanut gallery turns to the source of the intrusion as a brunette in a bow walks into the spotlight, rolling their eyes. The audience cheers and they wave. 

Noco says nothing for a long moment, his arms crossed and gaze pointed in no particular direction. Then, finally, he mumbles. “Staci, everyone,”

The crowd cheers again, and the aforementioned takes a seat on one of the plush chairs adjacent to the couch. “Hi, everyone! It’s so great being back!”

Another round of applause. Noco rolls his eyes. 

“Sorry for the intrusion, but I just couldn’t help myself,” Staci says, gesturing towards Noco. “I read the evidence binder you left on the coffee table backstage, and I’ve gotta say- as an aspiring PhD student, that’s some sloppy work.”

Noco raises an eyebrow. “Sloppy? Please. I could put your whole life on blast without even trying,”

“That’s the problem! None of your research is academic, or even investigative, like someone would expect from a journalist making such a big deal. It’s “gotcha” journalism at best, and at worst… pure speculation with some unreliable sources. You know that eyewitness testimony is the lowest form of evidence in any field of science, right?” Staci goes on. 

Scary snaps their fingers from across the room. Alistair shouts “Gettem!” and Patrick rolls his eyes. 

“The majority of your “findings” are based on internet theories- and yes, I source-checked- and testimonies from former employees. As someone who was on Total Takes, I can say that none of the interns are reliable sources. Memory is fickle, and going through trauma- like all of us have on TT- can totes skew perception and behavior,” she pauses to smile. “I started a psych class last week. It’s really helping me understand people.”

The peanut gallery claps again, and Noco’s eyes lower. 

“You know nothing. You’re like the rest of them- plants!” he snaps. “I’m a journalist!”

Staci scoffs again. “You’re a gossip columnist at best. Stalking someone’s social media isn’t “gathering evidence” it’s being a teenager,” 

“And it’s immature- and rude!” Peter shouts from the audience. Staci nods. 

Noco grits his teeth. “As if I’d trust any of you. Chris is paying you to keep quiet. All of you! My fans know!”

“Ahem- as an engineer, as well as an expert in friendship and romance, I’m pretty sure those girls just think you’re cute,” Staci crosses their arms. She looks thoroughly unamused. “You can go ahead and dig up whatever dirt you want on me- I’m a clean record. My blogs are all public access!”

Noco growls, standing up to shout before Caesar jogs back in the room, covered in wires and holding an antenna. “Back!”

The peanut gallery breathes a collective sigh of relief as their usual host tries to untangle the web of cords he’d cocooned himself in. “We, uh- had a little trouble with the connection, but I called some guys to check it out. Where are we?”

“Nowhere, really,” Scary grumbles. 

Caesar’s eyes turn to Staci. “Stace! Got your segment done already?”

She shrugs. “Kind of. Ass is still backstage, though,”

“Perfect, someone bring them out. We’ve got a very special treat for you all today- welcome to our second-ever Second Chance Challenge!” Caesar says, pacing the stage quickly. “By popular audience demand, five former contestants will be competing right here, right now, for a chance to get back on that plane!”

The peanut gallery turns to each other as the audience ooh’s. 

“No way,” a voice says from behind the benches. Ass walks back on stage, arms crossed. “No one in their right minds would get back on that death trap!”

“Not even for a million dollars?” O asks, eyes wide. 

“Not even for romance?” Peter says. “You and Courtney-”

“Courtney is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. They’re not stupid,” Ass says. “Besides, I had my moment. Let someone else take my place on death row.”

Caesar shrugs. “Fair enough. Now-”

A sudden ringing interrupts him and an intern rushes in with a phone. Caesar flips it open to listen to an indistinct voice on the other line. He nods along before suddenly going pale. “Grounded? What do you mean, grounded?”

The voice says something else and then the line goes cold. Caesar tries to put on a smile, but to no avail. “Haha… looks like Bonnie’s plane is experiencing some technical issues… and they’re stuck there for the time being! Hahahaha. Isn’t this great?”

“Mmm… I love my cell reception!” Noco says merrily, holding up his phone like a holy artifact. Caesar looks like he’s about to kill him as Ass steps into frame and leans in to whisper. 

“Hey, Loverboy. I don’t wanna dig myself a grave in your personal biz, but before I left, Mal was blabbering something about one of the upcoming challenges being in the southwest U.S.. She’s a nutcase, but she’s good at predicting that crap,” they mumble. “Just saying.”

Caesar thinks for a moment, and then nods. He turns to face the audience. “And we’ll be right back- I’ll be right back, I mean. In the meantime, your co-host Noco will explain the rules of the game.”

“Game?” Alistair asks from the peanut gallery.

They turn to Noco expectedly as Caesar hurries off stage, pulling the Takes Three Trio with him. The sullen boy stares for a moment, and then sighs. 

“We’ll be distributing these lame cans of peanuts. Some of them have a ticket back on that flying death trap. Blah, blah,”

“Let me guess- this is staged, too?” Scary says, rolling their eyes. 

Noco sighs, his shoulders slumping. “Unfortunately, this one is real. I packed the peanuts myself,”

The peanut gallery cheers as a few interns distribute the goods. Scruffy and Staci clink their cans together, Scary tosses hers to the side and returns to her chemistry book, and O, Peter, and Alistair hold hands around theirs to manifest good luck. 

“And one for Mr. Deep Blue Sea,” Noco sighs, tossing a can aside for Caesar. “This is dumb.”

The first cans open- O, Peter, and Scruffy sulk as they dump out their cans of regular old peanuts. Patrick growls in frustration (not in the metaphorical sense- he actually growls like a dog) and attempts to crush the tin can in his fist. After trying two or three times to make a dent, he chucks it across the room, nailing McLovin in the head as the Trio returns from backstage. 

He storms over to Noco. “I demand a new can,” 

“No can do,” Noco says, chuckling to himself before his expression turns sharp again. “All sales are final.”

“Listen here, you miserable little emo-”

Scary rolls their eyes. “Stop whining. You can have mine,” they kick their can over to him, and he nabs it with a victorious smile. 

“Nerd,” he says to Noco as he tears open the can lid. A tiny, spring-loaded solid-gold Chris head pops out and punches his eye. 

Ass pops a peanut in their mouth, watching as a Chris head jumps out of Staci’s can. She squeals. Alistair claps behind her as another shining golden host appears. 

Caesar looks from side to side, cautiously surveying the stage as if he might be attacked as he clutches the can in his hand. He peels back the lid with a loud scrape, and… nothing. “Dammit,” he mutters. 

“Hey, don’t worry, bud!” Joner says, holding his own Chris-infested can. Behind him, Sha-Mod and McLovin struggle to peel back the top on the latter’s peanuts. “If I get back on, I’ll get Bonnie for you!”

He sighs. “Thank you, Joner, but... I hope you don’t take offense to this, but I don’t have a lot of faith in you boys,”

“None taken!” Joner grins as the two other members of their trio open their can behind them, unleashing the spring-loaded Chris directly on McLovin’s chest, sending him flying backwards. 

“And that’s our five,” Noco says, rolling his eyes. 

Patrick walks up to the center of the stage with swagger, not unlike a peacock. Staci and Alistair follow, while Joner helps drag McLovin alongside them.

Caesar surveys the lineup and sulks, his shoulders slumping. Another intern appears, waving a phone out to him, which he begrudgingly takes. “Hello? OH! We’ve got a connection, someone lower the monitor!”

The large TV screen comes down with a mechanical whir, and flickers to life. Bonnie is standing in the middle of a sandstorm, shielding their eyes while coughing. “C-Caesar?”

“Talk about a mouthful,” Noco comments, standing.  

Alistair scowls at him. “Is this really the time for your twisted sense of humor?”

The audio blips in and out as they speak. Caesar runs up to the screen, putting his hand on it as if it were a pane of glass. “Bonnie, can you hear me?”

“I can-”

The monitor suddenly falls dead, a black screen replacing Bonnie’s shuddering form. Caesar’s pupils shrink and he stares in disbelief as Noco walks back on stage, holding a plug. 

“What? We have a schedule to keep, don’t we?”

Caesar’s eye twitches again. The five selected players, standing off to the side now, shake their heads in disapproval. 

Staci crosses their arms. “Is it your job to make everyone miserable?”

“Uh, duh? I’m not called Noco for nothing,”

A distant-sounding voice comes alongside them. “You know what?” Caesar says. “He’s right.”

