#soft tissue preservation

[krindor]

Send help im experiencing childlike wonder and an academic study-bug at the same time

[soft-cheek]

Today I learned that apparently there's a travelling pokemon fossil exhibit in Japan thatll set up at local museums with like life size statues of some of the fossil pokemon and don't get me wrong I would love to see it. But fucking

Do we see this are we looking at this, apparently we're claiming that aurorus has bone sails

So immediately I had to look into it like damn maybe they are? They like move though so I looked into it and

Well now wait just one minute ok so not only are they skin, which ok I figured as much, but also the fossil you use to resurrect this bitch is an impression fossil so already I'm like wait they don't even have any DNA from this bitch (which you wouldn't from the vast majority from fossils just anyway including almost all bone fossils too but I feel like I can justify pokemon resurrection magic more when you have the bone fossil) how on earth did they manage to resurrect a whole dinosaur from an impression fossil

But back to my previous point all I'm saying is that the skeleton they've got in this showcase is the equivalent to one of these

[vickysaurus]

Stenopterygius, an ichtyosaur!

[tedkaczynskiofficial]

The dangers of a bog aren't really the things that cause them to preserve bodies so well. The danger is mostly drowning/suffocation if you fall into a sink hole, rather than the fact that the water is deoxygenated... you couldn't breathe the water even if it had oxygen. This is a bit like saying "The ocean causes giant ships to rust, imagine what it could do to you!" when the primary dangers of the ocean are drowning and exposure.

[miiilowo]

IT'S NATIONAL FOSSIL DAY IN THE US 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥 here's my favorite. it's name is Borealopelta and was found in Alberta. It's the only known one in it's species (borealopelta markmitchelli) (named after one of the people who helped prepare it) (it took him Seven Thousand Hours / 5 and a half years), and took 14 days to excavate out of its site. and yes it's in the ankylosaur clade if u thought it looked like one that's because it is

It's one of the best, if not THE best, preserved dinosaur fossils currently known . They found it's ORGANS preserved inside. It's ORGANS !!!!! It's rare for soft tissue to survive fossilization, so this has always been really really super duper cool for me and I like it a lot and it makes me very happy. I recommend looking into + at it on your own time because it's absolutely fascinating. it really just looks like an animal that went to sleep

The theory as to why it's so well preserved is that it likely died at or near the sea, sunk down to the floor and was quickly buried under the sand. Instead of being squished by layers and layers of sediment and rock, water carried in minerals and sort of made an Internal Rock Cast. They also discovered from studying the scales that it was likely an earthy reddish-orange tone . Nice for camouflage :-)

[blackbackedjackal]

Did you see the news about the thylacine head? Someone had one preserved for 100+ years and they were able to find DNA!

The soft tissue of the specimen that researchers dubbed ‘head in a bucket’ contains preserved long RNA molecules, which are crucial to reconstructing the thylacine genome. Photograph: Andrew Pask/University of Melbourne and Museums Victoria [source].

[alphynix]

The tuzoiids were an enigmatic group of Cambrian invertebrates known mostly just from their spiny bivalved carapaces. Although hundreds of fossils of these arthropods were discovered over the last century or so, only vague fragments of the rest of their bodies have been found even in sites usually known for preserving soft tissue impressions.

…Until late 2022, when several new specimens from the Canadian Burgess Shale deposits (~508 million years ago) were described showing tuzoiid anatomy in exceptional detail, finally giving us an idea of what they looked like and where they fit into the early arthropod evolutionary tree.

Tuzoiids like Tuzoia burgessensis here would have grown up to about 23cm long (~9"). They had large eyes on short stalks, a pair of simple antennae, a horizontal fluke-like tail fan, and twelve pairs of appendages along their body – with the front two pairs at the head end being significantly spinier, and most (or all) of these limbs also bearing paddle-like exopods.

The large carapace enclosed most of the body, and was ornamented with protective spines and a net-like surface pattern that probably increased the strength of the relatively thin chitinous structure.

Together all these anatomical features now indicate that tuzoiids were early mandibulates (part of the lineage including modern myriapods, crustaceans, and insects), and were probably very closely related to the hymenocarines.

