Palaeontology, Transformers, and other stuff

[ironhidearcee]

Grimlock commission I did with artist @decepticonaiden! This is how he'd look like for my AU!

Sauce: https://twitter.com/decepticonaiden/status/1685661218302738432

[vtory-art]

Devon Izara

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

"It's Alright, It's Alright": Maul and his Inner Child, An Analysis

Sam Witwer told us that we were going to see things about Maul that we've never seen before. And for a hot minute, I was a bit nervous because most of what we saw was Maul doing his thing. And then, episodes 7 and 8 happened. Sam was right. Today, we saw something with Maul that we've never seen before and I doubt we will ever see again. So let's talk about it.

I broke this up into five parts: Intro, the Buildup, the Moment, Doomed Narrative, and Conclusion

Strap in folks, this is going to be a long one.

Intro

Be it anger, hatred, fear, even grief, Maul feels emotions very deeply and very strongly. It's what fuels him on his never ending quest for revenge against Obi-Wan and Sidious. In every one of his appearances, Maul has remained pretty much unchanged overall. There's something to be said about the fact that all of his story lines basically boil down to: angry man looking for revenge offers a one way Sith apprentice internship; all applicants welcome. Maul also fails. A lot.

But in "The Creeping Fear," we see Maul make a monumental step forward in a positive direction. He did something so unlike anything we've ever seen him do and it speaks volumes to not only who he is at his core, but also to the tragedy of his narrative since we know how it ends. What did he do? Well...

Maul showed himself compassion and forgiveness.

Coming from Maul, that is not an easy ask at all. But the implications of it stand out to me. I've always believed that somewhere inside Maul, there is a teeny, tiny sliver of goodness. This episode validated by feelings. Maul has shown that he has the capacity to change and the capacity to choose kindness. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Let's dive in deeper into this.

The Buildup

Just as he's about to kill him, Marrok tells Maul "the Emperor wants you dead." This line sticks with Maul throughout the entire episode. It rings in his head repeatedly and for good reason. Sidious is Maul's master and essentially his father figure in someways. Because he is a Nightbrother, it's likely Maul never knew his father. So, Sidious takes on that role. But even more so, Sidious tortured Maul as a child. Whether you're a lover of The Wrath of Darth Maul, that one Myths and Fables story, Son of Dathomir, or any other iteration of the story, one thread remains clear: Sidious abused and tortured him (not saying the Nightsisters get a free pass here either).

As Maul lies face down in the water, Marrok's words whisper in his head. He gets up and the reflection changes momentarily to that of his younger self and Maul's immediate reaction is fear. And he fights it. He fights to give in to his vulnerabilities because that would show weakness. Watch his facial expressions; he is trying so hard to suppress the urge to give in to the terror that little boy felt while also acknowledging the truth that Sidious wants him dead. Maul feels powerless, afraid, and vulnerable, but he won't allow himself to feel that way. Instead, he turns it into anger and splashes his younger self away, declaring "I hate you."

Maul hates the vulnerability; he hates feeling weak; he hates feeling powerlessness. Just how many of these things do you think Sidious also disliked?

But where does this get Maul? Does it make him feel less afraid? Does it refocus him? Quite the opposite actually. Maul tries to shove away his vulnerability and it only makes things harder for him. Also, keep in mind, the Sith Code does not allow room for peace or comfort. Its opening line is "peace is a lie, there is only passion." I don't see "feel your feelings; it's ok to cry" written anywhere. Even admitting he has these feelings at all already puts Maul in a spot quite opposite from his master.

As Maul pushes forward, he is continually haunted by Marrok's words as visions of his past haunt him. Even as Maul tries to justify his loyalty to Sidious during the Clone Wars, he can't shake Marrok's words. It feels as if Maul doesn't want to acknowledge the painful truth of his life until it's quite literally displayed right in front of him to see.

Then the visions start:

He sees his younger self leaving with Sidious (btw, I think Maul's "no" is him trying to tell his younger self to stay with Savage). He sees Sidious punishing him with force lightning. He sees Savage finding him as well as Savage's death. Even a vision of Obi-Wan bisecting him comes to mind.

It's interesting to note that when Maul sees Obi-Wan, he doesn't freak out like he usually does. He simply says his name with a questioning tone. It's so atypical of Maul and it is perhaps one of the very few moments where he seems to realize that maybe Obi-Wan isn't the entire piece of the puzzle here. There's more to it. Also, note Maul's facial expressions. He is terrified, grieving, even hiding his face at numerous points to avoid confronting the reality of what happened.

It's only when Maul focuses his hatred and revenge on Sidious that he's able to push forward and escape the tunnel. This is something I want to talk about later because it speaks to the doomed fate of his narrative.

