Vault Elder's Archive

Favorite color: purple. Favorite animal: people.

[snototter]

An adult male fantastic least gecko (Sphaerodactylus fantasticus) in Guadeloupe

[snototter]

i'm actually not sure why sphaerodactylus are often called least geckos but i have to assume its just one of the least amounts of gecko you can get

[night-studies]

Helloooo, do you have a favorite field of study?

Greetings and thank you for your question. This is a query I receive fairly often and while I do enjoy many scientific and academic disciplines, I am particularly fond of ethnography. It's a subset of anthropology focused on the study of culture, documenting traditions and social mores. Originally, my pursuit of the field was led by curiosity — you people are so diverse and interesting! I wanted and continue to want to understand society and why it is the way it is. However, when it came to the ancestors, I was driven more to documenting their societies, aware they weren't going to last.

[herpsandbirds]

Gouldian Finch (Chloebia gouldiae), family Estrildidae, order Passeriformes, eastern Kimberley, Western Australia

Photograph by Naidu Kumpatla

[herpsandbirds]

Red-legged Seriema (Cariama cristata), family Cariamidae, order Cariamiformes, Brazil

Seriemas were once placed in the Gruiformes, but in 2014 were elevated to their own order. They are most closely related to Falconidae, Psittaciformes and Passeriformes.

They are territorial, and some people in South America use them as guard animals.

Seriemas eat a wide variety of small prey, and are known to pick up snakes with their beaks and slam them hard onto the ground repeatedly, to subdue & kill them.

photograph by Jainy Maria

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Seriemas have sickle claws on their feet just like those of Troodontids and Dromaeosaurids and Archaeopteryx!

Seriemas are the closest living relatives of the extinct Terror Birds, and are even similar in size and lifestyle to the smallest members of that group!

Seriemas are limited to two species now, but in addition to Terror Birds, had an EXTENSIVE fossil record of relatives with many species spread around the world!

Seriemas are the earliest derived members of the Australaves and helped researchers develop the hypothesis that Telluraves, the group that includes the vast majority of tree-dwelling birds, evolved from a predatory ancestor!

Seriemas are convergently very similar to the Secretarybird of Africa, which is more closely related to Ospreys, Hawks, and Eagles

[best-bird-tournament]

today in "incredible photos not well-suited for the polls":

me, as a teen, every morning before high school

[birds-in-posts]

Common swift (Apus apus)

[datasoong47]

Fun fact, the scientific name, apus means literally "no-foot", because the ancient Greeks and Romans believed the common swift spent its entire life in flight and literally had no legs (they do spend a lot of time in flight, spending months on end without touching ground, but not their entire lives as the ancients thought)

As we can see in this image, they were clearly mistaken about its footlessness

[world-beauty]

Messier 101

Credits: NASA, ESA, CFHT, NOAO, GSFC, U.Hawaii, JPL, NOAO, U. Illinois

[pnglove]

Mate, you’ve got a chubby lizard on your dashboard

[markscherz]

Graced by Geckolepis typica from Madagascar. I love that they’re quite round creatures and then they have these dainty little toes. Also, their scales are full bone and both scale and skin come off when they get grabbed, which is…unpleasant. Consequently, catching these geckos for research without damaging them requires special techniques. 19th century researchers used bundles of cotton wool, but I imagine this wasn’t very effective, because cotton still has a lot of friction and the friction would pull the skin and scales off. In my (quite extensive) experience, the best technique is to carefully and quickly flick the geckos from their tree trunk or branch into an open dry plastic bag using a finger or stick.

[mrskayathefrog]

'scuse me, Mr @markscherz, does it harm the gecko for the scales to come off?

like, of course it harms them but... can they grow back? like how some lizards can drop their tails and eventually the tails grow back

[markscherz]

Not only do they grow back, but they come back so well that we cannot even tell where they have ripped off before. This is very weird, because when a lizard loses its tail, it is very obvious where it has been lost and regrown. Not so these chaps. They seek out a humid place to hide, and within a few weeks, skin and scales have started to regrow. The fact that they can do this so well is the reason a team has just sequenced their genome. I believe it is hoped that the skin regeneration tech they have built into their cells could eventually be harnessed for human skin grafts.

[night-studies]

Have you any favourite words, Elder? One of my favourites is Befuddled!

(and, i wish you luck in aquiring suitable chewing stones! ✨️)

Thank you for sympathizing with my plight and thank you for your inquiry. Befuddled is a excellent choice as its definition suits its fun pronounciation. It bears a similar jocular air as foofaraw, hunky-dory and mushyheaded.

Although those aren’t my favorites. Given the myriad of words available, I have long struggled to settle on just a few, much less one, to proclaim my favorite. Each one fills a niche in our communication, reifying our thoughts to one another, however those thoughts may manifest and accumulate.