Tuzoiids seem to have been active swimmers that probably cruised around just above the seafloor, with their stout legs suggesting they could also walk around if they flexed their valves open. The arrangement of their spiny front limbs wasn't suited to grabbing at fast-swimming prey, but instead may have been used to capture slower seafloor animals or to scavenge from carcasses.

———

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[thebearme]

This fic i wrote was made when my nose was in pain and is unfinished cause i hate writing i guess... anyway enjoy

Sensory Nose-aload

Dogman's noes has been by his side through thick and thin. Since the very beginning it will have help him sniff out where is Mother has gone if he couldn't see her, It would help find clues for a crime that takes more than Knight's fists and what Petey is cooking for dinner as of yesterday. But yet sometimes his nose would be the one needing help and Dogman would drop everything to make sure that his buddy is good, lending him to have sick days where his stuck in bed steaming his nose and putting vicks to get rid of that dastardly cold that assaults his nose and senses.

But scary enough it's not one of those days. It's something much worse, something that Dogman can't fight but has to sit and take the beating from.

When his nose is overloaded.

A feeling that's hard for Dogman to describe to anyone cause they just look at him weirdly. But I guess that's what happens when most of your friends are humans with human noses.

The day started out like anyother day, In bed between the covers. Dogman lays there for a moment to assist his surroundings, the gentle light shining through the curtains with the sound of a bird rustling in the tree, the soft distance beep of a fire detector on standby ...

Dogman never understood the point of the fire alarm eventho Petey INSISTED that it's for safety precaution and that "It will warn everyone in the house that there's a fire." Dogman guarantee that if it does detect a fire it would be LONG after he and frankly everyone already knew. After Dogman thinks of that ridiculous thought he started getting out of bed but not before having some weird spontaneous sneezes.

After the final sneeze, Dogman's nose started feeling suspicious painfully cold. Like If the inside of his nose took a bath and before drying took the biggest breath of the Arctic winds, making every noes hair and in extension every nerve ending feel like it's been pulled.

In response of these sudden pain of course Dogman grabbed his nose, hoping it was just him sneezing weirdly or something but as quickly as the excuse popped in, the truth came to knock it down.

His hands smelled

Not bad but just smells. He can smell the sweat glands on his palm, something he could always smell but only if he really focused too. But he didn't need to focus to smell here, it just came naturally... too naturally. Eventually recycling the same hot air was getting to his nose as well, It seemed to not be satisfied with hot or cool air. Dogman removed his hands from his nose and the cool air PUNCH him straight to the nose. Another assault to his nervous system, and he feels a headache coming on... Great.

In a attempt to preserve any chance of having his nose go back to normal he quickly looked around to the nearby nightstand and grabbed two tissues, sticking them up his nostrils.

That should stop that mean air from hurting my nose right?

Wrong.

Very very wrong.

After thinking that tissues would protect his nose they actually turned out to be the worst type of Trojan horse, causing more pain to his sensitive nerves but somehow the usual very dull smell of the soft tissue now is 1000 times the more potent with it once delightful smell now just smells like factory... Which is where it came from but HELL, it wasn't this strong.

In a pitiable operation towards some peace and stability Dogman went to hide under the covers till the pain is gone. He didn't need to go to work today anyway, so he could frankly hide here as long as he wanted! He a trys to restrain from that way of thinking because one off day can quickly become multiple. But this is definitely different, his nose and sanity is at stake!

Now hidden from the world is now miserable because It truly did nothing to stop the issue. He still smells the factory smell of the tissues, the smell of the dust floating around in the sun rays, the smell of bed sheets GOODNESS THE BED SHEETS! Let it be drool from nights and nights of butt tiredness, sweat from those tussles and beatdowns he would have to save the city and wouldn't take a shower afterwards or the musty smell of wet dog for went he would take a shower but not blowdry.

The smell is horrendous.

Why, why today his nose decisively turned on him? Did he not treat it well? Dogman takes his time to smell the flowers, smells the lovey food Petey would cook and even take bite of senseless candles... he didn't need to eat but that doesn't matter! All those wonderful times with his schnoz, so why must you kill him like this?

And with that moan of frustration and pain the headache stepped in saying 'hello honey, missed me?' and making itself homed in his doggy head. All because of that no good nose of his, Dogman can't even cope breathing through his mouth because EVERYTHING STILL MANAGES TO GET HIS NOSE!

