#lovely paleo reconstruction btw

[way-past-future]

A school of saxofones

A school of Macroscaphites search for the best plankton-rich current for suspension feeding

[peregrination-studies]

So, what're some of your favorite prehistoric sea creatures? I've always loved trilobites, but the dunkleostus has recently founds it's way into me heart

First off, AMAZING ask. 13/10. Second, it’s SO HARD TO CHOOSE, but after much deliberation:

(Pic source left showing trilobite diversity and right of trilobite reconstruction art)

I’m with you on trilobites. I honestly think trilobites are my favorite. They were so RESILIENT and diverse. I wrote an essay on trilobites and their (lovable trait of) diversification and what that means for evolution as a whole, so I’m a little partial to them just bc I know more about them. (Of the entire group, I think Actinopeltis globosus/bubble nose trilobite is my all time fav.)

(Pic source right showing ammonite reconstruction and left showing aragonite vs high-Mg Calcite seas)

Ammonites always have a special place in my heart bc they were the first prehistoric sea creatures I ever learned about. Back when I was in elementary school, I knew fossils existed, but I never really processed that they were the remnants of REAL things that lived and had vibrant experiences in a world so different from ours now. I saw a picture of an ammonite for the first time when I was maybe nine? And my life was forever changed. Also the fact that their shells are made from aragonite is just really heckin cool and has inspired me to do more independent research on aragonite seas/the aragonite threshold.

(Pic source right of a conodont swimming and left of up close look at conodont teeth. The expression in this conodont’s eyes is the definition of “no thoughts head empty”)

I’m a big fan of conodonts mostly bc of the conodont alteration index. Every time I think of someone heating up a conodont as a temperature gauge, I think of that post “who was the man who first salted the slug, what was he thinking to try?” sung to Billy Joel’s Piano Man. Bc it’s wild. Like. Baking conodonts. It’s just hilarious to me for some reason. They’re also great simply because they are very easy to draw. Just make a squiggly line on the page and bam, that’s a conodont. Also they’re very related to hagfish, and who doesn’t love hagfish?

(Honorable mention to pregnant ichthyosaurs. Source x.)

These are pretty basic answers, whoops. 😂 DUNKLEOSTUS MY BELOVED. Also, I have no recollection of requesting paleo asks but THANK YOU for this ask!! (I also run @intersection-of-art-and-science where I post more science-y stuff btw. This account def has the occasional paleoblr content, but my science account’s got a lot more.)