isleofdragon

[isleofdragon]

Chindesaurus bryansmalli, an early herrerasaurid dinosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian) period in what is now the Southwestern United States. It was a small, bipedal carnivore with a long tail and a length estimated at 2 to 2,3 meters (6.6 to 7.5 feet).

For prints and stuff, check: https://www.stavrosillustration.se

[isleofdragon]

Here’s an illustration of the therizinosaur Erlikosaurus andrewsi done for an article on the blog Darwin’s Door! The article should pop up on friday but I’m impatient so I’m sharing it now ;] Hope youse all enjoy!

[isleofdragon]

Touched up my old Dino’s drawing :) very happy with it!!!

[isleofdragon]

pspspsps

[isleofdragon]

From previous fossils, they already knew the dinosaur had asymmetric feathers, which are vital to creating thrust in modern, flying birds. But the hard slab of limestone around this specimen had also preserved a key layer of feathers called tertials that had never been documented before in Archaeopteryx.

“It’s important that this is the first time these feathers have been seen,” John Nudds, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England who didn’t participate in the study, tells the Guardian’s Hannah Devlin. “These new feathers seen in this beautifully preserved specimen—as well as the asymmetric feathers—confirms it could fly.”

She could fly!

Article link!

@seananmcguire Something to brighten your day. She could fly!!!

[isleofdragon]

more dinovembers! day 6-10!

[isleofdragon]

Spelunking Log, Central Island Cave:

I went in with 3 dimorphodons. I got a little lost... We made it to the structures by the water, but a big bat came at us. It killed me and the dimorph on my shoulder. I'm not sure where the other two went. They werent followed me anymore by that point. I had taken enough to make a small structure, but I'm not sure if I can retrieve it or not.

Update: found my way back to one of my dimorphs. We killed a big bat, but I died shortly after of mega rabies. Going in again. I want to set up a little base in there!

Update: that's all I have the energy for right now :3 still recovering from surgery, so, gonna nap!

Whenever I come back: I should breed more of my big bats, they're really strong. I think they could fight against the wild ones okay. I might need to travel slower and clear things out as I go, rather than sprint through. A couple bats and a couple dimorphs would be a good strategy. My goal is to make it back down to the water area and try to retrieve my items so I can set up my little base.

[isleofdragon]

I love how Ive always played this game with the mindset of "I want this to be easy to pick back up later." I so kindly have lots of extra gear for myself, entire cabinets of "this stuff is junk so if you want to go get familiar with the controls again, you can wear use this gear. It's no big deal if you lose it all." And there's plenty of food and resources in every base, all the troughs are full. Every so often I come across a rest house, no roof so it's easy to land, with a bedroll and some storage with spare gear tucked inside.

I have way more cool pets than I remember! I thought the cave-base I'd been working on was the coastal one, so I went to the inner one instead to poke around. I found lots of pets and supplies! A spinosaur, a ton of bats, dimorphs, a tek parasaur. I love how their names are so silly. A baryonyx named Caesar Salad. A spinosaur named Beef Pizza. 🤭

Anyways, I'm going to try to explore this cave now!

[isleofdragon]

Okay, updates on my situations:

- Cheesecake is home and safe, and apparently has a mate!

- I have three spinosaurs :O

- my starter base by the big tree above the inlet is fine; my volcano base is fine; my current main base seems to be on the tall riverbanks on the northwest side of the redwood forests

- THIS IS FUN

- going to work on making more bug spray and checking on my bases ^w^

[isleofdragon]

Okay so turns out that bug repellant is an absolute necessary. I put some on, stripped naked, and sprinted my way into a cave. GOT THE ARTIFACT. Then I just...left! Hahaha!?!?

I love it. So fuckin cool!! Zero preparation, zero mounts, zero weapons or armor. Just bug spray and sprinting!

[isleofdragon]

I know I have a LOT of gripes with this game in terms of design and playability and...

But wow the music makes my heart race! It's not even good music. I just....really like this game even though it has so many flaws!!!

I can't believe it loaded already either... Well, time to play!!

[isleofdragon]

Oh god, is this where I left off? I'm gonna have a hard time getting off the island while readjusting to the game 😅

After barely surviving an unsuccessful attempt to sail to Carnivore Island, I am now stranded here with my Yutyrannus, Cheesecake. This island must be the worst island for survival. There are few plants for building, limited stones to mine, and no source of metal. The aforementioned carnivores do not make life easier.

We've managed to construct a shelter from stone, and survived several attacks (including an alpha raptor that was very intent on killing us), and are trying to scrounge up enough wood for another raft. My previous raft was abandoned mid-sail after a sarcosuchus knocked us off. When I looked out over the horizon for it, I couldn't see it at all. My plan to tame a pelagornis to fly to the boat went out the window, so to speak.

I found a handsome Argentavis and I'm taming it, for backup if nothing else. Thankfully the giant scorpions provide enough material to make a saddle for it, and then lll have a mobile smithy as well!

[isleofdragon]

It's been almost a year, which might be why I'm starting to feel the need to play Ark ^w^

I've been pondering the "dragon" lately, which I'm 99% sure is a thing that exists and can be tamed and ridden despite the game mostly being an "accurate" depiction of "real" animals from earth history. Specifically...I wanna find it >:3 I've been playing Ark for years and never figured out these dang obelisks. I think it's time!

I remember finding cool stuff in the caves. I bet I need to explore those more. So I need to find a way to survive the caves. I remember I did a hilariously successful run recently where I literally just parkour'd past 80% of enemies, grabbed the treasure, and then escaped. I'm more of a "approach with great caution and planning, explore everything completely" kind of person buuuuuuuuut. Well. I wanna figure out the obelisks!

I think a small army of dilphs would be good... And of course the hell pigs are amazing for their recovery abilities. I've never tamed a spider or scorpion, so maybe it's time to try those?

One cave I'm worried about is the underwater cave. I just don't know how to combat those damn jellies. The sharks are hard but at least they seem straightforward--kill or get eaten. But the jellies have that toxin that can totally stun you, so you can't fight back or escape. I've lost some good mounts to those things. I might need to invest in some better technology. A harpoon gun or something. I don't like relying on weapons tech, simply because I think it's more fun to impose the challenge on myself to NOT use much. But...well, I don't wanna sacrifice a bunch of pets either!

The weapons are really hard to make though. All that metal and gunpowder. It's tough to get a lot of it. Maybe I should try some of the other things. I think I saw, like, spikey fences? Did I see a taser rod?

I think I'll go ahead and open Ark today :3 I'm sure it needs to spend a while updating. I'll go ahead and let it get started! And in the meantime, I'll review past posts I've made to see if I had any other good ideas for strategy!

[isleofdragon]

[isleofdragon]

A storm rolls over Late Cretaceous Hateg island, nourishing the land and drenching the local wildlife. Featuring: Tethyshadros, Hatzegopteryx, Paludititan, Balaur bondoc, an Enantiornithine, Sabresuchus, and many other critters.

[isleofdragon]

[isleofdragon]

Ohoho did I mentioned I tamed am otter too?? And they sit on your shoulders like a scarf and help keep you warm???? Precious baby!!!!

Brrr!!! The cold area is COLD! Im trying to make a little stone house for stopovers and it's freezing here!

BUT I'm just about to befriend a dire wolf so :3 that's worth the freezing cold!