Latest Posts by mor-ranr - Page 4

okay so @sevdrag asked for neat things and here is mine:

I FOUND A FOSSIL FOSSILS!

me back in september, driving across the Mojave Desert and camping under the stars to avoid all humans, meeting my parents at their condo in St George, Utah: I wonder if my poking around on geology and paleontology blogs and websites and documentaries and books and online courses has taught me anything yet.

*stumbles across the street in 100 degree heat and peers at some Rocks.*

Huh.

Well now THAT's fuckin odd. It's not like an intrusion of molten something or other; parts of it are just a crust on the surface, but parts are embedded. And it's PARTS.

And that's sandstone behind it. But not dunes, because there's no crossbedding. I think maybe water put it here. There's flowy bits.

Horseshoe crab tails? But some are too big. Plant stems? Again, some seem a little large. Or just some weird rust discoloration from ore, or a very odd sort of mineral that grows like a crystal without being quite regular in shape? But growing in sand/silt? instead of a fluid-filled cavity? Can that happen?

And then there's this. Small tracks on either side of a tail drag? Or a rolling pebble with water ripples on either side?

Fas t forward to May 2021. Vaccinated. Return to St George to meet parents. Visit St. George Dinosaur Discovery museum, which has some of the best-preserved dinosaur tracks in the world on ancient silty mudflats, including a bona-fide dino butt print where a dino sat down on its haunches and then wandered off.

I show my photos to a paleontologist working the desk, and she says, "Oh, that's just petrified wood."

Just. Because it's common in this part of the southwest.

So we go home and I show Mom the rock face. While we're standing back, she points out they're part of an entire fucking TREE lying on its side, branches fanning to the right, partly embedded in the cliff, partly eroded out of it leaving a light imprint in the siltstone.

That dark horizontal bit above the right side of the yardstick is the petrified skin of a treebranch (debarked, I think; there's other places that show a bumpy bark imprint whereas the brown petrified wood bits are smooth.) I think the "tail drag" mark might be a conifer twig with needles.

So I posted THESE to Twitter's #fossilFriday, and the curator of the museum spotted it and said he'd come by to document it, although I don't think he has yet because it's not in a very good state of preservation. Quoth he:

I agree with your identification as a portion of a tree with branches, and trees are very common in the Late Triassic Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation buried in braided river systems some 230-225 million years ago. Unfortunately, from what I can see from your photos, most of the fossil is missing and I can't make out anything identifiable.

— Dr. Andrew Milner

Which means it just barely postdates the last survivors of the Permian die-off, my buddy Lystrosaurus, but not by much! (wrong part of the world, anyway; this isn't Gondwanaland.)

And after that email exchange I kept searching the cliff and found at least one more tree fossil as well. It's very definitely fossil treeroots from a tree that's lying on its side, but unless the top broke off and is not lying quite at the same angle, it's probably a second tree. It's behind the edge of my parents' neighbors' yard, so hopefully it's well-protected.

More bits of petrified wood from the first tree.

[Most photos May 8-9 2021]

And I'm just stoked, you know? I'm not a geologist, although there's lots of scientists in my family, and my maternal grandfather taught geology at a junior college. I've just gotten interested in this as a hobby of the past 10 years.

And there it is. An honest to gosh fossil tree, maybe one of the first to grow tall again after the end Permian extinction, shading the silty flats of a wide river down to what became lakes or the inland seaway. The first dinosaurs trotted past it, leaving tracks in the silt. That's a real tree that lived for decades or hundreds of years, and it moved in the wind and felt the rain, hundreds of millions of years ago, when the animals and insects that scurried on its bark were almost entirely different from today.

Fossils are amazing.