“Caesar, you don’t have to-” Staci starts, but he holds a finger to his lips to shush them. 

“We’re keeping a schedule. Takes Three Trio- myself- we’ve prepared a special little song for Noco, to express our gratitude,” he smiles. “It’s all water under the bridge now.”

Noco raises an eyebrow, suspicious. Joner and McLovin salute, and Sha-Mod runs up between them, and all three of them pull various instruments from behind their backs. 

Caesar adjusts his bowtie, looking rather calm, and then taps his microphone. “Hit it!”

The Takes Three Trio starts up a jolly jig as the host clears his throat. “Here’s an open letter to a treasure of a guy!”

Noco nods along. “Uh-Huh,”

“Whose behavior on this show always makes us sigh,”

“Hm?”

“He’s a nasty, lying schemer, who calls himself “your host!” Without the help of social media, his job would be toast!”

Noco opens his mouth to say something back, but every member of the peanut gallery delivers a quick “Hush!”

“He’ll call himself a journalist, but he failed his English class! He’s just so full of you-know-what, he has to double wipe his-”

“HEY!” Noco snaps. Caesar brushes him off. 

“He started his own rumor show, under Blaineley and Josh’s nose, and when they found out he was fired and sent down here to host!” 

Caesar points directly in his face. “He’s not the guy you think he is, so don’t drive yourself loco. He plagiarizes all his work, and his real name isn’t Noco!”

“He’s a phony, scheming, wannabe-host, and his real name isn’t Noco! He steals and lies, he’s evil, folks, and his real name isn’t Noco!”

Caesar stops between the Takes Three Trio and they shout the last line together. “It’s Isaac!”

Noco crosses his arms, glaring. He has nothing to say for a few moments, before finally clearing his throat. “You couldn’t come up with anything better? I-”

“Meep! Meep!” Caesar holds out his hand, folded to resemble a mouth. 

Noco stares in silence for a few minutes. “Lies, and-”

“Meep! Meep!” the host flaps open the hand-mouth, cutting him off. 

“Really? This is so immature. You’re-”

“Meep! Meep! Meep! Now, let’s get on with the show,” Caesar says, straightening his tie again. “Time for our Second Chance Challenge! One out of five of these players is about to play for another chance at the million! Staci, Alistair, Joner, McLovin, and Patrick- are you guys ready?”

No response. Caesar goes on anyway. “Time for Total Takes; The Board Game! Each of these squares in front of you represents one of our final contestants. Each has their own personalized challenge, depending on who you land on.” He tosses Staci a large foam die. 

“Fail, and you’re out! Once you’re off the board, I’ll be asking you your final question. Whoever gets this query right gets a one-way ticket back to Total Takes. Ready?”

Everyone shakes their heads- except for McLovin and Joner, who high-five. “Looks like Staci is up first,”

Staci bounces the die in her hands for a moment before tossing it across the board. It lands on five, and she claps excitedly and runs across the spaces, standing on a tile decorated with Julia’s face. 

“The Julia challenge- safe pick!” Caesar says. A table with a computer on it drops from the ceiling. “You’ve got two minutes to hack into this government website. Time!”

Staci stares as Caesar clicks his watch. “But I-”

“C’mon, Stace! You’re an engineer!” Alistair shouts from the other end of the board. 

“Civil engineer, not software!” they cry back. They hurriedly type on the computer, but to no avail. As Caesar’s watch rings, they grunt in frustration. 

“A valiant effort. Patrick?”

Staci kicks the die to the beginning of the board, and the aforementioned picks it up with a smirk. “Please… a little board game? What am I, five?”

Caesar rolls his eyes. “Just toss the die,”

Four. Patrick steps on Albert’s square and chuckles. “What? Do I have to hug a tree?”

“Close!” the host chimes. A tree falls from the ceiling, landing before him. Patrick raises an eyebrow as a belt of chains lands on his head, sending him to the floor. He begrudgingly stands, holding the iron. 

“What’s this?”

“Your challenge is to chain yourself to this tree as this intern attempts to cut it down with a chainsaw! Chicken out, and you’re done,” Caesar says merrily, gesturing to a uniformed blond man, revving the biggest chainsaw Patrick had ever seen. 

He gulped, but picked up the chains anyway, fastening himself to the trunk. “No big deal. I’m not chicken,”

The chainsaw whirs to life, but before the intern can even step onto the game board, Patrick wiggles free of his constraints and scampers across the stage. 

“That’s what I thought,” Caesar smirks. “Joner-”

“Can we go together? As buds?” Joner says, holding McLovin’s hands with a pout. The host sighs, and then relents. “I suppose it’d save us some time. Joner and McLovin, you’re up,”

Two. They take exactly two steps forward, and stare at the pink tile beneath them. 

“Oh, this is delightful,” Caesar grins. “Michela’s challenge: defend yourself from eighty-three hungry rats with nothing but a hockey stick.”

“What?” Ass snaps from the peanut gallery. “That makes no sense!”

Joner shakes his head. “No, that’s Miccy,”

“Very Miccy,” McLovin sighs. 

Caesar hands them exactly one hockey stick and backs away as a nearby cage opens, and dozens of rats clamber out. The host watches with the peanut gallery, wincing as the two boys shriek. 

“Okay…” Caesar says, making no attempt to stop the rats from carrying McLovin and Joner away with them. “Alistair- it’s all on you. If you can make it across the board and answer the final question, you’re back in the running.”

“Wooo! Go Alistair!” Peter and O cheer. He waves to them. 

“I’m pretty confident,”

“Sure,” Noco murmurs from the suede couch. “All this friendship and smiles crap is making me sick.”

Alistair picks up the die and gives it a few good shakes before tossing it. It lands on a six, and he steps across the board. 

“Kelly’s challenge- write a nice haiku about someone everyone hates,” Caesar reads off the cue card, tucking it back in his coat. “Say… Julia!”

“Hey!” Scruffy shouts from the peanut gallery. They are ignored. 

“Oh, performance poetry! Simple,” Alistair says, crossing his arms. “Julia, so smart. She hacks, attacks, and bites back. What a piece of art!”

Caesar hums to himself for a moment. “I suppose I’ll count that as positive. Roll again!”

Scruffy crosses their arms and grumbles to themselves. “I could’ve done a better one,” Staci pats their shoulder.

Noco rolls his eyes. “Can we get on with this?”

Fren tosses the die again, rolling a five. That sends him off the board, and to the final question. Caesar pulls another card from his blazer pocket and clears his throat. 

“As the rules dictate, anyone who answers this question correctly earns themselves a non refundable trip straight to Total Takes. Alistair- are you ready?”

The British boy nods, crossing his arms. 

“Alright. Here’s your question: “What is Albert’s philosophical school of choice?””

Alistair pauses for a moment, rubbing his chin as he thinks. “It’s just at the tip of my tongue… it’s… Nigeria- no, that’s a country. Nickel? No…”

“You people can’t be serious. Are you all so happy-go-lucky and gullible that you can’t even recognize the core fundamentals of misery?” Noco snaps. Caesar tries to hush him, but to no avail. 

“And you think I’m the phony. Well, I think all of you are naive, immature, annoying little rays of sunshine who don’t even know what nihilism is!”

A faint ding sounds, and the stage lights up in colors. The peanut audience gasps. Caesar glares. “Great! Look what you’ve done!”

Noco raises an eyebrow. “What’s-”

“Isaac, you’ve just won yourself a chance at a million dollars,” Caesar grumbles, massaging his temples. “You know what? This is fine. Fine! I can’t trust anyone to rescue Bonnie, but hey- at least we’re getting rid of him!”

“That boy’s gonna get eaten alive,” Ass shakes their head. The peanut gallery nods in solemn agreement. 

A long pause follows, and then a wide, terrible grin spreads across Noco’s face. “Please. This is great! I’m finally going to prove everything I already know! Total Takes is pre-written, Max and Julia have been dating in secret, and everyone is miserable. I’ll see you suckers on TV, when I’m running my own show! This is my break!”

Caesar rolls his eyes as the former co-host walks off, making sure to flip off the audience before he disappears backstage. 

“Well… that’s our time. Our next aftermath will be at the finale, so stay tuned!” he sighs, turning away from the audience. “I need to lie down.”

[kitausuret]

Rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

Yoinked from @abc2411 because it looked fun!

