#pliocene period

[uk-fossils]

Large Echinoid Fossil Dendraster | Miocene Era | West Java Indonesia | Authentic Specimen with COA

This stunning Large Echinoid Fossil (Dendraster) from the Miocene epoch is a rare find, originating from the fossil-rich region of Mount Cidolog, Pasanggrahan, Sagaranten, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Carefully selected for its exceptional preservation, this specimen captures the unique features of the echinoid species and is a magnificent example of ancient marine life.

Species Information:

Dendraster echinoids, commonly known as sand dollars, thrived in shallow marine environments during the Miocene period. Their characteristic flat, disk-like form, which is optimized for burrowing in sandy ocean floors, is clearly evident in this specimen. This fossil shows remarkable detail, preserving the intricate pentaradial symmetry and surface patterning that are hallmarks of the species.

Product Details:

Era: Miocene

Species: Dendraster (Large Echinoid)

Origin: Mount Cidolog, Pasanggrahan, Sagaranten, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Indonesia

Size: Refer to the scale cube (1cm) in the photo for precise dimensions

Authenticity: 100% genuine fossil specimen, complete with a Certificate of Authenticity

Condition: Exactly as pictured – this is the exact specimen you will receive

A beautiful addition to any collection, this fossil has both scientific and aesthetic value. All our fossils are carefully sourced, ensuring quality, authenticity, and the highest ethical standards.

[skyradiant]

The seven deadliest seas of all time.

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Titanis (Titanis walleri)

(Photo from Florida Museum of Natural History)

Conservation Status- Extinct

Habitat- North America

Estimated Size (Weight/Length)- 150 kg; 2 m tall

Diet- Mammals

Time Period- Pliocene; Early Pleistocene

Cool Facts- Titanis was one of the larger terror birds that stalked the plains of North America for thousands of years. Incapable of flight, Titanis most likely relied on its long legs to outrun its prey. While a skull has never been found, it is assumed that Titanis had the massive, ax-like beak other terror birds of the time period had, leading to interpretations of what its complete skeleton may look like. Due to having excellent movement in their neck, it is believed that Titanis would chase down its prey and batter the animal to death with its massive beak. Titanis most likely went extinct due to competition from new predators, especially bears and big cats.

Rating- 11/10 (Could outrun a horse.)

[joeycbang]

I took a four week intensive on Scientific Illustration over the summer, and these are what I consider my best work. It was a very interesting experience and I don't think I've learned so much in that short of a period before.

Specimens:

Thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus: Copy of WAM 13.2.16

Red Kangaroo Osphranter rufus: FUR 272

Euowenia grata: FU 2671

References:

Camens, A. and Wells, R. (2009) ‘Diprotodontid footprints from the Pliocene of Central Australia’, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29(3), pp. 863–869. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1671/039.029.0316.

Camens, A.B. and Wells, R.T. (2010) ‘Palaeobiology of Euowenia grata (Marsupialia: Diprotodontinae) and its Presence in Northern South Australia’, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 17(1), pp. 3–19. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-009-9121-2.

[arminreindl]

Baru iylwenpeny: The Last Baru

Happy to announce that there's just been a major new publication for mekosuchines. The Alcoota Baru, which I briefly touched upon in my post on the genus, has finally been named. The new name, Baru iylwenpeny (pronounced eel-OON-bin-yah), derives from the Eastern Anmatyerr dialect (part of the Arrernte language) and means "good at hunting". A name that seems quite fitting when you look at the skull.

As a reminder, this animal stems from the Alcoota Fossil Site in Australia and dates to the Late Miocene, making it the youngest of the three recognized Baru species.

Previously this species was already referred to as being "the most robust Baru" and they weren't kidding. This thing looks more like something out of the Cretaceous than an animal that lived a mere 8 million years ago.

The morphology is interesting in many ways. Many of the ridges that are so prominent in Baru wickeni and less developed in Baru darrowi are absent. The seventh and eight tooth are so close they theres basically no space. Instead of four teeth like other Baru it has five in each premaxilla and the nasals reach the nares, like in Baru wickeni but unlike in Baru darrowi. The teeth also show the same small serrations as Baru darrowi and, unlike either of the other species, the jaws appear much less wavy not because they are but because the first festoon of the maxilla is followed up by a second one so developed it makes the first look almost flat. It's a fascinating mosaic of characters that makes its relation to the other species a puzzling question. You'd think that the ridges for instance point at it being derived? After all wouldn't it make sense? Baru wickeni had the most developed rigdes, Baru darrowi smaller ones and Baru iylwenpeny none. Plus, the teeth of Baru wickeni are smooth unlike those of later forms. Yet at the same time.... The fact that it has five teeth instead of four and the fact that the nasals reach the nares are both ancestral traits, so you'd expect it to be closer to the base.

Left: Baru wickeni Right: Baru darrowi

Well, while I think this isn't going to be the final place of this species among Baru, the most recent phylogenetic analysis suggests that Baru iylwenpeny was weirdly enough the basalmost species. Which means that it must have split from the other two species at the latest during the Late Oligocene and outlived the both of them without us ever knowing.