I love the ark fandom because so may people refer to the different creatures as "Dinosaurs" despite them clearly not being dinosaurs. I mean this with no ill will or sarcasm btw, it's a pretty funny thing we do. like

Sir I'd hate to inform you. That is a platypus.

one of the top ten Aro Experiences ™: being very touch-starved while also feeling like a small, bitey animal that’s been poorly socialized and has like a 50/50 chance of reacting badly to physical affection

thinking about my future as an aroace is weird cuz like.

unless you want to live alone or go about your life moving between various roommates, you're generally gonna want to get yourself some kind of domestic partner. maybe two or three if you're polyamorous and especially good at compromising and communicating. this person (or couple of people) is going to be more important to your future plans than anyone else.

even if amatonormativity and expectations of a monogamous nuclear family didn't exist, this would still happen to some degree. like if you decided your top 5 friends would be equally important in your future plans, and each of them gave THEIR top 5 friends the same importance, and so-on, then eventually you'd end up with a "household" the size of a small city and nobody would be able to agree on anything.

people who are alloromantic, allosexual, and monogamous already have this issue figured out for them. generally, (unless you both agree the relationship is more casual) it is assumed that your romantic/sexual partner will also be the one who is most important to you and will be your domestic partner in the future

and the whole idea of domestic compatibility is typically considered SECONDARY to the passion of romance. it's just ASSUMED that if you're dating you're gonna spend your lives together (if you dont break up first). you have that safety net and hardly have to think about it! (though imo, more people SHOULD think about it and question why their romantic partner HAS TO be their domestic partner too, rather than a best friend filling that role instead, but i digress)

so when you ask someone out, the main question is more of "do you want our relationship to get more intimate and romantic?" and then "do you want to spend our lives together?" is secondary, to be figured out later.

but i'm an aroace and building a relationship from that kind of passion is simply not an option for me. some aspecs get into queerplatonic relationships, and those don't have the same romantic/sexual passion of more traditional relationships, but there's still usually an expectation that your qpp will be more emotionally intimate with you than your other friends, alongside the whole "let's spend our lives together" thing.

but im a more reserved person and i wouldn't want to be too much closer to any potential partners than i already am to my best friends. so asking someone to be my partner would basically JUST be me asking "hey do you want to spend the rest of our lives together?"

that's basically just a marriage proposal right there! it feels like i cant just *ask* that of someone right off the bat! especially with how young i am! so i have no clue how the FUCK to ask anyone to be my partner because there is no intermediate "dating" relationship state for me! no middle step between "friendship" and "i wanna spend eternity with you"!

and most of the world is allo so even if i DO figure out how to make that work, my options are EXTREMELY limited.

i COULD seek out other aroaces to have that kind of relationship with, but then i'd be meeting a total stranger, skipping normal friendship, and jumping right into "lets spend time together and become friends in order to figure out if we want to be together FOREVER".

none of my friends are full aroace, so it would either be "you have to forego all romantic/sexual relationships for me" OR "let's do some type of polyamory-adjacent thing, and either your romantic partners will have to come second to me, OR me and your partner have to get along really well and be okay sharing a household, along with some heavy discussions to make sure i don't get third-wheeled by you two"

it's so confusing!!! i dont think i wanna be alone forever but like! all those options have their own drawbacks! what the fuck do i do???

“friends don’t look at friends that way” yeah maybe you should stop automatically assuming something is romantic without the person themselves outright saying it because you don’t know shit. it’s almost as if it’s normal to smile and feel happy looking at someone you care about and admire.

can’t i look at my friends and my family with a loving gaze because i just really appreciate that they’re in my life and i love being with them and i’m just thinking of all the fun times we’ve had together?? like why do you think you have the right to judge what SOMEONE ELSE feels based on a glance that you know nothing about. you don’t know what they feel. you don’t know shit and stop acting like you do just for the sake of your own comfort.

y’all might think this is some cool angsty love trope but it’s actually quite arophobic. i’ve had friendships ruined because of this. nothing is romantic unless the people involved directly say so. if you want to know if something is romo or not then ASK. some of you don’t understand that someone else’s love life and feelings are not for your own gratification or discussion and it really fucking shows

TV show writer: I have made a romance.

Me: You fucked up a perfectly good friendship is what you did. Look at it. It's got amatonormativity.

