#obdurodon

[comixqueen]

Repostober 5! This is the Miocene platypus Obdurodon tharalkooschild, also known as Platyzilla!

March Mammal Madness 2021

[dry-gold]

Obdurodon, a cenozoic platypus with big teeth Onychodus, a devonian lobe-finned fish Opallionectes, a cretaceous plesiosaur

[blubushie]

Someone invents a time machine and lets you try it- you can go anywhere in the world at any time, you can pack some luggage but not much, and you get to/have to stay there for a week. Time machine picks you up afterwards. When and where do you go?

1960s Alice Springs.

Or any point during the Cretaceous period. Or Pleistocene Australia. Defo Pleistocene Australia. Hooh. I wanna see Thylacoleo and Obdurodon and Diprotodon. Zygomaturus, Procoptodon, Phascolonus, Phascolarctos, Dromornis, Dynatoaetus, Megalania (technically a Varanus species now), Quinkana, the likely-iridescent Wonambi which is thought to be origin of Ngalmudj's accepted appearance as a rainbow-coloured serpent.

Send me to prehistoric Australia.

[harpagornis]

Multituberculate Earth: Monotremes

Monotremes, in our timeline the sole non-therian mammals, are much less out of place in this alternate history. Many of their most unique features, like sprawling limbs, venomous spurs, multiple headed penises and egg laying from which poorly developed fetal babies are spawned, are way more common with allotheres around. Still, their fleshy “beaks” full of electroreceptors are like no other, and they amusingly share tribosphenic teeth (when they’re not toothless) and “normal” chewing with the unrelated therian mammals, as opposed to the palinal stroke and odd teeth of multituberculates.

In both timelines, the early Cenozoic was a period of exploration for these animals. Monotrematum sudamericum and the earlier Patagorhynchus pascuali are the first (and, in our timeline, only) monotremes to occur outside of Oceania in South America, while at this point echidnas split off from platypodes according to genetic data, likely evolving in isolation in New Guinea where they lost their aquatic habits. In Australia proper, the Obdurodon assemblage (which may or may not be ancestral to modern Ornithorhynchus platypodes) dominates the lakes and rivers, some attaining lengths of over a meter.

All of this also happens in this timeline, but the late Eocene sees the evolution of marine monotremes in the southern oceans. The absence of cetaceans and the formation of the nutrient rich circumpolar current encouraged these animals to forage in the sea, and soon they underwent an adaptative radiation, producing mollusc eaters, piscivores, filter feeders and even macropredators.

The Oligocene saw the arrival of other marine mammals to Antarctic waters, but conversely monotremes migrated northwards, soon attaining a cosmopolitan presence. With a smaller diversity of large fish than in our world, marine mammals were free to diversify exponentially, and in the case of monotremes they retained much of their diversity, with increasingly specialised durophagists, suction feeding cephalopod predators and filter feeders arising as well, the latter the most abundant.

Of the marine mammals in this timeline, they are arguably the most cetacean-like, with forms refining electroreception like our odontocetes developed sonar and others becoming analogous to baleen whales. Several species have developed vivipary and became fully marine, though a few still need to return to shore to breed.

[carrotdetective]

i’ve been talking about DD’s lore to a friend, so i thought i could share a portion of it here:

The Scarlet Bandits and Cerulean Theives, under the orders of Giulia, divided the Primus Empire into two regions: Rache and Venari. The SBs lurk in the Rache region, and CTs in the Venari region. Prior to Giulia’s uprising, the empire did not have separate regions, rather the kingdoms are connected to one political body known as the Primus Council. But when Giulia kidnapped and mind-controlled both them and Brace Investigations, she made them the ruling forces of each kingdom. Specifically, she tasked the BI to derail law enforcement agencies from investigating the crime surge and stealing from Giulia’s rivals and their connections, while the Primus Councilors drained the empire’s economy to fund their boss’ master scheme for an international monopoly.

The following are the kingdoms and bosses (PC [castle bosses] and BI [fortress bosses]) associated with their respective regions:

Rache (west)

Henge: ruled by PC Hutten (Ichthyostega) and guarded by BI Justice (Yoshi), this kingdom is the birthplace of the empire’s laws and home to the Sharplock family. Henge is also the home to a prestigious university the Cutello siblings and Sharplock brothers attended.

Olympia: ruled by PC Alketas (Styracosaurus) and guarded by BI Cleisthenes (Stygimoloch), this kingdom hosts the annual Primus Olympics and the location of ancient cities that are now ruins to visit or research on.

