#fossil fish week

[fossilfix]

So apparently it's Shark Week, or near enough.

Your routine reminder that Megalodon is definitely extinct, but you can see it in action in this animated short I made ;)

[topazshadowwolf]

ok we know Nightmare plays Animal Crossing but what would his opinion on Stardew Valley be?

I think his opinion would be “meh.” It is cute and there is some collecting involved but it’s all pixels, farms aren’t interesting to him, and the dating aspect Killer explained made him roll his eyelight. He doesn’t need or want a virtual spouse.

[showyoumyfavoriteobsession]

Very weird to me that you can get multiple authentic versions of the same art piece in Animal Crossing. I get the gameplay reason (you can get copies of pretty much everything else, for decoration or w/e) and I'm not one to quibble with video game logic, but it does make actually collecting all the pieces a little annoying

[watercolor-wings]

Boomers would hate this but playing video games has actually made me good at money management.

[maopll]

Could I request Kaeya, Diluc, Childe and Zhongli's (separate) s/o laying them down on her lap and playing with the boys' hair when their exhausted?

Put your head on my heart

#genshin impact !

⌗:, a/n: its boutta feel like heaven once I scratch their heads I'm being dead serious...hopefully there's no dandruff...

⌗:, pairings: khaenri'ahn, weird grown up, snezhnaya's greatest toymaker, fossil w/ gn!reader (separately)

⌗:, note: I wanted to post smth before I went to school so pls take it with a grain of salt (low effort work)

— ୨୧ KAEYA

"Ahh...that's feels great" Kaeya mumbled drowsily against your lap.

"You're having real fun by having me at your beck and call huh?" You playfully said as you pressed one spot on his forehead a little harder.

"Ow ow ow gently I'm very feeble" He smirked while looking you with half his eyes closed. It looks like the exhaustion really creeped up to him. He's not one who easily shows through his demeanor how much overworked or even exhausted he is.

To others he may seem like how he usually does but the slight change in his personality spoke words to you. The past week he became sluggish and even fell asleep at the most odd places.

Thus you took it upon your hands to lay him down on your lap and forcibly make him achieve that deserved slumber that he really needed.

"It's not right to overwork yourself so much Kaeya..." your voice sounded like one of worry. Kaeya knew how you felt and...he can't really disagree with you. "I'll be careful next time lovely"

"Oh, you better! you're trying to shave years of my life here with how much you're overworking yourself!" You smack his head. He laughed, seeing you worry so much, and said "aww I'm sorry," all while having a shit eating grin on his face as he smothered your face with his kisses to make you stop worrying. "You have my oath as a knight, my dove" he says so while sealing the words with a kiss on the back of your hand in quite the knightly fashion.

— ୨୧ DILUC

It's way past midnight. The workers and the Maids of the Manor are enjoying the honey heavy dew of slumber while you paced back and forth in your own room's veranda as you stared far into the vineyards to even catch a glimpse of your lover. It's not unusual for Diluc to return late, but it's even more unusual when he hasn't come back after the clock struck 2 a.m.

"Where is he?" Your worries grew like a rapid fire. You tried to calm your nerves by telling yourself "it's alright..." when your ears perked up with the creak of the front door. After some time, you saw Diluc emerge from the shadows with his red hair looking particularly vibrant under the moonlight.

"Gosh, you had me worried there dear..." you strode towards him. "Yes...it looks like I kept you awake and worried for a long time? apologies..." as he sounded those words, his voice grew tired and low as his eyes nearly closed from how drowsy he was. You frowned at this sight of him. So you held his hand gently and guided him towards your bed to let him get that well deserved rest since he looked as if he would flop flat on the ground if you did not let him fall on the bed sooner.

You guided his head towards your lap and ruffled his red locks gently. "I'll help you sleep quicker, Diluc. So just close your eyes now" with a peck to his forehead, you put your hands softly over his eyes. "Thank you...love"

— ୨୧ CHILDE

"Childe...I don't think this is that right place to do this..."

And yes it wasn't. He decided to go out fishing in Dragonspine with you because he said, "I miss the way me and my family used to fish in Snezhnaya" all puppy eyed and stuff. You're always the one who says yes to anything he says but maybe...maybe this time you should've said no...

"But babe I'm tired! won't you let me rest my head on your lap?" so he said when he is literally a harbinger. Him running out of stamina and being exhausted? impossible that's something that will happen in an alternate universe. He just needed a sorry excuse to feel the warmth your thigh emitted because he just couldn't get enough of those.