Why do you like sharks?

the zelda that you know

I basically had a fever dream about metaphors and drew this comic, I have like. 20% of an idea what its even about 🤙

before we became legends / the place both of us began

Crowns of weary ancients

you’ve been here before, haven’t you?

Open letter to aromantic and aro-spec allies: On overuse of the word “valid”, and why it needs to stop

Aka look at me so bitter I’m actually engaging in community discussion and tagging things instead of just venting on my blog because I’m shy

Whenever I see aromantic or arospec positivity- which, frankly, is not very often- it almost always seems to come in one specific form: Telling us that we’re “valid”. That it’s ok that we don’t (or rarely, in the case of some arospec identities) experience romantic attraction, because we’re still Valid™.

I hate it. And many other aros do, too.

I’m sure most of you mean well, and simply don’t know any better, which is why I’m going to try to explain this as politely and clearly as possible. Please take a moment and listen, because god knows aro voices are so rarely listened to.

Weiterlesen

Cool Prehistoric Creatures

since I’ve been obsessed with prehistoric animals for the past few days, I’m gonna share several of the coolest ones I’ve found here we goooo

Inostrancevia aka the Goodest Boy.

my fave at present. a genus belonging to the family Gorgonopsidae, which is a family of extinct therapsids. These were the largest members of Gorgonopsidae, weighing 300 kilograms on average. As you can see, it is Lorge. It lived around 250-265 million years ago.

Here he is committing murder of a Scutosaurus with his badass saber teeth.

Despite the fact that this good boy would eat me, I would give him scritches.

OKAY

Polonosuchus aka HOLY SHIT THATS TERRIFYING WHAT WHO AUTHORIZED THIS

So, as much as I love dinosaurs, I feel like they unnecessarily overshadow some of the Really Unneccesarily Terrifying critters that God took look one look at, said “what have I done” and stuffed away deep deep in the Triassic period.

Such as the rauisuchians.

Nature apparently did a shit ton of experimenting around with crocodylomorphs before coming up with the flat river dwelling bois we know and love. You know how our modern crocodiles have their legs sprawled out to the side so they kind of have to drag themselves along?

Well...

Polonosuchus was basically a CROCODILE. THAT COULD RUN. FAST. AND IT WAS

IT WAS THIS BIG

SIX METERS LONG AND AS TALL AS A HUMAN

IMAGINE SEEING A CROCODILE AND IT GETS UP ON THESE TALL ASS LEGS AND STARTS SPRINTING AFTER YOU LIKE A LEOPARD

I WOULD SHIT

Doedicurus aka Literally a Tank

Have you ever looked at an armadillo and thought “hey what if this thing weighed 1,400 kilograms and had a spiky club on the end of its tail”

Thankfully you don’t have to imagine.

The club alone weighed 40-65 kilograms.

Nothing I could add would make this better

Pelagornis, aka Hey Isnt This A Little Excessive?

I’m very slightly bitter at pterosaurs for overshadowing the Giant Birds from Hell that used to just...Exist.

Pelagornis sandersi was a species of flying bird with a wingspan of 20-24 feet. We think it was some sort of seabird.

Also, because being pants-shittingly hugenormous isn’t enough for this thing:

What if beak...but...Teethy Spikes.

I’m going to let you google images of this one because i want you to see the many terrifying reconstructions.

Dinocrocuta, aka Doctor Extreme Bone Hurting

Dinocrocuta was...basically like a spotted hyena. Just. You know. 300 kilograms and 6 feet tall. The size of an entire tiger. Presumably, its large, bone crushing jaws were for crushing even larger bones.

Dinocrocuta actually has a lot of competition for Bone-Crushingest Beast though:

Mongolonyx, aka What If Hoof—But Wolf

The only reconstruction of this guy I can find is by some person on deviantart (contact and watermark is on the image, obvi)

so...some explanation. Mongolonyx is a mesonychid—a carnivorous ungulate. This is an ungulate. A Hoofed Mammal. That decided to evolve into a predator for some reason. Though it looks dog-like here, it wouldn’t have looked like any living animal at all. Its feet would have looked like paws...but hooves. Like many other hoofed mammals mesonychids were fast but not very flexible, and would have run in a similar fashion to modern ungulates.