The Moment

Having fallen back down, Maul finds himself in the same position he started his strange detour with: lying face down in water, confronted by his younger self. But this time, it's different. Maul's younger self apologizes, tears in his eyes. What he's apologizing for can be what you make of it, but I choose to believe he's apologizing for not being strong enough, that this even happened in the first place. And instead of getting angry or cruel like Sidious would have, Maul responds with kindness. With a compassionate, soft look in his eyes, Maul tells his younger self that it's alright. What drives this moment home even further is that Maul cries.

(We saw two on screen tears from that man. That is two more tears than I would have ever expected).

For the first time in his life (as far as we know), Maul lets himself sit with his feelings and acknowledges the pain he went through. He acknowledges that what happened to him was not his fault and that it was wrong. It is ok to cry. It is ok to let go and be vulnerable. It is ok to admit that you didn't deserve to go through the horrible things you went through. He comforts the little boy inside of him who never got comforted (win for reparenting technique let's go!!!). He even tells him that he won't let Sidious do this to anyone else.

This is monumental growth for Maul, a character who lets his past continually lead him down a path of self-sabotage and destruction. Here, Maul shows us who he truly is under all the layers of pain, cruelty, rage, anger, and ruthlessness: a scared, lonely, abused little boy.

It is truly a beautiful moment of growth for this character and proves that somewhere inside him, Maul has that capacity to continue growing.

If only it lasted... 😭

The Doomed Narrative

But, we do know that Maul never could escape his past as shown in Rebels. (Although I do wonder, if this show came out before Rebels, would Maul's story have changed)? I digress.

There are two key moments in episode 8 that indicate that Maul is still stuck. The first one is when he focuses his hatred on Sidious in order to escape the tunnel. The more he gives into to his anger and need for revenge, the more he's able to push forward. Now, there's nothing wrong with being upset towards Sidious (this is being very understated here), but where I believe Maul falls short is that he lets his anger and hatred consume every facet of his life. He needs that validation of killing Sidious and when it ultimately doesn't happen, it destroys him.

The second time is when Maul comforts himself (which I still can't believe actually happened!!!). When Maul says "I won't let him do this to anyone else," notice how the music takes a sinister turn. What was once soft and gentle, quite fitting for a scene of a man trying to comfort his inner child, is now replaced with darker implications. As this switch happens, Maul's reflection grows bitter and angry, matching his vengeful desires.

And not to call Maul out here, but I don't he fully realizes just how similar he is to Sidious in terms of apprentice training. Maul claims he won't let Sidious hurt anyone the way he hurt him, but what Maul doesn't fully realize is that he is now the problem here. Maul isn't as cruel as Sidious, but he's still harsh, manipulative, and very, very controlling. It's a heartbreaking thing to watch as someone who loves this character. The hardest part about change is maintaining it. You have to commit to it, even if there's many ups and downs along the way. Maul struggles with maintenance. I mean, I don't think he has step one (admitting you have a problem) quite fully down either, but you get the the idea.

Also, guys, I'm going to be very real with y'all: Maul going on his revenge spree is not a good thing. It's not. Maul finding justice/closure/forgiveness, whatever you believe in, is one thing, revenge is another. Here's why: revenge is coming from external validation only. You are intentionally placing your emotional self worth in the hopes that this thing you're planning on doing is going to go exactly the way you hoped and make you feel better in the exact way you want it to. I don't think I have to hold you hand when I say that life rarely, if ever, goes the way you planned out in your head.

By placing all of his eggs in one basket, Maul continues to self-sabotage himself because he will never truly get that release of pain he's looking for. And if I'm being completely honest, I don't think killing Sidious will truly fulfill him either. What does he have left? What is his purpose? What joys does he have? He has nothing, nothing at all. Maul fears being irrelevant and powerless; the irony is right there. However, by turning inwards with internal validation, one can slowly begin to heal.

Let's look back at Maul comforting himself. Maul willingly chooses to help himself using kindness. In that moment, he did not tell the little boy "killing Sidious will make you feel better." He told that little boy, "it's alright, it's alright," drawing from his own internal strength. What the little boy needed to hear was that "it wasn't your fault. You didn't deserve to get hurt. You're ok." And it's through willingly choosing kindness and internal validation that Maul is able to comfort his inner child. Notice how responding with hatred towards his inner child did absolutely nothing but cause more misery for him?

Unfortunately, Maul doesn't fully change in his moment and still chooses to go down that path of revenge.

Conclusion:

Someone once pointed out that despite everything he's done, the narrative still asks us to find sympathy for Maul; that statement is 100% true.

Through confronting his painful past and choosing kindness, Maul is able to soothe his inner child. He finally lets his walls down just enough to cry and acknowledge his pain. It is a beautiful thing to see. However, it isn't enough to truly set him on a path of continued genuine growth and healing. Maul ultimately falls victim to his own self-destructive mentality and it sucks because we know he has the capacity to choose differently. And btw, it's that capacity that truly sets him apart from Sidious. Sidious would never offer that comfort, but Maul did.

