#borealopelta

[tibli]

as a huge fan of paleontology, that one borealopelta fossil makes me so fucking emotional. just look at this

this isn't just fossilized bone. this is a fossilized body. it looks less like a several-million-year-old specimen and more like a living, breathing animal that simply fell asleep.

also of note, this particular fossil was preserved in three dimensions, rather than having been flattened over time like the majority of fossils that you would typically find. a lot of specimens look more like an imprint than anything else. but this has depth, and volume. and its so detailed that researchers have been able to determine its skin color based off the compounds found on the surface.

idk it just really makes me want to burst into tears. so much of paleontology relies on making inferences from bones and a variety of trace fossils, and there are likely several details about prehistoric fauna that we simply don't know because they dont fossilize well, and fossilization is already an incredibly rare process as is.

for example, if spiders all died out before humans ever saw any, and all we had left were fossils, would we know they spun webs of silk? would the spinnerets be enough to tip us off?

there are so many things we still don't know about prehistoric life, and likely never will know because it wasn't preserved. can you imagine how many species we just don't know about because they never fossilized?

but here, with borealopelta, we have such a well-preserved specimen that it looks as though it could wake up at any second. It just makes me feel something inexplicable.

[palaeonecromancy]

Happy Fossil Friday!

Who: Borealopelta markmitchelli

name meaning: "Northern shield" "Mark Mitchell"

pronunciation: Bore-ee-al-oh-pell-tah Mark-Mitchell-eye

What: A nodosaur, the un-clubbed kin to ankylosaurs

When: Early Cretaceous Period

Where: Alberta, Canada

Fun fact!: The specimen pictured above is one of the most well preserved dinosaurs ever discovered. It was discovered by miner Shawn Funk at Millennium Mine oil sands just north of Fort McMurray in Alberta. This local was perfect for exceptional preservation as the deposits were predominantly bitumen-rich (coal) sands. Preserved on the animal are not only skin impressions, but a snapshot image of what the animal would have looked like in life, and even red pigments have been found that indicate the hue of the skin.

Image Credits: (Left: Meet Borealopelta markmitchelli, ‘Best-Preserved Armored Dinosaur’ | Paleontology | Sci-News.com Right: M. Cross)

[thecoffeeisblack]

It's been a long night, time to lay down and relax with Borealopelta markmitchelli. Make your bed if ferns and drift off. 🌛💤

[cypressure]

New print drop: The Shallows (Borealopelta)

the first few pieces in this mini linocut series are now available in my store!

once again, watch this space because more are on the way...

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

Another #paleostream sketch!

In this one I put a little bit more effort, Borealopelta is known from such a fantastic fossil!

[dinodanicus]

The first dino sketches of 2024!!!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Trick or treat?

Borealopelta!

[strangebiology]

I was so excited to see borealopelta, the world's best-preserved ankylosaur, in Drumheller! At the Royal Tyrell Paleontological Museum. I put some more pics from the museum at the bottom of my "museums" album on Flicker.

[pocoslip]

Marine Reptile VS Ankylosaur

(i should get more little dinosaurs but nah)

[sinosauropteryx--prima]

National Fossil: Canada

Last week I asked what should be the national fossil of the USA and (to the surprise of absolutely no one) Tyrannosaurus won that title by a mile.

I liked the idea, so I thought I‘d do that again, but this time ask you guys what should be the national fossil for Canada. Honestly, I‘d like to do this for a lot of countries and maybe I can make a map for it in the end or something.

Same as last time: it could be a fossil that is just exceptionally well preserved and beautiful, had a huge impact on paleontology and our knowledge of the past, is very common/representive of the area, is beloved and famous in the public eye, is just a very unique and interesting find, or has any other justification.

Here are my suggestions:

Anomalocaris: Everybody‘s favorite “weird shrimp“, one of the earliest complex life forms and apex predator from the famous Burgess Shale fossil site in British Colombia, one of the best places to find creatures from the Cambrian, more than 500 million years ago.