Oma: ruled by PC Beaudean (Sarcosuchus) and guarded by BI Amelia (Obdurodon), it is a sewage kingdom whose citizens manage an underground city, and serve as shelter from the SBs and CTs. Most of the buildings are made from empty shipping containers, especially houses.

Loch: ruled by PC Lochlan (Titanoboa) and guarded by BI Niniane (Dinopithecus), this forested kingdom is haunted by paranormal activity and famous for alleged sightings of a lake monster that resembles a giant Birdo that spits water from its mouth...or nose, whatever this creature really is.

Gaufre: ruled by PC Els (Protemnodon) and guarded by BI Romhilda (Mongolarachne), this kingdom is a hotspot for confectionaries and supposedly contains ingredients needed to bake a recreation of Princess Peach’s cake.

Kazot: ruled by PC Marisha (Rhinorex) and guarded by BI Damien (Notobatrachus), this musical kingdom is home to the wealthiest family in the Primus Empire: the Harmonis. It used to welcome fast-paced music, but the death of a Harmoni member banned the genre and settled for slow-paced music.

Loco: ruled by PC Corrado (Quetzalcoatlus) and guarded by BI Erhardt (Vilevolodon), this kingdom serves as a base to the Primus Military and the heart of the empire’s industries. It is also Thunder’s home kingdom, where she lives with her uncle and PC after her parents were killed in a car accident that triggered Thunder’s amaxophobia. Loco also contains a plethora of jobs for STEM individuals.

Folla: ruled by PC Jolanda (Spinosaurus) and guarded by BI Razor, this kingdom serves as the base of the Scarlet Bandits and one of the two kingdoms that has intense crime activity. Folla is the home of the Cutello family.

Venari (east)

Alpi: ruled by PC Weiss (Libanorhinus) and guarded by BI Noah (Prolagus), it is a mountainous kingdom and popular tourist destination due to its magnificent garden displays filled with colorful and exotic flowers; many are replicas of those native to faraway kingdoms, such as the Flower Kingdom.

Baza: ruled by PC Duman (Leptictidium) and guarded by BI Buqat (Citipati), it is a kingdom filled with a lot of shopping districts, which Baza earned this nickname: “The Primus Mall.”

Viz: ruled by PC Jensey (Archelon) and guarded by BI Kati (Juncitarsus), it is the cleanest kingdom in the empire and is popular for its hot springs. Viz’s main form of transportation are boats.

Pevnost: ruled by PC Vojtech (Megalania) and guarded by BI Sashmir (Vulpes qiuzhudingi), it is also a hotspot of paranormal activity but ghosts are mostly reported as opposed to Loch’s cryptid sightings. Pevnost has a lot of abandoned castles for avid ghost hunters to explore, and the kingdom is being debated on whether it truly introduced laws to the Primus Empire first before the Henge Kingdom. But some scholars argue that Pevnost serves as the building blocks for Henge.

Lumi: ruled by PC Soila (Dire Wolf) and guarded by BI Jean (Yijenplatycnemis), it is a festive kingdom popular for its amusement park named Lightland. Lumi is also the source for Primus’ entertainment, such as theater shows and animation studios.

Joyas: ruled by PC Fabriana (Megaloceros) and guarded by BI Merald (Therizinosaurus), it is the wealthiest kingdom in the empire due to its caves containing large amounts of gold, silver, and gemstones. However, expeditions to extract these priceless minerals resulted in accidents and deaths.

Molen: ruled by PC Rein (Haast’s Eagle) and guarded by BI Lisann (Eurotrochilus), it is a stupidly windy kingdom with a predictable weather forecast. Molen also serves as a secondary base for the Primus Military and a training area for their pilots.

Drac: ruled by PC Eligio (Baryonyx) and guarded by BI Ruby, this is one of the two kingdoms with intense crime activity. It is also the base of the Cerulean Thieves.

[sasquapossum]

I've been using Mastodon for several months now. Like here, and for the same reason (no algorithm), the vibe will be about 70% what you make of it based on who you follow, and 30% general zeitgeist reaching you through reposts etc. The vibe in my feed is very similar to here, though somewhat older and more technical and lacking the very fandom-specific stuff. It's my preferred platform for short posts, as here is for long. I'm @obdurodon@hachyderm.io BTW.

As many of you are venturing into the fediverse for the first time (mastodon, firefish, akkoma, etc)

Whatever you do, do not use Soapbox for your fediverse needs.

