#nimravidae

[tysonfurybattlepass]

trick or treat! show us keets! ((cats))

you get a game of spot the difference!

not only are these two different species, one of them isn’t even a cat!

the animal on the left is an extinct nimravid called dinictis felina. it has a shorter tail, flatter blade-like canine teeth, and five toes on each back foot.

the animal on the right is a modern felid: the mainland clouded leopard, neofelis nebulosa. it has a longer tail, thicker conical teeth, and four toes on each back foot.

though these animals are not closely related, they have very similar body plans. this is likely because they share similar lifestyles and environments, which favor specific traits like body size and shape. convergent evolution at its finest :3

[sina-man]

"False saber-tooth vs False ostrich"

Pogonodon ambushes a young urmiornis. Southern Ukraine , Late miocene.

[manusuchus]

Dinictis felina

A Nimravidae genus from Late Eocene/Early Miocene North America.

Dinictis did not reach large sizes (1.1 m long and 0.6 m high), probably occupying an ecological niche similar to that of some of today's small/medium-sized wild cats, since the position of top predators was occupied by creodonts such as Hyaenodon or entelodonts like Archaeotherium. I must remind you that, although superficially very similar, nimravids like Dinictis were not closely related to true felids, just being another extreme case of convergent evolution.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello lovely mods! Thank you so much for all the work you put into this library - it's really helped me get into reading fan fiction (especially since I'm rather late to the game)! I've been having a wonderful time going through your cottage and fluffy tags! Do you all happen to have any more recommendations for fics where Aziraphale and Crowley move into a cottage together after the apocolypse? All ratings are lovely, although if you could throw in one asexual fic it would mean the world to me! Thank you all so much again :)

Hello my dear! Have you seen our south downs cottage tag?

Here are some I have enjoyed.

a paradox of love and faith (or the winter of our grace) by Nimravidae for weatheredlaw [rated E, 16k words]

To love is to heal -- that is to say it is messy and inconsistent. Crowley struggles to find closure for past wounds, to yield to the idea that he could be loved as he has loved.

It all comes to a head between relentless nightmares about God and an apple tree that won't grow apples.

Luckily, Aziraphale is there to catch him should he Fall once more.

Causalities include: A greenhouse, an indeterminate amount of plants, and a sense of self and place.

A Better Place For Us To Be by Mackem for dairyme [rated T, 14k words]

A smile spreads across Aziraphale’s face. “You’re not speaking hypothetically, are you?” he asks softly, because he needs to be sure. Because they spent millennia not saying how they felt, and he would prefer never to face that uncertainty again. “Do you really mean it, Crowley? You’d like to move somewhere else? Together?”

“Of course together. There’s no me without you,” Crowley says immediately, his voice low and tender. Aziraphale reaches out to him instinctively with a soft noise, and Crowley lets himself be reeled closer when Aziraphale fastens a hand around his wrist. He chuckles affectionately when Aziraphale nuzzles briefly into his lean stomach, overcome for just a moment by the warmth in Crowley’s voice.

Sometimes he wonders how on Earth he managed to persuade himself that Crowley had ever felt anything other than love for him, when the sheer force of it is like a tidal wave crashing over him, washing away millennia of doubt.

equinox by leaveanote [rated E, 9k words]

Here in the South Downs cottage, Crowley has more than he ever thought he would: the two of them, safe, and he gets to live alongside Aziraphale every day. He still can't bring himself to say it, though, still finds himself wanting, doesn't want to drag the angel down with the mess of his love, doesn't want to ruin what they have.

Aziraphale, however, is getting tired of Crowley staring longingly off into the night sky, and confronts him.

There is more of a balance here than Crowley thought.

***

The angel smiles. That crinkling kindness, that laugh in the corner of him, bright and deathless and pure, and Crowley’s resolve is melting. Aziraphale does remove his glasses now, fingers brushing his temples, folds them into his own pocket, pocketing Crowley’s last defense. Neither of them looks away. The night sounds clutter around them, the sway of elderly oak branches, the gentle scuttle of a village turning itself into bed, reinventing for the next day, the caw and croon of things with feathers, searching for love. A knowing hum in an ancient throat, leaning in.

