#mandible = lower jaw bone

[judgingskeletons]

Will you please judge the bones on my cookie plate? 🤣

Oh Wow! Look at these fellows! They've got holes in their hand bones! Their feet bones are baffling! Their skulls remind me of Shrek's babies' heads! All their long bones are the generic cartoon bone shape (my beloved)! Extra elbow bones! Too few ribs! The vaguest mandible you could create! Their pelvises make me think of upside down hats! What absolutely delightful and baffling fellows! 1/10 <3

[judgingskeletons]

Thanks for the tag!!

Lots of fusion in that top fellow: singular hand and foot bones, some merging of the arms bones and leg bones, the mandible looks just about fused to the rest of the skull. Fellow's got too few ribs. Decent femurs though 5/10 Sure is made of bones!

You're right about the lower fellow's spine, there's too much of it! Also too few ribs. Their clavicles looks fused to their sternum and join it a bit low. Nice skull, can even see some decently accurate looking sutures. Generally good bone shapes. The sacrum's got no holes in it :(. Not gonna judge the carpals though, got a headache 7/10 Love this fellow, always happy to see them <3

[wiremotherofficial]

also it seems like at least a significant portion of my eye pain is directly tied to jaw clenching, so there is a nonzero chance of significant improvement after the tongue tie release

[b1asho]

Oougghhhh I'm BACK, FINALLY !!

Anyway, say hello to the Drecu (Dorest and Rox), one of the two species in the genus of sophonts known as the Cerest (the other guys are coming up next, they're taller and considerably more violent than the average bug lizard) Here's the info I couldn't cram into the image:

This group is called Drecu, whereas the other type is called Sundyne (Seru is the name for Sundyne royalty/their idea of the best life form)

Dorest and Rox are both under the Drecu classification, and are more closely related to their common ancestor than the Sundyne.

They have very different appearances, but they are unisex, with each individual having the capabilities of insemination and gestation.

Their dimorphism is based on what tasks they do in the colony, essentially splitting them between “”worker”” and “”soldier”” rather than male and female.

Rox are considerably larger, have thicker shells and scales, mildly venomous quills on their arms and back, and have a large thumb claw on their hands to aid in grappling and slicing.

The venom is released once the quill is detatched, as the separation causes a muscle around the sac at the quills base to spasm and send it out the tip.

It has little to no irritating effect on non-Cerest, but if one of their own is barbed it will cause localized numbness and pain/swelling elsewhere as the venom takes effect. Several quills in rapid succession has been known to be debilitating for Dorest.

They have more sensitive hearing gained through the large discs on their forehead that catch vibrations in the air. Their eyesight is worse, however, with two of their eyes being small and fixed on their forehead, mostly motion-based. Their mandibles are larger, sharper, and they sacrifice space for an ear canal in favor of more room for muscles to make the jaws as powerful as possible. When closed, the mandibles fold around the upper and lower beak to give the illusion of cheeks. Their palps fill in the gap between the bigger mandible and upper jaw, and are used to manipulate food. they also have two ‘teeth’ near the back of their mouth and throat that they vibrate their palps against and snap to speak (combined with another structure in their throat that sort of acts like vocal cords thatvtheybuse to make larger sounds).

The teeth also help them break apart hard foods like bone and other organisms exoskeleton.

Due to their larger body size/space for eggs, tendency to stay within their territory rather than forage elsewhere daily, and ability to defend themselves, Rox are often the ones who gets the eggs transferred to them for brief gestation.

Dorest are smaller, with longer legs and tail. They have stamina and speed, but aren’t really that strong, instead relying on their numbers to get things done. Their mandibles are weaker smaller, and duller but their palps are more developed and dexterous, and cover their mouth opening entirely. They speak in the same way as Rox, but they sound more high pitched.

It is unknown how naturally all of these very extremely different traits evolved since they have a storied history of genetic manipulation and experimentation on their populace (and a storied history if deleting that history from history)

Anyways as you can imagine their sex and gender can get pretty complicated. Due to how their units were originally structured (with social power coming from reproductive rights and number of children) and resulting current social reinforcement/emphasis on role division into the D and R binary , they dont actually recognize a 'neutral' or 'dual' identity despite being physically that way (similarly, trying to switch between or out of your literally assigned bio type and/or role is a big no) this is largely due to their newer Sundyne leaders, who Aren't unisex and want to put their version of the binary on everything.