"Childe I'm not saying that you can't lay on my lap but we are out in the middle of nowhere in adeserted frosty mountain!" You screamed to him while he just jumped up with excitement, "Oh look! I caught a Snowstrider! Great catch!"

"Oh my archons...are we done yet?" you said impatiently because the cold was getting to you. "Aww but I was thinking about catching a few more...alright let's go home now"

You noticed the tone drop in his voice. Looks like he really missed those eventful days of his. So with a sigh and a forgiving smile on your face you agreed to his whims, "Nevermind it's alright, you can fish as much as you want we can go after some time"

Oh what a sight it was when his eyes literally sparkled with joy and the way his ears perked up hearing your words of affirmation. "Thanks babe! Watch me catch the biggest one for you!"

Oh it's going to be a long day...

— ୨୧ ZHONGLI

The vibrant kites were visible from the small window of your house. Lantern Rite comes every year with a new surprise yet even before the preparations are completed before the event, the hustle and bustle of the people as they scurried to prepare meticulously for the biggest event was a joy that could never eb expressed in words.

So here you were. Atop a hill overseeing the entirety of Liyue Harbour with your lover resting on you lap as you played with his hair as soft as the silk flowers and as fragrant as qingxins.

"Do you like the view Zhongli?" you quietly asked, keeping the comforting silence that prevailed amidst the two of you. "As always. Mortals and their customs have never ceased to amaze me." He hummed lowly as you scratched that one spot of his head. He had those areas on his head which felt better than the other places because...he's a dragon after all.

He looked up at you through his lashes and spoke, "Once the Liyue Harbour is decorated, let us visit Mount Aocang to give those old friends a little greeting." You smiled at how much he cared for those who lived along with him. "Sure let's do that"

[bethanythebogwitch]

It's big, it's strong, its scaly, it's this week's Wet Beast Wednesday topic! An arapaima, also known as a pirarucu or paiche, is any of four species of fish in the genus Arapaima in the order of bony-tongued fish. There is som ongoing debate about the classification of the species, so to keep thing simple, I'm going to use the most common species names of Arapaima gigas (the type species and most well known, and the one with the most confusion about its classification), Arapaima agassizii, Arapaima leptosoma, and Arapaima mapae. Because A. gigas is the most well-studied of the species, unless I say otherwise you can assume everything I say in this post applies to it.

(image: an arapaima)

Arapaimas are bony fish that retain several primitive traits, causing them to sometimes be identified as "living fossils". They are most notable for their size, with A. gigas being a contender for the largest freshwater fish in the world. The maximum recorded size for one was 3.7 meters (10 ft) and 200 kg (400 lbs), but most get to around 2 meters (6.6 ft) long and 200 kg (440 lbs). That average length is decreasing as overfishing of the largest individuals is resulting in a selective pressure for smaller sizes. In addition to their size, they are extremely strong and can move fast if needed. Arapaima are fully capable of leaping out of the water if disturbed or they feel their current pond in unsuitable. Because of their strength, specimens in captivity must be handled with care as they can easy break bones if they slap someone. They live in rivers and lakes in South America, where they are often the top predators.

(image: several anglers with an arapaima)

Arapaimas are obligate air-breathers and will drown if they can't get to the surface to breathe. This is accomplished with a specialized swim bladder. The swim bladder is filled with highly vascularized tissue, letting it act like a lung. This pseudo-lung opens into the mouth using a modified gill arch known as the labyrinth organ. Arapaima gills are too small to sustain them, but they can supplement their oxygen intake with the gills. Juveniles are born exclusively using their gills and transition into air-breathers shortly after hatching. Arapaimas can survive up to a full day out of the water. They typically surface to gulp in air every 15-20 minutes. Breathing makes a loud gulping sound that anglers use to target them.

(image: an arapaima at the surface)

Because of their ability to breathe air, arapaimas are top predators in low-oxygen environments. Non-air breathing fish are forced to slow down in water with low levels of dissolved oxygen as they can't get enough oxygen through their gills. Since Arapaimas breathe air, they can easily chase down lethargic smaller fish. They are especially potent predators during the low season, when water levels lower. A combination of rotting vegetation reducing oxygen levels and ponds getting cut off from rivers and losing a supply of oxygen lets the arapaima reign supreme. Arapaimas are primarily predators that feed on smaller fish, though they will hunt other types of animals and eat fruits and seeds. Even land animals aren't safe as arapaimas have been known to launch themselves out of the water to catch animals near the shore. A combination of sharp teeth and their bony tongues are used to debilitate prey.