The paper also discusses how these animals may have gone extinct. If you look back at Kalthifrons, you might remember how I mentioned that mekosuchines kinda had a drop in diversity when transitioning from the Miocene to Pliocene. While the new paper avoids calling this a drop in diversity, it does highlight that there certainly was a turnover in fauna. The reason is an old enemy of mekosuchines. Climate. Yates and colleagues suggest that Australia was hit by an especially nasty dry period at the end of the Miocene, severe enough to drive Baru to its death but not severe enough to whipe out all mekosuchines. And after Baru was gone, Kalthifrons and Paludirex moved into the open niche.

There's also a final little piece of information that's not focused on yet really fascinating. Baru iylwenpeny had a friend. At least one other croc lived at the Alcoota site during the Late Miocene and tho it hasn't been studied in full yet, one thing is apparently known. It was a relative to the Bullock Creek taxon that coexisted with Baru darrowi and a relative to "Baru" huberi, the small croc that coexisted with Baru wickeni. This grouping has yet to be given a name, but its fascinating to me that each Baru species seemingly coexisted with a much smaller mekosuchine. Alas, like Baru this lineage seems to have fallen victim to climate change.

Baru wickeni and "Baru" huberi, in truth an unnamed genus.

The paper is accessible here for those that wan't to dive deeper into the matter. I'll also be working on an updated size chart, this time featuring all three species of Baru, tho I can already tell you that despite being more robust its surprisingly not that much larger.

The last Baru (Crocodylia, Mekosuchinae): a new species of ‘cleaver‐headed crocodile’ from central Australia and the turnover of crocodylians during the Late Miocene in Australia (wiley.com)

[new-dinosaurs]

Vultur messii Degrange et al., 2023 (new species)

(Type femur [thigh bone] of Vultur messii [scale bars = 1 cm], from Degrange et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: messii = for Lionel Andrés Messi [Argentinian football player]

Age: Pliocene (Zanclean)

Where found: Andalhualá Formation, Catamarca, Argentina

How much is known: A partial right femur (thigh bone).

Notes: Vultur is the genus containing the extant Andean condor (V. gryphus), which can have a wingspan up to 3.2 m and weigh up to 15 kg, making it one of the largest flying birds alive today. V. messii is the first extinct species of Vultur to be named, and was about the same size as the Andean condor.

The Andean condor is specialized for living at high altitudes in the Andes, which would have been experiencing a period of mountain building along with cooling and drying of the climate at the time V. messii was alive. Members of this genus may have therefore had similar habitat preferences since the Pliocene.

Reference: Degrange, F.J., R.A. Bonini, S.M. Georgieff, and L.M. Ibañez. 2023. A new fossil condor (Aves, Cathartiformes) from the early Pliocene of Catamarca province, Argentina. Historical Biology advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2288612

[paleonativeart]

Day 19: Teleoceras major

A extinct genus of rhinocerotid, which is a barrel shaped body that lived in North America during the Miocene and Pliocene periods.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

The Siberian Unicorn

Reconstruction of an Elasmotherium, an extinct species of rhino that lived in the Eurasian area in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras (around 39,000 years ago).

This animal could have been the basis for the unicorn myth that has persisted for thousands of years.

The Giant Siberian Unicorn, also known by its scientific name, Elasmotherium (E. sibiricum), is an extinct species of giant rhinoceros that had an extremely large horn on its forehead and a body covered in shaggy fur.

It was first named by Johann Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (13 October 1771 – 18 October 1853) in 1808. He was the director of the Natural History Museum in Moscow.

The Giant Siberian Unicorn was about the size of a mammoth. However, early reports say this beast weighed up to 4 tonnes, stood at 6.5 feet tall, and was about 14.76 feet long.

It has been debated on if this animal would gallop like a horse or would walk hunched over with his head to the ground like a bison.

The beast's front feet were larger than the rear and it had just three digits.

It is also debated on whether it had a giant horn on its head or not. Most experts believe it did as there is reasonable evidence of it having a horn based on the skulls they have found.

The skulls had a protuberance that suggested it was the base of a large horn.

The use of this horn could have been to dig for food, attract mates, and for self-defense.

It is believed that their horns and hooves were made of keratin — that is, if the horns did exist.

The Giant Siberian Unicorn lived in the Eurasia region during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene periods.

Giant rhinos have been documented from as late as 2.6 million years ago.

A skull was found in 2016 that was perfectly preserved and was of a very old male.

The skull was found in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan. It was proven that they died out just 29,000 years ago.

Previously, it was believed they died out around 350,000 years ago, which means they were around when early humans were alive.

From looking at their teeth, it is believed the Siberian Unicorns were herbivores with a diet of grass, plant bulbs, and tubers.

They think this creature could have used its horn to dig up plant bulbs and tubers to eat while also grazing on grass.

Weighing four tons means it would have to eat a lot, so it is thought they would travel miles just grazing and digging up plants to eat.

It is still unclear what caused the death of these beautiful giants.

Little evidence has shown us how they died out, however, scientists believe it could have been environmental factors that resulted in their extinction.

Others believe it could be due to having such a restricted diet or being a “picky eater.”

After the Ice Age ended, the grasslands began to shrink, causing fewer areas for the giant rhino to eat.