I love Maul so incredibly deeply. I love him for the mess of a man he is. I love him as a well-written allegory for the price of vengeance and continuing to choose hate. I love him for who he could be if he got healing. I want to hug him as tight as I can and let him know "it's ok." Episode 8 was an absolute gift to us in the Mauldom (I'm coining that term now).

Thank you for taking the time to read this and let me know your thoughts! I also believe Maul would be a good candidate for Narrative Therapy with a trauma focused lens, just saying.

[ministarfruit]

your doodle with bilbo and edgeworth had me thinking about a swap. the fellowship doing a murder case in cali. our favorite lawyers running around the shire or wherever. the possibilities

I like to think lotr exists in the ace attorney world so people just think they're very committed cosplayers. meanwhile wright and co think they teleported to new zealand or something

[paleoart]

Felt like doing a piece inspired by paleoart aesthetics that were common when I was growing up. This is mostly based on a particular one by Mark Hallet, though I think I channeled some other influences as well.

Patreon • Ko-fi • BlueSky  • Instagram • Prints & Merch  

[shadows-and-science-gone-mad]

If Prehistoric Planet Season 1 had the same writing style as Prehistoric Planet Season 3.

[zephyriusynthos]

you know you're screwed when your DM emails an actual paleontologist for the dnd campaign

@realfakeshady

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

I actually wanted to further talk about this sketch from last night a little, as it not only serves as an full body depiction of the animal but also a cheek in tongue critique of the paper describing Manipulonyx.

This animal, an alvarezsaur, is known from various bones, most importantly a complete hand that reveals novel structures for this group. Specifically osteoderms sitting on the side and palm of the hand. The authors speculated that these structures would have a specific, practical purpose and proposed that they would be used for grabbing, transporting and opening larger dinosaur eggs.

While this appears an interesting idea and I certainly think that occasional consumption of eggs wasn't off the table for this animals I doubt that they were specialized in this way. At least to the degree that it actively shaped their limbs.

And here is why I think that:

Eggs are a very seasonal treat. While certain areas with a stable climate can see a year long supply of eggs from different species, the Nemegt formation, where this animal was found, is unlikely to provide such a stable egg supply. The climate was quite seasonal, in winter maybe even reached freezing temperatures occasionally. Not ideal when you have to wait months for your main source of food to return.

Which brings us to the next point. Animals today, that are specialized in egg consumption are usually "cold blooded", as these are usually too rare of a treat to fuel more active creatures.

The fossils of Manipulonyx were indeed found in the vicinity of larger dinosaur eggs but being found together with them doesn't mean the animal predated on these. Beyond that the paper doesn't provide a taphonomic explanation for the locality, meaning: how did this fossils end up here? Were they preserved in situ or were the fossils maybe transported, how long did it take for the fossils to accumulate?

The limbs of Manipulonyx do not look like they would be great for transporting eggs. Especially the palmar osteoderm seems in the way when trying to hold anything, I wouldn't the surprised if the hand overall was actually quite rigid.

The idea of these animal would go after eggs that they can wrap their arms around begs the question what juvenile Manipulonyx would eat. Did smaller/younger individuals simply go for smaller eggs? Would there be ontogenetic niche shift? That seems, in my eyes, unlikely.

So what did they use their arms for? Please take everything you read here with a grain of salt, as an artist who hasn't seen the fossils personally I can only provide limited insight into this. Non of what you read here is peer reviewed research. Non the less I think there are some alternative ideas what is animal did that seem, for the moment, more likely to me.

Most prominently I see two possibility, both related and based on observations on modern birds:

Display, the age old argument, I know, but tons of spikes on really short arms just don't seem really practical. But with some flashy colors... who knows, I am not kink shaming.

Intraspecific combat. Many modern day birds have wing spurs, often times visible even in the bone. They might look weird but many birds are known for beating each other with their wings, the arms of Manipulonyx were short yes, but I think they would still allow for some wrestling matches. In birds they are also used for defense but given the arm length of Manipulonyx I think that's not as likely ;)

Ok rant over.

[ironhidearcee]

Yeah the "dedicated egg-thieving" hypothesis for alvarezsaurs always sounded painfully flimsy and unparsimonious.

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

I actually wanted to further talk about this sketch from last night a little, as it not only serves as an full body depiction of the animal but also a cheek in tongue critique of the paper describing Manipulonyx.

This animal, an alvarezsaur, is known from various bones, most importantly a complete hand that reveals novel structures for this group. Specifically osteoderms sitting on the side and palm of the hand. The authors speculated that these structures would have a specific, practical purpose and proposed that they would be used for grabbing, transporting and opening larger dinosaur eggs.