(image: an arapaima with its mouth open)

Not content with powerleveling their attack stat, arapaimas also have excellent defense. Their scales have been compared to bullet proof vests. Each has a hard, mineralized outer layer over multiple layers of collagen fibers. These layers are all oriented at an angle to each other to provide extra strength. This orientation of layers is called a Bouligand-type arrangement and is similar to how plywood is assembled. The harder outer layers and flexible inner layers work together to allow for both strength and flexibility. These scales help provide protection form large predators such as caiman and small threats like biting piranha. They also like provide protection from other arapaima, as the fish are aggressive and will fight each other.

(image: a diagram showing the composition of arapaima scales. source)

You probably wouldn't expect a swimming tank of an animal to be a good parent, but you'd be wrong. Arapaimas work together in mated pairs to build nests for their eggs, then cooperate to guard the nest. Once the eggs hatch, the male will practice mouth brooding, keeping his young safe in his mouth. The female will also help by patrolling the area around the male to ward off predators. They secrete pheromones from their heads to ensure the young don't swim too far away. Eggs are laid either in in the low season or as water levels are starting to rise, ensuring that the young become independent during the high season.

(Image: baby arapaimas)

Arapaima are classified as "data deficient" by the IUCN. This means there isn't enough data to properly assess their conservation needs. They are known to be threatened by overfishing. Arapaima make up a large part of the diet of many South American populations. Habitat loss and pollution are also believed to threaten them. They have been introduced to many areas out of their native range and are an invasive species in placed like Florida, Malaysia, and India.

Does anyone else remember these cards? (image: the arapaima card from Weird n' Wild Creatures)

[amnhnyc]

Don’t mess with this fish! To celebrate Fossil Friday, let’s meet Dunkleosteus terrelli. It lived some 360 million years ago during the Devonian. Fossil records indicate that this animal, one of the first large jawed vertebrates in the ocean, was an aggressive predator. The razor-sharp edges of bones in its jaws served as cutters, and as they rubbed against each other, the opposing jaw blades acted like self-sharpening shears. These bones continued to grow as they were worn down by use. This specimen, on display in the Museum’s Hall of Vertebrate Origins, was found in Ohio!

Visiting the Museum this Thanksgiving? Best availability is on Monday and Tuesday of that week. Here are some tips to help plan your visit!

Photo: Image no. ptc-5861 / © AMNH Library

[covid-safer-hotties]

Long Covid activist Meighan Stone didn't want to take her mask off. After pressuring her multiple times, an ER nurse called security on her. This public health failure happened at Sibley Hospital in D.C. These incidents are happening on a regular basis now as mask bans and proposals spread from L.A. to New York. You're not going to hear much about it in the news. When you do, it's framed as a problem for the vulnerable, with blue fascists freely associating masks with crime and hate.

None of the handful of stories that discuss these mask bans mention that we're currently in the middle of a deep Covid surge, at a million cases a day. None of them talk about mask bans in the context of Long Covid in adults and children.

A widely cited study declaring "strikingly low" rates of Long Covid in children was recently retracted due to major flaws in methodology. The researchers who pushed for this retraction are heroes and champions of truth.

Is the media covering that?

Not really.

To their credit, Time did recently run a very important piece on Long Covid in children, focusing on a recent study published in JAMA.

Here's the highlight:

They estimated that 20% of the previously infected younger children and 14% of the previously infected adolescents met that threshold [for diagnosis]. Kids infected before the Omicron wave were especially likely to fall into the Long COVID category. Those numbers are higher than some previous estimates—for example, a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report concluded that only about 1% of U.S. kids had had Long COVID as of 2022. But other studies have come to similar conclusions, estimating that somewhere between 10% and 20% of kids who catch COVID-19 will develop long-term complications.

Media outlets like USA Today and NBC are also covering this study. For once, major news networks are devoting attention to something that deserves it. Of course, they're doing it after years of running stories blaming children's school performance and developmental delays on smartphones and lockdowns.

Earlier this year, The New York Times published a misleading, biased story on the "long-lasting" harm of school closures. And The Washington Post recently ran a story also blaming absences on everything except Long Covid and immune system damage. Even Education Week has run pieces attributing weak academic performance to school closures and stress, not the virus itself. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Pick a magazine or newspaper and you'll find stories like these, but very few talking about the ongoing harm of exposing children and teenagers to Covid. The ones that do are almost always sitting behind a paywall.

Absence speaks louder than words, and not just about Covid.

In 2022, barely 1 percent of all corporate television focused on climate change. That was, in fact, a record high. A year later, it fell 25 percent. That was 2023, the year we surpassed 1.5C of warming for all practical purposes. It was the hottest year in recorded history, and also the worst year for climate disasters, costing us $600 billion in the U.S. alone. Entire countries shut down because it was too hot for work or school. All that, and the corporate media spent even less time talking about the problem. Meanwhile, one columnist after another published long screeds against doomers and fearmongers, insisting that we still had plenty of time to turn things around.

