forest gremlin

ecologist | nonbinary forest cryptid

[nemfrog]

Resting turtle person. Ornements du Japon.1883. 

[afairyheart]

Royal Society reveals best nature pictures of the year

Photo taken by biologist Bert Willaert

[lichenaday]

What is a "semilichen"?

Me: *sighs* this is some Jan Vondrák nonsense, isn't it? *Googles* yep, called it.

Ok ok, It's not really nonsense, it's just that Jan has a tendency to publish papers that make my life more complicated as a lichenologist than it already is. He loves breaking the field and introducing new concepts and terms and questions to be asked. He's a really cool, really smart, really nice guy who knows his shit, but he's become a bit of an inside joke in our lab group, to the point that when stuff gets complicated we yell "JAAAAN!!!" in the style of "KAHHHHN!" from Star Trek.

Anyhow, a semilichen (or an alcobiosis as it is sometimes called), is a community of fungi and photosynthesizing organisms like green algae or cyanobacteria that grow together and seem to have some sort of symbiotic association, but are not as like, close? or closed? as a true lichen symbiosis. It is something that falls juuuust short of being a lichen by being less structured and less like, obvious. Usually, it looks like a sort of undifferentiated slime. So where is the line between semilichen and lichen? A lichen has a thallus--a "body" which has specialized structures made up of more-or-less organized fungal hyphae and photobiont cells. Semilichens are more of a general mixture of fungi and photobiont cells without structure or organization. A lichen is a casserole, and a semilichen is a soup. It's not a perfect metaphor but its all I got.

This is all still new, emerging science mostly being done by a small group of researchers, but it is all very exciting and I hope we can watch the development of this field in real time!

Semilichen, an unjustly neglected symbiotic system between green biofilms and true lichens

Alcobiosis, an algal-fungal association on the threshold of lichenisation

[botanyshitposts]

queerplatonic polycule

[honeybeeofficial]

this comic is technically a lie, mulberry season has come to a close where I live 😔

(materials: pen, paper, and the last 3 mulberries I could find)

[addicted2wasps]

WASP BLAST! I got bored, and crammed together every single wasp drawing I have done so far. A collage, if you will. Enjoy!

[fangs-4-fags]

my favorite thing about crocodiles is yeah they're fantastic swimmers and yeah they can run pretty fast and yeah the smaller ones can even climb trees but also. they don't wanna do any of that shit. they just go no, no thanks. that's not for me. i think i'll just wait for someone to mistake me for a log and get too close. and then i'll eat them. many reptiles love this strategy but none pull it off like the humble croc

[thissweetenamor]

[befikra]

i bet it feels good to be an underwater plant just swaying in sync with the flow of water

[pwlanier]

Star quilt. 1880. American. Lydia Pearl Finnell. National Museum of American History.

[herpsandbirds]

Tiger Beetle (Jansenia rugosiceps), family Cicindelidae, Vithura, Kerala, India

photograph by Santosh Roy

[wild-e-eep]

Big volume #FencepostOfTheWeek

[ketrinadrawsalot]

"Whose Larva Is This?"

A quick guide to figure out what you're looking at when you find something that resembles a worm or a Zerg unit crawling around.

[government-cy-op]

Just found 2 copies of a 19th century naturalism magazine and LOOK AT THEIR LITTLE ICON

[punkrorschach]

the legally blonde mentality isnt just for law students. u can bring that attitude with you into every field of work. be the whimsical force of positive change. wear that neon outfit. snaps for us all.

[punkrorschach]

this post was inspired by my boss telling me she couldnt "take me seriously" in a pair of dinosaur print overalls. sorry i have two degrees and a dope wardrobe. you dont need to take me seriously but You Will Take Me.

[black-quadrant]

OP's an inspiration. bring on the whimsy movement!

[bedupolker]

Scanned the wood panel pieces. Acadia & Zion national parks.

[longingforrotkehlchen]

I was so happy to have taken all those photos when he was there all the time because I didn't know how long that would last. He's been too busy singing in every tree, but ever since he's got a girlfriend, you can see him sometimes there again, watching me back. Her too, but she's too shy.

Rotkehlchen (European robin) in Stuttgart-West.

[vintage-tigre]

The lifecycle of a cherry