Human hunting may also have a hand in its extinction.

Natural History Museum, Moscow

[dailyanarchistposts]

Footnotes, 101-150

[101] Gill, quoted in Gerland and Waitz’s Anthropologie, v. 641. See also pp. 636–640, where many facts of parental and filial love are quoted.

[102] Primitive Folk, London, 1891.

[103] Gerland, loc. cit. v. 636.

[104] Erskine, quoted in Gerland and Waitz’s Anthropologie, v. 640.

[105] W.T. Pritchard, Polynesian Reminiscences, London, 1866, p. 363.

[106] It is remarkable, however, that in case of a sentence of death, nobody will take upon himself to be the executioner. Every one throws his stone, or gives his blow with the hatchet, carefully avoiding to give a mortal blow. At a later epoch, the priest will stab the victim with a sacred knife. Still later, it will be the king, until civilization invents the hired hangman. See Bastian’s deep remarks upon this subject in Der Mensch in der Geschichte, iii. Die Blutrache, pp. 1–36. A remainder of this tribal habit, I am told by Professor E. Nys, has survived in military executions till our own times. In the middle portion of the nineteenth century it was the habit to load the rifles of the twelve soldiers called out for shooting the condemned victim, with eleven ball-cartridges and one blank cartridge. As the soldiers never knew who of them had the latter, each one could console his disturbed conscience by thinking that he was not one of the murderers.

[107] In Africa, and elsewhere too, it is a widely-spread habit, that if a theft has been committed, the next clan has to restore the equivalent of the stolen thing, and then look itself for the thief. A. H. Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, Leipzig, 1887, vol. i. p. 77.

[108] See Prof. M. Kovalevsky’s Modern Customs and Ancient Law (Russian), Moscow, 1886, vol. ii., which contains many important considerations upon this subject.

[109] See Carl Bock, The Head Hunters of Borneo, London, 1881. I am told, however, by Sir Hugh Law, who was for a long time Governor of Borneo, that the “head-hunting” described in this book is grossly exaggerated. Altogether, my informant speaks of the Dayaks in exactly the same sympathetic terms as Ida Pfeiffer. Let me add that Mary Kingsley speaks in her book on West Africa in the same sympathetic terms of the Fans, who had been represented formerly as the most “terrible cannibals.”

[110] Ida Pfeiffer, Meine zweite Weltrieze, Wien, 1856, vol. i. pp. 116 seq. See also Müller and Temminch’s Dutch Possessions in Archipelagic India, quoted by Elisée Reclus, in Géographie Universelle, xiii.

[111] Descent of Man, second ed., pp. 63, 64.

[112] See Bastian’s Mensch in der Geschichte, iii. p. 7. Also Gray, loc. cit. ii. p. 238.

[113] Miklukho-Maclay, loc. cit. Same habit with the Hottentots.

[114] Numberless traces of post-pliocene lakes, now disappeared, are found over Central, West, and North Asia. Shells of the same species as those now found in the Caspian Sea are scattered over the surface of the soil as far East as half-way to Lake Aral, and are found in recent deposits as far north as Kazan. Traces of Caspian Gulfs, formerly taken for old beds of the Amu, intersect the Turcoman territory. Deduction must surely be made for temporary, periodical oscillations. But with all that, desiccation is evident, and it progresses at a formerly unexpected speed. Even in the relatively wet parts of South-West Siberia, the succession of reliable surveys, recently published by Yadrintseff, shows that villages have grown up on what was, eighty years ago, the bottom of one of the lakes of the Tchany group; while the other lakes of the same group, which covered hundreds of square miles some fifty years ago, are now mere ponds. In short, the desiccation of North-West Asia goes on at a rate which must be measured by centuries, instead of by the geological units of time of which we formerly used to speak.

[115] Whole civilizations had thus disappeared, as is proved now by the remarkable discoveries in Mongolia on the Orkhon and in the Lukchun depression (by Dmitri Clements).

[116] If I follow the opinions of (to name modern specialists only) Nasse, Kovalevsky, and Vinogradov, and not those of Mr. Seebohm (Mr. Denman Ross can only be named for the sake of completeness), it is not only because of the deep knowledge and concordance of views of these three writers, but also on account of their perfect knowledge of the village community altogether — a knowledge the want of which is much felt in the otherwise remarkable work of Mr. Seebohm. The same remark applies, in a still higher degree, to the most elegant writings of Fustel de Coulanges, whose opinions and passionate interpretations of old texts are confined to himself.