The Look of You Eddie first started to notice the difference with his other. 

(Whatever Happens) We've Got Us Jubulile first spotted it when they were setting up back on the boat to get to the nearest airport. It looked like a huge puddle on the deck - like a giant puddle of oil, all colors of red and blue, tangled up together in purple.

Where My Path Will Lead Peter dropped down to the ground as he watched Venom fly away, their words still ringing in his ears and he stood there and tried to wrap his head around them.  “-Flash will probably find you first-” It couldn’t be, though. Brock was fucking with him, just to be cruel; Peter was sure of it. One last stake in his back to remind him of his personal failure and just the latest in the list of people he’d loved and hadn’t been able to save.

Complicate Me, Elevate Me “You wanna switch?” Eddie scoffed at Flash’s reaction. “You don’t have to sound so incredulous about it.”

Add Without Subtraction “Hey, lover – we getting Chinese or pizza tonight?” Peter leaned back in his chair, looking at his wife upside-down with a tired smile. “It’s not a burrito kind of night? Because I’m pretty sure it’s a burrito kind of night.”

What Binds Us Together Wanda wasn’t certain what had brought her to the northern Australian city of Darwin. A feeling, perhaps.

Darker Than Death or Night “Brock, I need your help.” He shouldn’t have picked up the phone. “You have the wrong number,” he muttered, and pulled the cheap flip phone away to hang up.

Out Like a Light Harry Lyman, Chief of Operations at the Manhattan headquarters of Parker Industries, was sleeping with the boss, and everyone knew it.

Finding the Light Again It started with just the two of them, laying on a blanket on an abandoned island, miles from every care in the world, thoughts of long-deceased enemies behind them. 

Learn to Let it Show As far as first dates had gone (well, the first date they were calling a date), all had gone well. Flash had seemed his normal, charismatic self, if not a little awkward, but it was kind of endearing, and if Harry was being honest, made him less nervous.

Bonus, it wasn't a new fic, but an update on an existing one, when I posted chapter 13 of Dust to Dust: Eddie was uncomfortable, but at least it was a base in the middle of nowhere and not an actual courthouse. While Price’s lawyer argued with Manuela over the matter of his – of their – presence, Eddie found Lee Price sitting on a bench outside the room where the hearing would take place.

Tagging whoever wants to do this, since I know a good bunch of you were probably tagged by one of our other mutuals LOL

[dzthenerd490]

File: Annihilation

SCP#: ATP

Code Name: Darwin's Test

Object Class: Keter Neutralized.

Special Containment Procedures: Because of SCP-ATP's slow but clear growth and with all containment options exhausted. Unfortunately, SCP-ATP has to be Neutralized. Because of this there are no Containment Procedures for SCP-ATP.

Update 2020 - [data expunged]. [data expunged]. [data expunged]. [data expunged]. [data expunged]. 

Description: SCP-ATP was a meteor that impacted a lighthouse on the beach of [data expunged]. Its crash on earth was too fast for Mobile Task Force Apollo-1 "Orion's Belt" to intercept it. upon impact it quickly manifested a field bubble that acts with the same power of a Level 3 reality bender. The anomalous effects of this bubble include instantaneous splicing of DNA to all organisms who enter. As the cells divide the DNA doesn't copy but literally splits and continues splitting down to the simplest pieces of the organism, possibly even beyond that. However, while it does this the body is unaware of the mutations and continues to try to function normally. causing some cells to divide normally within the body, resulting in spontaneous and unstable mutations within the host. The mutations are unfortunately impossible to predict and more often than not, leads to death. How this is possible, or works is unknown, the best way to explain it is that the process is similar to light going through a prism, resulting in a rainbow. Only the light is organic DNA, and the colors of the rainbow are the different pieces of DNA now separated into their own DNA strands. 

The anomalous effect of the bubble of SCP-ATP gets worse as more organisms get inside. When two organisms, especially of different species, enter the bubble of SCP-ATP their DNA starts splicing as expected. However, depending on the distance between them, their fragmented DNA has the possibility to carry on into each other causing both to develop minor or major traits of one another. physical contact only accelerates this and can even cause body parts to fuse together the longer physical contact is maintained. Like the basic anomalous effects of SCP-ATP's bubble, this unfortunately cannot be predicted or very well understood. 

SCP-ATP's bubble can also affect the bacteria in the air and all around us regardless of how small they are or how simple their DNA is. This unfortunately means it's possible for animals and humans to suffer splicing hybridization with the bacteria in the air and on their bodies. It can also cause bacteria to start to grow into colonies quite similar to mold and fungus which is a result of the constant fragmenting, hybridization, and spontaneous mutations. Fascinatingly, due to the bacteria and other single celled organisms that live within the grass, walls, sand, air, and other places of our world to affect it in anomalous ways. Walls will slowly start to change and take surprisingly more organic appearance due to the mutating bacteria feeding and changing its structure slowly. Sand has even been observed turning it into glass by bacteria that forms said glass into strange and oddly beautiful tree-like structures. There is even fungus that eats corpses of dead organisms often resulting in the body growing into a horrific monstrosity of what it once was. 

The same results have even been observed happening to plant life with spontaneous and interesting results. There have been observed vine plants that suddenly grow flowers and leaves of different sizes and colors due to continuous mutations. Flowers that suddenly grow bark like trees, a cactus that grows flowers and leaves instead of spikes, and even certain flowers that will grow leaves that resemble the wings of bees that pollinate them. 

Then there are the rare occurrences of animals, as SCP-ATP’s bubble expanded naturally wildlife got caught in as well. Animals swapping genes with plants, bugs, or other animals they come across is not uncommon. Crocodiles develop shark teeth, deer growing flowers out of their antlers, fish developing multiple tails, and bears growing limbs and miming the voices of whatever they eat. For better or worse, nothing is off the table for SCP-ATP if it's within the bubble it will be fragmented and therefore mutated. Though larger animals and humans tend to suffer death eventually due to the constant mutations within their body. Smaller organisms especially single celled organisms thrive within SCP-ATP’s bubble though like everything else they constantly mutate.

Naturally because of the constant mutations and risk of death, this would encourage anyone who has made contact with SCP-ATP's bubble to leave immediately. However, after about five minutes of exposure to SCP-ATP it becomes impossible to leave as doing so will lead to immediate DNA degradation, followed by horrific death. Ironically SCP-ATP becomes the sole thing that stabilizes any organic life that enters its bubble despite slowly fragmenting and splicing its victims DNA anyways. By current Foundation standards there is no type of suit, armor, medication, or metaphysical properties/ training that can be utilized to suppress, resist, or reverse this. 

Sadly, if one has stayed in SCP-ATP for more than five minutes then their only chance of survival is to get "cloned". What this means is that they must go deeper into the bubble and enter the domain of SCP-ATP. Here they will find what looks to be a geometric shape that will constantly be shifting in form, color, and light; making it impossible to describe. 

Supposedly this object choses who is "worthy" and who is "not worthy". How to meet the standards of being worthy or not worthy is not well understood. From what we do now the "worthy" are those with relatively healthy bodies and have either suffered little mutations and hybridization form SCP-ATP's bubble or have suffered the effects but have benefited from it and became stronger creatures as a result. Should an organism be "worthy" their blood will be collected by the object and a strange but indestructible entity will manifest with the same basic shape as the organism. This entity is to be referred to as SCP-ATP-1. 

Once physical contact is made, SCP-ATP-1 will begin to mimic the "worthy" organism down to the cellular level; making the SCP-ATP-1 instance a biologically perfect clone. The main difference between the SCP-ATP-1 and the organism is that SCP-ATP-1 will no longer suffer SCP-ATP's DNA fragmenting and mutations while the organism will continue to deteriorate and/ or mutate. 

The SCP-ATP-1 instance will go on to live within the SCP-ATP bubble as a perfectly healthy organism that will grow and hopefully one day, procreate to continue its new species. The SCP-ATP-1 instance will only remain stable so long as it remains within SCP-ATP's bubble. Should it leave, it will start to deteriorate leading to a comatose state within 24 hours and death within 3 to 14 days, depending on how strong the body is. 