Yet, there are a handful of words I am fond of that, now that I’ve listed them together, does belie some proclivities about myself:

heretofore (adv) before this, up to this time, prior to now.

cosmopolitan (adj) composed of or found in people, ideas, and things from all over the world; sophisticated or conversant with many spheres of interest, worldwide.

noetic (adj) from or relating to the mind or intellect.

augur (v) to portend a good or bad event or circumstance. 
(n) a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen.

immanent (adj) being within the limits of possible experience or knowledge.

transmogrify (v) to transform in a seemingly magical manner; to change thoroughly, like into a different shape or form.

elaborate (adj) planned or executed with minute care, painstanking; complicated by intricate and excessive detail. 
(v) to work out carefully, to develop to perfection, to add details to, to improve.

philosophize (v) to think or reason in a philosophical manner; to speculate or theorize in an impercise or abstract manner.

[night-studies]

There are a multitude of more substantial reasons to lament my current circumstances, however one admittedly insignificant deprivation is the absence of uranium for me to chew. I did not indulge in that habit often. When it came to my mouth stims, I typically chewed safer metals, of which I do too lack here in limbo. However, uranium had a soft yet brittle metallic gnaw I recently find myself desiring in tandem with its radioactive spiciness. It was satisfying for my jaw & taste buds to work through while I was occupied in study & research. I assume boredom begets these cravings and, at times, I am plenty bored here with nothing to mediate it. Oh well.

[microraptorhours]

i love you archival work. i love you alphabetizing. i love you sorting. i love you reshelving. i love you document restoration. i love you shelf reading. i love you inventorying. i love you analysis. i love you archival work.

[night-studies]

hi lamed! why do the scholars leave so many candle cakes in such a quiet and dusty archive? they look like they get in the way of lower shelves

Light! The incandescence of candlelight provides a nourishing light source for spirit and skychild alike in lieu of sunlight. Even when my scholars were living, candles were an apt, easily transportable, rejuvenating source of warmth and magic potential. They would gather around candle cakes in particular to relax and warm up, not unlike skychildren when they exhausted their wing light to reach those higher shelves. And, yes, an open flame was a fire hazard, but it was courteous not to handle candles near the paper archives when when we had those. Besides, I felt using power diamonds for light was extraneous when candles served a cheaper, more sustainable utility. It could get awfully cold in the Vault and those diamonds didn't emanate the same warmth.

[night-studies]

I must extend apologies for my prolong absences and sparse presence. If I'm not tutoring the sky children who visit me, I find myself heavily occupied with the litany of information this access to the internet has provided. Whenever I clamber out these rabbit holes, I'll do my best to catch up with my correspondence. I do enjoy all the messages in my inbox! Even if I seldom respond in a timely manner.

[night-studies]

Hello, Night. I just want to share my drawing with you.

Unfortunately, he's not that good. But still, it was painted with tenderness. ^^'

I see in you a vulnerable, but very sensitive, reasonable and empathetic person who always wants the best.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I'm confusing you.

Oh love, oh love, what a stunning piece of art you have created. This is much better than what your self-doubt would belie. Here this evinces your artistic skill — the somber colors, forming a pleasing aesthetic palette in their own right, match the countenance you've depicted me with, illuminated in soft lighting. You've done the opposite of confusing me, dear. Thank you for this beautiful illustration.

As for your characterization of me, I am glad and sure hope that was the demeanour I exhibited. I was fraught with a great onus before me and I certainly did not please everyone as I wished, but I sought to,

[the-isle-elder]

Where's all the others? If you have one, maybe they have one too? (A blog, on this website, I mean)

Ooc here for my own convenience (sorry, couldn't figure out a way to accurately have Daleth deliver the information I needed to give)

There are several other elder blogs on here, though they tend to range in activity:

We have Teth, @killsyouwithhammers -> probably one of the more active blogs, asks are very welcome!

Lamed too, @night-studies -> mostly inactive, but to my knowledge Al would be happy to receive asks.

There is a Tsadi blog, @the-wasteland-elder -> not super active as far as I can tell, unsure how he feels with asks but probably would appreciate them.

Also SahMekh, @elders-of-the-valley -> Liv is pretty active but currently has asks closed so she can catch up with them (she makes BRILLIANT artwork for some asks!).

And Ayin, @butterflypots -> quite inactive but I'd wager a guess that they'd appreciate asks.

(There are also some Alef|Resh blogs floating around iirc, however I'm largely unsure about any particular @/s I can give you for them.)

Hope this helps! And sorry again for not answering this in rp, it's just easier like this lol

[night-studies]

Hello lamed I drew you

My, oh my, what a lovely little drawing you have made. I am honored you chose to emulate my image with your artistic prowess and, I should say, you have captured my countenance well.

Thank you, dear, I truly appreciate this. I encourage you to continue drawing for it is a spark you should nuture and a valuable, creative skill many seek to attain.

[killsyouwithhammers]

I keep forgetting to post.

[night-studies]

As do I.

[the-isle-elder]

🫵gay

Hello Child,

......No....

Thank You.

[night-studies]

Based on my long-term observations, I will affirm that you are, in fact, very gay.