A compelling piece by Ryan Hagen breaks down the unsettling relationship between western news media and the fossil fuel industry. As he points out, internal reports from companies like Exxon celebrate their campaign to turn liberal news outlets like The New York Times in favor of their own industries, convincing the public they were working hard to shift toward renewable energy when the plan was always to use it like icing on top of a cake made out of coal.

Tireless work by Amy Westervelt has chronicled the impact of these campaigns. As her research shows, climate change has morphed from a topic that 80 percent of the public felt an urgency about to, now, a divisive issue and a point that most people would rather not talk about. On top of that, think tanks like the Atlas Network have made a major push to criminalize peaceful climate protests and turn public opinion against activists. A Yale study found that more than 60 percent of Americans hardly ever hear anything about climate change now.

And if you bring it up...

You're a doomer.

There has been a concerted effort across the internet to paint anyone who actually cares about the future as a deeply unhinged fearmonger. Meanwhile, social media giants like Meta have relentlessly censored information about Long Covid.

Have you noticed?

Nate Bear pulled the curtain back on how the media works roughly a year ago. As he puts it, "A lot of the stories you see in the headlines are the result of a PR agency. And depending on the news, the PR agent might not send out a release en-masse but “sell in” the story as an exclusive to just one outlet... Every day a proportion of all news you read starts at just a handful of these agencies."

PR firms are constantly wooing journalists, creating an atmosphere where conflict of interest is more of a feature than a bug.

Caitlin Johnstone did a thorough breakdown of mass media bias. Perhaps the most egregious example: MSNBC reporter Krystal Ball leveled blunt but accurate criticism of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and correctly predicted that she would lose against Donald Trump because of all her neoliberal baggage. In response, the Clinton campaign threatened the entire network "not to provide any access during the upcoming campaign." The head of the network told Ball that she "could still say what I wanted, but I would have to get any Clinton-related commentary cleared with the president of the network."

So, she couldn't say whatever she wanted.

Right?

Johnstone cites a piece by Jeff Cohen in Salon that also outlines the peer pressure, groupthink, and careerism that dominates the newspapers, magazines, and mainstream news networks in the U.S.

As she further explains:

Journalists either learn how to do the kind of reporting that will advance their careers in the mass media, or they don’t learn and they either remain marginalized and unheard of or they get worn down and quit.

Christopher Hedges, who left The New York Times after a written reprimand for criticizing the Iraq War, has gone on to describe in disturbing detail how the U.S. media caters to the Israeli government, continually overlooking its war crimes. An outspoken critic of U.S. policy, Hedges has endured persecution for speaking the truth, including the cancellation of his news program for defending other writers and real journalists from charges of antisemitism.

Another outspoken critic, Mehdi Hasan, was dropped from MSNBC for speaking out over Palestine. As Sharon Zhang wrote after the decision, "Hasan has been one of the only news anchors on a major broadcast outlet speaking up against Israel's brutality." He was also one of the few news anchors who told the truth about Covid. As Hasan recently made clear in The Guardian, it's imperative for Democrats to take a stronger, pro-humanitarian stance on Gaza and break with Biden's approach, which has sparked outrage and disgust across the left.

Hasan makes a remarkable point in this column, looking to history for cues about how Democrats need to act to ensure history.

It's not vibes.

It's guts.

Nobody really remembers Hubert Humphrey, LBJ's vice president who lost the 1968 election to Richard Nixon by about a percentage point. It's a lesson worth talking about. Humphrey was losing badly because he couldn't stand up to his own party, the Democrats, who were actually very, very pro-Vietnam War. He managed to close the gap considerably in the 11th hour of the race, finally standing up to his own party and promising to end the war if he became president. Hasan wonders what would've happened if he had trusted his gut sooner.

Well, history gives us a few clues. After all, Nixon did end the war. In the decades since, the Vietnam War has gone down in history as one the biggest mistakes the U.S. ever made. Psychologists use it as a case study of entrapment in escalating conflicts. It's a touchstone used to rate our other failures.

Time and again, history tells us that doing the right thing actually serves political expedience far more than vibes.

Democrats could ensure a landslide victory if they would just take a clear stance on our biggest threats and challenges. They could be honest about Covid. They could stand up against mask bans. They could stand up against genocide. They could renew their promise to take on climate change.

We're not seeing that.