For them, sex is who tops and who bottoms. They can't self fertilize but both have eggs n sperm, and would naturally both uhh transfer that, but instead their role decides who does what with what,for both population control and to conform to aforementioned mf binary that dont naturally have. Only one incubates at a time, pretty much. Dorest are usually the one who inseminates, giving the eggs over for a time, but they care for offspring once the eggs are laid/ hatch so the Rox is free again to go about their business.

The two have a power dynamic, of course. Dorest are seen as the givers, while are seen as takers, in a more powerful position. Idk I'll have to do a whole separate thing on it later.

They have a specific pronoun for each role in the unit (which can further be split into their individual rank/occupation)

For example, in the absence of a Rox, a Dorest could take up the matriarch/arch pronouns and start acting like one, and vice versa (though this is not taken seriously at All by their peers, and is even illegal in most cases)

Both have antennae that help them send and receive pheremone signals that also play into their communication. These signals typically convey more basic emotions and needs, but can have a very strong effect on the individual (for example, an extreme 'hurt' or 'scared' signal from another Drecu causes similar anxiety and stress to those around them, and may even trigger an attack response towards the source.) Their scales and areas under their shell are also full of chromatophores that they can color in specific areas and patterns to convey some words or emotions. Their eyes can pick up colors that ours can’t, so often these colors changes look very minute to us (or more muted than they actually are). The unique verbal and nonverbal signals they use make their languages hard to speak or even understand, since they can “say” something to you that you can’t see or smell. They have these nonvocal modes of communication because their vocal ability is pretty limited overall. When they do vocally speak, it sounds like a human but with a voice filter (and with lots more clicking and less resonation. They almost sound like robots with their voice coming from a broken speaker)

All Cerest go through several distinct life stages after hatching, beginning as small defenseless grub things. Once they accumulate enough stored fat, they sprout spindly blueprints of their legs and arms and start to move around more independently (these limbs and tail extensions will pretty much become their bones later) They will then continue to store energy until they go through a full metamorphosis .

The prepupa will become more active, running around to align the new limb sprouts it has and to start sucking up the rest of their organs into what was their throax region. At a certain time, they will join other prepupa in a communal chamber and incase themself into a chrysalis made from a layer of skin they grow around themselves.

They'll use their previous exoskeleton/limbs/ etc to form the more complex adult lattices of endo/exo skeleton and skin/muscles/organs that will allow them to grow larger and walk upright. This is also when their brain grows more and settles in, allowing for more complex thought.

When in the chrysalis, adults around them will ‘choose’ whether they will grow into a Dorest or Rox by introducing certain chemicals through the spiracles. This decision can be influenced by a variety of factors, including the politics of the family unit.

Once they emerge, they will grow more like a reptile/crab by shedding and molting parts of their scales and shell (often aided by hot water because they’re so big. Whether their ancestors were water based is unknown, since they have removed or altered their own evolutionary history so much that no one really knows).

Speaking of that, their adult body support system is a bit convoluted (thanks to them evolving from a purely exoskeletal species that nature never intended to get all that big)

Thankfully, it's a lot less heavy than it should because of its composition of lightweight and durable carbons (with some calcium carbonate thrown in there too).

They have plates that range from hard and thick to thin and flexible that make up a segmented outer shell that is present over all their body.

It is what they molt and is primarily used for muscle attachment in their limbs, but it mostly just covers the rest of their body elsewhere.

This is because they also have a disconnected internal tube and chamber system mainly in their head, tail, neck, and torso for more places for their muscles to attach to while maintaining that bipedal stance and organ placement.

They don’t/can’t replenish these through a molting process, and instead they’re maintained from the inside more like our bones.

The rest of their body grows and shrinks around them (though limited by the outer shell on top). Gaining fat or muscle on the arms and limbs has a limit due to the shell, but on the torso they can more easily do so thanks to a third main structural layer they have:

In between the shell and the internal structures, they have a thin skin/scales layer, which can be seen best joining the gaps between the hardest and most prominent parts of their outer shell as it covers the thinner plates underneath (some places on their abdomen, the underside of their tail, the front of their neck, and several places on their face. )

This is derived from the chrysalis layer that they grew, and when they emerge it softens and wraps them.

As it dries, it dies everywhere except the edges/gaps of the outer shell, where it stays somewhat vascularized as it attaches to the edges while the outer shell is still hardening .

This layer allows for fat storage under it and prevents everything from slipping out when they molt in areas where the outer shell isn’t actually attached to anything/ is not fully encapsulating on its own.

they shed this every so often after a new one grows from underneath to replenish it since the blood flow isn’t great. Molting becomes very infrequent after pupation, usually only happening perhaps 2-3 times (maybe 4 for Rox) in their teenage years until they stop growing. There isn't a particular age for this, since some can experience spurts later on or conversely were intentionally malnourished to stay s certain size, which is common among their under classes.