While this appears an interesting idea and I certainly think that occasional consumption of eggs wasn't off the table for this animals I doubt that they were specialized in this way. At least to the degree that it actively shaped their limbs.

And here is why I think that:

Eggs are a very seasonal treat. While certain areas with a stable climate can see a year long supply of eggs from different species, the Nemegt formation, where this animal was found, is unlikely to provide such a stable egg supply. The climate was quite seasonal, in winter maybe even reached freezing temperatures occasionally. Not ideal when you have to wait months for your main source of food to return.

Which brings us to the next point. Animals today, that are specialized in egg consumption are usually "cold blooded", as these are usually too rare of a treat to fuel more active creatures.

The fossils of Manipulonyx were indeed found in the vicinity of larger dinosaur eggs but being found together with them doesn't mean the animal predated on these. Beyond that the paper doesn't provide a taphonomic explanation for the locality, meaning: how did this fossils end up here? Were they preserved in situ or were the fossils maybe transported, how long did it take for the fossils to accumulate?

The limbs of Manipulonyx do not look like they would be great for transporting eggs. Especially the palmar osteoderm seems in the way when trying to hold anything, I wouldn't the surprised if the hand overall was actually quite rigid.

The idea of these animal would go after eggs that they can wrap their arms around begs the question what juvenile Manipulonyx would eat. Did smaller/younger individuals simply go for smaller eggs? Would there be ontogenetic niche shift? That seems, in my eyes, unlikely.

So what did they use their arms for? Please take everything you read here with a grain of salt, as an artist who hasn't seen the fossils personally I can only provide limited insight into this. Non of what you read here is peer reviewed research. Non the less I think there are some alternative ideas what is animal did that seem, for the moment, more likely to me.

Most prominently I see two possibility, both related and based on observations on modern birds:

Display, the age old argument, I know, but tons of spikes on really short arms just don't seem really practical. But with some flashy colors... who knows, I am not kink shaming.

Intraspecific combat. Many modern day birds have wing spurs, often times visible even in the bone. They might look weird but many birds are known for beating each other with their wings, the arms of Manipulonyx were short yes, but I think they would still allow for some wrestling matches. In birds they are also used for defense but given the arm length of Manipulonyx I think that's not as likely ;)

Ok rant over.

[cellulosaurus]

WE DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW IF AJKACERATOPS FERENCERATOPS AND ZALMOXES HAD A FRILL OR NOT WE DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW IF AJKACERATOPS FERENCERATOPS AND ZALMOXES HAD A FRILL OR NOT WE DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW IF AJKACERATOPS FERENCERATOPS AND ZALMOXES HAD A FRILL OR NOT

that whole “frilless european ceratopsians” is the definition of a paleomeme wake up people we don’t have the back of the skull of any of these weirdoes

Don’t blame ya though the press art is frilless and all the press released gobbled that up as facts

[noddytheornithopod]

Alright, I'm gonna go through several animals that would be neat to see in Prehistoric Planet if they made another Ice Age season.

Since this takes place across the Pleistocene, that technicality allows for some neat stuff. And I'm going to start by mentioning Titanis. We got Phorusrhacid representation with Psilopterus, but with this technicality, why not feature one of the most iconic species?

On a similar note, Mixotoxodon. A South American native ungulate that actually managed to be present in North America. More SANUs in general would be neat, more than Macrauchenia being food for predators, anyway, lol.

Darren Naish mentioned one of the animals that was heavily considered but cut were giant lemurs - there were a LOT of lemurs that lived in Madagascar until humans settled the island, some of which were unlike even modern species. Some even convergently evolved with groups like sloths (including Archaeoindris, which was like a ground sloth and much bigger than modern lemurs) and koalas (Megaladapis).

On the topic of Madagascar, there's a lot of unique fauna worth sharing. Tortoises, the crocodilian Voay, smaller elephant birds, even small hippos with a terrestrial lifestyle. I think there was even a large raptor on the island.

Naish also mentions Zygomaturines - don't know what specific species they planned, but they would've been neat. Showing more Diprotodontids and the diversity they had, and even a wider distribution in places like Papua. Palorchestes would've also been cool if they wanted more diversity.

In terms of like the big players in the most known/iconic Australian megafauna, the only one to not appear was the mihirung, aka Genyornis. More giant birds FTW, these ones weren't even Palaeognaths but closer to waterfowl.

Melanesian island fauna had some cool stuff, with birds but especially reptiles like iguanas larger than the ones still alive today, the last Mekosuchine crocodylians survived here, and we also had Meiolaniids, terrestrial turtles where some had horns and even tail clubs. You could have these in Australian fauna as well for that matter, I mean I'd LOVE to see something like Quinkana, a terrestrial Mekosuchine with ziphodont (serrated, like predatory non-avian theropod dinosaurs, or for a more crocodylian example, Sebecosuchians) teeth. We also have Paludirex, a large Mekosuchine that was similar to modern saltwater crocodiles.