Something We Were Withholding Made Us Weak by triedunture for subiteveneinorem [rated M, 17k words]

"Yes, exactly. Retire." Aziraphale reaches for the last remaining tartlet brimming with summer berries. "Somewhere along the south coast, perhaps."

Or: Crowley and Aziraphale learn to move in tandem.

An Evening On A Porch by DandelionDrabbles (AnonymousDandelion) [rated G, 500 words]

“Hello, Crowley,” said Aziraphale, eyes popping open. “Where are you going?”

“Oops.” Crowley offered a slightly apologetic smile. “Didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Never a bother,” Aziraphale countered, smiling back at him.

“Mm.” Crowley raised an eyebrow. Aziraphale still looked just as relaxed as before, thankfully, so that gave Crowley free reign to be a pest. “Is that,” he asked, “a challenge?”

~ ~ ~

OR: Aziraphale and Crowley share a soft slice of quiet time and snuggles on a swing.

On the Act of Hair Washing: A Treatise on Love by cheerios_and_wine [rated G, 867 words]

"Thought I'd start by washing your hair." Crowley's voice was almost shy, like he thought it was too much. Like it was exposing part of him to admit it was something he wanted to do.

It was all so new still. This cottage they had bought together. The romantic atmosphere. The freedom to touch. The love openly displayed.

It took reminding sometimes, that this was allowed. That they could give themselves to each other like this.

Crowley washes Aziraphale's hair. After 6000 years of repression, of Heaven's cold barrenness and Hell's crowded filth, simple loving touch feels overwhelming. Some tears are had.

-Mod AB

[sabertooth-showdown]

WELCOME TO THE SABERTOOTH SHOWDOWN.

Saber-toothed (adjective): having long, sharp canine teeth

Admittedly, this is a fairly niche topic, so before actually constructing the bracket and releasing the matchups, I think it’s important to give a background for each taxon. That way, everyone will have at least a little bit of information to base their votes on!

The competitors will be organized at the genus rank, as many are extinct and there simply isn’t a whole lot we can infer about the variation between some species from only their fossils.

Each competitor will have a dedicated post including their overall ecological success, as well as my personal opinion of how they would rank in a tier list format. If you disagree with any of my arguments, please feel free to voice your opinion, as well as argue for the placement you feel is most appropriate for each competitor.

I will tag each background/rank post by the competitor’s genus, family, and class.

CURRENT COMPETITORS

There are currently 22 genera included in the tournament. Organized by family, they are as follows:

Felidae: Homotherium, Megantereon, Xenosmilus, Machairodus, Smilodon, Neofelis, Dinofelis

Nimravidae: Nimravus, Hoplophoneus, Dinictis, Quercylurus

Barbourofelidae: Barbourofelis

Oxyaenidae: Machaeroides

Thylacosmilidae: Thylacosmilus

Gorgonopsidae: Inostrancevia, Lycaenops

Lystrosauridae: Lystrosaurus

Anomocephaloidae: Tiarajudens

Stahleckeriidae: Lisowicia

Cervidae: Hydropotes

Cercopithecidae: Papio

Uintatheriidae: Uintatherium

If you have a genus in mind that you think should be included, please submit it, as well as your personal appraisal of their rank!

[beedreamscape]

I'm always happy when people read my crappy excerpts for Laerryn and Loquatius, but I'd like to reccomend some of my favorite loquaerryn fics from ao3 in no specific order:

The Herald and the Architect: A Pre-Calamity Correspondence, with commentary by E. Widogast by Sansrecourse

Oh my, this was made especially to murder me, I cry every time I read this. These are a compilation of notes and letters Loquatius sent to Laerryn, his famous pneumatic tubes. And I LOVE love letters from real life (Dear Betsy comes to mind, Letters to Vera, etc). The attention to details!!! The angst!!!