On that note, molting only happens as an adult due to extreme changes in size (for example, moving up to a reproductive position can cause an increase in size from the hormones, particularly in Rox, which can trigger a molt of the outer shell to make room.)

The population tends to be more Dorest than Rox, though this balance often shifts during wartime as more offspring are converted to Rox.

Their society is divided into distinct layers, but on a basic family unit level there is usually a lead Rox, their harem of Dorest, and then their children, following am almost eusocial strcutre.

Often, there can also be subservient Rox that are non-reproductive and serve a more grunt/foot soldier role.

Units are interconnected, and eventually become a part of larger caste divisions based on their labor skills. This happened over a long period of time, since they're naturally very competitive with each other and mixing units without specific conditions being met can end badly.

These divisions are shown through clothing and ear piercings that display the symbol that corresponds to their status, but they also etch the symbol onto their forehead. This is a permanent alteration to their scale color, and is usually done in black since all Drecu are ultimately under a Sundyne no matter their own rank.

Drecu are omnivorous, though both types tend to lean towards meat due to their higher calorie needs (Rox and gravid Dorest especially, for muscle and egg building.)

They don’t chew their food and just swallow it in chunks.

Their antenna house their sense of taste as well as smell, so they can pretty much choose to not taste anything they eat by covering them or not touching them to their food.

Culturally, they are conditioned to prefer processed food (that is easy to make and distribute among their often large populations) their cuisine more focused more on meeting basic needs than being enjoyable or helping them thrive (like a lot of dog foods XD ) along with pretty much everything else (from education to housing)

Food/nutrition access is stratified by caste, so along with their other clothing and tattoo signifiers you can also tell who’s more important based on if they have glossier scales and brighter colors.

Ill get into this more below in the section on their blood chemistry, but they have a silly little expensive metabolism makes food a very effective tool for leaders to keep under classes subservient, since it’s pretty easy to control people who rely on you to keep them functioning, and their thoughts also tend to slow to a crawl without the necessary energy.

Resource control also gives a distinct physical difference between classes, like I mentioned a second ago with the colors and shell size/quality.

Their tails, for example, are made from the hardened tube remnants of the segments of their abdomen chamber when they were larva and prepupa.

With enough nutrients throughout their teenage molts, it will spread out those 4 main internal segments with the outer shell and more muscle into a longer or thicker tail.

Without, it will be shorter and thinner since the segments themselves are smaller and closer together (in some cases staying the same length as their prepupa size since they need it closer for their more limited muscle and shell to hold onto.)

The smaller tails alongside their paler colors also gives under classes a more child-like and therefore disreputable and subservient look, furthering the divide.

Housing and other basic needs are naturally borderline impossible to access unless you're a part of a functioning unit, and if not, good luck. There are no individuals in the colony, a downside as well as one of heir strengths.

They are somewhat able to regulate their body temperature through shivering, their own metabolic heat, and their hair-like filaments on their head, but are more susceptible to temperature change since they can’t store fat well as adults due to their shell. Their horns are mostly for display and general head protection, and are pretty hollow.

Dorest hands have two main digits that operate in a pincer motion, and while the other 4 are separate they are smaller and in an opposable thumb-like position , aiding with holding things and other manipulation (kind of like if your whole hand was just your index and middle finger and 4 thumbs).

Their claws are nonretractable and closer to nails. As for their feet, they’re just hooves made from the fused toes.

Rox also have the two pincer digits, but their other fingers have fused into a larger “thumb” tipped with a thick claw that they use for fighting. Their other claws are much smaller and also nonretractable. Their foot has 2 hoofed digits and one with a dull claw for kicking (like if a cassowary was also a deer. And red.)

Their blood uses two iron-based carriers: chlorocruorin in transport cells and hemerythrin that floats free in the bloodstream, which respectively gives their blood a green and/or purple color.

As their ancestors got bigger and evolved an active respiratory and circulatory system as opposed do just having spiracles/air sacs, they also started using a secondary blood chemistry to support their original, single one.

The hemerythrin works across a general range of temperatures and oxygen concentrations, widening the range of environments they can live in, but despite the cooperative binding with each other it’s very inefficient.