[117] The literature of the village community is so vast that but a few works can be named. Those of Sir Henry Maine, Mr. Seebohm, and Walter’s Das alte Wallis (Bonn, 1859), are well-known popular sources of information about Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. For France, P. Viollet, Précis de l’histoire du droit français. Droit privé, 1886, and several of his monographs in Bibl. de l’Ecole des Chartes; Babeau, Le Village sous l’ancien régime (the mir in the eighteenth century), third edition, 1887; Bonnemère, Doniol, etc. For Italy and Scandinavia, the chief works are named in Laveleye’s Primitive Property, German version by K. Bücher. For the Finns, Rein’s Föreläsningar, i. 16; Koskinen, Finnische Geschichte, 1874, and various monographs. For the Lives and Coures, Prof. Lutchitzky in Severnyi Vestnil, 1891. For the Teutons, besides the well-known works of Maurer, Sohm (Altdeutsche Reichs- und Gerichts- Verfassung), also Dahn (Urzeit, Völkerwanderung, Langobardische Studien), Janssen, Wilh. Arnold, etc. For India, besides H. Maine and the works he names, Sir John Phear’s Aryan Village. For Russia and South Slavonians, see Kavelin, Posnikoff, Sokolovsky, Kovalevsky, Efimenko, Ivanisheff, Klaus, etc. (copious bibliographical index up to 1880 in the Sbornik svedeniy ob obschinye of the Russ. Geog. Soc.). For general conclusions, besides Laveleye’s Propriété, Morgan’s Ancient Society, Lippert’s Kulturgeschichte, Post, Dargun, etc., also the lectures of M. Kovalevsky (Tableau des origines et de l’évolution de la famille et de la propriété, Stockholm, 1890). Many special monographs ought to be mentioned; their titles may be found in the excellent lists given by P. Viollet in Droit privé and Droit public. For other races, see subsequent notes.

[118] Several authorities are inclined to consider the joint household as an intermediate stage between the clan and the village community; and there is no doubt that in very many cases village communities have grown up out of undivided families. Nevertheless, I consider the joint household as a fact of a different order. We find it within the gentes; on the other hand, we cannot affirm that joint families have existed at any period without belonging either to a gens or to a village community, or to a Gau. I conceive the early village communities as slowly originating directly from the gentes, and consisting, according to racial and local circumstances, either of several joint families, or of both joint and simple families, or (especially in the case of new settlements) of simple families only. If this view be correct, we should not have the right of establishing the series: gens, compound family, village community — the second member of the series having not the same ethnological value as the two others. See Appendix IX.

[119] Stobbe, Beiträg zur Geschichte des deutschen Rechtes, p. 62.

[120] The few traces of private property in land which are met with in the early barbarian period are found with such stems (the Batavians, the Franks in Gaul) as have been for a time under the influence of Imperial Rome. See Inama-Sternegg’s Die Ausbildung der grossen Grundherrschaften in Deutschland, Bd. i. 1878. Also, Besseler, Neubruch nach dem älteren deutschen Recht, pp. 11–12, quoted by Kovalevsky, Modern Custom and Ancient Law, Moscow, 1886, i. 134.

[121] Maurer’s Markgenossenschaft; Lamprecht’s “Wirthschaft und Recht der Franken zur Zeit der Volksrechte,” in Histor. Taschenbuch, 1883; Seebohm’s The English Village Community, ch. vi, vii, and ix.

[122] Letourneau, in Bulletin de la Soc. d’Anthropologie, 1888, vol. xi. p. 476.

[123] Walter, Das alte Wallis, p. 323; Dm. Bakradze and N. Khoudadoff in Russian Zapiski of the Caucasian Geogr. Society, xiv. Part I.

[124] Bancroft’s Native Races; Waitz, Anthropologie, iii. 423; Montrozier, in Bull. Soc. d’Anthropologie, 1870; Post’s Studien, etc.

[125] A number of works, by Ory, Luro, Laudes, and Sylvestre, on the village community in Annam, proving that it has had there the same forms as in Germany or Russia, is mentioned in a review of these works by Jobbé-Duval, in Nouvelle Revue historique de droit français et étranger, October and December, 1896. A good study of the village community of Peru, before the establishment of the power of the Incas, has been brought out by Heinrich Cunow (Die Soziale Verfassung des Inka-Reichs, Stuttgart, 1896. The communal possession of land and communal culture are described in that work.

[126] Kovalevsky, Modern Custom and Ancient Law, i. 115.

[127] Palfrey, History of New England, ii. 13; quoted in Maine’s Village Communities, New York, 1876, p. 201.

[128] Königswarter, Études sur le développement des sociétés humaines, Paris, 1850.

[129] This is, at least, the law of the Kalmucks, whose customary law bears the closest resemblance to the laws of the Teutons, the old Slavonians, etc.

[130] The habit is in force still with many African and other tribes.

[131] Village Communities, pp. 65–68 and 199.

[132] Maurer (Gesch. der Markverfassung, sections 29, 97) is quite decisive upon this subject. He maintains that “All members of the community... the laic and clerical lords as well, often also the partial co-possessors (Markberechtigte), and even strangers to the Mark, were submitted to its jurisdiction” (p. 312). This conception remained locally in force up to the fifteenth century.

[133] Königswarter, loc. cit. p. 50; J. Thrupp, Historical Law Tracts, London, 1843, p. 106.

[134] Königswarter has shown that the ferd originated from an offering which had to be made to appease the ancestors. Later on, it was paid to the community, for the breach of peace; and still later to the judge, or king, or lord, when they had appropriated to themselves the rights of the community.

[135] Post’s Bausteine and Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, Oldenburg, 1887, vol. i. pp. 64 seq.; Kovalevsky, loc. cit. ii. 164–189.