Because of the existence of SCP-ATP-1 it is assumed that SCP-ATP in general is a sort of test on all life on earth. It is meant to splice and divide all life into new forms to see what can survive long enough to make it to SCP-ATP to create their own SCP-ATP-1 clone. Doing this will allow some semblance of life to survive while everything else continues to mutate and divide until all is either lost in mutations or dies off entirely. It should be noted this is a theory and nothing more, we have no way to prove this and even if we did that leads to more questions. Who or what made SCP-ATP, why did they do it and how, where did they come from, and will they try it again? 

SCP-ATP was discovered in 2015 when the meter carrying the essence of SCP-ATP landed on the lighthouse of [data expunged] beach. What drew Foundation agents to the area was reports of the lighthouse watcher going inside to look for the meteor but never left. The next day the Foundation was brought to high alert when the agents got to the lighthouse and reported a metaphysical bubble growing from the lighthouse. Efforts to suppress the growth of SCP-ATP's bubble were quickly set up and tested, all of which failed. 

Unfortunately, the bubble of SCP-ATP kept on growing to the point that it encompassed the entire beach in [data expunged] days. As such, testing was accelerated as fast as possible while a contingency plan was formed to terminate SCP-ATP. Finally, after testing was concluded, AFA-2 units were sent into SCP-ATP with an atomization bomb to destroy it and hopefully the bubble as well. The mission unfortunately took 3 days allowing SCP-ATP's bubble to grow large in the meantime but in the end, it was a success and SCP-ATP was declared neutralized upon confirmation of its complete eradication. 

Surprisingly all the SCP-ATP-1 instances that the Foundation cataloged so far had survived the destruction of SCP-ATP and were even able to live without the bubble. However, after some DNA testing, it was discovered [data expunged]. [data expunged]. [data expunged] so the Foundation had no choice but to execute them all and incinerate their bodies. 

Update 2020 - Dr. [data expunged] has confirmed [data expunged]. [data expunged]. However, [data expunged]. [data expunged]. without [data expunged]; so unfortunately, we still know nothing. The O5 Council has allowed Dr. [data expunged] to further her experiments at Site-[data expunged] in hopes of one day uncovering the truth.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

[nico468]

MINIMALIST FROG ISOTYPES

Isotypes designed with a minimalist style inspired by the��Darwin frog that lives in Patagonia. The color palette responds to the environment of the Valdivian jungles and Patagonian forests together with the camouflage of the frog.

[notebookmusical]

So I did see one clip of a Death Becomes Her song but it was only like 20 seconds but Megan Hilty was definitely being a queen and singing good. I think they released a few songs actually but I just haven't gotten around to checking it out yet so I'll have to see what the music is like and if it's a mix of styles. It does seem like a pretty fun show though and something different compared to other more serious shows. I hope Megan is feeling better now too if she was sick. I hadn't really seen any reviews but that's great if people liked it in Chicago and a good sign. It definitely feels like the kind of show that's more for the audience than critics anyway and i'd be so curious about the death scenes.

Omg what did you think of Little Shop? I never got around to watching the bootleg I had so maybe I could do that this weekend, Since I'm more familiar with the movie than on stage..but I did watch my school's production. That's kinda why I was shocked you never saw it or listened to the whole thing before. Did you listen to the Jonathan Groff version or an older one? I do like him and Jeremy's voice in the songs but don't know if they fit the role if that makes sense haha. What were your favorite songs and were you able to follow the plot? I love Skid Row, Somewhere that's Green, Suddenly Seymour, Dentist and Feed Me. I hope you have fun at Wicked! Are you still seeing it 3 times? My mom had no idea why I wanted to see Wicked again cuz I already saw it..but that was 8 years ago lol. Oh I'm surprised you got your movie tickets already. I would've been nervous seeing it so close to the movie and comparing it and probably liking the movie a lot less because of it. Now I can try to enjoy it more by itself and I'm hoping it can be pretty separate especially cuz apparently part 1 is as long as the musical? So maybe they added a lot of different other stuff? I've already seen a few good reviews but still nervous. I'm probably definitely gonna see Kimberly Akimbo this month..just don't know when but I will for sure tell you how it is. I hope you do the same for me with Waitress, which I've never seen a production of. I haven't gotten to Warriors yet though either..hopefully sometime by the end of the year. I can't believe it's November already!

Did you see Sabrina's tour yet? I think you said it was near the beginning of November. I also loved her performance at Taylor's tour too cuz it's cool to hear Taylor sing other people's songs lol. It was definitely a surprise. I hope you were still able to go and have a good time despite health issues. If you haven't, I hope it's great and I'm always ready to hear your thoughts. I'm so glad you enjoyed my Orla Garland album recommendation! Have you listened to some of my Soccer Mommy recommendations yet? It's okay if you haven't but I loved her new album. It felt short at first and didn't leave a lasting impression cuz it's just slower or more acoustic but now it's growing on me and I love it a lot more now I'm familiar with each song. I knew I would love it but still don't know if I like it more than her other albums for now. This album is mostly similar to her album Color Theory though. My favorite songs are M, Thinking of You, Changes, Anchor, and dreaming of Falling..but I love them all. I also listened to it after I heard Halsey's album which was also more slower, emotional and raw than I was expecting. So in that way the two albums almost went together pretty well. Halsey kinda surprised me with some of the different genres, but I think I prefer her rock stuff best. I'm not sure if I liked it more than her last album which I loved at first listen. Like it felt pretty long at first, but it's grown on me a lot. My favorite songs are Ego, Lonely is the Muse, Dog Years, Darwinism, Panic Attack and the Great Impersonator. I also like Life of the Spider and Only Living Girl in LA. What about you? What were your favorites? I will listen to Gracies deluxe next week.

So Grammy nominations just came out and it's hard to predict who will win cuz there's so many good albums this year. I think they will probably spread the awards out honestly but idk who will win album of the year. It's very hard cuz they're all deserving in different ways. I think Beyonce will only win in country categories though. I think maybe record of the year to Birds of a feather or Espresso probably, but I'm happy for anyone and not that invested with who will or should win since I like it all.

I think I will do some reading today so maybe I'll read more of Intermezzo. What you said about it makes sense so it will probably be a slow read for me too. I also read some more of Book Lovers recently and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite so far as well. I saw someone kinda compare the new book plot to be more similar to something like Evelyn Hugo and that could be interesting as another element to make it different. My sister also said it seemed less like a romance to her and that might be possible too but idk. Also I was the one who asked you about Lessons in Chemistry so maybe I'll start that today and can tell you what I think lol. I also was able to get A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams. I never finished Seven Days in June so I'm hoping I can get back to that too and read them together. I can't remember if you read that one or not but I was liking it mostly until I forgot about it. I hope you're doing as good as you can be and taking care of yourself and I hope you have a great weekend! 🩷🩷🩷

one of my friends from college is in new york right now and she's seeing death becomes her tomorrow night i'm sooooo! i haven't had a chance to look up reviews yet, but i think most reviewers liked it? it looks so good, i really hope i'm able to plan a trip in the spring (or maybe early summer?) to go see it + gypsy + maybe happy ending. i really want to see maybe happy ending, it looks so good and everything i've heard about it sounds so intriguing!

i really liked little shop! i actually listened to a bootleg with joy and borle from when joy woods was in it! suddenly seymour was one of the few songs from it that i already knew and really loved, but i also liked somewhere that's green, grow for me, and skid row!! and yes! i saw wicked on the 10th (front row!! thank you wicked lotto), and then on tuesday, and then i'm going to see it again tomorrow! very exciting! and then the movie next week — lots of wicked over here! have you seen the movie yet? i'm excited to see it, it looks like a lot of people really really love it. i hope you get to go see kimberly akimbo; i'm so bummed i'll be in san francisco/san jose when it's here in seattle :(

i did! i saw sabrina's tour earlier this month too and it was so fun! i was actually in the er the day before so i wasn't sure if i'd end up going to short n' sweet but i'm so glad i went! and we got mamma mia as the spin the bottle song! i screamed when i realized. i think i was happier to hear it than i was most of the songs on the setlist just because i loveeee mamma mia.

and i haven't! i have not actually been listening to new music (or even music in general) lately :( i loveeeed the new halsey, i don't think i have a favorite though! did you listen to the gracie deluxe yet? i think overall TSOU misses the mark for me, unfortunately, but there are a handful of songs that i do really like/listen to a lot (packing it up is one of them).

looking at grammy noms again and i think i would like either: cowboy carter, hit me hard and soft, or midwest princess to win for album of the year. and i would loveeee chappell or sabrina to win for best new artist. and i would also love if either birds or espresso or texas hold 'em or good luck babe won record!

how is your reading going? i opened and closed a book yesterday after reading two pages, so i'm real proud of that. that's all i have to say unfortunately </3 we'll see if i ever finish it.