His nose is so cold but also burning hot at the same time and at this rate Dogman is planning to cry out in some hope that someone puts him out of his misery but then Dogman smelled something that's not ENTIRELY dog water.

Bacon.

The smell of the gas stove releasing its hot air and the grease fatty seasoned, smoked, and sliced pork belly strips hitting the chipped over the years cast iron pan.

It must be Petey making breakfast.

The smell is getting stronger and stronger to the point he can almost ignore that other smells that pain him.

Almost.

[blueiscoool]

A Mummified 44,000-Year-Old Wolf Found in Siberian Permafrost

Scientists perform necropsy on an ancient wolf pulled from Russian permafrost that may still have prey in its stomach.

In a first-of-its-kind discovery, a complete mummified wolf was pulled from the permafrost in Siberia, after being locked away for more than 44,000 years. Scientists have now completed a necropsy (an animal autopsy) on the ancient predator, which was discovered by a river in the Republic of Sakha — also known as Yakutia — in 2021.

This is the first complete adult wolf dating to the late Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) ever discovered, according to a translated statement from the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, where the necropsy was performed. The discovery, scientists say, will help us better understand life in the region during the last ice age.

Photos from the necropsy show the wolf's mummified body in exquisite detail. Animals are preserved in permafrost through a type of mummification involving cold and dry conditions. Soft tissues are dehydrated, allowing the body to be preserved in a frozen time capsule.

Researchers took samples of the wolf's internal organs and gastrointestinal tract to detect ancient viruses and microbiota, and to understand its diet when it died.

"His stomach has been preserved in an isolated form, there are no contaminants, so the task is not trivial," Albert Protopopov, head of the department for the study of mammoth fauna of the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, said in the statement. "We hope to obtain a snapshot of the biota of the ancient Pleistocene."

He added the wolf, which tooth analysis revealed was male, would've been an "active and large predator," so they will be able to find out what it was eating, along with the diet of its victims, which "also ended up in his stomach."

Another key aspect of the necropsy is looking at the ancient viruses the wolf may have harbored. "We see that in the finds of fossil animals, living bacteria can survive for thousands of years, which are a kind of witnesses of those ancient times," Artemy Goncharov, who studies ancient viruses at the North-Western State Medical University in Russia, and is part of the team analyzing the wolf, said in the statement.

He said the research project will aid their understanding of ancient microbial communities and the role of harmful bacteria during this period. "It is possible that microorganisms will be discovered that can be used in medicine and biotechnology as promising producers of biologically active substances," he added.

The wolf necropsy is part of an ongoing project to study the wildlife that lived in the region during the Pleistocene. Other species examined include ancient hares, horses and a bear from the Holocene. The team plans to study the wolf's genome to understand how it relates to other ancient wolves from the region, and how it compares to its living relatives. The team now plans to start studying another ancient wolf discovered in the Nizhnekolymsk region of northeast Siberia in 2023.

By Hannah Osborne.

[mindblowingscience]

Most animals and plants never fossilize. For those that do, it's usually only hard parts such as bones and shells that preserve. However, in some exceptional cases, soft tissues such as muscles and gills survive the fossilization process and can present a wealth of information about the biology and ecology of ancient organisms. In a paper recently published in Palaeontologia Electronica, Dr. Adiel Klompmaker, University of Alabama Museums' curator of paleontology, and colleagues reported on a remarkable crab with multiple mineralized soft tissues preserved. This crab lived 75 million years ago during the Cretaceous in the area of present-day South Dakota in an ancient sea known as the Western Interior Seaway.

Continue Reading.

[cleverbunnycompany]

An amazing Ankylosaur; Borealopelta is probably among the best preserved dinosaur fossils, including skin impressions, stomach contents and soft tissue!

Studies have also shown it to have traces of reddish-brown pigments on its heavily armoured back!

[fuzzyhenry]

Coroner's Secret Life

Working in the morgue has its perks, especially with my unique... hobby. Every corpse that comes through those steel doors is like a potential new outfit to me. I've perfected my technique of preserving and wearing them like a second skin - my own little secret that nobody would ever suspect.

Today's "client" really got my attention.