[136] O. Miller and M. Kovalevsky, “In the Mountaineer Communities of Kabardia,” in Vestnik Evropy, April, 1884. With the Shakhsevens of the Mugan Steppe, blood feuds always end by marriage between the two hostile sides (Markoff, in appendix to the Zapiski of the Caucasian Geogr. Soc. xiv. 1, 21).

[137] Post, in Afrik. Jurisprudenz, gives a series of facts illustrating the conceptions of equity inrooted among the African barbarians. The same may be said of all serious examinations into barbarian common law.

[138] See the excellent chapter, “Le droit de La Vieille Irlande,” (also “Le Haut Nord”) in Études de droit international et de droit politique, by Prof. E. Nys, Bruxelles, 1896.

[139] Introduction, p. xxxv.

[140] Das alte Wallis, pp. 343–350.

[141] Maynoff, “Sketches of the Judicial Practices of the Mordovians,” in the ethnographical Zapiski of the Russian Geographical Society, 1885, pp. 236, 257.

[142] Henry Maine, International Law, London, 1888, pp. 11–13. E. Nys, Les origines du droit international, Bruxelles, 1894.

[143] A Russian historian, the Kazan Professor Schapoff, who was exiled in 1862 to Siberia, has given a good description of their institutions in the Izvestia of the East-Siberian Geographical Society, vol. v. 1874.

[144] Sir Henry Maine’s Village Communities, New York, 1876, pp. 193–196.

[145] Nazaroff, The North Usuri Territory (Russian), St. Petersburg, 1887, p. 65.

[146] Hanoteau et Letourneux, La Kabylie, 3 vols. Paris, 1883.

[147] To convoke an “aid” or “bee,” some kind of meal must be offered to the community. I am told by a Caucasian friend that in Georgia, when the poor man wants an “aid,” he borrows from the rich man a sheep or two to prepare the meal, and the community bring, in addition to their work, so many provisions that he may repay tHe debt. A similar habit exists with the Mordovians.

[148] Hanoteau et Letourneux, La kabylie, ii. 58. The same respect to strangers is the rule with the Mongols. The Mongol who has refused his roof to a stranger pays the full blood-compensation if the stranger has suffered therefrom (Bastian, Der Mensch in der Geschichte, iii. 231).

[149] N. Khoudadoff, “Notes on the Khevsoures,” in Zapiski of the Caucasian Geogr. Society, xiv. 1, Tiflis, 1890, p. 68. They also took the oath of not marrying girls from their own union, thus displaying a remarkable return to the old gentile rules.

[150] Dm. Bakradze, “Notes on the Zakataly District,” in same Zapiski, xiv. 1, p. 264. The “joint team” is as common among the Lezghines as it is among the Ossetes.

[obscurefossils]

Kraglievichia

Kraglievichia was a genus of cingulate mammal from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene periods. Its type species is K. paranense. Its second known species is K. carinatum. The known specimens were found in Argentina and Uruguay. Though initially described in 1883, Kraglievichia was not properly named until 1927.

Its autapomorphy from similar relatives is its distinct osteoderm ornamentation, which consists of significantly deep longitudinal depressions with a longitudinal central elevation. It is the most conspicuously ornamented pampatheriid known currently.

The known specimens of Kraglievichia consist of osteoderms, a left femur, and a well-preserved skull without any teeth. Due to their extreme similarity, Kraglievichia is regarded as the sister taxon to Scirrotherium, the genus that K. carinatum was originally assigned to. It was hypothesized that Holmesina evolved from Kraglievichia, but due to the fact there are no known immediate South American basal forms of Holmesina, this is unlikely. A third species, "K." floridanus, was named in 1976, but this was later found to be a species of Holmesina instead. 

Citations: The 1927 description seems entirely lost, at least online; if you happen to have access to this paper please let me know. 1883 description (page 66 of pdf) as Chlamydotherium; "Scirrotherium" carinatum description; "S." carinatum reassignment.

Wikipedia article: here

[uk-fossils]

Large Echinoid Fossil Dendraster | Miocene Era | West Java Indonesia | Authentic Specimen with COA

This stunning Large Echinoid Fossil (Dendraster) from the Miocene epoch is a rare find, originating from the fossil-rich region of Mount Cidolog, Pasanggrahan, Sagaranten, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Carefully selected for its exceptional preservation, this specimen captures the unique features of the echinoid species and is a magnificent example of ancient marine life.

Species Information:

Dendraster echinoids, commonly known as sand dollars, thrived in shallow marine environments during the Miocene period. Their characteristic flat, disk-like form, which is optimized for burrowing in sandy ocean floors, is clearly evident in this specimen. This fossil shows remarkable detail, preserving the intricate pentaradial symmetry and surface patterning that are hallmarks of the species.

Product Details:

Era: Miocene

Species: Dendraster (Large Echinoid)

Origin: Mount Cidolog, Pasanggrahan, Sagaranten, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, Indonesia

Size: Refer to the scale cube (1cm) in the photo for precise dimensions

Authenticity: 100% genuine fossil specimen, complete with a Certificate of Authenticity

Condition: Exactly as pictured – this is the exact specimen you will receive

A beautiful addition to any collection, this fossil has both scientific and aesthetic value. All our fossils are carefully sourced, ensuring quality, authenticity, and the highest ethical standards.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

March MadnessDay 4: It's Getting Fishy

Today's competitor's are a couple that really confuse me but in recent months they have repeatedly been mistaken foe dinosaurs so I added them. We have Megalodon

and Dunkleaosteus.