I don't have the best voice but I'm very tempted to one day record a podfic for this (bc to make myself suffer more I read this fic outloud through actual tears).

And Seelie Makes Three by VillainIHaveDoneThyMother

Angst disguised as smut, it's been a while since I read it and I'm giving myself the space to forget b4 I go for it again, but I remember how the introspection woven between the lines wrecked me. Most of them end in a fade to black (it's in 5+1 format) and all carry a deep look into their relationship with each other and the ring of brass.

I Know You Wanna Love Me Like This by xLoveMx

On his knees. All you need to know.

end the vows, no need to lie by hauntedjaeger (saellys)

WOW WOW this one is a punch packed into a kiss and vice versa. It's a recount of how Laerryn got the house and the surname. It's a lighter read with the feels built in between the technicalities of divorce.

reset (repeat) by Nimravidae

One of my favorites if not favorite piece of smut I've read. It's the famous closet encounter (or one of them...), it has got the feels and the drama. *chef's kiss*

Everybody Loves Counting by humanbean, thought

This one left me speechless, hanging on every word, every move. It's about the start of a night between the divorseelies, Zerxus, and Evandrin. Slow burn tension, beautiful introspective narrative, very sensual air.

we've not got long, you know, to bask in the afterglow by hauntedjaeger (saellys)

Lovely sexy smut, I think quiddie herself shared this at some point. Another interpretation of the coat closet, this time in very early days of their relationship.

you can test my mettle with a magnet and some tin snips by humanbean, thought

Very recent read, very interesting dynamics that have me flexing my hand like Mr Darcy. So good, won't explain the plot, just read it, discover it slowly.

once more before the fall by cobaltsouls

The angst, the feels, the pain of everlasting love for the one you let go, BUT BUT, it's hurt/comfort! Lovely read.

The State of Affairs by nplutonian

Angst and the mistakes made in the lack of affection. Read if you're in the mood to suffer just a little.

and for thy name (take all myself) by angelsdemonsducks

Fey, names, and Laerryn Coramar-Seelie. A lighter read, just wonderful.

There are many that didn't make it here that I'm sure are great but whose plots aren't my jam (I think it's noticeable I don't have any directly connected to calamity recs here) nor the ones that I might've liked but were under 1k words, I do encourage y'all to go perusing their tag there.

[computercreature]

paleontology is actually so cool. did you know there was a cat that walked plantigrade (nimravidae)

[relaw-sidepog]

[chris-mga2022mi6021]

[RR-052] Further Research

for the purpose of changing the story structure I had to do some more research and here they are:

"The hides and sinews and plant fibers worn by our ancestors all rotted away, leaving little physical trace in the archaeological record. Humans had to have worn clothing more than 5,000 years ago, of course."

What did the Early Man Wear?

Answer: In the early period, the intellect of the early man was not developed. But still, the early man developed a sense of psych and wore whatever was present in the environmental space around him to cover his body. 

The early man used the following things as his piece of clothing –

Dresses were created by the Tree leaves and branches of the big trees.

Animal skin; the skin of the animal was left to dry out and later used as clothing for the early man. 

erectus was the first human species to make hand axes (Acheulean tools). These were sophisticated stone tools crafted on two sides. They were probably used to butcher meat, among other purposes. Prior to that, the tools of ancient humans and their predecessors, including those of the first known H.

What tools did the early man use?

The Early Stone Age began with the most basic stone implements made by early humans. These Oldowan toolkits include hammerstones, stone cores, and sharp stone flakes. By about 1.76 million years ago, early humans began to make Acheulean handaxes and other large cutting tools.

Saber-toothed Cats

"Smilodon is a genus of felids belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats."

Why did the Sabre Tooth Cat go extinct?