Instead, we see the same groupthink and indirect censorship that dominates the news media. It's not a surprise, given how entwined they've become.

Look at what's happening to Taylor Lorenz.

Outlets like The Washington Post and NPR, who pride themselves on their devotion to democracy and diversity, have assailed Lorenz for referring to Biden as "a war criminal" in a private social media post.

Here's the worst part of NPR's story:

Lorenz has also courted controversy, online, in print, and in real life. During the peak of the pandemic, and since its ebb, she has inspired mockery from conservatives over her insistence on wearing masks, even outdoors. She has cited autoimmune issues as the reason.

Look at the verbs here. Far from objective, they describe Lorenz as "insisting" on wearing a mask "even outdoors," and then frame her autoimmune issues not as a reality but as a reason, almost an excuse. For the record, multiple studies have shown that Covid spreads outdoors, especially at crowded events.

This is what writers and real journalists deal with as they try to do the right thing. It's disturbing to watch.

Both Jared Yates Sexton and Sarah Kendzior have expressed an ambivalent reluctance to get on board with the vibes as the DNC hosts their national convention. The kindest thing Sexton can say is that "It was a masterful feat of political theater" as organizers clambered to put down pro-Palestinian protests during speeches and tilted cameras away from violence and toward more soothing, therapeutic shots of Tim Walz with his family.

As Kendzior writes, "Today both the Democratic and Republican parties operate on cult logic, which means they sometimes have the same policies, but wrapped in different rhetoric--because cultists will abide anything so long as their leader is the one pushing it. Policies they would protest if they were carried out by the other side are suddenly deemed acceptable when pushed by their own."

The same goes for media coverage.

It's worth pointing out that Kamala Harris no longer supports a ban on fracking. She no longer supports a single-payer healthcare system, otherwise known as "Medicare for all" which would provide healthcare access to everyone. Her stance on border patrol and police funding have all shifted right. The media signs off on it, saying "Progressives said they’re disappointed but still support her as she works out the best strategy to defeat former President Donald Trump — even if it means leaving their cause behind."

But it's not just causes getting left behind.

It's human beings.

Is it simply a desire or a wish that nurses don't call security on us because we want to wear masks at an ER, like Meighan Stone? Do we have to leave our human rights behind so we can ensure our human rights?

Do we have to lay down our lives for vibes?

That's the current groupthink.

So there you have it.

The media doesn't report the truth. They spend about 1 percent of their time on things that actually matter. Politicians cater to an underinformed public, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads to nurses calling security on immunocompromised patients for wearing a mask, while newspapers and networks fire real journalists for daring to do their jobs.

It's really something, isn't it?

It doesn't help when readers and viewers complain anytime someone salts their mood with the truth. In an era where free, independent content matters more than ever, it's also harder than ever to come by. How are content creators supposed to tell the truth or talk about things that matter when they're constantly being reprimanded, penalized, and punished every time they try?

We desperately need a free press, and we need a public that supports a free press and not silos of dueling echo chambers.

You get what you support.

It's that simple.

[bestanimal]

Round 1 - Phylum Rotifera

(Sources - 1, 2, own work, 4)

Rotifera is a phylum of microscopic and near-microscopic animals, commonly called Wheel Animals or Wheel Animalcules. Many are an important part of freshwater zooplankton.

Rotifers are common in freshwater throughout the world, with a few marine species. They range from 50 micrometres to over 2 millimeters, though most are around 0.1 to 0.5 mm long. Boasting a large amount of diversity, some rotifers are free-swimming, others move by inchworming along the ground, some are sessile and live inside tubes of gelatin attached to the substrate, and some live in sessile or planktonic colonies (seen in gif below). Rotifers are great little recyclers, feeding on detritus, dead bacteria, algae, and protozoans, eating particles up to 10 micrometres in size. They are also prey for many animals, including copepods, fish, bryozoans, comb jellies, true jellies, starfish, and tardigrades. Their fossils have been found in Devonian and Permian fossil beds.

Rotifers are sexually dimorphic, with females always being larger than males, if males of the species even exist at all. Male rotifers’ main lot in life is reproduction: they do not usually have a functional digestive system, and many are already sexually fertile at birth. The female has one or two ovaries, and releases eggs through a cloaca. Male rotifers have a penis which they either insert into the female’s cloaca, or use to inject sperm straight through her skin. Most species hatch as miniature versions of the adult. Females grow rapidly, reaching their adult size within a few days, while many males do not grow at all. Their lifespan lasts from a few days to a few weeks.