So, why aren't they dinosaurs? Well, aside from the obvious sea-faring lifestyles. They have gills...because they are fish.

Megalodon is a massive shark while Dunkleaosteus is a massive fish called a placoderm (armores fish).

Megalodon lived during the Miocene/Pliocene epochs after the dinosaur extiction event some 43 million years later.

Dunkleosteus lives 145 million years before dinosaurs appeared in the Late Devonian Period.

Have a favorite? Help keep them in the competition. REBLOG for Dunkleosteus and LIKE for Megalodon.

[captainswaglord500]

Desert Banshee

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class/Clade: Reptilia (Sauropsida)

Clade: Diapsida

Clade: Archosauria

Clade: Dinosauria

Clade: Saurischia

Clade: Eusaurischia

Clade: Theropoda

Clade: Neotheropoda

Superfamily: Coelophysoidea

Family: Coelophysidae

Subfamily: Allophysinae

Genus: Aravadromeus

Species: A. kakophonia (”dissonant runner of the Arava Desert”)

Ancestral species: Coelophysis bauri

Temporal range: late Pliocene to recent (3 mya - present)

Information:

While this creature superficially resembles an odd cross between a proceratosaurid and an ornithomimid, its origins actually lie far closer to the base of the theropod family tree: this odd creature is, in fact, a highly-derived coelophysid. Outside of its appearance, however, it has one notable difference: at some point within the last 30 million or so years, its lineage has made the switch from carnivory to herbivory. While the desert banshee feeds primarily on desert shrubs, fruits, leaves, and grasses, facultative carnivory has been observed: they are known to occasionally hunt and eat small birds, reptiles, and mammals, and females may do this leading up to when they lay their eggs. (But that’s a story for a little latter). As with many animals inhabiting the Arava Desert (though it also inhabits the grasslands and dry forests much further north in smaller densities and parts of the jungle to the east, though the latter may actually be a distinct but closely-related species), it is quite hardy, able to go long periods without food or water by storing fat in its tail.

In addition to their dietary switch, they have also developed unique behaviors to accommodate such changes: as the desert banshee is rather small, only around 8-9 feet in length, 3-4 feet at the hip, and around 70-80 lbs, it is a prime target for many desert predators, including the many species of carnivorous theropods and synapsids (including humans) who inhabit the region. As such, this animal is built for speed, being able to run up to 40 miles per hour in short bursts and preferring to flee from predators. However, if cornered or injured, it will not hesitate to put up a fight, making use of its two large ankle spurs to slash at its attackers. Additionally, it is nocturnal, preferring to travel at night to both avoid the scorching desert sun and to find new feeding grounds. While the obvious assumption would be that these animals would additionally flock together for protection, desert banshees deeply detest sharing space with congeners, and territorial confrontations can get bloody very quickly. However, it frequently travels with large flocks of ornithomimids for protection. The relationship this creature has with its larger distant cousins may be described as a form of commensalism: in exchange for protection, the desert banshee acts as a watchman of sorts to the ornithomimids, alerting the flock when predators are near with the deafeningly shrill, shrieking call that gave it its name. (Among its repertoire of other sounds are clucks and “drums” to communicate with its ornithomimid protectors long-distance and hissing when threatened or otherwise angered). In a rare example of non-primate social grooming, this creature will readily allow the ornithomimids it lives around to groom its feathers and remove parasites.

Just about the only time when these creatures will tolerate one another is when they are ready to mate: while these animals mate year-round, most mating occurs in late spring to early summer. With only slight sexual dimorphism, the males and females are not always easy to tell apart. Both have the same coloring: a white crest with black stripes, a white beak with black spots, creamy blue skin, dark blue spots on the wattle, grey feathers with black bands, and brown-to-black eyes. However, the female being able to distinguish herself by her warbling call which signals she is sexually receptive. Flashing his bright wattle, the male will flick his head up and down as part of a mating dance to get the female’s attention. If she accepts his display, the pair will walk side-by-side in synchronized movement, warbling and cooing while bobbing their heads up and down. After this display is over, the pair will mate and go separate ways. In the few weeks leading up to laying her clutch, the female may become facultatively carnivorous in order to obtain the calcium needed to produce her eggs. She will lay a clutch of 3-5 eggs in due time, and after a few weeks, they will hatch. However, she can retain the eggs inside her for an extended period of time until conditions are favorable or to synchronize the birth of her chicks with those of the ornithomimid flocks she follows. For the first 1.5 years of their life, the young are dependent on their mother as they reach near-adult age, at which point they are chased away and must find their own herd to follow. By 2.5 years, they will have reached sexual maturity and will be ready to mate, and if they can successfully avoid predators, they can expect to live 12-14 years in the wild and, if born in captivity, 20-30 years.

