#the answer is: a dog

[blueboyluca]

the purebred paradigm is so unquestionably entrenched that if you mix two breeds people act genuinely like you’ve created some kind of dangerous abomination

[stinkybrowndogs]

I mean I get that’s it’s not the only contributing factor, but I’m curious exactly how much of the shelter dog over-population problem is actually due to poor dog ownership/management vs the housing crisis and economical stress. I’d be willing to bet by investing in social programs that give people the resources they need to care for their pets (cough cough affordable and free housing cough cough) that the amount of pets in shelters would dramatically drop. We can all sit here pointing fingers and screaming at each other until we are blue in the face, but if the owners basic needs are not being met, how can we hold them to a basic standard for their pets?

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

Yeah, I don't know about you, Fidds, but I'd fold at this 🙏

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[mammalidentifier]

im sorry seals molt? my association with that word is insects so i am confused and intrigued

They do! I’d say most species of animals sloughs off “old” parts of their bodies at some point of their lives in some capacity. The word “molting” is used as a catch-all term for this process, although exactly what body part they shed and how they do it varies from animal to animal. Arthropods grow an entire new exoskeleton and shed the old one, but for most other animals, this process only involves shedding the outermost layer of their bodies, the pelage and/or their first layer of skin. Reptiles are quite famous for this because they sometimes manage to come out of their old skins and leave them almost fully intact as if they were kigurumi pajamas:

Mammals tend to mostly only shed fur or hair, growing thicker fur during colder months and losing it in favor of shorter fur during warmer months. How obvious this is depends on the climate, though. It’s quite perceptible in mammals that live in the arctic whose fur changes color depending on the season:

But even the difference between the summer coats and winter coats of domestic dogs can be palpable if you live in places with colder climates!

(I’m quite fascinated by this because I was born and raised in a tropical country and my dogs look the same all year round heh)

But back to the seals. Pinnipeds don’t really use their fur to keep warm like other mammals do, but they still have it, and they have to shed their old coats and grow new ones accordingly, which they do once a year!

In elephant seals, this process is so sudden and so extreme it’s called catastrophic molting. They don’t only lose their fur, but also a layer of dead skin all at once and this forces them to stay on land for a full month without swimming (and therefore, without hunting and eating) until the process is fully done. Because molting requires redirecting blood flow towards the skin instead of to their vital organs as usual, if they swam in the cold waters they’re usually accustomed to while molting, they’d freeze!

Bonus fun fact: despite having lost their fur during the evolution process, cetaceans like whales and dolphins also go through a molting process where they lose a layer of dead skin, which they scrape off by rubbing against rocks and rolling on sand banks.

It’s been recently discovered (as of 2020!) that the reason whales migrate annually from arctic waters to tropical waters is the exact same reason elephant seals spend a month on land: to molt! It’s much easier for a whale to keep warm while shedding its skin in warm waters than it is in cold waters.

[egophiliac]

WAIT when did he get FANGS

[bunnygirllover45]

possession.

[hinamie]

noir

[wishfulsketching]

My fav thing about Zaundads is the idea that it's Vander who's basically a pet dog but REALLY,,,it's Silco whom has the fanciest lil collar and leash, has the prettiest muzzle and tastiest treats to help encourage him to be a good boy for Vander. Local barman's prized miniature Italian greyhound <3

I think this ask was about something more than just Silco in a collar and a leash but I blacked out after that and drew this

Someone take him out, he needs some fresh air. He's eating the wallpaper out of boredom

[markscherz]

do you feel positive, negative, or neutral about inaccurate plastic skeleton halloween decorations? like what's going on with this guy's everything?

you may not know this, but I am something of a specialist on amphibian skeletal anatomy, and this… thing is a sin against my entire field.

Frogs do not have ribs. Where is its pectoral girdle? Why does it have mammal feet? What even happened to its hips? Why does it have SO MANY VERTEBRAE‽ And what in the seven hells happened to its skull? Hypertrophy is one thing, but this… this is just lazy. They seem to have decided to give it a beak??? And the nostril is super far back and also somehow integrated into a bone¿?¿?

What in the name of Eru Ilúvatar is going on‽

[canisalbus]

Vasco encouraging Machete by shouting "go white boy go"

[itsafreetrialofdeath]

master tacticians at work

[zivazivc]

reblog for bigger sample size i guess

[pestorik]

TWST x adventure time: NRC staff

sorry crewel fans

[darkwood-sleddog]

The dog world is so allergic to “management” as a concept like “my dogs are fighting!” Separate them. “My dog runs off!” Leash them. “My dog is aggressive!” Muzzle him. “My dog destroys my house!” Put him in a secure area he can’t destroy stuff in. It is literally that easy.

[dahliadagger]

sir you'll have to specify that a little

[cryptidclaw]

dude, i beg of you. Give us some Bigkit art, i need to see this doggo as a puppy. /j

Here have a sketch page of varyingly aged Bignoses <3

I’ve been trying to figure out how to draw him well since I wanna do a side comic for him perchance

Bonus version with some ages labeled !