Thus, it takes a lot of effort and resources for them to use it, part of the reason behind their relentless expansion into new territory for new food sources etc (their body functions like metabolism will slow down and speed up accordingly, and they’re able to strip pretty much every bit of energy form the stuff they eat due to a highly effective digestive system, but due to the limited ability to store fats for later and difficulty in breaking down their own muscles for energy without collapsing their whole skeleton, them coping with scarcity essentially means going into a coma.)

Despite this, it comes with the added benefit of giving them better and faster cell regeneration and healing (through the Bohr effect and because of its potency as an immune effector), as well as immunity to carbon monoxide poisoning (due to its low affinity for that molecule, which is helpful since chlorocruorin has a high affinity for it, which helps prevent excess buildup. They also convert any access CO into material for their shells and scales. ) and nitrogen stress/decompression sickness (again, low affinity etc).

The chlorocruorin helps them in the cooler and low oxygen environments where they originated, and in mitigating the resource cost of relying more on hemerythrin while still benefitting from it.

It also needs support from the hemerythrin when anywhere too hot (where there are more resources, and where the heat helps them with sustained activity/not wasting resources on body heat, and gives them freedom to live anywhere in the wide temp range on their original planet ).

So, they are perfectly fine in cold environments and environments where humans would be fainting from too little oxygen, but could run into problems if things get too hot (as opposed to Kixeli, who have problems when things get too cold even though their blood pigment works better at cooler temperatures, because they’re entirely exothermic and evolved more reliance on the ever-present heat on their home planet for making their body functions more efficient)

As far as interactions with other species goes, it's not that great. They believe that the universe's rock tumbler of events smoothed them out into the perfect organisms, and they've chosen to make that everyone elses problem.

(Using their wormhole technology and greater foothold in space/the being-a-sentient-species game in general, they created a system-spanning empire that originally contacted and 'uplifted' the other species I've shared so far) (by uplifted i mean subjugated btw) (however, this was done under the leadership of the only other species with a worse track record, their cousins, the Sundyne.)

I'm doing them next, followed by the last species !! Who knows when that will happen, but it will.

Yippee!!

[animaraptor]

Old anatomy study about Cablesupplies aliens who evolved from "squids" animals

Also 3d variant:

"The skull of Cablesupplies is very different from the skulls of terrestrial vertebrates. Consisting of calcified chitin, it consists of almost identical upper and lower parts, two mandibles and thin pedipalps. Let's look at each of them separately.

The head consists of 4 plates, previously forming a carapace around the head. Each of them carries one eye socket and one large fenestra. The eyes at the top are fully functional, whereas the eyeballs at the bottom only help to swallow food, as is the case with terrestrial frogs. Also on the upper plates in front there are nasal passages leading air from the upper mandible to the lungs of the trunk. Moreover, the nasal passages do not intersect with the esophagus and mouth, which is why Cablesupply  can eat and breathe at the same time.

In the middle, the plates are connected by bone tissue, in which there is a bed for tissues and joints of the pedipalps. Along the edge of the plate and the bed there are ridges, to which most of the muscles of the jaws, pedipalps and necks cling.

There is no usual mouth in front of the skull - just a simple hole. It is the bone-limited size of the pharynx and oral cavity that causes Sabre-bearers to chop their prey into small pieces with the help of oral appendages and middle limbs. However, Sablenos still have full lips. this allows them not to choke on water hunting and dig the ground without eating it.

The mandibles of the Cablesupply are made of pure chitin and have notches exactly in the center. Rows of notches can be either 1 or as many as 5. At the end of both mandibles there are special movable beak-like hooks, however, in many species it is either lost or replaces the mandibles themselves. There are several nostrils on the upper mandible - one is the main one, and the others are "corrugated" slits like gills, on which olfactory receptors are abundant. These gills can work in isolation from the main nasal passage, which is why they remain functional under water. Pedipalps help Cablesupply to push food into their mouths. They consist of 3 fragments, being modified plates, mandibles and hooks. In some species, pedipalps become claws, in others they become analogous to antennas or murderous weapons. This is the most mobile part of the skull of the Saber Bearers.

Since Cablesupply do not have a spine, their neck consists of 2 bones, similar in structure to a human arm. On top of the bone is the spinal cord and trachea, and along the bottom is the esophagus. The former are protected by a special capsule of connective tissue, a layer of adipose tissue, muscles (not shown) and an analog of osteoderms."