I'm definitely biased, but Australia has a LOT to offer. Kangaroos larger than today's, vultures and other extinct raptors, giant wombats, giant echidnas, the madtsoiid Wonambi you name it. Also, thylacines! And Tasmanian devils (which, you guessed it, were larger than the modern ones).

Naish also mentions Deinotheres and Pararanthropines, I put these together because I'd love to see more Africa representation. It might be the continent with the most of its large megafauna still extant, but I'd still love to see more of what didn't make it to today.

I agree with the sentiment that we should've seen more Hominids, including early humans. Denisovans especially would be neat, but the whole family is worth showing off. Surprising they showed Flores without the "hobbits" that lived there.

Lots of elephants beyond Mammoths! Gompotheres, especially ones in South America. Palaeoloxodon, one of the largest land mammals ever. And of course, Mastodons, very iconic but somehow weren't featured.

Dwarf elephants! You have island mammoths who shrunk in size, like the Channel Islands mammoth (which I actually expected them to show but instead we got the Flores Stegodon). You have several elephants on various European and Asian islands like this as well.

Honestly, island fauna from European and Asian islands would be neat. I'm pretty sure they even had gharials on them (speaking of which... Hanyusuchus, which okay was South Chinese in general but still, there's even a possible Gavialid from Papua New Guinea... I'm getting ahead of myself)? Heck, return to Flores even if you have so many possibilities, I actually would've found it cool to see modern species like Komodo dragons interact with extinct species.

Carribbean island fauna would be interesting too, like we had stuff like sloths there (Prehistoric Planet loves its sloths, so why not some neat island ones?), Cuban crocodiles being more widespread, and the Cuban giant owl, Ornimegalonyx.

Hawaii had its own terrestrial owls, the stilt owls, Grallistrix. Hawaii had its own endemic fauna worth showing off too, like the moa-nalo, flightless ducks who had the role of large herbivores on the island.

On the topic of islands, New Zealand is always welcome. Show off the diversity of moa species, not just the giant one. Everyone loves Haast's eagle. The adzebills were very unique predatory birds too. Even extant animals that were more common before humans like the kakapo.

Camelops, the North American camel. Camels had most of their evolutionary history in NA, so I feel that would be cool to show.

Apparently there were more cats considered. I mean, they were pretty well represented especially with Machairodonts, but there's still some cool stuff out there, like the American lion, American cheetah, Patagonian panthers, Ngandong tigers, Eurasian jaguars and other extinct versions of modern cats, etc. Xenosmilus would be another sabre-tooth worth showing too, given it seems to have had a different feeding style.

Chalicotheres made it to the Pleistocene, like the Chinese Hesperotherium.

Albanerpeton is an amphibian that made it to the Pleistocene that looks salamander but is apparently its own thing.

I love stuff that is close to modern species but still noticeably different or just barely didn't make it to today, like Sivatherium and other extinct giraffids, South American horses like Hippidion, arious South American canids like the Falkland Islands wolf and various species of giant tortoise that existed on continental landmasses. I could go on all day, I should stop where I am lol.

[noddytheornithopod]

Watching Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age! I'll give brief thoughts on the episodes here.

The Big Freeze:

Overall pretty good!

One main criticism I saw from people is that they seem to be averse to naming specific species or even genera and... yeah, I noticed this too. People want to know what animals they're seeing, not just the simplest, most digestible name for something! I think it was most egregious with the sloth segment, like there were a LOT of Pleistocene sloths. I think the species was identified somewhere before, but I'm not a sloth expert so I don't really know. But yeah you could find this even with the Smilodon, thankfully sabre-toothed cat is easy enough to pin down, but even then, I wouldn't have known if it was Smilodon populator instead of one of the other species if I didn't have external sources confirm that.

In terms of being a downer, I did find the woolly rhino section a bit confusing, in the sense I'm not sure how the rhino calf managed to keep up with the rest of the herd? Maybe I missed something or the editing made it confusing, but yeah even if I still liked that segment, it was still kind of strange.

My favourite segment was probably the Smilodon one - I actually didn't know about the quirk about how their teeth grew until very recently, and this was a really interesting way to show sabre-toothed cats. Also, I wonder if they filmed in a similar location to where Walking With Dinosaurs did, where they infamously showed Hell Creek portrayed this way. Also interesting to see a more modern version of Macrauchenia, given so much media has portrayed it with the trunk when it probably was just a big nost (I think the Diprotodont Palorchestes has had a similar reevaluation).