This poll also includes the parasitic Acanthocephala (4th image), or “Thorny/Spiny-headed Worms” which was once considered to be a discrete phylum but have since been found to be highly modifed rotifers, so I am including them in this phylum. Acanthocephalans have complex life cycles, involving many hosts.

Propaganda under the cut:

If you’ve ever done freshwater microscopy you’ve probably seen one of these little guys.

Rotifers are a major food source for many species and also contribute to the decomposition of organic matter in soil.

Because they’re so good at recycling detritus, rotifers are sometimes used in fish tanks to help clean the water.

One species, Cephalodella vittata, only lives in Russia’s giant Lake Baikal.

In 2021, biologists were able to restore bdelloid rotifers that had been frozen for 24,000 years in Siberian permafrost!

Some acanthocephalans cause acanthocephaliasis in humans. The earliest known infection was found in a prehistoric man in Utah, dated to around 160 BC.

[chaoticsnowykiddo]

today's animal of the week is... sharks!!!

Requested by: @royalbabybat sorry I was late to uploading this...

if i got any of the facts here wrong, let me know

Sharks are apex predators that live in the ocean, and a special kind of fish called "elasmobranchs", which translates into fish made of cartilaginous tissues (the same material as your ears and the tip of your nose). They do not have bones yet they still fossilize! Sharks have rows of teeth which they lose and regrow quite a bit within their lifetime.

There are over 500 different species of shark that all vary dramatically in size, the largest is the whale shark which is around 41.5 feet (12.6 meters) and the smallest is the dwarf lantern shark which is about 6 inches (15 centimeters). The average life span of most shark species is 20 years, but the spiny dogfish shark can live over 100 years! Sharks are actually generally not dangerous to humans, the odds of you being attacked by a shark is only 1 in 3,700,000 and only 10 of the many species of sharks has been seen to attack humans. Still, if you are swimming and see a shark, do not mess with it or touch it in any way, just like with any wild animal you see. Sadly, many species of shark are endangered due to over hunting.

Moving paper shark toy:

(with my health and procrastination it has come to my attention that i may not be able to do this every week, i am keeping the same name for it, sorry if i do your requests slowly)

[elbiotipo]

I took a bit longer with my career than I would have liked to but I did everything. I planted trees, dissected lizards, excavated fossil fish, sequenced DNA, taught anthropology, published papers, protested in the university, did ecological simulation on Excel, identified plants from jesuit manuscripts, spent a week with no sleep on a national park,

I guess I really earned the right to call myself Biotipo

[kark-trooper-echo]

Do you know if sharks were a part of kaminos natural fauna? I'm asking because you kinda need to know what a shark is for what I'm about to say next to be cool.

I am the proud owner of a Megalodon shark tooth fossil. It's about 35+ million years old and about 2 & 1/2 - 3 inches long

I know this isn't normally what I talk about but I just wanted to tell you about my cool fossil. I also have coprolite. (Aka fossilized dino poop)

-the electrical student

That's a big tooth. Sounds like you've got an interesting fossil collection.

There are a few apex-level predators under Kamino's surface. I think you'd like saberjowls. They take out Kamino's shark-like fish like Wrecker takes out ration bars. I've never met anyone who has a saberjowl tooth though. There's probably a good reason for that.

I saw that a few of my followers were checking out museums this week and asked them to keep their eyes open for megalodons and coprolites because of your ask. They sent holos. 🙄

[butterfrogmantis]

Wanted to draw Nova again but didn't know WHAT to draw Nova doin' so I asked the discord buddies to help me out

Sharing the fish fossil u found last week with your interdimensional buds~ (thanks 4 the ocs guys vry fun)

Klutzy (c) @coconuttyglittersmurf

Manuscript (c) @bluebluebluewoods

Smurf!Scruple (c) @nikki-smurfling

Rexi (c) @chaoticgremlin15

And Nova is mine!

[fishenjoyer1]

Fish of the Day

The beluga sturgeon, also known as the great sturgeon, scientific name Huso huso, was requested by Andromeda! Known for being the largest freshwater fish, and the third largest living fish species in the world, only behind the whale shark and basking shark! This fish is euryhaline, meaning that it can live in many different salinities and environments, and as such moves comfortably through estuaries and rivers alike. They are native to areas around the middle east, Asia, and Europe. Their historic range was in, the Adrian sea, the Black sea, Caspian sea, and sea of Azov, and all connecting rivers between, but as of modern era they can be found only in the Black sea, the Caspian sea, and some rivers connected, notably: the Danube. Like other sturgeons, this is one of the more ancient species still alive, and they started appearing in the fossil record as far back as 200 million years ago.

