all

The wrought flints have the appearance

of big triangular teeth; the teeth of the engulfed monsters are like pulpy tubercles ready to sprout. The

skulls, the vertebrae, and the turtle shells have the

gentle and somber patina of the old sculptures with4 ANCIENT ART

their quality of absoluteness. The primitive engravings resemble those fossil imprints which have revealed

to us the nature of the shell formations, of the plantsand the insects which liave disappeared, of turbans,

arborescences, ferns, elytra, and nerved leaves. A

prehistoric museum is a petrified garden where theslow action of earth and water on the buried materials

unifies the work of man and the work of the elements.

Above lies the forest of the

great deer—the open wings of

the mind.^

capriciousradical:

Sciurumimus albersdoerferi: Pushing back the origin of feathers

Size: 2 feet (0.6 meters)

Time Period: Late Jurassic

Locale: Germany: Sonholfen Beds

Name: “Squirrel Mimic,” in reference to the bushy tail feathers of the animal

Feathered dinosaurs have been found consistently since the late 1990’s, and the list of feathered creatures has extended from relatively small animals to medium-sized theropods like Beipaiosaurus to ornithischians like Tianyulong. In recent years, the concept of feathered dinosaurs completely changed from only small theropods having them to the common ancestor of all dinosaurs likely possessing them. In 2010, Concavenator showed that carnosaurs may have had feathers. In 2012, Yutyrannus showed that even huge animals can have downy feathers. As these discoveries are revealed, we become increasingly intrigued as to just how far back feathered dinosaurs begin to occur. Of course, the discovery of Sciurumimus further cemented the idea that most, if not all, theropods had feathers at some point in their lives.

The specimen in question is clearly a juvenile megalosauroid, the same group that contains giants like Torvosaurus. It’s clear that, while the adult Sciurumimus may not have possessed feathers, it at least possessed them while it was still very young. This supports a theory that I (and I suppose some palaentologists as well) have about theropods, especially large carnivorous forms like Tyrannosaurus. I think that they started out with a covering of downy feathers to provide insulation, and then lost that coat as they grew older, no longer needing them because they could maintain a constant body heat. It’s similar in the case of large animals like elephants, who start out hairy and end up large and without that much hair. It’s possible that it was the same with theropods, and, just like elephants retain some hair, adult theropods could’ve retained some feathers well into their adulthood, possibly for display. This theory may be invalid, because with the discovery of the large Yutyrannus, we know that at least some large theropods were feathered. Perhaps it varied from environment to enviromnent, and it bears some mention that Yutyrannus lived in a different, possibly colder environment than its later relative Tyrannosaurus, for whom we have some featherless skin impressions.

Most remarkable about this discovery is that it is a megalosaur that has feathers like these. Thus far, the only theropods known to have had feathers were classified as coelurosaurs, but Sciurumimus is very primitive compared to them. It may be that all dinosaurs did have feathers, or at least had feathers when they were newly hatched. It’s been seen on many kinds of dinosaur. This pushes the origin of feathers in dinosaurs further back. It’s possible that even earlier theropods will turn out to have feathers Until we find a Dilophosaurus or Herrerasaurus with feathers, we’ll never know.

There’s another thing that should be noticed about this dinosaur. It’s the most beautiful, complete fossil of a dinosaur that we’ve found in around twenty years. Not only that, but it preserves feathers and it the most complete theropod found in Europe to date. Though this seems important now, we may find even more groundbreaking discoveries. Just this decade contained lost of surprises and the discovery of new dinosaurs, and the future looks bright because of how far we’ve gotten so far.

(via geopaintings)

azephirin:

A Collection of Unique Clouds

1. “Mammatus clouds over northeast South Dakota, . US. Mammatus, also known as mammatocumulus (meaning mammary cloud or breast cloud), is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. They can produce some dramatic and unusual patterns on the sky and are also associated with severe storms.”

2. “Noctilucent clouds are crystals of ice hanging around 80 kilometres high in the atmosphere that catch the light of the sun long after it has set on the horizon. Natural nacreous clouds occur at altitudes of 20-25 kilometres. The cloud in this image was formed from the exhaust of a missile launched from a distant firing range.”

3. “Flying saucer or Lenticular cloud”

4. “Von Karman cloud vortices above Alexander Selkirk Island, Chile. These clouds look like they have had a hole punched through them. In fact they are naturally occurring vortices crafted by wind patterns on the clouds. In this image these cloud vortices (swirls down left) have been caused by the peak of Alexander Selkirk Island (bottom left) disrupting wind-blown clouds.”

Where to find good gay art originals?

(via northernhearts)

darksilenceinsuburbia:

Laurence Demaison.

http://www.laurencedemaison.com/

Where to find good gay art originals?

(via coldfish)