It was neat seeing modern species integrated into this too. Again, would've liked to have known some specifics, especially with that owl, but I never considered that Arctic Foxes could've had a larger range (from what I can briefly find, they may have originated in Tibet, IDK how that stands but that does show it probably existed further into Eurasia than now). Even stuff like the cave hyenas, which may or may not be a subspecies of the modern spotted hyenas, were cool to see.

Oh yeah, another brief thing - I wish they were more specific with the geography too. Like, even the last Prehistoric Planet seasons would at least narrow it down to a continent.

I liked the designs of the cave lions and the Homotherium (aka the scimitar-toothed cat), they did a really good job of designing cats that looked different to what exists today but are still recognisably cats.

I can see what they were saying about family and community being a recurring theme - the only segment without any babies was the Smilodon one, and even then that was kind of about two cats meeting and becoming potential mates, and helping each other to survive.

Obviously, the CGI and animation is stellar. The snowy environments were almost certainly an excuse to flex those animation muscles. Framestore worked on not only Walking With but I think I also recall them doing that Ice Age Giants series from a bit over a decade ago? Which I remember also having pretty exceptional visual effects, and actually being pretty underrated in general.

Having that segment at the end as a little science segment was neat actually, not sure if they could've just had them as a separate miniseries beside the main one but IIRC the second season also did this. Might've been better structurally, but I still welcome these additions.

All in all, a good start, I guess yeah I just wish they weren't afraid to give a few more specifics so I know what and where we're dealing with. Like I said, people want to know these things, they don't need to be afraid that people might not "get it"!

New Lands:

I feel pretty similarly, still pretty good, though yeah some identification issues. Like, was the squirrel meant to be an extant or extinct species? Also what were the "wild dogs" in the Arctotherium section (which was also identified as a giant short-faced bear... something that Arctodus has also been called, I know "South American giant short-faced bear" is a mouthful and IDK if Arctodus is gonna feature but yeah)? What species of giant sloth was that? It was neat to see a Glyptodont call an armadillo but they wouldn't even use "Glyptodont", nevermind the actual genus or species.

Not too sure about the framing of the Great American Interchange? Like it was definitely relevant to this time, but a lot of the species we were looking at were already settled between continents. I guess they need to create a "narrative" to explain things but yeah.

Actual segments I liked though! Given I'm partial to the more obscure creatures, I was most partial to the Flores stuff (I assume it was Flores given the Flores giant storks), with the Stegodon, and also the terror bird segment (presumably Psilopterus given the small size and that's the most recent species known). You could tell in the former they love doing creepy azhdarchid stuff, and now they had an actual giant stork to do this with, and in the latter I think it was just a cool new way to show Phorusrhacids, a smaller species that survived with new adaptations against the new apex predators in South America. Would've been neat if they mentioned that Phorusrhacids were one of the original apex predators before the interchange, but oh well. Also funny they actually name Smilodon this episode (though again, only at the genus level).

Again, liking how a lot of these creatures look. Seeing a giant ground sloth as hairless was cool, and surprisingly not something you see much even though it makes sense based on other large mammals and this being in the tropics (since this seems to be where North and South America met). The Phorusrhachids had a nice look to them that felt like they could be a modern predatory bird. The Columbian mammoths even had an interesting design, having some obvious hair but still being mostly hairless.

When they were showing the Columbian mammoths, was anyone else expecting them to transition into showing the Channel Island mammoths? I remember they were a thing, so it is kind of funny we jump to an island in Indonesia with a completely different type of elephant to show dwarf elephants. Not a big deal, especially because as said I like more obscure and novel species being shown, but I still think those dwarf mammoths could've been cool. Just a funny thing the narration seems to want to imply but then fakes out.

Overall like this ep, maybe not as much as the first but I'll see how I feel by the end. I think the presentation was overall better with the first ep (they even had the mammoth beginning return as a bookend), but this species showed more unique fauna.

Desert Lands:

This seems to be where the Australian stuff is shown... I'm gonna be extra invested in this.

And whaddya know, probably my favourite episode so far.

Again, would be nice to know more specifically what sloth species we're dealing with. Also disappointed we didn't get Propleopus named beyond "kangaroo". Like, giant rat kangaroo wasn't even enough?

Ironically, the Propleopus and Megalania segment was one of my faves of this episode. Like, not only was it cool to see one of my favourite more underrated Australian megafauna represented on screen, but they were portrayed well, not to mention the baby Megalania were so realistic I couldn't tell if they were using actual living monitor lizards as stand ins or the CGI was just that good.