Beluga sturgeon are some of the only active hunting species of the sturgeon family. Prey consists of molluscs, crustaceans, small mammals; such as caspian seals, and any fish they fit in their mouth. In fact, they're very hard to keep with any other animal, as they can and will eat anything that will fit into their mouth. They pursue their prey, moving faster than expected, and being able to travel up to 37 miles a day, and reach speeds of 15mph in short bursts well hunting, prey is sucked into the mouth quickly. This supports their huge sizes, they can get as large as 28 feet recorded, but there are claims for them reaching as large as 40 feet. Beluga sturgeon can live a long time, taking 10-16 years to sexually mature for males, and 14-20 years for females, and claims that they live more than 100 years in the wild. They have no known predators, other than humans.

Humans are the main and only cause for the reduction in beluga sturgeon populations. These fish fall to dams, like many large fish, and most sturgeon in particular.  As it turns out the caviar are perfect for meals, and worth as much as $3,500 US per pound. During breeding season large fish can carry hundreds of pounds of these caviar at a time, and are regularly illegally hunted for this. Although they are large, they are easy to catch, and their meat can go worth good money as well, although due to the legality of its nature I was unable to find exactly how much it's worth, since them being marked as endangered. Efforts to repopulate the sturgeon into their native habitats, but it is a slow effort.

Spawning takes place further upstreams, and they have historic routes they remember over years. Spawning events take place every 4-7 years. Being as this sturgeon has lived in the Danube as it was forming, they have adapted strategies to spawn in it. Spawning is done in two stages, necessary because spawning is up to more than a thousand miles upstream for some fish. The first stage is in autumn which is when they enter the danube in masses, The second stage is after they winter in the river, taking place in spring where they actually lay and fertilize eggs. The eggs will hatch after 2 weeks, and well they age in the danube they will be benthic, feeding mostly on small bugs they can catch. That is, until they are large enough to subsist off of mostly fish.

Have a good day, everyone!

[quannaix]

What is your experience with Animal Crossing?

Okay it has been literally over three months since you sent this so I apologise I just have a lot to say and wanted to enjoy going on about Animal Crossing.

My first was Animal Crossing Wild World, which I saved up for and bought, even pre-owned it was expensive for primary school me. I did not know much about the game and it was years before I realised that the copy hadn't been wiped so I'd walked into someone else's town. I'm guessing someone called George, since my town was named Egroeg. But by that point I'd been playing for so long I didn't want to wipe my progress. Also by then I had realised that he had upgraded Nook's to the highest version, which would have been hard for me to replicate because it involved playing multiplayer and I only had one other friend with the game. I really loved ACWW, and I spent lots of time playing it even though I definitely didn't understand a lot of elements of the game. My friend and I spend loads of time imagining things we'd love to add to the game, like if you could get a job (paying that loan off in shells is hard!) and I thought it would be cute if you could drive around in a little car that had a boot for extra inventory space (backpacks fill up a lot when things don't stack). I became best friends with Kiki in this game and when she moved I was so sad that I planted a tree where her house had been thinking that would stop another house taking her place (I was wrong, but it's the thought that counts).

I did get AC Let's Go to the City for the Wii, but never racked up many hours on that because being console based I'd have to find time when the family wasn't using the TV. I definitely prefer it as a handheld game.

I got given Animal Crossing New Leaf for my birthday when it released and I maintain this is best AC game. I still love it so much. I love that they introduced the mechanics of town design, most notably that Roost was a stand alone cafe and you got to choose where to place it!!!!! I think this might be around the time I first started following you (saxyplaya hehe) I assume because I found you from looking for QR codes for designs. I am still obsessed with so many of the QR code dresses people came up with. I think ACNL had the best balance of effort to output. Like it had these town design features but still took ages to do things. You had to grow trees from scratch and grow them again if you placed em wrong. This made everything feel more satisfying though, imo. You really put in the hours, and days and weeks, so the results would make me feel proud. I love that there are so many fruit tree varieties, I love visiting the island, I love that you CAN work at the Roost and that Brewster would give you coffee rewards. The updates they made with Happy Home Designer and the campsite, including adding the 'god mode' furniture design thing did make things a lot easier. But I like actually that to see anything you have to actually put it on/put it in the room, in your cupboards everything is just the generic category icon. I still have not caught all the bugs and fish in this game. I THINK I have all the fossils, but I think it makes it more fun for longer if it's not so easy to catch everything. I love the shopping street, and slowly unlocking the buildings. I love that little bench at the end of the street looking out. I think the music in this game is so lovely too, and one of my most favourite things is walking around on a rainy day in my town. I also actually loved that it was always the opposite weather hemisphere-wise, often I'd log in in irl winter so I could feel warm and vice-versa.