[i-should-have-studied]

Mod 1 Botany Sem End

Principles of Plant Systematics

Taxonomy is the classification of organisms.

It is the identification and naming group of plants and animals.

The word systematics comes from the latin word systema.

It means the study of the diversity and the history of organism and the evolutionary relationship between them.

In 1737, Linnaeus wrote "Systema Naturae"

The goal of systematics is - to know the evolutionary history of an organism - and to convey info through classification

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The significance and aims are systematics:

It is the fundamental of biology, it enhances the understanding of evolution.

It helps in understanding conservation of organisms.

It helps in predicting the medicinal properties of relates plant species.

It provides a scheme of classification

And provides suitable methods for identification, nomenclature and discovery of plants.

Provides inventory of plant taxa that suits local, regional and continental levels.

Provide insight into diversity and evolutionary process in plants

It allows us to collect and preserve plant taxa in herbaria for future reference.

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There are 3 basic components to taxonomy: - Identification - Nomenclature - Classification

Identification:

To identify unknow plant specimens through similarities and dissimilarities

Comparison can be made with authentic herbarium or indirectly with the help of literature.

New taxon may be discovered.

Floras, monographs, manuals and journal are sources of literature one may refer to.

Computer punch card keys are modernly used for identification.

Royal Botanical Garden and the Botanical Survey of India are both very important for plant identification.

Nomenclature:

The correct scientific name to an identified plant

ICBN is the governing body for scientific names.

ICBN - International Code for Botanical Nomenclature

The International Botanical Congress sets rules and regulations.

We follow a binomial nomenclature for scientific names of organism, starting with a capitalized generic epithet and followed with a lowercase specific epithet.

Classification:

There are 3 widely accepted systems of classification: - Artificial - Natural - Phylogenetic

Artificial: - Classification is based on habit, color, number, and forms (herbs, shrubs, trees, etc.) - Based off of Thephrastus's book Historia plantarum - Expanded upon by Linnaeus, the father of systematic botany. He counted the number of stamens and observed floral characters.

Natural: - Based on the constancy of species. - By Bentham and Hooker - Classification is based on the phenetic relationship with data of morphology, anatomy, embryology, ultrastructure, and phytochemistry. - A larger number of characters is shared by different taxa, they are more closely related (based on numerical taxonomy)

Phylogenetic: - Proposed by Darwin after his theory of evolution. - Based on genetic and evolutionary relationships - Form a phylogenetic tree or cladogram. - Engler and Prantl System of classification - Classification is vertically configurated - Common ancestor: same group (Monophyletic) or more than one group (Polyphyletic).

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Bentham and Hooker Classification

Also called Natural System of Classification

The work of G. Bentham and J.D. Hooker.

They have grouped together advanced seed bearing plants into a major division called Spermatophyta.

Class Dicotyledonae: angiosperms in which the seed bears two cotyledons, leaves exhibit reticulate venation. Divides into 3 subclasses:

Subclass Polypetalae: flowers contain perianth (calyx and corolla), in the corolla petals are free. Divides into 3 series: - 1 Series Thalamiflorae: Thalamus is conical, elongated or convex, flowers hypogynous. - 6 orders and 34 families. - 2 Series Disciflorae: Flowers hypogynous due to presence of ring like disc below ovary - 4 orders and 22 families. - 3 Series Calyciflorae: Flowers epigynous or perigynous - 5 orders and 27 families.

Subclass Gamopetalae: Flowers with distinct calyx and corolla. In the corolla petals are fused. Divides into 3 series: - 1 Series Inferae: Epigynous flower, either regular or zygomorphic - 3 orders and 9 families. - 2 Series Heteromerae: Ovary superior with more than two carpels with regular flowers - 3 orders and 12 families. - 3 Series Bicarpellatae: Superior, bicarpellary ovary. Flowers actinomorphic to zygomorphic - 4 orders and 23 families.

Subclass Monochlamydae: Flowers with either absence of or one non-essential whorl (perianth). Divides into 8 series: - 1 Series Curvembryae: Usually single ovule, embryo coiled around the endosperm. - 6 families - 2 Series Multiovulate Aquaticae: Aquatic plants with a syncarpous ovary and many ovules. - 1 family - 3 Series Multiovulate Terrestris: Terrestrial plants with syncarpous ovary and many ovules. - 3 families - 4 Series Microembryae: one ovule, small, tiny embryo endospermic seed. - 4 families -5 Series Daphnales: one carpel and one ovule - 5 families - 6 Series Achlamydosporae: Ovary inferior, 1 to 3 ovules, unilocular - 3 families - 7 Series Unisexuales: Flower unisexual, perianth usually absent - 9 families - 8 Series Ordines Anomali: Plants with uncertain systematic position but close to unisexuales - 9 families

Class Gymnospermae: gymnosperms in which seeds are not enclosed in fruits,

Places in between dicots and monocots, could not recognize the phylogenetic significance.

Divided into 3 families: Gnetaceae, Conferaceae and Cycadaceae.

Class Monocotyledonae: Includes angiosperms in which the seed bears only one cotyledon. Leaves exhibit parallel venation. Consists of Closed Vascular Bundles. Divides into 7 series': - 1 Microspermae: Ovary inferior; seeds minute and non-endospermic. - 3 families - 2 Epigynae: Ovary inferior, seeds large and endospermic. - 7 Families - 3 Coronarieae: Ovary superior, perianth petalloid. 8 Families - 4 Calycinae: Ovary superior, perianth sepalloid. 5 Families - 5 Nudiflorae: Perianth reduced or absent. Seeds are endospermic.- 5 Families - 6 Apocarpae: Carpels more than one, free, seeds are endospermic. - 3 Families - 7 Glumaceae: Perianth reduced or absent, scaly bracts present. - 5 Families

In total, Bentham and Hooker classified the angiosperms into 202 families while providing distinct diagnostic key characters to each.

Merits:

1. One of the most valuable contributions is the description of the taxa at all levels. Descriptions are accurate and it is easy to identify plant species up to family level.

Since the descriptions were based on direct observation, they have become models of accuracy.

They placed order Ranales at the beginning of the system, a reasonable choice.

The placement of dicots before monocots is also accepted by all modern taxonomists.

Demerits:

Gymnosperms are more primitive than angiosperms and should not have been placed between dicots and monocots.

The introduction of monochlamydeae is a drawback since the group consists of both advanced and primitive forms.

Among the monocots, Orchidaceae is placed in the beginning with all it's advanced characters.

The subdivision of monocots is based on the position of ovary and characters of perianth. This resulted in an anomalous situation for many families.

----------------------------------------------------------

Engler and Prantl

Also called Phylogenetic System of Classification

The work of Adolf Engler and Karl Prantl, two German botanists.

They classified algae to angiosperms based on their evolutionary trends into 13 divisions.

The 13th division Embryophyta Siphonogama includes the seed plants, which were divided into gymnospermae and angiospermae.

Angiospermae further divides into two classes monocotyledoneae and dicotyledoneae.

Salient Features:

Flowers without perianth or with one whorl of perianth are primitive.

Flowers with two whorled perianth are distinguished into sepals and petals as they are advanced.

Unisexual flowers are primitive and bisexual ones are advanced.

Zygomorphy and epigyny were traced to be advanced.

Apocarpy is regarded as a primitive character while syncarpy is advanced

The evolution of angiosperm is polyphyletic.

Monocotyledons:

The monocots regarded as more primitive than dicots therefore they have been placed before dicots

Monocoots include 11 orders and 45 families.

The orders with Pandanales and Helobiae have naked unisexual flowers.

The order Liliflorae: Liliaceae and Amaryllidaceae, the former has hypogynous and later epigynous flowers.

The order Glumiflorae- Graminae is in the fourth position. Due recognition is not given to its advanced characters

Orchidaceae is considered as the most advanced family and is placed at the end of monocots.

Dicotyledoneae:

divides into 2

1) Archichlamydeae

Includes Polypetalous and Monochlamydeous families: 33 orders

Naked, unisexual, wind-pollinated flowers.

They are grouped as homogenous called Amentiferae

Achlamydeous is followed by monochlamydeous

Families start with Ranales- flowers cyclic or spirocyclic and hypogynous.