This species’ relationship with humans is one which is both riddled with mutualism and marred by tragedy: the desert banshee’s naturally social nature makes it exceptionally tame when raised in captivity, and some nomadic Lowland Xenogaean tribes keep them as their equivalent to sheepdogs. They are also known to be quite affectionate with their caretakers. Their ability to run fast in short bursts has also made them quite common as race animals which betters will gamble on. This species is also a frequent pest in the desert city of Tairokôna, where its habit of eating local crops and decorative plants have put it at odds with the city’s denizens. In addition to being used as a shepherd animal by Lowland Xenogaeans, they have also long been a source of food, with cut marks on fossil bones dated to around 50,000 years ago indicating that ancient humans in the area butchered and ate these animals. At one point, wild desert banshee numbers were driven so low due to pressures put on them by human hunters, that these animals experienced a bottleneck where smaller animals went on to breed and pass on their genes, meaning the modern population may be as much as 15% smaller than the Plio-Pleistocene variant of this species. Thankfully, its numbers have rebounded significantly in modern times, albeit they are still proportionally small and at risk of extinction in the wild, with only around 30,000 wild specimens across their entire range. At one point, this animal was also one of most trafficked and poached animals in the entire region, being hunted specifically for its bony crest in addition to its meat. Though its numbers rebounded significantly, there are a number of zoos and private collections across the world which still have illegally-bought desert banshees and their goods, particularly in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Even amongst Xenogaean aristocracy (Xenogaea being the larger of 1 of 2 nations inhabiting the archipelago), this animal is frequently seen as an exotic pet, and the King of Xenogaea, Tlahula I, has an entire stable of captive-bred desert banshees which have been selectively bred for several generations. Nowadays, most desert banshees killed for human consumption are captive-bred, with some debate over whether or not they may be undergoing domestication and if the captive-bred populations should be counted as a distinct species or subspecies from the wild one. However, the lack of morphological differences would seem to suggest that the captive-bred population are merely just that: captive-bred specimens of a wild species. Fossils of this species go back to at least the late Pliocene around 3 million years ago, though similar species are known from fossils in what is now the western grasslands as far back as the Eocene some 34 million years ago. Genetic divergence suggests it diverged from its closest living relatives over 150 million years ago, predating the split of most modern mammal lineages. 

[inkycorvid]

I keep forgetting to like, put my animations up on here?? So here's this.

Youtube description copy and pasted below for easy access however,

While in the originally video this was directly before the story breakdown, I'll put this note here at the top instead.

Nothing here is romantic. This was in a period of time where the iterators were seen more commonly as siblings, and this was the headcanon that was used in the RP.

Sig and Moon are Pebbles older brother and sister. Pebbles is the second youngest in the local group in this AU.

Flight, Prince and Pebble's relationships are strictly platonic.

Found family was sort of the main theme of this AU and I ask that you please respect that when engaging with this post.

Rot world as an AU was created by @fivepebble (Mata).

Alright so for context. (Process+Art direction)

This video is based on an old rain world RP I was in back in 2019.

I started working on this in November of 2019 and kept working on it up until March 2020.

I decided to sit down and edit what I hadn't yet added in. (Which ultimately wasn't much.

Though I did need to re-edit the warehouse scene due to a glitch) and cut the video off at the final frame I'd actually completed.

As mentioned in the video, I had help from another artist by the name of Kraehe.

I had a lot of trouble sketching out my ideas and the perspective of some of the shots.

so Kraehe would help by providing sketches and redlines for the majority of the scenes here.

With how inexperienced I was at the time I don’t know how far this would’ve gotten If I hadn’t had the help.

The total frame count for this video was 172. (Partially due to me writing out lyrics instead of using the in program text tool)

The only animation I’ve made since that’s come as close is my part for the Pliocene MAP. In terms of art direction.

Light yellow represented any sort of significant scar. Be it emotional or physical. Yes this includes things like NSH's symbol and Princes eyes.

(I couldn't fit this in the youtube description. The context for this in RP was NSH originally had a third eye, but an ancient tore it out and tore his puppet out of his structure. It's a point of trauma and bitterness for him. Moons eyes being yellow were symbolic of her memory loss, and Prince's eyes and visor being yellow were symbolic of her ptsd.)

Story breakdown

Some foreshadowing shots of both the rot and the lizard that would later take Pebble’s arm.

- Global communications come back online.

-The pearl that Pebbles would write with instructions to himself post-disconnect. (As disconnecting from his structure caused him to lose all of his memories.)

-Pebbles with his new arm. Sort of just a general scene of self reflection.

-Moon pre-rescue with a random slugcat. Most likely survivor but It doesn’t really matter to the plot since the entire rp was post-survivor.

-Pebble’s arm post-disconnect. An Overseer sending this picture to the global communication was an in rp scene.

-Arch of Prince and Post-disconnect Pebbles. They're in a shelter together waiting out the rain. Pebbles is having a bad time

-Symbolic imagery of two of the ancients involved in the creation of the local group. "Mother" (As she was called in rp) was also involved in Arch of Prince's creation and is deceased by the time of the RPs plot. "Father" or Reserves as he was called, was not.