The creator and maintainer, Alex Gleason, of Soapbox (or Rebased as it was called) is anti-trans and was previously the head of engineering of the Trump-related social network (Truth Social).

He also worked on Poast, which was a social network for neo-nazis and a direct successor to Kiwi Farms.

Steer clear of it.

Most of the fediverse is very pro-equality, pro-LGBTQ+, and very cool. But, there are always the idiots bigots that you need to be sure to not give a dime or a second of your attention to. If you are looking for good places to start: mastodon.social, and firefish.social are both excellent places that can interact with the entirety of the fediverse.

[opellisms]

March Mammal Madness artwork from the Sea Beasties division!

-Aphrodite anthias round 1

-Lathe acteon round 1

-Obdurodon tharalkooschild AKA Platyzilla round 1

-Midgardia seastar round 1

-Didymoceras nebrascense ammonite round 2

-Vampire squid round 2

[keena-kapu]

You mentioned in some tags that you know a fair bit about megafauna and I want to know too! Please share?

I’ll give a few facts starting from ones people will probably know to the more niche ones :D

There was once a giant species of sloth known as the Megatherium. And when I say giant, I mean g i a n t

look at those lorge lads I want ten of them.

Speaking of large lads, there’s also this beastie called the Chalicotherium. It’s thought to be related to horses and rhinos, before hooves or the need for larger feet became a thing. I think the claws were used to pull branches for them to monch leaves? Admittedly I don’t know but clawed horses.

Kind of related to rhinos, the biggest land mammal to ever exist is related to the rhino! The Paraceratherium (Or ‘Near Horn Beast’) had a shoulder height of 15ft, a length of just under 25 ft, and estimated to weigh between 15 to 20 tonnes.

there it is in relation to an elephant and a person.

Last but not least because this is me, there was once a giant species of Platypus called the Obdurodon which was about the size of a medium dog!

[comixqueen]

More March Mammal Madness art! With only two vertebrates, only one of which is a mammal... it happens some years. This is the Sea Beasties division (or, as it was known backstage at first, “Gods and Monsters of the Sea”)

Species list under the cut:

Vampire Squid

Glaucus atlanticus the Dragon Slug

Pink Vent Fish (Thermarces cerberus)

the Ammonite Didymoceras nebrascense

Midgardia xandaros

Obdurodon tharalkooschild, aka PLATYZILLA

[melbournenewsvine]

The Qld icon takes a heavyweight in the title fight but only one appears as State Fossil

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said choosing the iconic dinosaur as the state’s fossil symbol would drive more outlying tourism. “Everyone loves dinosaurs, they generate millions of dollars for the visitor economy and we want to see the Queensland Outback continue to grow as Australia’s ancient capital,” he said. Statue of Mutaburrasaurus at Muttaburrasaurus Interpretation Center in Muttaburra.attributed to him:Lisa Alexander “That’s why the Palaszczuk government is investing in a dinosaur tourism roadmap to highlight the best prehistoric Queensland experiences.” The CEO of the Queensland Museum Network, Dr Jim Thompson, said that while all 12 candidates were worthwhile fossils, he was pleased with the selection of the museum’s dinosaur. loading “Mutt, as people affectionately call him, is one of the most complete skeletons of an Australian dinosaur, a great ambassador for paleontology and dinosaur history,” he said. Dr Scott Hocknall, a paleontologist at the Queensland Museum, credits Mott for sparking his interest in the field. “I started volunteering at the Queensland Museum as a kid 30 years ago and Mutaborasaurus was the first dinosaur fossil I worked on,” he said. “I used to dig dinosaurs as a kid, but now I do for real, and I can thank Motaborasaurus for that.” A fossil was added to the state by a petition last year from the Australian Dinosaur Age Museum, in the remote Queensland town of Winton, which suggested the fossil. Diamantinasaurus matildaea massively built titanosaur, becoming an official state fossil. Diamantinsaurus He came in third place in the poll with 977 votes. In total, 12 contenders were brought up for the audience to decide on, including Kronosaurus queenslandicusfrom ancient aquatic reptiles, Obdurodon dicksoniearly platypus with teeth, and Lovillea wintonensisOld flower. Muttaburrasaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in northeastern Australia over 100 million years ago during the early Cretaceous period. The partial skeleton was first discovered in 1963 by local shepherd Doug Langdon on an estate near the remote Queensland town of Muttaburra. It was officially named Mutaborasaurus to find me by paleontologists at the Queensland Museum in 1981 in honor of Mutapura and Langdon. New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia have official state fossils – two ancient fish and an ancient sea worm. Source link Originally published at Melbourne News Vine