Polypetalous ends with Myrtiflorae and Umbelliflorae with epigynous flowers.

2) Metachlamydeae

Sympetalous include gamopetalous families-actinomorphic, bisexual flowers.

Tubiflorae- 7th order under Sympetalae include families of Bicarpellatae-Hypogynous (Bentham and Hooker)

The link between hypo and epigynous flowers

Epigynous flower are placed in orders Rubiales, Cucurbitales, and Campanulatae.

Cucurbitacea-Polypetalae (B&H) is now placed in Sympetalae due to gamopetalous corolla.

Merits

This system of classification is a development over Eichler in many respects.

Gymnosperms kept under separate sub-division.

It is natural system since it was proposed subsequent to the acceptance of “Theory of descent” (the idea that species change over time, give rise to new species, and share a common ancestor).

The large artificial group of Bentham and Hooker's system Monochlamydaceae has been completely abolished.

Compositae and Orchidaceae treated as most advanced families of dicot and monocots respectively.

Demerits

Monocot treated more primitive than dicot.

Amentiferae and Centrospermae placed at the beginning of Ranales.

Helobae is placed in between Pandanales and Glumiflorae.

Derivation of bisexual flower from unisexual.

Parietal placenta is advanced over axile.

Derivation of entomophily from anemophily

--------------------------------------------------------

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

Also called APG System

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group is an informal international group of systematic botanist who came together to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of angiosperms that would reflect new knowledge about plant relationships discovered through phylogenetic studies.

An important motivation for them was what they considered deficiencies in prior classifications since they were not based on monophyletic groups.

Angiosperm Classification

In the past, classification systems were typically made by a single botanist or a small group, resulting in many systems. Different countries favored different systems.

Ex: The Engler system in continental Europe and the Bentham and Hooker system in Britain (preferred by Kew)

Before the availability of genetic evidence, angiosperm classification was based on morphology and biochemistry.

After the 1980s, detained genetic evidence analyzed by phylogenetic methods became available. While confirming or clarifying some relationships in existing classification systems, it radically changed others.

The genetic evidence created a rapid increase in knowledge which led to many proposed changes, posing problems for all the classification systems at the time.

The impetus came from a major molecular study published in 1993 based on 5000 flowering plants and a photosynthesis gene rbcL, producing shocking results.

At first there was reluctance to develop a brand new system entirely based on a single gene, but subsequent work continued to support these findings.

The studies involved were a huge collaboration between a very large number of scientists. Instead of naming each person's part individually, they opted to name the entire project Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification or APG.

The first APG publication was in 1998 and was widely accepted. After that 3 revisions have been published: APG II in 2003, APG III in 2009, and APG IV in 2016.

13 researchers have been credited as authors for the 3 papers and 43 more as contributors.

Principles of the APG system:

principles of the APG's approach to classification were set out in the first paper of 1998, and have remained unchanged.

i) The Linnean system of orders and families should be retained. "The family is central in flowering plant systematics." An ordinal classification of families is proposed as a "reference tool of broad utility".

ii) Groups should be monophyletic. The main reason why existing systems are rejected is because they do not have this property, they are not phylogenetic.

iii) A broad approach is taken to define the limits of orders and families. It is said that a limited number of larger orders will be more useful. Families containing only a single genus and orders containing only a single family are avoided.

iv) Above or parallel to the level of orders and families, the term clades is used more freely.

APG I (1998)

The initial paper was the first to systematically re-classify angiosperms primarily on the basis of genetic characteristics.

The authors' views were that there is a need for a classification system for angiosperms at the level of families, orders and above, but that existing classifications were "outdated".

The main reason why existing systems were rejected was because they were not phylogenetic.

An ordinal classification of flowering plant families was proposed as a "reference tool of broad utility".

The broad approach adopted to defining the limits of orders resulted in the recognition just of 40 orders.

Only a handful of families had been adequately studied, but the primary aim was to obtain a consensus on the naming of higher orders

While the relationship of orders was established, their composition and order was not.

A major outcome of the classification was the disappearance of the traditional division of the flowering plants into two groups, monocots and dicots. The monocots were recognized as a clade, but the dicots were not.

A number of former dicots were placed in separate groups basal to both monocots and the remaining dicots, the eudicots or 'true dicots'.

APG II (2003)

The second paper was published as an update to the classification of 1998.

the focus shifted to the family level, in particular those families generally accepted as problematic.

consensus was achieved relatively easily resulting in an updated classification at the family level

The authors stated that changes were proposed only when there was "substantial new evidence" which supported them

The classification continued the tradition of seeking broad circumscriptions of taxa, trying to place small families containing only one genus in a larger group

The authors stated that they have generally accepted the views of specialists, although noting that specialists "nearly always favor splitting of groups"

APG II continued and extends the use of alternative 'bracketed' taxa allowing the choice of either a large family or a number of smaller ones.

Some of the main changes in APG II were: (important)

i) New orders were proposed, particularly to accommodate the 'basal clades' left as families in the first system.

ii) Many of the previously unplaced families are now located within the system.

iii) Several major families were re-structured. In 2007, a paper was published giving a linear ordering of the families in APG II, suitable for ordering herbarium specimens.

APG III (2009)

The third paper updates the system described in 2003.

The broad outline of the system remains unchanged, but the number of previously unplaced families and genera is significantly reduced.

This requires the recognition of both new orders and new families compared to the previous classification.

The number of orders goes up from 45 to 59; only 10 families are not placed in an order and only two of these (Apodanthaceae and Cynomoriaceae) are left entirely outside the classification.

Authors say that they tried to leave long-recognized families unchanged, while merging families with few genera. They "hope the classification will not need much further change."

A major change is that the paper discontinues the use of 'bracketed' families in favour of larger, more inclusive families. As a result, the APG III system contains only 415 families, rather than the 457 of APG II.

In the same volume of the journal, two related papers were published. One gives a linear ordering of the families in APG III; as with the linear ordering published for APG II, this is intended for ordering herbarium specimens.

APG IV (2016)

In the development there was some controversy over the methodology and the development of a consensus proved more difficult than in previous iterations. In particular Peter Stevens questioned the validity of discussions regarding family delimitation in the absence of changes of phylogenetic relationships.

Further progress was made by the use of large banks of genes, including those of plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal origin

The fourth version was finally published in 2016. It arose from an international conference hosted at the Royal Botanical Gardens in September 2015 and also an online survey of botanists and other users

The broad outline of the system remains unchanged but several new orders and families are included, and some previously recognized families are lumped.

This brings the total number of orders and families recognized in the APG system to 64 and 416, respectively.

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Herbarium

Meaning

A herbarium is a place where plants are collected from far and wide and preserved in a pressed and dried condition.

They are stores in pigeon hole almirahs according to accepted systems of classification.

The dried plant is pressed onto a sheet. Fleshy plants like Cactaceae (cacti) are preserved in preservatives instead of a dried state.

Herbaria were initiated by an Italian taxonomist Luca Ghini, but the concept of preserving plant specimens in dried form is 450 years old.

The first herbarium of the world was established in 1545 in University of Padua, Italy.

Present day Herbarium sheets have a definite size: 29x41cm. ± 1 cm.

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Functions

is it an invaluable conservatory of plant material of flora from around the world, they provide one place to study it all.

The labels of herbarium sheets are valuable, they provide data for botanical, ethno-botanical, and phytogeography studies.

The herbarium serves as a helpful aid in teaching botany to students in institutions where they are present.

Preserved specimen are used in almost all types of taxonomic research, it is essential for biosystematics today to correctly identify and name plants.

The specimen are used as a source of material for anatomical, palynological and chemo-taxonomical studies.

They provide important data on places of plant occurrence, time of flowering, and other data for research in embryology, cytology, and ecology.

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Kinds

Depending upon the interest of the organization or institution: - Herbaria of Organizations - Regional Herbaria - Local Herbaria - Herbaria of institutions, Universities, Colleges, etc.

Depending on categories: - Herbaria of drugs and medicinal plants - Herbaria of crop plants and weeds in cultivated fields etc.

