TIL that the last “pure” individuals of the dusky seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima nigrescens) died in Disney’s now abandoned Discovery Island. Photo by P. W. Sykes

I wanted to go somewhere tomorrow, like the mall, but the apartment people are going to be setting up something for everyone's stoves between 9-4. I just hope they come in earlier. They said we don't need to be home during the installation, but only a fool would trust them.

I got the chance to watch the full video after work today. For the most part I enjoyed it, with only a couple nitpicks. Much of it stuff I already knew, except for the caudofemoralis attachment and the reliability of Persons & Currie's muscle reconstruction method.

I got something in the mail today and I wasn’t sure what it was since I wasn’t expecting anything to arrive this soon. It was so small that I almost thought someone just mailed me nothing or something suspicious. It turned out to be this Ouranosaurus. Hey, I’ll take it?

A few years ago I made a forum post on the functional morphology of Carnotaurus for anyone interested in reading it. I think *most* of it holds up well (the caudofemoralis part perhaps to a lesser degree). Title slightly bombastic. theworldofanimals.proboards.com/post/62089

In hindsight, barring the (important tbf) caveat to this demonstration towards the end of the video, this really makes me laugh at the “giant theropods rarely ate adult herbivores” notion.

To think, one pair of these titans came to exist only because of a cataclysm that destroyed the other.

Full disclosure: I’ve yet to watch the full video. But towards the end, crocodiles (with big caudofemoralis muscles) are compared with fast-running birds with vestigial ones and rhetorically asks “which of these are fast runners?”. That is baffling. m.youtube.com/watch?v=f5gS...

o crap run run run run run

If I can figure out how to get it running on my Mac or get a gaming PC (unlikely), I’d be interested in getting Planet Zoo 2. A while ago I tried GeForce but it clearly either it didn't work or I didn't do it right.

To clarify, what this means is that Carnotaurus' lower limbs are not really known, so there's no real evidence of it being a cursorial "dinosaurian cheetah". For a land animal of its mass, it was almost certainly still swift (compared to something like a rhino or hippo*).

It's actually starting to bum me out how hard it is to find this one.

What is a (theoretically possible?) scientific discovery that would make you flip, froth at the mouth in excitement, and force you to temporarily lie down?

Are dinosaurs rightly considered an autistic interest? I ask because I feel like some complaints against dinosaur/paleontology enthusiasts on here may be boiled down to many of them being this. I suspect I am myself, but can’t prove it because I’ve never been diagnosed.

>find website that seemingly has figure I want >order placed >seller messages me (not sure if today or a week ago given the incorrect written date of my response??) saying that it's not available (then why tf was it listed???) >order cancelled, I'm getting refunded

From the same book series, a Tylosaurus is depicted attempting to prey on a crocodilian, although earlier it avoids an Elasmosaurus and a shark.

In the last few years I've come to realize that there's a unique excitement in waiting for a commissioned art piece, a satisfaction when it's finished, and then a void when you have nothing going on (which you can get over with enough time lol).

I love how Finding Nemo made Bruce a living battering ram.

“As you can see its teeth indicate a diet of soft cephalopods and fish, it wouldn’t…oh…ohhh…” #FossilFriday

I found an old Smithsonian children's dinosaur book on Internet Archive. Surprisingly, it actually features a Stegosaurus encountering an early ankylosaur. Ankylosaurs were around in the Late Jurassic, but I think they're rarely depicted in this period.

Got the Haolonggood Daspletosaurus today

I hate how on Twitter you can find a tweet making a 100% valid statement/point, then you look at their handle/bio/timeline and it’s all about how they hate men, trans people, etc., etc. Like, doubly sorry your cat got yelled at while also being owned by a trash bag with legs.

1:1 Nanotyrannus lancensis skull based on the Dueling Dinosaurs specimen by Ruadhrí Brennan. Honestly frightening how huge that skull is.

Okay, I need to lock in today and preorder the lizard dragon while it’s still cheaper.