[judgingskeletons]

Well that's just rude, knocking a fellow apart when a simple "go away" could suffice! The skull's expression agrees with me I think. Bit of an odd shape to the skull, kinda makes me think it's melting. The mandible seems to be solid at the back and the vertebrae don't seem to join the skull, but that could be due to the flesh fellow's rudeness. Different number of ribs on each side and missing some, very long sternum, clavicles connecting in a weird place, I can't identify all the long bones but there's a decent femur in there, the carpals look wrong, and I have no clue what the big round thing at the bottom to the right is trying to be, is it even a bone?? I'd have some trouble putting this fellow back together 2/10

SCRAM!

via

[risen-from-stardust]

lowkey just curious but do u have any tips for drawing yautjas? :]

Hi! Tbh this is somewhat difficult to answer, and is specially because of their heads that is the biggest "anomaly" compared to the rest of their bodies. I'll be just listing the things I noticed trough all my time drawing them, so I hope this helps.

First of all, their mouths are similar to ours in terms of how they open and close, but the skin of their cheeks is attached to the tusks. This is pretty clear when you look at pictures but when I first started drawing them this was one of my biggest isues.

The tusks are like extra bones connected to the jaws, formed by two joints, base and fang mobility.

Here is a little example using said pictures. It might seem like the upper tusks have three joints but no, they are just kinda close to the inner mouth and the upper jaw sides sometimes can be mistaken by part of the tusk. While doing this I noticed I use to do that tiny error.

Their heads are a lot more easier than some might think. The position and size of the eyes are same as ours because remember many of the movie predators are actors with massive build heads.

It consist in two parts: a crest and the hard skin that covers the base of the tresses, sometimes being more spiked, bumpy, or smooth

This, however, is not always the rule and the appearance of it can change drastically. Just look at Wolf and the emissaries (Sorry for the quality lol) or even Feral and Berserker but these two have the excuse of being a subspecies.

Hands are similar to us too but more scaly. Sometimes they have a side claw just like their feets an the texture depends, bumpy, plated or just textured like the rest of the boddy. The finger pads are just their normal skin but subespecies like Feral look like if they had something similar to gecko pads.

I tend to do them plated, is more fun to me

Gender dimorphism depends a lot on what you want to do. Its said that females are sleeker and with tiny, sharper mandibles (Hunting grounds) and some others say they look exactly the same as males and bigger (Mig mama / Dachande mention, AvP: prey - Novel) . Just have fun I guess. However! As a species that does a lot of phisical activity, it leads to a lower overall body fat percentage, which includes less fat tissue in the breasts

I might add more but this is what I can think about for now, thanks for leaving your ask :D

[strangebiology]

Oooooh! Could you show how you mounted the skull on the wall with the lower jaw? I have some deer skulls I would like to display that way but all the euro mounts and brackets I've seen are for the top only. I think that misses out on a lot!

Hi! First you need some sort of skull mount that has a peg going into the foramen magnum (hole in the back of the head where the brain comes out) and then something like a cross that cradles the occipital condyles (right outside the foramen magnum.)

Here is the one in the last video just called Skull Hooker flush mount. They’re $10 or so (+ shipping) and there are different kinds. This one is only big enough for a deer or ram but it has a hole in the center so maybe you can put something in to help it hold something bigger. Hence this long screw thing.

I might not keep the bull there, but I’m glad I installed this into a stud. The bull is heavy but the ram is fine.

Because of the angle you can fit the mandibles, like so:

There are many ways to attach mandibles to a skull (not the mount.) I used white thread and tied the (lower, only) incisors to the upper (only) incisive bones.

Then the back of the jaw is tied where they would attach in life (behind the zygomatic arches.) Fishing wire would probably be better.

Gluing might be hard. Drilling holes to improve the string attachment might help.

Good luck!

[fellshish]

Has anyone mentioned my beloved the jaw bone yet?

Its simply the best bone. The lower jaw (mandible) gives support to the whole bottom row of TEETH. (Also my beloved) And is able to provide the shape of the lower face and chin!!! (Both very grabable and loveable in their own ways)

The lower jaw is what allows the mouth to open and close! (No blowjobs/oral without it!!!)

(Unhinged asks, guess who /silly)

[judgingskeletons]

Thanks for the tag! Not a fan of this fellow! The way their maxilla curves makes my face hurt. Good shape on the mandible though the teeth are maybe positioned wrong but that's none of my business! The rest of the skull has lost some of its shape and has some extra ridges. This fellow Does have some accurate foramina though!!! 4/10 Love the sunglasses!!

How do you feel about this object

[judgingskeletons]

is it okay if you can rate the skeletons on this drawing i made? i drew them based on a (hopefully accurate) reference so i think i did sort of well??

