"In, as you say, the mud." @wanderontherocks - Tumblr Blog

"Silicified brachipods. All specimens from Permian limestones of the Glass Mountains, Brewster County, Texas."

From Fossils: An Introduction to Prehistoric Life (1962) by William Henry Matthews.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco Peregrinus), my favorite bird and animal of all time, inspired by stone mosaics my girlfriend and I saw during a trip to a museum.

herpsandbirds

Nocturnal Curassow (Nothocrax urumutum), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, SW Brazil

photograph via: Agami Nature Tours

amnhnyc

Get to know the largest member of the dog family in South America: the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). Standing at about 3 ft (0.9 m) tall at the shoulder, this canid is distinguished by its long legs and bright red fur. Unlike many canines, these omnivores don’t form packs. Instead, they live as monogamous pairs that remain mostly independent of each other, except during breeding season. This animal has a varied diet that includes small mammals like armadillos, fish, reptiles, and birds. It can communicate with deep, gruff roar-like barks.

Photo: ligiacarvalho, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

mineralsrocksandfossiltalks

Fossil Friday: Brachiopods

Brachiopods are any interesting animals. They look like clams and other bivalves but are more closely related to cuttlefish.

6 of the 8 families of brachiopods existed in the Ordovician Period. Here's a few of the brachiopods you'll find in Ordovician rocks:

Platystrophia

Herbertella

Rafinesquina

Where did brachiopods come from? Well, one hypothesis, the "brachiopod fold" hypothesis suggests that brachiopods evolved from an ancestor similar to Halkieria, a slug-like animal with "chain mail" on its back and a shell at the front and rear end. The hypothesis proposes that the first brachiopod converted its shells into a pair of valves by folding the rear part of its body under its front.

Halkeria

However, fossils from 2007 onwards have supported a new interpretation of the Early-Cambrian tommotiids, and a new hypothesis that brachiopods evolved from tommotiids.

Studies seem to suggest that Halkeria is closer to molluscs while tommotiids are more closely related to brachiopods.

Sadly, at the end of the Paleozoic, 2/3 of the brachiopods wet extinct and they haven't been the same since. Knoll and Bambach concluded that brachiopods were one of several groups that were most vulnerable to the Permian–Triassic extinction, as all had calcareous hard parts (made of calcium carbonate) and had low metabolic rates and weak respiratory systems.

Today, there are three classes of brachiopods left: Lingulata,

Craniata,

and Rhynchonellata.

Tune in Monday to learn about an extraterrestrial event that occurred in the Ordovician Period. Fossilize you later!

millie4321

Foothold

Another favourite episode of stargate!

#oh this is superb #such a good episode #and this is a stunning piece of art

sweet-harmony

“From a radiant centre, over the whole length and breadth of the tranquil firmament, great shoots of light streamed among the early stars, like signs of the blessed later covenant of peace and hope that changed the crown of thorns into a glory.” ~ Charles Dickens

@sweet-harmony

#oh this is wonderful

coffeedragonart

Sometimes you just gotta climb a rock and scream

cleverreports

We report about this sunset: for the first time this spring, the evening wind is not getting our nose to run. Later on, when the sun is long gone, it obviously gets much colder. But at this moment, the breeze is kind, and we cannot help but feel really good about it.

missjamiekaye

Kitties in the Garden. A little gift I made for a friend of her little visitors.

hometoursandotherstuff

sobcat

wood whittled przhevalsky horse

sobcat

process

transastronautistic

ID: wood carving of a light brown horse that is so, so round. Bode embodied. Its head is down so that it follows the curvature of the body. The reblog shows a wood block next to a piece of paper with the “blueprints,” plus what the horse looked like pre-sanding and pre-painting.