My other favourite segment was the moa one. It was just really surprising, but in a good way. And hey, at least we know it's one of the giant moa species (there were two, one for each main island of New Zealand, though if this was during the Ice Age it would've been one landmass, IDK when the species diverged). I vaguely remember reading about the sexual dimorphism and how it was the females that grew large, but I didn't realise it was that different in size. Also very interesting way they portrayed the mating life. Even the design wasn't something I would've expected, but it was neat, I do wonder what the inspiration was there. Also I wonder how much we know about their reproductive life to know they had one big egg like kiwis vs other Palaeognaths? I assume it's based on something but yeah. But like, even seeing the idea of deserts in New Zealand was surreal, I don't know if there's any arid parts today but yeah. Also the idea of dung beetles in NZ too. Oh yeah, the segment also kinda reminded me of the Carnotaurus part from the first season, especially with the similar environment.

Teratornis was a welcome addition, as well.

Do we know other animals experience mirages? It makes sense, it just somehow never occurred to me. Because interesting choice for the Diprotodon.

Seeing the Procoptodon walk and run was actually more normal than I expected. It's so weird to actually imagine kangaroos walking, but well they actually made it look natural. Also somehow never occurred to me that Thylacoleo would be slow, but it tracks given it was likely an ambush predator. I'll also admit that even though it makes sense hearing marsupial lion young be called cubs, it is still a little weird because baby marsupials are typically called joeys.

Love the CGI in general still, the Thylacoleo and moa were probably the standouts for me.

I know there's some discourse about the slit pupils on Megalania, it's definitely an odd choice so I am curious to hear if there's any reasoning behind that. Also, funny they actually name it that given they seem to really want to be vague and easily digestible with naming species, given that Megalania isn't a valid genus anymore and is just used as a colloquial name for Varanus priscus to more easily identify it, lol. I mean, I'd have ran with "giant goanna", but eh.

Wedge-tail eagle was cool but it did actually make me wonder if they could've used one of Australia's extinct raptors, including a species of vulture we now know lived here (IDK if that was too late for production though). That being said, I imagine finding and filming a real eagle was much easier on the budget. :p

But yeah, I enjoyed this one a lot. Probably for biased reasons, seeing not just Australian but even NZ fauna depicted, but it was still cool. Still wish they were more specific on names and locations but yeah.

Grass Lands:

Probably the least remarkable episode so far, but still pretty good.

The Gigantopithecus was probably the most memorable segment, very nice portrayal. Also nice it wasn't just a giant orang-utan.

More identification woes - were the African scimitar-toothed cats a Homotherium species or something else? I think I looked up the giant otters when I heard about them, but I forget the exact species. And again, the Glyptodonts, I assume Doedicurus this time, were just called big armadillos.

Doedicurus fight was cool. Liked the details of the cracks on the older male's armour.

Again, liking how the modern species are integrated. Another "wait was that actually CGI?" moment of seamless integration was when the scimitar-tooths took out that zebra. Also, only Africa representation so far, that's what happens when you still have a lot of your megafauna I guess, lol.

Kind of funny how the explainer segment at the end was about the size of the animals and not about the spread of grasslands, which is honestly I think worth discussing with how recent they really are.

All in all, not as much to stand out this time, but I still liked it, overarching issues notwithstanding.

The Big Melt:

Probably my favourite episode alongside Desert Lands if I had to pick. Obviously some of the usual issues are still relevant (oh so the original giant short-faced bear gets demoted to just a short-faced bear... okay, that weirdly makes sense). And now that Smilodon fatalis appears instead of S. populator, they have to specify this is the North American sabre-toothed cat, lol. There was also a couple moments where the editing/shot continuity I'm not sure completely lined up? But IDK for sure. Still, had a lot of stuff I enjoyed here.

Steller's sea cow is a welcome addition, especially considering that a lot of marine life hasn't really changed much since the Pleistocene, given that all the big extinctions are only really happening now. Having it encounter an Arctodus was a cool set up.

If I had to pick a favourite segment, my weird critter bias shows again with the elephant birds. Even as they're not as brutal to babies as something like Walking with was, there was still a surprising amount of tension. Also huh, island herbivore with a baby that has problems stalked by a large version of a modern predator happens twice, lol. Giant fossa was cool too, especially since the colouration seems inspired by Malagasy oral history and I think even cryptid stories? Also again, seeing a Palaeognath portrayed in a way I didn't expect, with the large gathering and also the wattles, which make sense all things considered but I'm used to imagining them be rather plain, though even that doesn't make sense when you look a for example cassowaries and freaking kiwis which just went and did their own thing entirely. Nice integration of modern Malagasy fauna too.

My other fave segment was probably the La Brea part, with the face off between the Smilodon and the dire wolves. Somehow didn't occur to me that animals might have survived these, I mean obviously there was a risk reward balancing act here so there's a chance SOME creatures got lucky.