(the hand beside harrow doesn't belong to the guy on the left, there are four separate skeletons here)

Sure thing! Love getting sent people's art <3 Glad you specificed how many skeletons there are here, I was getting a little worried about the furthest left arm!

Firstly, kudos on the hands, you've got the right number of bones, a little off on the carpal arrangement and the finger bone proportions but it can be ridiculously fiddley to get those right XD

The head of the humerus is a bit tucked behind the scapula here, it should sit kind of next to it? The scapula is like a triangle with the humerus head joining it to make the corner, so your fellow's scapulae are a bit too rounded here too.

Good clavicle and ribs positions. Ribs are quite thick but that seems like a style choice. Got your basic skull shape down, mandible's a little thin but right general shape and connects to the skull in the right place.

Really appreciate how the spinal column isn't just a single cylinder (ie the vertebrae Look like individual bones, not like so many tube spines I've seen!) Fellow to the right of Harrow is missing some processes (pokey out bits of the vertebrae), can't quite tell if their whole body is turned or just their head, which changes which processes they're missing!

Generally got the correct bones in the right places, couple of small bits a little off, overall you've got some solid fellows here 8/10

[arminreindl]

Baru: The Cleaver-Headed Crocodile

Ok back on my croc stuff, today discussing Baru. Like most the other crocs I've been talking about, Baru was a mekosuchine, a member of an endemic radiation of crocodilian native to Australasia. Baru is easily among the largest of this group and among the most robust, with massive curved teeth and almost inflated looking jaws. Left my interpretation of Baru darrowi, right the illustration by Willis et al. from 1990.

My reconstruction differs subtly in some regards, obviously the jaw material shown is from Ristevski et al. 2023 and elements of the posterior skull are based on the older Baru wickeni. My mandible also turned out slightly different, tho the quality of the images in the original description is not great so that is not guaranteed.

Anyhow, this head likely sat atop the body of what was a decently large crocodilian, with estimates suggesting four or even five meters in length for both currently recognized species Baru wickeni and Baru darrowi. As you can see below, I went for the lower estimate (which is the one given by proper publications), which still renders an immense animal all things considered, certainly holding up with many crocs of today.

Currently, there's two recognized species, one unnamed species and one that has been reassigned. The older of the named species is Baru wickeni, which was found in the Lake Eyre Basin and Riversleigh World Heritage Area during the late Oligocene. Like I already said, it was approximately as large and robust as the later Baru darrowi, but did differ in some regards. The skull had much more prominent crests, the nasal bone extended into the opening for the nares and importantly, the cutting edges of the teeth were smooth.

During the Miocene, Baru wickeni would be replaced by Baru darrowi, known from younger strata of the Riversleigh and the Bullock Creek fauna. Baru darrowi had less prominent crests, but in turn slight serrations on its teeth. Also the nasal bones did not extend into the nares. Baru darrowi is the species shown at the start.

The other two are then the unnamed Baru species from the Alcoota fossil site and "Baru" huberi. I talked about the latter before and how it is now thought to be something else entirely. Which leaves us with the Alcoota form. Generally regarded as a distinct species, fossils of the Alcoota Baru have been found from 2000 onwards near Alice Springs and appear to represent an animal more robust than the other known Baru. Below you can see a skeletal mount on exhibition at the Megafauna Central in Alice Springs (image by Aussie Bucket List) and a skull held by Adam Yates, an important researcher of this animal.

A little side note I want to mention is the name Baru. As you might have guessed from the etymology of various other mekosuchines (Kambara, Mekosuchus, Quinkana, Kalthifrons), the name actually ties into the native People of Australia. Specifically, Baru is a figure in the mythology of the  East Arnhem Region, which describes him as a sort of totem crocodile that brought law to the lands he named. Baru also had a fight with Jarkitj (Willy Wagtail) after stealing fire for himself. Sadly I couldn't find much about the mythical Baru beyond a brief summary written up by George Pascoe Gaymarani you can read here.

Returning to the animal, one would suspect that the robust skull meant that it didn't quite hunt like modern crocodiles, especially considering the serrated teeth found in the younger species. Well, tho nothing concrete is known Willis and colleagues speculate that this might have been an adaptation to shallower waters. While modern crocs tend to ambush prey, grab it using a strong bite and conical teeth and then proceed to drown it, Baru may not have had that option. A modern croc can just drag a zebra for instance into deep water, weaken it and let go to adjust its grip without the risk of it getting away. In shallow waters, this may have been too risky and lead to prey escaping. So Baru's robust head and curved, sometimes serrated teeth were built to inflict a lot of damage upon prey when lunging, securing the bite and incapacitating it. Willis estimates that it may have taken prey as heavy as 300 kilos.