Sprawled on my metal table was this massive 50-year-old white dude who'd dropped dead from a heart attack at some club. Man, he was a sight - all that soft, pillowy flesh with a layer of silver-streaked hair covering his belly and chest. Those man boobs were like two perfect cushions. But holy fuck, what really made my jaw drop was his package. His dick was a goddamn masterpiece - thick as his wrist with this gorgeous mushroom head. Even in death, it was impressive.

My latex gloves squeaked against the cold steel of my tools as I circled the table, already planning how I'd preserve this particular specimen. My fingers trembled slightly with anticipation as I reached for my first instrument...

I'm a professional first, so I go through the motions of my actual job. The Y-incision is perfect, and I document everything meticulously. Heart shows classic signs of cardiac arrest - no surprises there. But my hands are already itching to get to the real work.

I make my signature incision - one clean line down his spine, like an invisible zipper. My modified tools slide under his skin, separating it from muscle with practiced precision. It's amazing how the whole thing comes off in one beautiful piece, like peeling a ripe fruit.

The skin suit is magnificent - warm and heavy in my hands, still holding its shape perfectly. The chest hair is still soft and natural, and that gorgeous thick dick is still intact, the foreskin preserved just right. The belly fold feels so real between my fingers, and those love handles... damn, they're gonna sit just right on my hips.

The skinsuit slides into my special preservation tub with a soft splash. The fluid - my own formula that took years to perfect - immediately starts working its magic. It'll keep the skin tissue alive at a cellular level, making it perfectly wearable while maintaining that natural warmth and elasticity. I watch as it bobs gently in the solution, those hairy love handles and that impressive package floating like some bizarre aquarium display.

Turning back to the table, I deal with what's left - just muscle, organs, and bones now. Time for the clean-up. I reach for my phone and dial the familiar number.

"Yeah, got another one for you guys," I say casually to the crematory staff. "Standard procedure, cardiac arrest case. I'll have the paperwork ready."

While waiting for them to arrive, I can't help but keep glancing at the tub. In just 24 hours, that beautiful piece will be ready to wear. I can already imagine how it'll feel sliding over my own skin, those soft man boobs settling against my chest, that thick dick hanging heavy between my legs...

I lift the skinsuit from the tub, watching the excess fluid drip off in thick rivulets. The weight of it feels good in my hands - all that preserved flesh, hair, and that magnificent cock swaying as I carry it to my special drying room. I hang it carefully on my modified rack, making sure everything's properly aligned. The warm air circulates around it, drawing out the moisture while keeping the tissue supple.

Once it's perfectly dry, I fold it with practiced care - like packing an expensive suit. Into my discrete medical bag it goes, and I head home, my heart racing with anticipation.

In my bedroom, I spread it out on the bed. Fuck, it looks even better in the soft lighting here. I strip down completely, my own skin tingling with excitement. The skinsuit feels warm and inviting as I begin to step into it, starting with the legs. I guide my feet through, then my calves, thighs... The dead man's flesh envelops me like a lover's embrace. I work my arms into the sleeves, feeling the weight of those man boobs settle against my chest. The belly folds drape over my torso.

The most delicate part is always the face - I ease my head through, adjusting the eye holes, the mouth... Then I feel it - that moment when the skin fully wraps my own body heat. I'm becoming him.

But the skinsuit hangs loose on my frame - like wearing an oversized rubber suit. The belly sags, the man boobs droop unnaturally, and that massive dick flops awkwardly against my thigh. But I've got the solution right here. I reach for my special bottle, the one with the morphing formula I've perfected through years of trial and error.

The liquid burns going down, tasting metallic and sharp. Then it starts - that familiar tingling sensation spreading through every cell of my body. I watch in the mirror as my frame begins to expand, filling out the skinsuit like a balloon being inflated. My chest swells to match those perfect man boobs, my belly grows rounder and softer, pushing out until it fits snugly in the loose folds of skin. My shoulders broaden, arms thicken, and thighs expand until they're properly thick and hairy.

The most intense feeling is when my groin adapts to his massive package. I feel the stretch and pull as my own penis morphs to match his impressive size. The wrist-thick shaft fills out perfectly, that beautiful mushroom head hanging heavy and full between my newly thick thighs.