Speaking of animals that just Do Not look like anything we have now...

Chalicotherium...Huh?

At some point some members of Perissodactyla thought, “Huh, wouldn’t it be cool if we had...Arms?” And never looked back.

Don’t you wish *you* had arms, modern hoofed mammals? That’s what I thought.

RECORD BREAKERS

Life on earth, as magnificent and versatile as it is, is seemingly tame compared to the weird and wonderful creatures that once existed. All categories of life have reached unimaginable sizes, here are just a selection of prehistoric record breakers!

MEGALODON The biggest shark known to have existed, ruling over the oceans as recently as up to a million years ago. A length of almost 20 metres and weighing in at an estimated 48 tonnes, Megalodon could deliver a crucifying bite of up to 110,000N. It is no surprise that the Megalodon was dubbed the “whale killing shark”.

MEGATHERIUM Our early ancestors would have been quite familiar with Megatherium as they existed up to 8000 years ago, they were in fact the largest sloths to have existed. Sloths have a reputation as being lazy, slow and docile, but Megatherium was a 6 metre long, 4 tonne monster with a killer instinct and knife-like claws. Megatherium’s discovery came before that of the dinosaurs. Skeletons of these prehistoric beasts were a delight to the Victorian public and paved the way for the science of palaeontology.

ARCHELON Literally meaning “large turtle”, Archelon certainly was just that. Existing during the cretaceous, the time of the dinosaurs, Archelon could reach 4.5 metres long and may have lived to over 100 years old. Archelon could not compete with other cretaceous beings in speed and agility, but its blade-like beak was able to slice through flesh and crush though the toughest ammonite shells. Unfortunately Archelon appears to have been a popular snack for other marine dwellers, skeletons are frequently missing flippers or heads and covered in slashes.

TITANOBOA When the dinosaurs reign ended, a new era saw the rise of new super-predators, one was Titanoboa, the largest snake ever with a body up to 13 metres long, standing a metre off the ground and weighing up to 2500 pounds. Titanoboa was 30% longer than even todays largest species. Scientists believe this humongous snake hunted like its modern relatives, the boa constrictors, by winding around prey and suffocating them.

IRISH ELK Owner of the largest antlers of any animal, up to 3 metres wide, the Irish Elk gets its name from its frequent discoveries in Irish peat bogs. Existing up to 10,000 years ago, these would have been a common sight in grasslands for our ancestors. Many fossils indicate the animals died of starvation which is why the antlers are thought to have been part of elaborate mating contests between males, often resulting in one being fatally injured and unable to feed itself.

DEINOTHERIUM A distant relative of the elephants and mammoths, Deinotherium was more sinister, its name translates to “terrible beast”, they would have most likely caused trouble for our ancient ancestors around 1.5 million years ago. Deinotherium is actually considered to be the second largest land mammal of all time, behind Paraceratherium and is iconic in appearance due to its sharp, downward facing tusks.

ARCTODUS Known as the short faced bear, they were the biggest bears on record and one of the largest mammal carnivores to have existed. Whilst their skull was short, they were packed with piercing teeth that could deliver a bone crushing bite. Existing up to 11,000 years ago, out ancestors would have stayed well clear of this 900 kilogram predator, with slender limbs and knife-like claws, Arctodus was deadly.

SARCOSUCHUS One of the most infamous fossil discoveries in history, Sarcosuchus was the largest crocodile to walk the Earth up to 112 million years ago, this was a crocodile capable of killing dinosaurs. Sarcosuchus was twice as long as a saltwater crocodile, that’s 11-12 metres long and could reach over 8 tonnes. Its jaw was packed full of 66 teeth either side of its jaw and would have clamped down on prey that wandered too near.