Important Herbaria of the World - Royal Botanic Garden (Kew) - Museum National d’ Historia Naturelle (Paris) - Kemerovo Botanical Institute (Leningrad) - Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques (Geneva)

Herbaria of India - Botanical survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar circle, Port Blair - Botanical survey of India, Arid zone circle, Jodhpur. - Botanical survey of India, Sikkim Himalayan circle, Gangtok, Sikkim. - Delhi University Herbarium, Delhi. - Lloyd Botanic Garden, Darjeeling. - School of Plant Morphology, Meerut College Meerut. (contains approximately 25,000 specimens).

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Making of Herbarium

Involves collection, drying, poisoning, mounting, stitching, labeling and deposition.

Collection: Plants are collected first, angiospermic material should have grown leaves, complete inflorescence, flower and fruit etc.

Size of the material depends upon the requirements and availability. Herbaceous small plants may be collected with roots, but for woody plants just 4-6 twigs are enough.

One should not collect diseased, infected or inappropriate plant material.

The collection should be given a field number. The species should have least 4-6 specimens with same field number.

The habit, habitat, flower, color locality interesting features etc. should be noted down in a field note book.

Drying and Poisoning: The specimens should be preserved in blotting paper or newspaper after spreading it correctly.

It should be pressed in field press.

After 2-3 sheet changes, the specimen is dried.

To keep the specimen away from disease or pests poisoning is done. Chemicals like corrosive sublimate (HgCh) are either sprayed or painted on the dried specimen.

Mounting, Stitching, and Labelling: Dried specimen are glued and or stitched onto herbarium sheets made up of thick card sheets of 29 x 41 cm ± 1cm size and labelled.

Labels have all the information about Botanical name, Local name, Locality, time, characters, collector’s names etc.

After identification the sheet is placed in species cover.

All the species of one genus are placed in one genus cover, which finally is kept in family cupboard of Herbarium.

For keeping the specimen for long time, they should be protected from pests and insects like Silver fish and Book worm etc. DDT spray and or copper sulphate solution helps.

Identification and Determination of Plants:

Usually identification is the process through which specimen whose name is not known is recognized by its characters to known plant and given the name.

Now the practices are stopped since no plants are identical. The process is called determination and the slips are marked Determinovit (Det) slip.

For identification, the scientific method is to first study the character of plant, check them with the flora of the region, work keys and, compare with full description and illustration, then it is carefully compared with earlier identified plants of that species or variety.

If s plant does not fit in the key or match in the herbarium, it is compared to species of adjacent floras in large herbaria.

After identification the important process is to use correct nomenclature. Always use the latest nomenclature.

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Problems in Management: - Lack of knowledge on significance. - Wrong notion that it is simply a storehouse of dead plants. - Lack of sufficient trained man-power - Lack of taxonomists (fucking fair) - Lack of funds

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ICBN

Nomenclature may be defined as the system of naming objects with one correct name which is scientific.

Binomial nomenclature: this was employed by Linnaeus in the first edition of ‘Species Plantarum’ (1753).

According to this the name of a plant consists of two Latin words. The first is generic epithet and the second species epithet. Ex: Morus alba

The foundations of ICBN are found in Linnaeus ‘ Philosophia Botanica’ (1751) wherein he proposed certain principles of nomenclature.

Augustin de Candolle’s ‘Theorie Elementaire de la botanique’(1813) gives detailed rules on plant nomenclature.

A precise and simple system of nomenclature was put forward by First International Botanical Congress held in 1867 in Paris.

Alphonse de Candolle proposed the laws of botanical nomenclature (Lois de la nomenclature) at this congress which was adopted with some modifications.

These rules are known as de Candolle rules or Paris Code (1867).

Later at the Cambridge congress certain refined changes were made and ICBN was adopted.

The code is divided into three parts: - Principles - Rules - Recommendations

Principles

The Principles form the basis of the system of botanical nomenclature.

The 6 Principles are: - Botanical nomenclature is independent of zoological nomenclature. - Application of names of taxonomic groups (taxa) is determined by means of nomenclatural type. - The nomenclature of taxonomic groups is based upon priority of publication. - Each taxonomic group can bear only one correct name the earliest that is in accordance with the rules except in specific cases. - Scientific names of taxonomic groups are treated as Latin regardless of their derivation. - The Rules of nomenclature are retroactive unless expressly limited.

The Rules give detailed prescription on all the points connected with the naming of plants.

The names contrary to a rule cannot be maintained.

Recommendations

The recommendations are often practical application of rules, their objective is to bring about greater uniformity and clarity.

The code has three appendices: - Appendix I - Appendix II - Appendix III

Appendix I deals with the names of hybrids.

Appendix II includes the names of families which are conserved.

Appendix III lists the names of genera which are conserved against the principle of priority because of their long use.

Rules

Some of the important rules are:

1) Ranks of Taxa:

According to Article 1 of the code the word taxa signifies taxonomic groups of any rank.

The rank of species is basic and the relative order of the ranks of taxa are species, genus, family, order, class, division and plant kingdom.

Thus species is included in a genus, each genus in a family and so on.

2) Typification:

According to Article 7 the application of names of taxa of the rank of family or below is determined by means of nomenclatural types.

The nomenclatural type is that element with which the name is permanently associated.

The type of a species or intraspecific taxon is an individual specimen, however, for small herbaceous plants the type consists of more than one individual specimen mounted on a sheet.

If a specimen cannot be preserved the type may be a description or figure.

The type for a genus is species that for a family is genus.

The following terms are used in the nomenclature of types: - Holotype: the one specimen or other element designated by the author as the nomenclatural type. - Isotype: a duplicate of holotype. Ex: If several herbaceous plants(mounted on separate sheets) or several branches of a tree are collected at the same time one is designated as type and the others become isotypes. - Lectotype: a specimen or other element selected from the original material to serve as a nomenclatural type when no holotype was designated at the time of publication or as long as it is missing - Syntype: Any one of the two specimens cited by the author when no holotype was designated or more than one specimen is designated as type. - Neotype: a specimen or other element selected to serve as nomenclatural type as long as all of the material on which the description of the new species was based is missing.

3) Priority:

Each taxon can bear only one correct name and the correct name is the earliest legitimate one except in case of limitation of priority by conservation.

The principle of priority does not apply to names of taxa above the rank of family.

4) Names of Families:

The name of a family is a plural adjective and is formed by adding the suffix -aceae to the stem of a legitimate name of an included genus ex. Rosaceae

5) Names of Species:

It is a binary combination consisting of the name of the genus followed by the specific epithet.

If an epithet consists of two or more words, these are to be united or hyphened like Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.

Specific epithet should not be a repeat of generic epithet, like Linaria linaria such names are tautonyms.

6) Names of Infraspecific Taxa:

An infraspecific taxon when containing the nomenclatural type or next higher taxon cannot be indicated by epithets.

Article 26 requires that in such case the specific epithet should be repeated unaltered in infraspecific taxon.

Ex: Lobelia spicata var.originalis McVaugh should be named Lobelia spicata Lam.var.spicata.

7) Names of Plants in Cultivation:

Plants brought from the wild into cultivation retain original names.

For example forms of Chrysanthemum parthenium brought into cultivation are not to be renamed.

8) Conditions of Effective and Valid Publication:

According to Article 29 of the code publication of new names and descriptions are effective when the printed matter is distributed to the general public or to at least ten botanical institutions with libraries accessible to botanists generally.

The date of effective publication is the date on which the printed matter became available.

9) Retention of Names of Taxa which are Divided:

When a genus is divided into two or more genera the original generic name must be retained for the genus including the type of species.

For ex. Lychnis dioica L. was divided by Miller into two species which were named as L. dioica L. Emend Mill and L. alba Mill.

10) Changes in Names of Taxa:

This may be required by transferring of the taxon or by its union with another taxon of the same rank or by a change of its rank. (Article 51).

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Assault on Precinct 13

What do you get if you mash up RIO BRAVO (1959) and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)? If you’re lucky you get John Carpenter’s ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976, Criterion Channel no more, Peacock, Prime, Tubi, Plex), a taut action thriller that grabs you from the first percussive notes of Carpenter’s score (he also wrote the script and did the terrific editing) and doesn’t let go until the end, and that despite some uneven performances (that many critics didn’t seem to notice) and a questionable treatment of race.