Wonder if Carcharodon (Cosmopolitodus?) hastalis competed with macroraptorial sperm whales around its size, like Acrophyseter (top right) or Zygophyseter (bottom right). Sort of like a miniature version of megalodon and Livyatan (and living with them too!).

"Is that an albino human?"

Years ago I saw someone say along the lines that T. rex vs Triceratops would be a far 2nd to Livyatan vs megalodon as the most epic (interspecific 1v1?) animal fight in Earth’s history. If different sauropod species ever fought, such battles would be up there.

Tyrannosaurus rex 2.0 coloration for Beasts of the Mesozoic

I think this partly explains why their teeth were so swollen and massive. Teeth aren't as strong without enamel, and most of a macroraptorial sperm whale's tooth was not covered in it, even the part that sticks above the gumline. The robusticity would make up for this.

I need to comm an art piece with these two

IMO if you as a scientist would go “ackchyually” whenever you see scientific inaccuracies in a movie, maybe even star in a whole YouTube video about it, you should be willing to pay money for an accurate representation of what you’re trying to convey. NOT use AI lol

I had a long-standing question of mine answered by Olivier Lambert. The occlusal facet of a macroraptorial sperm whale tooth gives you an idea of how much of the tooth sticks above the gumline and pierces into food. This is more properly determined by the gingival collar.

I just watched much of 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). Surprisingly, the alien is LESS aggressive than animals on Earth. Like, a dog and later an elephant pick a fight with it, and it's explicitly stated and shown to be unaggressive unless provoked.

Haolonggood's Daspletosaurus is on sale, and I'm wondering if I should get it.

Unexpected thing came in the mail today: the Animal Heavenly Body Dinocephalosaurus. I thought this was going to arrive in early June, but this is a welcome surprise!

My brother and I saw what I'm pretty sure was a house finch when we were driving to buy lunch. For a bird with such a wide range (apparently some organizations list it as invasive) and ordinary name, it looked striking enough to get our attention.

Is it possible that Willard the Triceratops' brow horns were longer than they're depicted in the skeleton mount? It looks like they just found the one brow horn fragment, and with how thick the broken end is I feel like there's some room for interpretation, but I'm not sure.

How many people have explored the idea of different sauropod species getting into conflict with each other? If sauropod combat is ever depicted, it’s (understandably) almost always intraspecific.

Love how this relief (sculpted by William Huff) of Shonisaurus at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park actually has teeth. (Photo by Lee Rentz/Alamy Stock Photo)

I first saw bacteriophages in Jimmy Neutron (the show, not the movie) when I was a kid. Back then I wasn’t sure if that was actually how they’re shaped or not. When I first saw electron microscope photos of them I was like “Huh…”.

Newly described crocodile lizard, Acutodon villeveyracensis from the Campanian of France. Estimated at >1 m in length and with thin, sharp, recurved teeth, it likely competed with two other large squamates: a large terrestrial monstersaur and a freshwater mosasaur.

Really awesome T. rex figure that will be sold by Marco Cavassa at DinoCon. I wish I could go. I really gotta start going to these.

Saw a tweet about Big John the Triceratops and Scotty the T. rex today (it was asking who’d win in a fight), and it made me think…

I want to start getting involved in animal biomechanics research now. As in, contributing to studies and being listed as an author. Trying to figure out where to go from here (aside from getting a PhD, but I need a breather first).

I know Papo’s T. rex is now a meme but…this is their Megaloceros:

THE original Megalonyx claws on display at the Acad of Nat Sci’s Botany of Nations exhibit yesterday.

There was a 2020 study that showed that the faces of bottlenose dolphins possess tactile sensitivity. This includes the rostrum, melon, and blowhole.

“How do we make the mounted sperm whale skeleton look epic?”

River Monsters: Prehistoric Terror has a surprising amount of Paleozoic depictions. If I’m able, maybe I should watch it all again.

Matt Wedel owns a megalodon tooth. One picture he took shows just how thick the tooth is compared to a modern white shark’s. 2.38 times longer, but >3x thicker.