There's also the interesting tidbit of Baru wickeni coexisting with a diverse croc fauna, yet being conspicuously absent from more southern regions of Australia despite entering the respective drainage basin. I go into more detail while talking about Australosuchus, but the jist of it is that Baru was likely not as cold resistant as Australosuchus and thus not found as far north.

Alas, as with other mekosuchines, not much art of Baru exists aside from this absolutely fantastic piece by @knuppitalism-with-ue

As per usual, this deep dive is brought to you as part of me redoing the wikipedia page of this genus, which resulted in a major size increase. The image below is just to show the difference, but if you want to read it here's the link: Baru - Wikipedia

[dragonthunders01]

Spec Evo Vault, Gourmand

In the world of "The New Dinosaurs", Tyrannosaurs in general managed to stay for a while as the dominant predatory "Carnosaurs" in the north regions until they slowly were replaced, but on the Neotropical regions (South America) of earth, on the grasslands of the far south, a relict survived from a branch that split out and leaked through a early land bridge across the continent around 55 million years ago.

From there the Gourmand evolved, it followed the trend of larger, even heavier big head tyrannosaurs, which lost their arms in the totality of the structure, neither atrophied bones of the shoulder girdle remained, meanwhile its legs and pelvis have adjusted to hold the even more massive body, as it not longer possess the tall more gracile bulk form that helped it to maintain a long distance gape, but a very robust and short leg form that allows it to sustain and balance the elongated form.

The early account of this titanic theropod remark that due to their massive size they Gourmand is incapable to hunt down large prey so they rely on feed on dead carcasses an digest them in long periods of time resting in the grass, having its long armor that protect it against any other predatos.

Is capable to unhinge the mandibles being capable to gobble up any potential meal, which for the lack of any shoulder bone it allows it to properly take large prey like a deep water fish.

In the manga though, from what I have hear (haven't been able to see the content for myself) there is the reference the Gourmand actually being more active and responsive towards any other predator capable to take down Cutlasstooth like in the cover, unlike the implication of the original book which depicted it as a very slow creature.

Comments and notes -I guess is interesting how this almost looks like a idealization of the "Scavenger tyrannosaur" hypothesis that have been existing for a century and went more popular around paleocircles in the late 90s and early 2000s for Horner, is not like Dixon was defending this idea maybe more like it was considered plausible if theropods became even bigger they would become slower animals that couldn't hunt its prey but go for an easy meal like a corpse, and so, depend more of scavenging.

-The way his jaw disarticulates from the skull always seemed strange to me, almost as if the jaw doesn't have an extra bone that allows it to extend, sort of like a quadrate snake that offers that extension, it just falls off and is hold by pure muscle. As well for a group characterized for the lowest kinetic skulls ever, would be odd they reverse this specialization only to become gobblers, would be likely a strong mandible could offer more opportunities to consume a prey. Even with the chance a tyrannosaur skull could become more kinetic, it likely would depend on expand the jaw structure around without detaching the lower jaw, like is inferred some theropods would have do, and specifically how it was found in spinosaurs.

-I think is interesting there might be more tyrannosaurs living in the new dinosaurs book with a mildly success, the gourmand is the only described species of the group and for the the width of the lineage in the table it really imply they are doing something decent with the number of species, where exactly are living is unknown

[bakageta]

Holiday 500 fic #5

@wazzappp's prompt! The way this worked out, I'm absolutely going to fit it into the Operation Pimp My Ride fic once I get back to working on it. I had to stop myself from writing more and continuing to some confrontation because I wanted to keep reasonably close to 500 words. Your prompt was 500% my shit and I included a lil' foreshadowing to your mandible idea as well <3

Jaime had just enough time to get to the half bathroom in the Kord mansion's entryway before his teeth started falling out of their sockets. 

“Khaji?” He paused and spat into the sink. There was a tinking noise that he ignored. A glance confirmed that there wasn't any blood. Yet. “What’s going on, Khaji!?”

Please standby, it murmured. Jaime felt Khaji’s grip around his vertebra tighten along with the muscles in his back. 

Shit.

“What do you mean stand–”

His jaw shifted. More teeth fell into the sink, molars this time. It hurt now.

Jaime wanted to grind his teeth, but he couldn't because half of them were in the sink and–

His palate crunched, deepening into his skull somehow. 