The hunts with the Irish elk (lol, another example where a common name exists but they used Megaloceros, though at least that's still a valid genus) and cave hyenas, and the woolly mammoths and Homotherium were cool too, especially with the former showing such perseverance from both parties, and the end with the antlers being shed (which gives the hyenas a bony meal anyway lol), and the latter being something we know actually has some basis in reality, Homotherium hunting mammoths. Also apparently they came up with the design for Homotherium before they knew about the preserved cub they discovered, but I saw that could still be rationalised through regional or age variation, or even (sub?)species variation.

All in all, very good final episode. As said, probably a toss up between this and Desert Lands as the favourite. Again very good season of Prehistoric Planet too. Definitely certain things that raise an eyebrow, but there's also a lot of perks this season has that the Cretaceous seasons didn't, including stuff like integration with modern species and shooting locations being more true to life.

Also, very intriguing and eerie final shot. Is it just be and ending thing, or are they implying a second Ice Age season, maybe one that features early humans in a bigger role?

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Today on "Memes I hope go viral so people stop equating Lizards and Dinosaurs": this chart!

Kulindadromeus art used with permission, by @drawingwithdinosaurs

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Just colour coding this for slightly better readabililty

[veggiejpeg]

compilation of my doodly assistants from the past week or so :) separate art for all are on my bsky!! x

[ihave-zeroideas]

NEW EMA MERCH ON FANGAMER

LOOK AT THE STICKER IT COMES WITH

SHE SO CUTE

[annotated-dc]

TRANSFORMERS Director Michael Bay Was Eyed To Direct MAN OF STEEL Sequel Starring Henry Cavill

Following Henry Cavill's short-lived return as Superman in Black Adam, plans were put in place for a Black Adam sequel. Now, it's been revea

And considering the other pitches for the Man of Steel sequel involved Superman fighting a Green Lantern, I'm sure Bay would have included a scene where unprompted Hal Jordan whips out a card to explain why his relationship with a teenager isn't creepy, like he did in that one Transformers movie.

Incidently, that law meant that the characters in that film could date, but his sleeping with her still counted as statutory apparently. Hell of a move to have a character admit to being a sex offender as a gotcha moment aimed at someone else, but there you go.

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Said characters explanation in said scene is that they had a "Pre-existing juvenile relationship" in the sense that they dated when they were both legally minors but he's now an adult and she's not yet legally an adult but because their relationship began when they were both minors its fine

And like, if two seventeen year olds were dating and one of them turned eighteen a few months before the other one did? Yeah, that would NOT be creepy. That would not be weird. There's no power imbalance, there's no huge difference in maturity, its fine.

Except his character is 21 and she's 17 which means that if they did start dating when they were both legally minors under US law, he would have been 17 and she would have been THIRTEEN and that actually makes the relationship EVEN FUCKING CREEPIER and more horrifying

And again, there is NO REASON FOR THIS TO BE HERE

The actress playing this character was NOT seventeen (THANK GOD)

The actress was an adult

This could have been a relationship between two adults

Or between two teenagers, since Hollywood loves to cast people in their twenties and beyond as highschoolers

But Michael Bay stopped the entire plot of this fucking movie to have a scene all about how its not TECHNICALLY statutory rape for one of the heroes to be fucking a high schooler in this movie about big robot who punch thing and make it explode

To quote Pitch Meeting: "It just makes me wonder WHY YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS or why you looked it up SO THOROUGHLY?"

"It's just a funny scene ya know? :D"

"AHAHAHAHA...HA...."

[themetaisawesome]

The alt history guy on youtube reviewed this movie and brought up a bit of trivia that amazon prime labeled under “goofs”

Shane is not fully protected by the Romeo and Juliet law, and can in fact be charged with a 2nd degree felony and face up to 20 years in prison.

Not only is this scene the worst thing ever, it’s also factually wrong. It’s wrong on every conceivable level.

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

(Uncarley voice) "YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL"

[haltraveler]

The original version of this meme pissed me off so I made a more accurate version (though I'm probably being too generous in making the "internet rando" one based on a placental mammal).

Paleo reconstructions are not just guesswork. They are highly informed inferences, not always correct but the techniques are getting more and more refined and more data is being gathered every day. Musculature can actually be reconstructed with reasonable accuracy based on bones, and some things can be inferred from the animal's ecology. Here I made the "paleontologist's" hippo bald (with slight fuzz on the ears and neck) instead of hairy because in this alternate universe without extant hippos they can still look at other aquatic and large bodied mammals. The colors are based on other artiodactyls like reindeer and wildebeest, and the exposed tusks, while incorrect, are done in a reasonable fashion based on other tusked artiodactyls like chevrotains and boars. The presence of mobile ears is clear, from the attachment scars on the bones and phylogenetic bracketing, but their exact shape has to be speculated. The same goes for the oral tissue, it's clear it's there but the exact shape has to be guessed. No one would reconstruct an extinct mammal like it's a reptile (and no one should reconstruct an extinct reptile as if it's a mammal).