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[ultrafacts]

[headspace-hotel]

Today I learned about the Atacama Desert Giant Horsetail

Equisetum xylochaetum

OUGH.

[paleodictyoptera]

ATACAMA DESERT?!?!?

[joemomrgneissguy]

Huh... Neat!

It looks like it hangs out in some canyon stream beds, which makes sense as that's where I would expect to find the most water in such an arid environment. Thinking about how things are in Arizona, groundwater fed springs can often crop up in canyons, and rivers can be fed by them in addition to snow runoff or other precipitation from farther afield. Even if it's dry most of the time, that's where the water is all going to flow to.

They must get plenty of water where they are, because these guys also get Really big. 4 meters high is insane. Really calling back to their ancestors in the Carboniferous there that were some of the first trees.

According to the paper I found, they also have some interesting interactions with fungi and bacteria in transferring nutrients into and out of the soil.

Linked the study these screen grabs are from here

[misidentifying-animals-in-posts]

best animal names: unnecessarily judgemental edition

[mostrovskaa]

crayfish galore!

[herpsandbirds]

Sly Crayfish (Procambarus versutus), family Cambaridae, Okaloosa County, Florida, USA

photographs by Seth Patterson

[dduane]

And now I’m left muttering: “Why is it sly? Who did it fool? Whose wallet did it make off with? Who did it sneak up on and pinch in the middle of the night…?”

[herpsandbirds]

Cloven-feathered Dove (Drepanoptila holosericea), family Columbidae, endemic to New Caledonia

photograph by Lev Frid

[railroadlion]

Typhlosion, Quilava, and Cyndaquil

[sticksandsharks]

Johto Beginnings, Myths & Legends

[bugthingsdaily]

Today's bug thing is this ladybug and baby trinket box!

[herpsandbirds]

Snowcap (Microchera albocoronata), male, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, Costa Rica

photograph by Cayce Jehaimi

[herpsandbirds]

Grey-winged Trumpeters (Psophia crepitans), drinky drink, family Psophiidae, order Gruiformes, Suriname

photograph by Erwin Neles

[bedrock-to-buildheight]

More worldbuilding? More worldbuilding

[pyx]

victorian sterling silver seal peppers

[creekfiend]

A measuring tape is a kind of mechanical snail. To me.

and to me also 🤝

[rainbowstargazerlilies]

You may be pleased to know

[creekfiend]

I AM VERY PLEASED TO KNOW

[rileylastname]

@bugthingsdaily

[escuerzoresucitado]

[umbrellamoss]

[ID: Aerial photo of two adult wild hogs and 9 or 10 hoglets lying in a field. The babies are all lying in a pile between/on top of the two adults. End ID]

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian Magpie/Pica pica/skata. Värmland, Sweden (28 June 2026).

[herpsandbirds]

Maghreb Magpie (Pica mauritanica), family Corvidae, order Passeriformes, Morocco

photograph by Birdwatching Morocco Tours