antonio0gamer:

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a banboo shark simply chilling

kleefkruid:

I was looking at seagull stickers for my instagram story and I came across seagulls saying supportive things like “You matter! <3” and that’s the first time I’ve gone “He would not fucking say that” over an animal. These birds are fueled by spite. They would yell slurs if they could. Not even the right ones. A seagull would call an old lady a faggot they don’t care

tinylongwing:

An Archaeopteryx is seen mid-molt as it trades out old brown juvenile feathers for fresh new black and white adult ones.

This was done for the Bird Pop! blog, which discusses the findings of Kiat et al. You can read more here!

sketchy-as-fork:

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A bilateral gynandromorph ceratopsian, whose asymmetrical horns appear to complete a thin crescent moon

the-original-b:

Here’s one good thing to come out of 2020:

Paleontologists completed a life-sized replica of Sue, the most complete T. Rex ever found.

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And she is freaking GORGEOUS!

As I read more about this beauty, I found out some new details regarding things I thought I previously knew about the beast that was Tyrannosaurus Rex, and I’m going to share them with you.

First, and most obvious, her size:

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This is nothing new, we all figured T. Rex was big, but I for one never stopped to consider exactly how big it was. Nobody ever really knows what to imagine when they read about something the size of a whale that walked around and ate everything it could kill. 

Speaking of eating things, I just want to remind you all that T. Rex had–by miles–the strongest bite of any terrestrial animal living or dead, somewhere around six and a half tons of force. That’s over six times greater than the current estimate of what Allosaurus was capable of, and three times what was delivered by the highest measured reading of the living title holder–the estuarine crocodile. It didn’t have to waste time swinging its head open-mouthed like Saurophaganax for a little extra oomph, or grow fancy serrated teeth like Carcharodontosaurus to cut pieces out of its prey. It opted for the simplest approach: get its mouth around something and crush it to death; imagine the full weight of an elephant on whatever was between this thing’s jaws.

“How did it find something to eat?” I hear you asking. “It can’t see something if it doesn’t move, right?”

Listen, I love Jurassic Park too, but that’s a big crock of shit.

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Notice how both her eyes face forward. That gives her binocular vision (the ability to focus both eyes on one target, like you and I). More importantly it means she has impeccable depth perception due to overlapping fields of vision from each, large, eyeball. Researchers agree that T. Rex not only had incredible vision, but that it was probably better than most modern animals–including eagles, hawks, and owls–and that she could likely spot something three and a half miles away. If something that big can see that well, it doesn’t matter if you move or not, she’d be able to tell if it was an animal trying to hide or a piece of vegetation. So pray she isn’t hungry if she lays eyes on you. And even if by some miracle she didn’t see you, she’d still smell you. 

If she decided you looked tasty, you probably wouldn’t hear her coming as much as you’d feel her. Modern science indicates that T. Rex didn’t roar like in Jurassic Park, but rather bellowed or maybe even hissed like crocodilians. If she were on to you, you’d most likely feel this sense of unease creep up your spine as a low-pitched rumble in the air permeated through you. You wouldn’t know what it was or where it was coming from until you hear her footfalls. By then it’s too late–you could try to run but she’d probably catch you. There’s plenty on YouTube that reconstructs what T. Rex may have sounded like, and it’s legitimately haunting.  

To wrap all of this up, the one bit of good that came out of the cursed year that is 2020 is that this wonderful child of science and art came into the world, and reaffirmed my respect and admiration for the eight ton slab of muscle and teeth that is this magnificent creature.

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…and it is nothing if not magnificent.

paleo-punk:

Tense Encounter

Some rexies having a territory dispute

toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account:

“But what will you do without new shows to watch during the strike?” babygirl I have at least fifteen half-watched shows and at least fifty shows I Meant To Watch But Didn’t under my belt. I have Chronic Put Something On My List And Never Watch It Syndrome. any one of my queues on any one of those streaming services is full of forgotten dreams

dduane:

murielswedding:

amptp’s bluffing by the way

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A rebuttal to the Deadline article.

TT