I run my hands over my new body, feeling how perfectly everything has aligned. The skin no longer feels like a suit - it's become me. Every hair, every fold, every dimple is exactly as it was on my morgue table. I grab my soft belly, feeling it jiggle realistically...

My hand wraps around my new cock, and holy fuck - it's so thick I can barely get my fingers around it. The skin is velvety soft, with those prominent veins running along the shaft just like I remembered from the morgue. I give it a slow stroke, feeling how the foreskin glides perfectly over that massive mushroom head. When I pinch the glans, a shiver runs through my entire body - the sensitivity is incredible, maybe even better than the original owner experienced.

The weight of it in my hand is intoxicating. Each stroke makes my new belly and boobs jiggle slightly. I catch my reflection in the mirror - this 50-year-old bear of a man, all soft curves and silver-streaked hair, working his massive tool. The contrast between who I really am and this borrowed flesh makes everything more intense. My thick fingers explore every inch, squeezing, stroking, teasing...

Pre-cum starts beading at the tip, and I smear it around the swollen head with my thumb. The sensation makes my knees weak, and I have to brace myself against the wall. This new penis is so responsive, so perfectly preserved...

After what feels like an hour of edging this magnificent piece of equipment, it finally happens. The orgasm builds from somewhere deep in my borrowed balls, rising through that wrist-thick shaft like a tsunami. My new body convulses - belly quivering, man boobs shaking, thighs trembling. Holy fuck, it's so different from my original body's orgasms.

The first rope of cum shoots out with such force it hits the mirror across the room. The second and third blasts are just as powerful, and I can feel every pulse through this massive meat. My thick fingers can barely hold on as the shaft throbs and pumps. The sensation is overwhelming - like my consciousness is exploding through every inch of this borrowed flesh.

I'm making sounds I've never made before - deep, guttural grunts that rumble from this bigger chest. My soft belly heaves with each breath, covered in sweat and stray drops of cum. The preserved skin responds exactly like living flesh, flushed and sensitive. That gorgeous mushroom head is still pulsing, drooling the last drops of cum...

My legs are shaking so hard I have to sit down, feeling how my heavy ass spreads on the bed, that spent dick still twitching between my thick thighs...

Created using AI.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Monday Musings: Why are there so many perfectly preserved soft-bodied animals found in the Cambrian?

There are a number of ways to get the perfect preservations needed to fossilize soft parts but none of them are particularly common. On the other hand, most of them require water and there was quite a lot of it 518 million years ago.

Phosphatization occurs when large quantities of phosphate are present, either in sea water or from the tissues of a decaying organism. In some cases, microbes that fed on the tissue control the phosphatization. Many soft tissues are preserved this way in the Burgess Shale. The phosphate comes from the tissue itself and when pH is low and oxygen is absent, it becomes the primary method of fossilization.

Silicification is one of the most common ways to fossilize something because silicates is the most common rock forming minerals in the crust. Silica often replaces other minerals that have dissolved out such as calcite shells. This is usually seen to preserve things like trilobites. It doesn't often fossilize soft tissue.

Another form of preservation found at least in the Burgess Shale is carbonaceous film. This occurs when something is buried under several layers of sediment and diagenetically altered (in this case by heat and pressure brought on by compaction) and the animal lacks a hard skeleton or shell.

When we look at quarry locations on a paleo map,

and examine the rocks, we see that they lived and died in the right place at the right time (if the taphonomic and preservation bias don't lead us astray).

The Burgess Shale beds were deposited at the base of a cliff of calcareous reefs below the depth agitated by waves during storms. The most widely accepted hypothesis for burial is that part if the reef became detached, slumped and transported rock and debris several kilometers and quickly burying anything in its path.

On the other hand, the Maotianshan Shale was probably buried periodically under turbidity currents, basically an underwater mass wasting event. This is why we don't build our homes on old landslide deposits kids.

The Sirius Passet lagerstatte of Greenland was yet a different environment close to the boundary of an oxygen minimum zone according to geochemical analysis. It is thought that the original preservation was phosphatization that was later altered to silica by low grade metamorphism during the Devonian Period mountain-building events.

Finally, we have the Sinsk Biota of Siberia which inhabited an open marine basin where storms created back currents that sent many animals off into the oxygen depleted depths below. Anoxic conditions prevent growth of microbes that would normally decay flesh allowing soft tissues to preserve.