"Saber-toothed cats went extinct between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, as the ice age drew to an end and their prey began to die out. Even so, these formidable hunters certainly left their mark on the world – quite literally here at White Sands, as we have found their footprints!"

Caves with bushes and dried plants

Continental drift

"The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener. In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other."

What does continental drift explain?

"The continental drift hypothesis (introduced by Alfred Wegener in 1912) states that at one point in time, all of the continents were joined together as one large mass of land, then the land spread apart and drifted into their current positions."

How does a glass ball reflect light?

"Glass doesn't just reflect light, it also refracts it. Glass balls do so to the extent that what is behind them can appear to be upside down. The image with the egg in the eggcup at the top of the page was just one photo."

How does a glass sphere refract light?

"The curved surface of the glass sphere functions as a large collecting surface for the light rays, which are then refracted toward a common focal point in a manner similar to that of a convex lens."

[allyssotd]

nimravidae

content warnings: none

[ailurinae]

Excellent name for a Nimravid - Pangurban egiae

(Even if from California)

CC @pangur-and-grim @dduane

[tysonfurybattlepass]

trick or treat!! 🎃

you get a maofelis cantonensis cranium!

this nicely preserved skull is the first piece of nimravid material ever found in asia, and its basal position in the family suggests that this area may be where nimravids experienced their earliest diversification! thank you maofelis cantonensis for your insight into the early history of this fascinating feliform family!

nimravids are often referred to as “false sabertoothed cats” due to their morphological similarities with true cats. however, nimravidae is a separate family from felidae, and the differences can be seen best in their odd foot and toe structure.

[alphynix]

Nix, may I please ask how you would distinguish between the Machairodonts and the not-actually-cat sabertooths (like the Nimravids or the Barbourofelids) in you were ever inspired to draw them side by side? (also, may I please ask if you have ever illustrated one of the Amphicyonidae?).

I’d distinguish the “false sabertooth” nimravids and barbourofelids by making them visually less cat-like, since they’re non-felid feliforms.

Differences in nose and ear shape can go a long way in making mammals look distinct from each other, so I’d try to avoid doing the classic triangular cat nose.

Plus they both have those bony flanges on their lower jaws that machairodonts lacked.

Nimravids have slightly longer snouts and smaller nasal cavities, and being very basal feliforms I’d give them more “generic carnivoran” features based on relatives like viverrids and nandiniids.

Barbourofelids have rather deep jaws and a a sort of square-ish head shape. Their taxonomic position is a little uncertain – they’re either the sister group to felids or close relatives of nimravids –  so I could potentially push their appearance even less cat-like, too.

–––

As for bear-dogs… I did actually illustrate a couple of those for a PBS Eons episode a little while back! I’ll be showing them off here along with a few other images very soon.

[nimravidae-art]

time to mass-upload some of the art i’ve done this month! my good pal gryphon commissioned me to do a reference sheet for her silly little octoling man

his full name is bento beverage box, and he’ll do your taxes!

[makairodonx]

Hoplophoenus Skirmish

In the middle of the Eocene plains of what is now Wyoming a male Hoplophoenus has stumbled upon a tenacious female...and a little fight ensues as Megacerops and Oreodonts watch in the background. Probably based on real-life interactions between males and females among lions, leopards and Jaguars.

[earthstory]

palaeoart

Although I visited the Bakewell Rock Exchange yesterday on the hunt for nice British fossil specimens, this specimen from an old collection being sold caught my eye. This is a nice example of a Dinictis squalidens - a species of false Sabre-tooth cat (Nimravidae) from the Oligocene white river formations of South Dakota 30 million years ago. These are tough to get hold of and it’s in pretty decent condition. It’s got one complete Sabre (albeit a little weathered) but the fossil skull has all of the key features characteristic of a Dinictis - most notably the elongated canines. The notes that came with this were incredibly detailed showcasing when the fossil was originally purchased in the 80s and even the details of the exact location it was found. It’s a good example of the details that should be kept with any piece in any collection.

#dinictis