#tigers and wolves

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

the golden hour (stay gold)

[planariaareneat]

How The Nocturnal Bottleneck and Nipples Make Us Human

Almost every post here considers what humans do have, really. It’s a little tiring; realistically every world has its harsh environments and vicious species and a sophont to match. We probably wouldn’t be unique for our adaptability or our persistence or even adrenaline

But our evolution is fucked up as hell, to put it lightly.

Mammals went through what’s been dubbed the nocturnal bottleneck essentially since the start of the mesozoic right up until the Cretaceous ended the archosaur’s exclusive hold over the daylight. We lost a lot of things from every mammal spending most of its time in either a cramped, suffocating burrow or scrounging around in the faint hours of nighttime. Our blood cells lost their nuclei to hold more oxygen while we spent time deep underground, we lost protections against ultraviolet rays in our skin and eyes, we can’t even repair our own DNA using the light of the sun. Most aliens probably wouldn’t have such traits unless their evolution followed a very similar path to ours. They’d be able to see ultraviolet and wouldn’t have to worry about sunburn and all the wonderful privileges essentially all fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles enjoy as we speak. 

There’s also what we gained from spending so much time in the dark.

Brown fat is only found in mammals, it’s a special type of fat which bear cells with several oil droplets and are utterly jammed with mitochondria. This lets it make heat, a lot of it, fast. We don’t even need to shiver to induce this heat generation from brown adipose tissue - factor in our downright hyperactive mitochondria, and we can warm up quickly. Sure, it doesn’t have too much use in adult humans, but it keeps our infants warm and still provides a little boost the whole run we have in this universe.

Unless aliens also went through a time where their small ancestors had to face cold nights, they’d have to produce heat the old fashioned way when chilled. Aliens might have to shiver the whole time they’re in a cold room while the human watches in confusion, quite literally unshaken, and wonders if the room is a lot colder than the thermostat set to 60 says. The aliens stare at their companion in confusion, it’s just a normal temperature to shiver at after all, how is the human sitting so still?

Our small ancestors spending all their time out foraging at night is also why we have such a good sense of touch, smell, and hearing. They were more important senses than vision (we’re lucky to have even redeveloped basic color vision, frankly) at the time and place and simply ended up continuing to serve us well. Birds and reptiles rarely have acute senses of smell and the latter especially are lucky to have acute hearing, and birds rarely have impeccable hearing themselves either. Our skin is free of scales and honed to sensitivity, and our external ears and complicated ear bones provide an immense range of hearing (from 20 all the way to 17,000 hertz!).

Aliens might not be able to pin down the chirp of a cricket or the light click of a lock being picked. The human might be the only one on board a ship that can pick out the finer sounds of the engine’s constant thrum and know the critical difference between when everything is fine and when something is wrong. The human could probably pick out the sounds of an approaching enemy’s careless footsteps - they’re only as light enough for *them* to stop hearing them, after all - and be the one to see the horrified expression (well, more on that later) on their face when we get the drop on them in spite of their perceived stealth. 

But perhaps the most versatile, convoluted, amazing, and utterly unique trait we have is right on your face this instant. Lips.

Lips in most animals are a simple seal to hold in the mouth’s moisture and protect the teeth, even if they’re supple they’re NEVER muscular except in mammals, and we have only one thing to thank for it; milk and nipples. Lips evolved exclusively to allow babies to suckle, it required a vacuum to be created in the mouth, and with no other animal having anything like a nipple it never happened in other animals. Many animals make milk, to be frank, but no other animal has nipples.

Your cheeks and lips are a marvel among tetrapods, no other animal can suck like mammals can. Aliens wouldn’t have straws or even be able to sip from the edge of a glass, they’d have to have a proboscis or simply tilt the whole thing back. Aliens likely won’t have woodwind instruments or balloons you can blow into. We take so much about our lips for granted. Hell, our muscular faces are vital for expressions, we’re probably absolute facial contortionists among a cast of creatures with mandibles and beaks and expressionless scaly maws. Aliens might find us ridiculously easy to read, if anything, compared to their own kind (all the better to deceive them) - or perhaps they’d find us hard to decipher anyways, with our lack of color-changing skin or erectable crests of bright feathers. Baring teeth might not be seen as a sign of aggression in most of the universe, smiling would be all too distinctly human. 

Perhaps with how infectious we are sometimes, that’s what we’d contribute to the universe; others might have to make do with opening their mouths just enough to show their teeth or splaying their innumerable mouthparts with just the right curve, but perhaps we’d teach the galaxy to smile, one ally at a time. 

Wouldn’t that be amazing?