Now, it is also important to note that oftentimes, parts labeled soft tissue are not necessarily as soft as you believe. Take keratin for example which makes up nails, hair, feathers and sheaths over horns. It's not really that soft in some cases but it is softer than bone which makes it harder to preserve.

Whether we mean keratin or chitin (a natural polymer used to strengthen fungi and invertebrates) or internal organs which really are soft tissues, the Cambrian lagerstatten really are something else.

[ashmouthbooks]

Læg nu smukt din hånd i min by katekane

A6 quarto hardback with homemade bookcloth - first time making it myself! and the title stamped on the front cover with fabric paint. I have never watched a single Far til fire film (not even the modern remakes) but when I stumbled across this on ao3 I couldn’t pass it by. this fic touches on Danish queer history with such heart and warmth and wonderful characters (I should probably watch the films) that it became an instant favourite.

for ikke at tale om at når man har tilbragt tyve plus år i fandom på engelsk og med engelske canons så er det at læse fic på dansk, der har udgangspunkt i dansk kultur og historie, som regn for sjælens ødemarker.

craft talk under the cut.

this is my first time making bookcloth so I want about it the cheapest possible way - fabric square from Søstrene Grene’s craft section backed with tissue paper which was a) the only paper I had that was big enough for the fabric square and b) salvaged from a past gifty delivery. it went ok but after drying some of the tissue separated from the fabric. hashtag yolo etc. I decided to use it anyway, and I think the moisture in the PVA was just enough to reactivate the paste on the paper backing, because the finished case came out beautifully smooth - and soft. I opted not to infill the cloth so it’s open weave cotton and feels as soft as a pillow to the touch.

the endpapers are also from Søstrene Grene, decorative paper 120gsm. The textblock is printed on 90gsm Munken Lynx Smooth Natural White, I wanted a whiter paper than usual as the chapter end notes have colour photos that I wanted to preserve. headbands are sewn on, the core is leather cord and the thread is embroidery thread.

the title is stamped on using rubber stamps from, you guessed it - Søstrene Grene. (they actually have letter stamps with the Scandinavian alphabet characters but the London store only has that particular set in all caps and the lower case set only had the English alphabet. luckily an æ is easily improvised and I have both a steady hand and a fine tip paintbrush for the circle over the å.) the paint is shimmery metallic fabric paint from Lumiere.

[strongafmummytourney]

ROUND 1

CONTENDER 1: BEECHEY ISLAND MUMMIES

Also known as: Franklin Expedition Mummies, John Shaw Torrington, John Hartnell, William Braine Age(s): 19-20 (Torrington), 25 (Hartnell), 32 (Braine) Location: Beechey Island/Iluvialuit, Nunavut, Canada Means of Mummification: Burial in permafrost Notable features: Preserved soft tissues and cartilage including eyes, nose, lips, and internal organs. Hair preserved with color intact. Clothes preserved.

CONTENDER 2: GEORGE HERBERT LEIGH-MALLORY

Age: 37 Location: Mount Everest's North Face, Tibet Means of Mummification: Subzero mountain temperatures and dry air Notable features: Known for his incredible posterior in life and in death. Some climbing gear intact.

[3liza]

vintage nudes are so interesting because they preserve body types that used to be really common but dont seem to be around much anymore. i think of this bodytype as the one most common in 1960s-70s fantasy book covers and pulp novels. barbarella has this kind of torso, for example. but you rarely see it show up past the 1990s. i dont see it IRL much either. part of it i think is that the image of "sexy girl" like you see on pulp novel covers and in ads etc has gotten progressively younger since the american midcentury. this is more of a grownup bodytype, this is a more usual shape for skinny women in their 30s and 40s with muscle maturity and a few more years of hormone-mediated development and possibly a pregnancy or two. i think differences in posture (particularly the practice of sucking in the abdominal muscles in a really conspicuous way, which was the norm from about 1940 to 1970 for both men and women), the culture around correcting posture virtually disappearing in the 80s, and differences in daily activities activating different muscle groups, as well as difference in where we are putting shaping pressure on our soft tissues with different clothing and materials, has contributed to these changes. i would love to write a paper about this. i've gotten so intense about this topic i can date nudes to roughly their correct decades just based on the model's body shape.