I also just love the graphics and look and feel of the game. The characters are still sassy and have a lot of personality. I always think fondly of my neighbour O'Hare, because his birthday is two days after mine. Now I could wax rhapsodic about ACNL al day but I should move on!

I freely admit I did obsessively play AC Pocket Camp for like a year or two when it came out (maybe longer??) to fill the void while I waited to see if there would be a Switch game. My partner also got me the original GameCube Animal Crossing for Christmas, which I played a little, but we don't usually have the GameCube set up and see above my preference of handheld play for AC. Still, a very cute present that I love having.

The second they Switch was announced, I said that I would be holding off on buying one until I saw if they put out a new AC game with a console to match. And I am SO glad I did because I was able to get the console and the game when they came out and I think the console is sooooo pretty. ACNH is really fun as well, I do like the addition of terraforming, being able to place furniture outside, and that they went really ham on the graphics. While I think I still have more of a soft spot for the older graphic style, I love things like the raindrops on the windows and the furniture blowing as the fan goes over it, etc etc those little tiny additions really melt my heart. I do feel like they smoothed out the characters too much, they don't have as much personality as they used to. And as much as so many things are easier (changing clothes, furniture, moving trees and plants, catching all fish/bugs and fossils) I think I preferred it when it was a bit more challenging. I wish the Roost was separate still </3. I loved the addition of Island Designer, I find that so fun, and I love the glowing moss furniture, and being able to design villager's houses (given that sometimes they start to look really dogshit after I've been gifting them my garbage furniture sorry guys). I don't send letters as much in this game as I used to, idk why exactly it just never seemed as fun or important in ACNH. I like the addition of cooking, more just because it tickles me personally. I'm back and forth on the crafting mechanism. I think overall I like it, and in many ways it's a return to the challenging aspects I just went on about loving in the previous game in terms of it being an involved process (esp if you want to change the colours), but I think that tools breaking SO fast annoys me and that even gold tools break annoys me heaps. Overall I do still enjoy ACNH, and I'm actually glad that it introduced the game to a whole lot of new people because it's widened the audience of people I can ramble about AC to. I do wish I had gone with the other hemisphere weather, I went back and forth on that and I discovered I actually prefer it NOT aligning with my real life weather so it can serve as an escape.

Thank you for asking me this question, in case you can't tell I love talking about Animal Crossing it is definitely one of my favourite game series of all time <3

[quillpokebiology]

(@justalileepguy) Do you have any Lileep facts? It... it might be nice to learn a little more about my new biology to be honest.

Of course! I'd be happy to help.

Lileep Facts

(Art by introvernacho on Twitter)

-The scientific name for Lileep is "Actinocrinites crinus" which roughly translates to "tentacle-rated lily"

-Lileep are fossil pokemon that became extinct around a hundred million years ago. The first Lileep fossil was found in Hoenn, but fossils of them have been found all over tropical oceans 

-Lileep lived 300 million years before Tyranitar and became extinct around 100 million years ago

-While many people seem to think that Lileep are more closely related to Frillish and Jellicent, they're actually more closely related to Mareanie, Toxapex, Staryu, and Starmie

-Resurrecting Lileep and releasing them is actually highly discouraged, as the ocean are not what they were like 300 million years ago, and they often die after a couple of weeks (be careful, Anon)

-The average life span for a Lileep is 35 years (might be different for you, Anon, since you were a human first)

-Lileep can regenerate limbs very quickly

-When Lileep were first resurrected, vases designed to look like them were very popular

-Lileep's eyes are actually the yellow dots above its head. The false eyes on its body are thought to be a decoy to make hunting easier

-When they were alive, Lileep were some of the most common pokemon to love in warm oceans. Fossils have been found of them for many, many years. It was only until recently when we had the technology to revive them that we managed to get an accurate image of what they looked like

-Lileep are/were pod animals, and many fossils of them were found close together. They also tend to get lonely easily if not around other pokemon

-Lileep eat the small fish that swim past them, swallowing them whole

-In the wild, Lileep will attach themselves to rocks and only detach themselves when they evolve

-The only way to tell the difference between a male and female Lileep I'd through a blood test, ad they have no visible gender differences and their reproductive organs look the same

-Ik a lot of people think they might eat by putting acid on their prey and digesting it like Starmie, but luckily, they don't do that. They eat closer to Victreebel/pitcher plants

-The standard breed cannot breathe in freshwater

-Despite being grass types, Lileep don't have much of the biology that other grass types have. It's thought that when they were alive, they were water/grass types