ARGENTINOSAURUS One of the largest lifeforms that has ever stood on the Earth, Argentinosaurus could grow up to 30 metres long with its hind limbs standing 4.5 metres off the ground. They existed between 97-94 million years ago and at adulthood would have been virtually indestructible to predators. Its weight is estimated at a staggering 80-100 tonnes. There hasn’t been another land mammal on the same scale as Argentinosaurus since and it’s unlikely there ever will be.

SPINOSAURUS The largest discovered therapod ever, a group that includes Allosaurus and Tryrannosaurus. Spinosaurus remained an enigma to scientists for decades, the only discovered specimen was sadly destroyed during World War 2 and was not rediscovered until the 21st century. Spinosaurus is thought to have reached up to 16 metres long and weighed in around 12 tonnes, that is almost double the weight of a T-rex!

Because of it's theropod-like anatomy, but often being depicted with more than 3 digits per limb; do you think a Wyvern would be a dinosaur? Or would it be a case of convergent evolution from an Archosaur, or another more modern branch of reptile?

I’d kind of lean towards them evolving from similar branches to Yi Qi, a cool little critter with very different wings that looks like evolution scrapped that design after the second draft.

(Image source)

They’re not bat wings. They’re not bird wings. They’re something all of their own.

I’m sorely tempted to call them proto-dragon wings.

So I’d like to think this little dude is the way-back ancestor for wyverns, and perhaps in another timeline it would have worked out. Still some significant modifications required, but it’s a good base to start from.

If The Types Came with an Instruction Manual: INFP Edition

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner/friend of an INFP! Here are a few things to take note of with your new best friend! Oh, you didn’t know INFP was now your best friend? Well now you do, because if you have one, it’s going to stay by your side for pretty much ever.

1. Your INFP comes with the innate ability to scope out good and bad! This particular model is very good at determining whether or not a person is being truthful and genuine or totally fake! You just acquired a lie detector as well. Your INFP will be able to break a person down in about 5 minutes flat !On top of that, they will warn you as well like the little Golden retrievers they are! 2. Your INFP is an INTROVERT! This means that more often than not, your INFP is going to be just as happy staying in and watching a movie by his or her self, than going out. So remember to keep the super social things down to a small amount or this will drain your INFPs battery.* They tend to like one on one things or a small group often a maximum of 3-5. Be sure to ask INFP how they feel. Be prepared for a 30 minute conversation.

*CAUTION: If INFP loves you, INFP will try to force itself to go to gatherings so as to make you happy. Then you will not see INFP for a week or more. Be careful with INFPs willingness to participate as likely they do it for you.

3. INFP cares Deeply!! Your INFP comes standard with the ability of caring too much and too deeply. Usually this trait makes them resent themselves more than anything, but when they find that person who appreciates them for it, they become very happy and stick to you like glue. Please be sure to listen to INFP when they speak and try your best to understand them, because 99.9999% guaranteed, your INFP listens to you and remembers most everything you like and dislike. 4. Your INFP usually likes one of the following: Writing, drawing, music, etc. This is a way your INFP expresses themselves, and is a very important thing to them. There is a 40% chance that INFP will show you there art/writing/music choices one day. When/If they do, know that INFP finds you very special, as this is very uncommon and you have become the chosen one.

5. Your INFP is obsessed with something. No really, your INFP has something that it loves and expresses said love for it. Whether it is something as small as a fascination with rocks to a unhealthy love of rainbows. Please indulge this. INFP will show this feature the more you spend time with them. Pro Tip: If you get a gift for INFP that involves said obsession, you will become their favorite person ever and will likely keep with gift in a place and remember you every time they look at it. Plus they will likely never expect you to do this for them.