[matoitech]

lots of working on oc designs today! the wolves were proto-nick designs but as much as i liked the shapes for that i just was not vibing so i switched directions and made him a dog cuz i was feeling that way more. the tiger and lioness r the starter ideas for dominics partner/s. kinda digging the lioness but definitely early stages w that tiger, i like his shape but the stripes werent designed to be that replicable and im not there yet with the colors

[whitejays-galaxy]

I heard we are de-extincting animals now🐺

Awoooooo

[thepastisalreadywritten]

In tandem with genetically engineering its three dire wolves, Colossal has cloned two litters of red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf in the world, as part of its overall goal of pairing conservation efforts with its de-extinction efforts.

The company, founded in 2021, has previously announced that it plans to bring back the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird from extinction.

It says that its work on the dire wolf is a proof of technology.

“This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” says Lamm, who co-founded Colossal with Harvard geneticist Dr. George Church.

Colossal — which claims that it has now set the record for the most-ever genetic edits in a living species — says it plans to restore the dire wolf as a viable species and secure ecological preserves for it on Indigenous land in North America.

📹 AMAZlNGNATURE / X

🐺🥹🔊

[chroma-imp-draws]

sorry for being entirely absent these past months I've been drawing little guys in ink 👍

[manga-meow]

[art-of-tek]

Completely random doodle page lol

[sorrow--wolf]

Hey, anyone remember that one Hunter drawing I posted like, months ago when I mentioned something else was supposed to be done that week?

So anyway, it definitely didn't take me several months to get back to this.

I totally started this a week ago, lol. /s

Anyway, I watch reddit reading videos while I'm drawing, and it was so jarring to hear someone mention Hunter while I was coloring this. Also, I may have added a personal addition to Hunter's room for nostalgia reasons. If you know, you know why it's there.

Edited to add: here's an up close crop of just Hunter and flap (I took a screen cap too, but it was actually blurrier than the crop)

[n-sani-tea]

These guys came to me in a dream. Seems that the potential to add more critters via new collections (such as: series 1, 2, and so on) has yet to be explored.

So say hello to the Critters Series 2: Sleepy Critters!

(Thanks to @studyingmoominvalley for helping with making them)

List of names and details under the cut.

1: Lax Lotl is the most zen critter in the series. he's usually seen meditating on a lotus flower in Pond Home and is watching the horizon go from dawn to dusk so he can sleep soundly at night. His most spoken word is "Ommmmm..."

Scent: Strawberry.

Charm: Lotus flower

2: Cerebrowl is wisened beyond his years, knowing every proverb you can rhink of. And some that he's made up himself. He's usually seen reading bedtime stories to the other Sleepy Critters but never finishes because he falls asleep halfway through. Luckily, he is the last to do so.

Scent: Fir Tree

Charm: Book

3: Holly Howler is a pack animal through and through, as she's never seen without a friend next to her. Some say it's separation anxiety, and others say clinginess, getting her to tell you which will result in her confusion. "I just like company." She will insist. Her howls signal bedtime like a reverse rooster.

Scent: Jasmine

Charm: Full moon

4: Brindle Brundle is always cold and usually makes nice warm campfires to nap around for all the Sleepy Critters, but always makes sure to put the flame out to prevent forest fires from spreading. Mindfully thinking about other Critters' safety before his own.

Scent: Marmalade

Charm: Flame

5: Ameth rarely moves but isn't stiff in her expressions. She is usually chipper and upbeat in her own unique way. She keeps nightmares away with the scary faces she can pull. They flee at the sight of her frightening gurns.

Scent: Lilac

Charm: purple gem

6: Goldie Smith loves collecting shiny things and making her home out of them. From old coins to broken necklaces. If it sparkles, she wants it and will usually try anything to get it. Within reason, of course. Usually, she trades away stuff that's lost its shine, so her home never looks the same.

Scent: Passion fruit

Charm: Bubbles

7: Sunday Sloth, despite his name, sleeps all days of the week. "Nap all day, sleep all night. Awake never." Is his motto, and he lives and breathes it. The only thing stopping him sleeping his life away is his friends making sure he gets at least some awake time.

Scent: Raspberry

Charm: Pillow

8: Pupular is well known for overworking herself practising her circus performances and usually ends up too tired to do anything else. She is often encouraged to take breaks, and with some convincing will rest a bit. Usually, this results in her immediately knocking out for the night.

Scent: Coconut

Charm: Smiley face

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

i'm completely put together and not chewing glass at all

[woodwool]

best way to make sure you get to see the more elusive animals at the zoo is to go with someone whos not local and tell them "oh dont get your hopes up youre not gonna see the animal we never do." works every time.

[tilbageidanmark]

The Return of the Dire Wolf

[escapingpurgatory]

my favorite animals pt.3

black bear tiger ferret

wolf hedgehog polar bear

horse owl rat

[a-flaming-idiot]

DTF

Damn Thylacines are Fucking cool

[freshthoughts2020]