Garbled expletives shot from Jaime’s mouth, flecking spit onto the mirror. Still no blood. It felt like there should be. Beneath his tongue, the floor of his mouth swelled. Throbbing pressure built in Jaime’s top and bottom jaws.

Jaime screamed, low and wet and rasping in the back of his throat. He gripped the porcelain bowl of the sink. It cracked. “Khajiiiii…”

I am sorry, Jaime. Please standby. I am accelerating the process as much as is safe. Khaji apologized like Jaime’s mother had when he’d been a child and she’d given him bad tasting medicine.

The bones of his mouth erupted along with Jaime’s last teeth. Sharp pain lanced through soft tissues. Jaime focused on his breathing. Khaji was regulating it. In through his nose, out– wetly –through his mouth. Slow, steady, absolutely not panicking. Blood finally welled from his gums and he leaned over the sink so it flowed from his mouth and down the drain.

This is the final stage, Jaime, Khaji warned.

The cutting pain stopped for a brief, beautiful moment before it was repealed with burning. Something was growing in, cauterizing into being from Jaime’s gums just like the scarab’s carapace had over his body on initialization. He clenched the teeth that had emerged and exhaled steam. 

It was done. The pain was gone like it had never been. A blanket pulled out from under his feet leaving him unsure and unsteady. 

Beneath his tongue, Jaime could still feel two masses next to both sides of his jaw. His tongue didn't feel any different at least. Maybe– as Jaime opened his eyes, looked up into the mirror, and stuck it out –maybe his tongue wasn’t as thick as it used to be. He ran it along his teeth, and for a moment held his breath. 

They weren't his anymore. 

A glance at the contents of the sink confirmed that fact.

Jaime took another breath, held it, and let it go as he looked back into the mirror. He barred the new teeth in his mouth in a vicious grin.

They were pointed, serrated like a saw blade, and as he looked closer, Jaime realized that each point was its own small tooth. With a finger, Jaime pulled back his cheek to look at his back teeth. Instead of molars, there was a double row of saw teeth. He had so many teeth. And as he looked, he realized that there was a ridge on the inside of his lower jaw. Right under where his tongue seemed to want to naturally rest. The ridge seemed to be partially covering whatever was inside the lumps on the floor of his mouth.

Khaji was regulating his breathing again.

[uwlmvac]

MVAC is better equipped to identify archaeological bison bones, thanks to a generous donation from long-time MVAC friend Dan Maas, who raises bison. Dan gave us a bison that died unexpectedly, as well as some additional bones. Modern comparative materials are important for accurately identifying archaeological bones. We'll be processing these bison bones and adding them to our comparative collection.  Bones pictured: front, right mandible (lower jaw); center, atlas vertebra; right center, right calcaneus from lower rear leg; background, left humerus from upper front leg.

Video with more information about comparative/reference collections.

[modern-inheritance]

Chomp Chomp Motherf*cker

TW: uh...implied(?) torture and Arya being the feral elf we know her to be and possibly enjoying some finger food (spat it out eventually).

“You have caused me trouble, little elf.” His sharp teeth flashed as he spat the words. She wanted to reply, wanted to laugh in his face and tell him ‘Good!’ but even a single word could open the floodgates. She kept her mouth shut. Taunting him at another point would be best. Not when she was this…bad. Half awake. Not all there. “Two guards, dead. I’ve been too soft on you if you still have the strength left.” The shackles made a definitive click as he lifted them up and onto one of the bars that lined the wall, held her arms up so her hands hung limply just above her head.

He paused then. His thin lips began to curl up at the edges, venom dripping from his words with just as much dark amusement. “Though…” he mused. He dragged a cold finger down the woman’s jawline, lifted her chin to better study her face and the glassy haze to her usually fiery eyes. “Your attempts at combat are…very amusing to me. I would hate to waste such fight over a few humans.” 

The fire was back a split second before she sank her teeth into his damn finger. Felt bone splinter and flesh tear and blood that tasted like rot and bile fill her mouth. His other hand came up just as she yanked her head to the side as hard as she could, reveled in the burst of strength and the howl and snarl that followed. 

The snarling continued and one of his nails gouged a path up from her jaw towards her mouth as he latched onto her again. Squeezed the bone of her lower mandible hard and wordlessly roared at her. 

She spat his finger in his face in response. ‘I’m vegan anyway.’ The thought and moment of triumph had her smiling, her own sharp teeth black with shade blood. The vile liquid burned where it trickled from the corners of her lips and into the fresh gouge he had carved, but right then she couldn’t care less. Sweet victory tasted like rotten blood and acid and him screaming.