Tiktaalik: An important step in the transition from fish to land-living tetrapods first found in Nunavut (Art by Zina Deretsky)

Edmontosaurus: A large duck-billed dinosaur with populations raging across large parts of North America and named after the Canadian city Edmonton

Albertosaurus: A large carnivorous dinosaur closely related to Tyrannosaurus and named after the Canadian province Alberta, where it was first found

Borealopelta: Only discovered in 2011, the beautifully preserved ankylosaur included osteoderms (the armor on its body), skin and even stomach contents. It was in such good conditions that even the color could be studied (it was reddish brown)

Castoroides: Since Canada‘s national animal is the beaver and I wanted to give you a mammal option/something more recent, may I present to you Castoroides, the giant beaver. The pleistocene animal was one of the biggest rodents of all time and common across North America

PS: If someone has suggestions for Mexico or other Central American countries, let me know.

[dianamations]

So I’ve been seeing a lot of paleo artists depicting dinosaurs with earlobes. But I’ve decided to be a mega troll and give Borealopelta turtle ears- which basically means that it’s just hidden under the skin. >:DD

Plus they’re too busy taking in that sweet natural sunlight to care about hearing your problems.

Jk jk I’m sure borealo loves u too. 💚

[bruesselbach]

Cretaceous (Paleofacture 24), April 2024, oil on canvas, 12x16in.

[baellielurk]

9 26 53 91 !!💖

9. Sweet True Lies - Beast in Black so at some point a beloved friend suggested that beast in black's from hell with love album really vibes with the avernus campaign we are in and i gave it a listen and this song came out on top. eating it at all times. surprised it didn't climb higher tbh. it's making me consider buying a concert ticket and actually going, too. that's how much it's wormed in here

26. A Handsome Stranger Called Death - FOE took this off a character list like a week ago because it was one of the first ones to go on there but recently i realized that it doesn't actually fit. still, i do enjoy the (the character was adrian, and frankly this song stayed there so long cuz i got used to it being there but. he aint actually like this, so it had to go)

53. Dysmorphia - girli you're lowkey microdosing on adrian's playlist here lol. need i explain this one? 😂 every other line is just directly out of his Angst. the song itself is something i needed to chew for a bit before i could actually stomach it cuz it's one of those that do NOT sound like music i enjoy, but at the same time the lyrics fit too much to just leave it

91. Madeline - Kiki Rockwell this made it because i listened to burn your village and cup runneth over some 300 times each and this happened to be on the same album. and because the kind of dragging beat that's going on during the chorus is, to me, like a corn on a hook is for a fish

thank you for the number!!! 🫀🫀

[nodosauriday]

I wanted to christen this name change with photos from my Drumheller trip earlier this month. I got to see the Borealopelta holotype in person and it was so amazing.

The Royal Tyrrell only has like three ankylosaurs but wow look at that euoplocephalus it almost makes up for it.

[talvenhenki]

10, 26 and 35 for the fic writer asks?

lol sorry it has not been my day so it took an eternity to get to these

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Currently probably Witch Hat Atelier with either Orufrey or Atuarto/Galga for the pairings because they just make me want hugs and sometimes that's a good feeling

I also like reading for Detective Conan but only the ones that are like I wonder what this child with an aura of death around him is up to now. I actually just like the fire extinguisher sized shenanigans

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Either playing Zelda or straight up wiggling around to the music I listen to while writing. Or getting hungry while writing

we do not talk about my Masterarbeit looming right around the corner

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

Short answer: Very Much

Long answer: When I was 15 (11 years ago! Smol me!) I wrote to this fandom called 07-Ghost, made a friend in the fandom who was German, decided to start learning German and I'm now close to getting my Master's in German philology and becoming a teacher of German language, so. Yeah. I have also made A Lot of fandom friends, usually through writing, and found my way to a discord server thanks to one of those friends. I've also figured out a lot of my emotions through writing and had an outlet to the ones that could have hurt me so I think it's also kind of given me a chance of growing while my mind wouldn't let me

(Also writing a specific fic confirmed to me that I am in fact poly so it also helped me figure out my identity! Who knew?)

[wyrmoftheweb]

i love borealopelta it just looks like such an animal it looks like it would snuffle its nose around your pockets to see if you brought it a fern treat