[sasquapossum]

WTF is a kollikodon

In the beginning was the platypus. For no particularly good reason, at some point it displaced the moose as our household mascot. Being me, this meant that I learned a lot about platypuses. Yes, platypuses. “Platypi” is fun to say but it’s a Latin plural of a Greek root so it’s definitely incorrect. I’ve heard “platypodes” is the etymologically-correct plural, but I’ve also known some actual platypus scientists and they say “platypus” or “platypuses” so I’ll follow their lead. But see, now I’m already going. I could go on all day. I’m pretty good at trivia generally (maybe you could tell) but if there was ever a platypus edition of Jeopardy I would stomp all over everyone. Go on, ask me about C-type natriuretic peptide. I dare you.

So, here are two key things I learned. One is that “platypus” is almost impossible to get as a name or handle on any website. It goes early. The other thing is that platypuses have relatives. The closest contemporary relative is the echidna, which is fascinating in its own way, but I’m mostly talking about ancient relatives. That’s why my best-known name online at this point is Obdurodon. Ancient monotremes are mostly known only from their teeth, often in opalized forms. "Obdurodon" breaks down into Greek "obduro-" meaning hard or stubborn (like obdurate or obstinate) and "don" meaning tooth. So I'm a stubborn tooth. It's a bit weird, I know, but it suits my personality and it's more likely to be available. Not always, though.

For some reason, here and on Reddit, "obdurodon" wasn't available. It's entirely likely that I had created accounts and forgotten about them, and they're linked to email addresses that I no longer have. Or maybe there's some other lunatic out there. Either way, I had to look for an even more obscure platypus relative. This one is also named after a tooth, which somebody thought looked like a hot cross bun - a common Easter treat in some countries including the one where I grew up. So the scientists actually proposed "hotcrossbunodon" as the name. I kid you not. Needless to say, it got rejected by the people who get to reject such things (whoever the hell they are). So the scientists used that Greek connection again and came up with "kollikodon" because "kollix" is an ancient (not modern) Greek word for a bread roll. Sneaky, huh?

So that's why I'm kollikodon here. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gone with hotcrossbunodon instead. What do you think?

[sankarshan]

My daughter wrote a very nice note to me and my wife recently about some things going on in her life. I'm glad she felt she could trust us with that. But she used Papyrus, and I'm not gonna let that slide.

— Jeff ♨️ Darcy (@Obdurodon) October 25, 2019

[extinct-animals-en-blog]

Steropodon

Steropodon galmani was a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, that lived during the middle Albian stage, about 105 million years ago, in the Lower Cretaceous period. It is thought to be one of the earliest monotremes. Model of Steropodon galmani at the Australian Museum, Sydney Steropodon is known only from a single opalised jaw with three molars, discovered at the Griman Creek Formation, Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, by brothers David and Alan Galman. It was a large mammal for the Mesozoic, being 40–50 cm long. The lower molars are 5–7 mm in length, with a width of 3–4 mm. A length of 1–2 cm is more typical for Mesozoic mammals. Also from Lightning Ridge is Kollikodon ritchiei. The molars "bear striking resemblance to the tribosphenic pattern characteristic of living therians..." (Pascual). However, there are also differences: there is no entoconid, and an absence of wear seems to suggest that the upper molars (as yet unknown) did not have a protocone, and so implying that there was a double origin of tribosphenic teeth, one group represented by the living placentals and marsupials, and the other group being the monotremes bearing 'pseudo-tribosphenic' teeth. Woodburne (2003, p. 212) reports that the holotype is a right mandible named AM F66763. The preserved molars are m1–m3. Page 237 includes: "In Steropodon, the mandibular canal suggests the presence of a bill, with a bill also known in Obdurodon dicksoni and Ornithorhynchus anatinus." A fine photo of the opalised lower jaw can be found on page 182 in: Mackness, Brian, Prehistoric Australia, Sydney, Golden Press, 1987. More details Android, Windows

[korybing]

Last year I did DINOVEMBER, where I drew a Dinosaur every day throughout November! This year I wanted to do something a little different, so I’m doing CENOVEMBER! I’m drawing an animal from the Cenozoic every day! The second goal of the project is to teach myself how to use Clip Studio Paint, because I am scared of learning new programs.

See the captions for more information on each critter!