It's the last night at Precinct Nine (the error in the title came from the original distributor, who thought “13” sounded more ominous) in Los Angeles’ worst neighborhood. New lieutenant Austin Stoker is only supposed to be babysitting until the crew shows up to shut it down officially the next morning, but before long he’s forced to take in a trio of convicts when one gets dangerously sick during transport to death row. Then an older man (Martin West) in shock bursts in. He can’t tell why he’s there, but we’ve seen him retaliate against the gangland killing of his daughter by shooting the gunman. Now the area’s deadliest gang is attacking the precinct, forcing Stoker to work with the convicts when all the other officers are killed.

Carpenter has written a crackerjack script with good dialog, a lot of it inspired by Howard Hawks’ films. The main convict (Darwin Joston) keeps asking for a cigarette at the unlikeliest times, a running gag right out of Hawks’ Westerns. There’s also a tough secretary who can hold her own with a gun and a quip. Unfortunately, the actress, Laurie Zimmer, is inexpressive in the wrong ways. She can’t hold a candle to such Hawks women as Angie Dickinson or Lauren Bacall. At that, she’s better than Carpenter regular Nancy Loomis as another secretary so shrill and hysterical you don’t expect her to last long. Fortunately, Stoker and Joston are both quite good at capturing one of Hawks’ most reliable tropes, the two men brought together by proficiency in the face of danger. Carpenter has Joston flirting with Zimmer but the real heat is between the two men.

Early on, a radio report on the gang, Street Thunder, points out that they’re the rare group with members from all races. That’s supported by the casting of Frank Doubleday, who has great presence, as the group’s White Warlord (that’s how he’s billed). Once he’s killed, however, it’s hard to miss that all of the gang members we see assaulting Precinct Nine are people of color. Carpenter treats them like the zombies in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. They’re the faceless other, only they do have faces, and unfortunately, they’re all black and brown.

[aquariuminfobureau]

As a child I grew to be very fond of the Interpet series of pet care manuals. Like Usborne and Dorling Kindersley imprints, they not only stimulated me with their subject matter, such as tropical fishes and aviary birds, but with their wonderful graphic design. It looks good to have a set of books on one's shelf, that just 'go together', especially when the content is useful, and the pages are beautiful.

As an example of the series, I will examine Livebearing Fishes by Peter W. Scott. To look at the cover, this is the 1999 print run, but the book was first published earlier. The volume is a great introduction to the format of this series, and how the books could blend together basic, entry level how-to, with more esoteric information.

The livebearers as a group of fishes, are best known through four kinds of fishes, that have been selectively bred, into a diversity of color and finnage morphs - the (common or southern) platy and the (green) swordtail of the genus Xiphophorus, the guppy or Lebistes reticulata, and the mollies of the genus Mollienisia. All of these fishes share an ancient, hypothetical common ancestor, a poecilid toothcarp that had already transitioned first to internal fertilization, and then to viviparity.

Although the disparity among the domesticated strains of these species, does not match that among the goldfishes, or certain other domesticated species such as the dog, their diversity is nonetheless remarkable, as is well illustrated by a page featuring guppies. Were these morphs naturally occurring, rather than developed by the hand of man, they would surely not all be regarded as conspecifics.

Human agency has removed the pressure from dangerous natural predators, that eat visible little fish in their ancestral habitats, and intentionally controlled which fishes passed on their genes through generations. Charles Darwin well understood this sort of thing, and he called it, 'artificial selection'.

Many people would find it strange to regard any organically bred livestock as genetically engineered, but all of artificial selection is the technics of manipulating the future of organisms, by engineering their future heredity. The wild progenitor fishes slready possessed high enough genetic diversity, that the potentialities of their diverse descendants was already latent, but not expressed in the wild environment, because of natural selection.

The Interpet guides are not without informational content. In this color diagram, the pregnancies of two anablepids and a goodeid, are illustrated. Although both these clades of fish are relatively close relatives, they transitioned to viviparity independently. In fact their most recent common ancestors, did not even practice fertilization internally.

Livebearing or viviparity has actually evolved a few times among true fishes, and 'fish-like vertebrates' which would include the old pre-cladistic definition, which survived as the focus of ichthyology. A disproportionate number of the transitions, surprisingly enough, occur within one clade of fishes named the cyprinodonteans, and specifically their subclade, the cyprinodontoids, to which both goodeids and anablepids brlong.

The most recent common ancestors of these clades was not viviparous, nor did they even possess the prerequisite state of internal fertilization, without which the transition to viviparity would have been impossible. No one has ever really explained why only cypryinodontoids are so prone to evolve into livebearing fishes, when other fish are not.

Even among the poecilids, the clade including the most familiar livebearers in aquariums, viviparity evolved twice from a common ancestor that already possessed internal fertilization, although its babies developed externally, ie. oviparity. The sister clade to poecilids, are the anablepids, representing a third evolution of viviparity in this subclade alone.

Two other clades of cyprinodontoid fishes are known to have evolved vivipareity. One of them is the goodeines, the split-fin toothcarp. Split-fins are sisters to the oviparous genera Profundulus, Crenichthys, and Empetrichthys, all of them killifishes retaining the external fertilization of their more distant relatives.

A further evolution of viviparity among the cyprinodontoids, has occurred in a South American genus, Fluviphylax. Finally among the broader cyprinodontean clade, viviparity has also evolved once among the beloniforms, in the zenarchopterid halfbeaks.

As an aside, what exactly is a toothcarp? Goodeids and poecilids are both known as 'livebearing toothcarp', as are several oviparous cyprinodontoids. In fact fishes known as toothcarps, do not form a natural descent group within the cyprinodontoids, in the way that the pupfishes can be identified with the cyprinodontid clade. Sometimes a species can be identified as either, interchangeably, and a clade such as the goodeids may count both 'killifishes' and 'toothcarp' among its members.

In all I find it fair to say that 'toothcarp' and a related word, 'topminnow', are partial synonyms of 'killifish', and both refer to the cyprinodontoid clade of killifishes. The archetypal killifishes of the aplocheilid or aplocheiloid sister group, are never referred to as either, nor are the ricefishes, which are also traditionally killifishes, and are now regarded as basal beloniforms. So that all three of the major cyprinodontean subclades, include 'killifishes' among their members.

None of the species that are known as killifishes are viviparous, though some have internal fertilization, which they have evolved more than once, as a result of intensified competition between male fishes. Yet not all of the killifishes that are called toothcarps, are viviparous fishes.

The Interpet guides feature memorable diagrams, in this case showing how a breeding trap works. The evolution of pregnancy and penetrative sex in livebearing fishes, might remind us of ourselves, and other placental mammals.

But unlike mammals, the familiar livebearers are not among those species of fish, that guard or provide for their offspring after partuition. Although carrying their offspring internally for a prolonged period, is a significant parental investment by the mother.

Because newly born livebearers fit into the mouths of their parents, there is a real risk of cannibalism in these fish species. Breeding traps are designed and manufactured to reduce the danger, by allowing the vulnerable newborns to find safety where their hungry parents cannot teach them.

Domesticated livebearers are among the easiest of all tropical fishes to keep, but their prolific reproduction can be problematic when the males and females are cohabited. Children are either fascinated or disturbed, when they see cute baby fishes eaten in the fish tank.

Livebearers are not only guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails. The genus Anableps is an estuarine fish that has evolved to hunt at the surface of the water. Technically it has only one pair of eyes, exactly as we do, excepting that Anableps can simultaneously watch both above and below the water surface. It would have been very easy for Interpet simply to feature captive bred livebearer morphs, but these guides can be so much more

The halfbeaks are a taxonomically confusing assemblage of fishes, sharing an I testing craniofacial morphology. It is still not certain exactly how they are related to their relatives, the predatory clade of gars or needlefishes with their saury sisters, and the gliding exocets.

Not all halfbeaks are viviparous, but all of the viviparous halfbeaks belong to a natural or monophyletic clade. Again, it would have been easy to overlook the halfbeaks, in a book about viviparous aquarium fishes, simply because they are such oddballs.

The major clade of poecilid livebearers is not merely covered as domesticated breeds, either. Not considered often by most aquarists, are a diversity of wild poecilid species and genera. Some of these, such as Phallichthys, are also featured in the Interpet guide, right after a sampling of the split-fin livebearers.

Among other content, the Interpet guide touches upon wild members of the genera Poecilia (using a consensus, overly broad definition) and Xiphophorus. There is gene flow and interfertility between different species assigned to Xiphophorus, both in the wild and in the aquarium. Some described species are recognized by some authors, yet dismissed as hybrids by others. In all it's a book with surprising content, given it's low price, and Introductory nature.