-After meeting up with Father, getting Moon out of Shoreline and Saving Pebbles from dying of Rot for a little while longer. The gang goes to investigate what might've happened to NSH. Who had a system failure due to in RP events.

At the time of this, a new character had joined the RP and was being generally menacing in the global chats. When the gang arrives they find aforementioned character, Wings in Flight, attempting to revive NSH.

-Father and Prince work together to fix NSH.

-Father offers to create a new arm for Pebbles as well. Pebbles agrees.

-Flashback to just after Pebble's disconnected from his structure and attempted to climb down the wall. He's been attacked by a white lizard who takes off his arm.

-General rot symbolism :tm: of Pebbles method of disconnection. Which involved using the rot to alter his puppet. (I forget the exact details

-Rot symbolism 2 but Pebbles actually did get rot tendrils after a scavenger stabbed him in the back earlier in rp.

-Family Reunion Between Pebbles and Big Sister Moon and Big brother Sig. (The lore in the RP was that all of the local group were siblings, and Pebbles was the second youngest.) Flight chillin.

Probably internally being sad bc all his local group/siblings are gone. (In hindsight Neither Krae nor I thought to like, look at how BIG a king vulture would be compared to an iterator puppet. Even a taller one like Flight.)

-Time skip. Encounter with a parasitic device that just ended up getting called buddy. New character in RP. Took control of Flights Puppet and caused him to attack the others. Pebbles defends his family. Realizes that something is going on and is yoinked by a vulture that the gang uses to escape after Flight manages to let go of him.

-Flight watches. Scene changes to a warehouse that Buddy wanted to go to for some reason (I do not remember why.) Scavenger slaughter occurred here.

-See in video text -Buddy is killed by Pebbles using an explosive spear. Flight got decapitated in the fight.

The gang does questionably ethical things to revive him. ect ect.

This doesn't cover the entirety of the RP, there were some other things that happened but this was sort of the big, main plot of it when we were most active in writing it.

A little silly, a little weird. But it's still special to me. Both the base game and this AU had some major impacts on my life and happy to finally share this after leaving it to just sit on my PC for three years.

[cloudyswritings]

gone like the Pliocene

Do you ever think about how tragic it is that we live in a world without the Pleistocene megafauna? Like we were mostly responsible for their extinction in various different ways, from humans killing several species of saber tooth cat in revenge for eating them to us straight up eating all of the mammoths because they tasted good and had warm pelts. There’s even evidence we were responsible for the extinction of megalania which was the closest thing to straight up dinosaurs in 65million years.

it’s just really sad that if we’d only be a little more cautious and thoughtful in the past that modern humans might get to enjoy seeing these species outside of museums.

in a way we’re really some of the only beings left from that time period that feel like they really belong in the Pliocene . Like sure there’s some stragglers like moose, and different species of elephants, plus big cats. But like they’re on the way out because of us too. It just seems like a shame to be the last remainder of an era we ended. It’s hard to face but we’ve made the world smaller in all the ways that matter.

There even used to be more species of whale, plus weirdos like stellars sea cow. The tragic thing there is that because of the difficulty of exploring it we’ll never really know the true measure of how much biodiversity the ocean has lost as a direct result of our actions.

maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t feel the need to build large and create things to awe ourselves if some of our Pliocene contemporaries were still here to humble us and remind us of our origins. At the end of the day we’re really nothing but a group of homicidal storytelling apes with particularly unique shoulders and sweat.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m yearning for the grandeur that we lost. I want to bear witness to the true scale of life, and to see the world as it was when we were young, not because “big animals are cool” I’d go look at dinosaurs if I wanted that, but because there should truly be a sense of loss for the creatures of the Pliocene, whose world we brought to an untimely end.

Sometimes, when I’m at a museum, I look at the bones of creatures my ancestors devoured, and wonder what the world would look like today if humanity had learned moderation.

[rabbitcruiser]

Elephant Seal Viewing Point, CA (No. 6)

Elephant seals or sea elephants are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. Both species, the northern elephant seal (M. angustirostris) and the southern elephant seal (M. leonina), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered. They are the largest extant carnivorans, weighing up to 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lb). Despite their name, elephant seals are not closely related to elephants, and the large proboscis or trunk that males have was convergently evolved.

The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The most northerly breeding location on the Pacific Coast is at Race Rocks Marine Protected Area, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The southern elephant seal is found in the Southern Hemisphere on islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie Island, and on the coasts of New Zealand, Tasmania, South Africa, and Argentina in the Peninsula Valdés. In southern Chile, there is a small colony of 120 animals at Jackson Bay (Bahía Jackson) in Admiralty Sound (Seno Almirantazgo) on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.

The oldest known unambiguous elephant seal fossils are fragmentary fossils of a member of the tribe Miroungini described from the late Pliocene Petane Formation of New Zealand. Teeth originally identified as representing an unnamed species of Mirounga have been found in South Africa, and dated to the Miocene epoch; however, Boessenecker and Churchill (2016) considered these teeth almost certainly to be misidentified toothed whale (odontocete) teeth. The elephant seals evolved in the Pacific Ocean during the Pliocene period.

Elephant seals breed annually and are seemingly habitual to colonies that have established breeding areas.

Source: Wikipedia