6. Your INFP is not good at confrontation. Your INFP DOES NOT like confrontation and will do anything to avoid it. They are diplomats and they keep true to the title. They try to make peace in bad situations and can often stop fights by being the nuetral go between. They are able to see both sides of the coin and will try their best to make everyone happy. Please avoid confrontation to spare INFPs becoming mentally exhausted/Upset/using every emotion they have and know of…

7. INFPs are VERY GOOD AT CONFRONTATION. (Yes we are aware of what was stated above in 6) While INFP does not like confrontation, when a friend of INFP has been wronged, it is as if something snapped in INFP and suddenly INFP will become bullet proof and will destroy its target. In plain terms, your Golden Retriever has now switched to full on Rottweiler guard dog mode. If you want this action not to be completed on your behalf, you must tell INFP before it annihilates the person that has wronged you. They have a very hurtful almost eerie way of completing this action and It is not pretty. Distract INFP with something shiny or its favorite thing to spare the person.

8. Your INFP in the embodiment of the word contradiction. (See 6 &7) Your INFP can be decisive and indecisive on the same day at basically the same time. One moment your INFP will be meek and mild like a lamb about one thing, and as vicious as a bear protecting it’s young about another. This is normal and in time will become less and less surprising.

Pro Tip: Don’t try to change this quality. It actually adds to INFPs quirkiness and overall personality. Plus their feelings WILL get hurt

9. Your INFP is very strong and can be very stubborn, but will cave if they love a person. Treat your INFP with care as their love for you will make them give in to doing most of what you want to make you happy. Consult with your INFP to be sure what you re doing/planning makes them happy too. More often than not it will, but they will appreciate the consideration and only love you more. (Be prepared for a 15-30 minutes conversation and possible tangents)

10. Your INFP needs to talk to you! Your INFP has a habit of keeping everything in. In their mind, the less they trouble you with their problems, somehow to them makes it better for everyone else. If left unchecked, INFP will slowly erode and self destruct and feel unlved and misunderstood. You must ask them how they are doing and spend one on one time with them often. It would be simple if asking how your INFP was was a simple as asking “how are you?” But it is NOT. You must sometimes be a little forceful. Show that you care.

Pro Tip: Invite INFP over for bonding time. Give them a warm cup of coffee/tea and a cozy place to sit. Be ready to listen. CAUTION! This will likely take from 2-8+ hours. Make a day for it!

These are the top 10 instructions for your new INFP friend! We would post more, but sadly the model INFP comes with 75 additional volumes each with 700+ pages per volume! But this is a good way to get started and get to knowing your new INFP!

Have fun with your new friend and Congratulations!

Source

Video of Tama

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aro culture is somehow giving really good romantic advice to friends, but still not understanding what the fuck romance feelings are like "haha yeah like, what even is a crush though? lol" "no like. seriously. can someone explain it?"

ok fuck it

every single person who reblogs this will get a picture of a possum in their inbox, loosely based on the vibes i get from your blog

(as long as you have asks or submissions on tho)

┏┓ ┃┃╱╲ in ┃╱╱╲╲ this ╱╱╭╮╲╲house ▔▏┗┛▕▔ we ╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲      are screaming ╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲ ▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔

Sorry, it’s constant.

Aro culture is learning not to show your excitement over making new friends because everyone will say you have a crush.

It was kind of a dick move to create animals that require air, then confine them to the freaking ocean

Not a question but still: I love to headcannon Lucy as aromantic and she pours all the love/emotions she can't/doesn't feel romanticly into Narnia and it's inhabitants

ooooh neat thought!!! i don’t think i’ve seen aro lucy before :D 

Surprised to find I have looped around to thinking mammals and birds are more interesting than amphibians and non-avian reptiles. Just, after all this research into other animals, I can truly appreciate how fucked up mammals and birds are for vertebrates. The first one went deep in the ground and altered its biology at a fundamental level to get by on as little oxygen as it could, the second went high into the sky and altered its biology at a fundamental level to make as much use of oxygen as it could, and they are entirely unlike any other animals with bones as a result.

Still love herps, though, obviously. They just feel like the inoffensive normal animals now.

Welcome to the space age, ladies and gentlemen

Source

Remember in 1993 when Jurassic Park was like…the end all, be all of special effects?

tell me something nice