Musings of a Biologist

Biologist, museum specimen preparator, knitter Things to expect: Awesome science My MSc thesis work Museum specimens Specimen preparation Snakes Office snake babies: Limoncello + Mimosa Terrible puns Other social media: Twitter Instagram ResearchGate

[hyacynthus]

Birthday gift for @cheechero !Original pattern by ParvumAutomaton on Etsy #crossstitch #bird #bluejay

[thetapetumlucidum]

Hi, can I ask a question? Do you know much about animal skulls? My family got me a mink and fox skull as a present for last christmas, and I'm now moving via plane. Do you know a safe way to transport them? ;o; Thank you in advance for your time!

I’m sorry, I don’t!

Maybe @ofwordsandwaltzes, @zooophagous, or @naturepunk have some ideas?

Good luck with the move!

[hyacynthus]

Pack the mandible and cranium separately with cotton/fiberfill so that they fit snugly in a sturdy box. You can then pad the box further with your clothes in your suitcase (preferably not in a duffle bag).

[hyacynthus]

Obligatory meeting-of-tumblr-friends-in-real-life photo with @thesmileoctopus!!!

[entoderek-deactivated20220417]

I FOUND MY FAVORITE VIDEO FROM BIOLOGY CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL

[hyacynthus]

THIS IS AMAZING.

[callstheadventurescience]

Calling all morphologists…is there a particular software you use to animate or gif the videos produced by a micro-CT scan? Asking for a friend who has a video of a micro-CT scan and I think gif-ing or looping it somehow will be effective for a powerpoint presentation she’s giving.

@markscherz perhaps you might know?

[markscherz]

It depends on the data you have available. If she had the full scan data, she could produce rotation images in VG Studio Max (12000 USD Software), or Amira/Avizo (3-6000 USD Software), or even Drishti I think (open source software). But with only a video, there are easier softwares available: Photoshop, gimp maybe, and other simple animation softwares. There are even online gif makers where you upload your video and it makes your gif for you.

[hyacynthus]

To make my gifs, I exported the video from VG Studio Max and/or Amira/Avizo and then run it through ezgif.com/video-to-gif or something similar.

[himagurumi]

Hammerheads!! [o ww o]

All of these cute little sharks are available in the shop in stock right now. Or order one in colors of your choosing right here.

Also renewed some expired listings and will have something new next week. 

ೕ(•̀ᴗ•́)

[merswine]

@hyacynthus!!!!

[hyacynthus]

HOLY MOLA MOLA I NEED TO MAKE THIS

[vulture-adventures]

8/5/2014 - Ornithology Division Just updating the database with all of our swallows. Here are some Bank Swallows (Raparia raparia) in order of age.

[keygateiron]

when i make excuses to stay in

[badsciencejokes]

Same

[myuuzaki]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is science in a nutshell

[soprano-mess]

That rat is my aesthetic: squishy and sarcastic

[clocktimustime]

The meister of mayhem

[hyacynthus]

Stalking by elebe.foto

Leioheterodon madagascariensis

[hyacynthus]

Giant Madagascan hognose by elebe.foto

Leioheterodon madagascariensis

[hyacynthus]

Bernier's Striped Snake (Dromicodryas bernieri) by Scott Trageser

[nubbsgalore]

spot the toads. in ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal to avoid observation or detection by other animals, in this case toads which evolved to camouflage with dead leaves. (click pic or link for credit and species x, x, x, x, x, x)

[hyacynthus]

Excellent frobs!!!!

[grantmuseum]

Thylacine

Submitted by Sandra Doyle

[hyacynthus]

Bernier's Striped Snake (Dromicodryas bernieri) by Scott Trageser

[pbsnature]

The ostrich’s powerful legs allow it to reach speeds of over 40 miles an hour.

[onedaydoctorkay]

Not only that, but ostriches have uniquely padded feet. Instead of having flat, scale-y pads on the bottom of their feet, they have an elevated pattern of prickles, for lack of a better scientific explanation. These small points reduce friction and are said to be better for running on sand.

(source)

(source)

Also, as you can see from the diagram above, unlike emus and other ratites, ostriches run more tip-toed than their relatives. This further lengthens their legs and makes them a great deal faster than other cursorial birds. (Also, keep in mind that the large joint you’re looking at in this diagram is NOT the bird’s ankle. The ankle isn’t even pictured!!! That’s how long these amazing legs are!) 

Plus, there’s the obvious: the bulk of the mass of an ostrich’s legs is near its torso. From all that good stuff about rotational inertia (it’s been a while, sorry folks), we know that since the mass is closer to the axis of rotation (the torso), the leg will be easier to rotate, making running very efficient. 

To make ostriches seem even more amazing than they already are, it seems that ostriches have two patellae…per knee. 

(source)

Since the patella increases the mechanical advantage of the muscles involved in extension, having a set of patellae in each knee could maybe even increase that biomechanical efficiency. (Plus look at that beautifully large tibial crest! Even more surface area for extensor muscle attachment!) 

[amnhnyc]

Research Suggests Dodos Might Have Been Quite Intelligent

New research suggests that the dodo, an extinct bird whose name has entered popular culture as a symbol of stupidity, was actually fairly smart. The work, published today in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, finds that the overall size of the dodo’s brain in relation to its body size was on par with its closest living relatives: pigeons—birds whose ability to be trained implies they’re no dummies. 

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a large, flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where they were last seen alive in 1662. When sailors discovered the island  in the late 1500s, the dodo didn’t fear these new arrivals. That led to the birds being herded onto passing boats as an easy meal for passing sailors.

“Because of that behavior and invasive species that were introduced to the island, they disappeared in less than 100 years after humans arrived. Today, they are almost exclusively known for becoming extinct, and I think that’s why we’ve given them this reputation of being dumb,”said Eugenia Gold, the lead author of the paper, a research associate and recent graduate of the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School, and an instructor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Read how Gold managed to examine the brain of a long-extinct bird.