Kestrel-dad Not Sure How To Dad But He’s Trying His Best.

“Politicisation of science was enthusiastically deployed by some of history’s worst autocrats and dictators, and it is now regrettably commonplace in democracies. The medical-political complex tends towards suppression of science to aggrandise and enrich those in power. And, as the powerful become more successful, richer, and further intoxicated with power, the inconvenient truths of science are suppressed. When good science is suppressed, people die.”

— Kamran Abbasi, Covid-19: politicisation, “corruption,” and suppression of science

Turnersuchus: First of the Sea Crocs

A big find for crocodile finds was revealed two days ago. Turnersuchus hingleyae (Hingley's and Turner's crocodile) is the oldest known and basalmost thalattosuchian described so far and is of great importance to slowly figuring out where thalattosuchians come from.

But lets start with a brief introduction to thalattosuchians. As the name already suggests, thalattosuchians are primarily known to have been marine animals (tho exceptions are known). thalattosuchians can broadly be split into two groups. The teleosauroids, which look somewhat similar to what one might call a normal crocodile, and the metriorhynchoids, which especially in the derived members could aptly be described as crocodile mermaids. Below an example of each, on the left Macrospondylus by Nikolay Zverkov and on the right a generalized metriorhynchid by Gabriel Ugueto.

Thalattosuchians such as these two groups, which are sister clades and not successive lineages (so they co-occured rather than one having evolved from the other), were incredibly successful during the Jurassic, evolving enormous forms such as Plesiosuchus, Dakosaurus and Machimosaurus. Their wild success held on throughout the Jurassic until they eventually went extinct in the early Cretaceous. But despite how common and whidespread they are, we don't actually have much of a clue where they come from. Thalattosuchians just kinda appear during the Toarcian and are already found across multiple continents with both groups established. To complicate matters, their position among crocodiles is also rather shaky. Three main hypothesis exist. One is that they are a sister group to crocodyliforms (Protosuchians, Notosuchians and Neosuchians), that they are basal mesoeucrocodylians or that they are Neosuchians related to Pholidosaurids (like Sarcosuchus) and Dyrosaurs.

This is where Turnersuchus comes in. Discovered in the  Charmouth Mudstone Formation of Dorset, England, this genus is known from the skeletal material belonging to the back of the head, mandible, parts of the forearms and shoulder girdle as well as neck, body and tail vertebrae all preserved in five blocks and a few isolated pieces of bone. From that we can already see general similarities to derived thalattosuchians and basic traits like narrow jaws and reduced forelimbs (tho not nearly as extreme as in metriorhynchids).

The first significant part about this discovery is its age. Turnersuchus is from the Pliensbachian stage of the Jurassic, so it predates any previously diagnostic thalattosuchians. Secondly is its position. As I said above, thalattosuchians are divided into teleosauroids and metriorhynchoids. But Turnersuchus is neither, with both phylogenetic analysis finding it to fall outside of these groups. Now in fairness this is not rock solid, as there is only a single trait excluding it from the derived groups in either analysis, so future works might shake things up. But as things are right now, it's the oldest named and basalmost member of the entire clade. On a sidenote at least the oldest part is bound to change, as the paper mentions a Moroccon teleosauroid currently in press that is even older.

All of this allows for two things. For one, by comparing Turnersuchus with the basal members of both teleosauroids and metriorhynchoids scientists were able to gather a list of traits that appear to be ancestral to the group. In addition, Turnersuchus also preserves some features that separate it from all other thalattosuchians that are also indicative of being an early member. Just as one example a specific part of the basioccipital thats associated with long skulls is poorly developed, which means that while slender the jaws weren't as long as in some later thalattosuchians. A Bayesian analysis was also conducted in an attempt to nail down when thalattosuchians evolved. Now depending on which phylogeny is used (one with thalattosuchians as non-crocodyliforms and another with them as mesoeucrocodylians) you get different times. The former would place their origin in the Norian stage of the Triassic, the later in the Sinemurian stage of the Jurassic. In light of the Moroccon material alluded to by the paper, it would appear that they likely split from other crocodylomorphs sometime in the late Triassic.

And finally to wrap this up let me share the press release artwork to finally give a face to all this information. Now if you've read my post about fossil crocs of 2022 you might already recognize the artist, as she's been on a real streak with illustrating fossil crocs. If you don't know her, I highly recommend checking out her work. I'm of course talking about Júlia d'Oliveira.

And yes, of course I got the Wikipedia page for it ready. Tho with work getting in the way when it was published I almost feared I'd be unable to get to it first.

How should I go about describing a character who goes through a lot, becoming more disheveled and desperate as the plot goes on?

Desperation is the emotion that drives characters to their limits, leading to their most intense and extreme behaviours.

By showing how characters become more desperate as your plot progresses, you can create characters that are interesting, dynamic, and relatable.

Here are some ways you can show desperation in your characters. As the plot moves forward, these elements can get worse, showing their decline.

How do they behave?

Obsessive and/or compulsive

Repetitive actions like hand wringing, or overuse of stock phrases

Self-destructive and risk-seeking

Enhanced aggression

Avoidant and isolationist

Manipulative

Exploitative

Short-tempered

Impulsive decision-making

Unrelenting pursuit of something

What physical signs do they show?

Heart palpitations and short, rapid breathing

Sweating profusely

Shaking or trembling

Sudden onset of nausea

Feeling weak or dizzy

Muscle tension

Headaches

Insomnia caused by worry and stress

Feelings of fatigue

Stomach pain and cramping

How do they interact?

Begging or pleading with others

Manipulating others to get what they want

Increasing paranoia and questioning other's motives

Pushing away loved ones

Becoming overly clingy

Either an inability to trust or being too quick to trust others

Self-sabotage

Single-focus conversations

What do they look like?

Unkempt hair and poor hygiene

Rumpled, slept-in clothing

Nervous tics, like fidgeting, pacing, or picking at nails

Extreme and unexplained weight loss

A haunted, faraway, or panicked look

Dark-rimmed, bruised eyes from lack of sleep or exhaustion

A constant sheen of sweat and clammy skin

Unusual clothing choices

What body language do they display?

Hunching over, as if trying to protect themselves

Fidgeting or pacing

Avoiding eye contact

Clenching fists or grinding teeth

Sweating or shaking

Staring intently at something

Repeatedly touching hair or face

Darting eyes and biting lips

Meek and under-confident stance

Pleading look

What is their attitude?

Feeling hopelessness

Sad and dejected

Becoming increasingly irrational

A loss of faith in themselves and others

Obsession to the point of resorting to extreme measures

A sense of helplessness

Blaming others

Feeling powerless

A sense of urgency

What are some positive things that can come out of desperation?

Increased motivation to achieve their goals or solve their problems

Resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity

Heightened creativity and resourcefulness

The ability to form deep and meaningful connections with those who share their struggles

Catharsis or character growth through their struggles

What are some negative things that can come out of desperation?

A tendency to become self-destructive or engage in risky behaviour

Difficulty forming and maintaining healthy relationships

Increased isolation or loneliness

Chronic stress and physical health problems

A tendency to make impulsive or irrational decisions

Prone to depression and anxiety

CompoundChem always puts out really fun infographics. Here’s one about blood

It’s #Halloween tomorrow! Why is blood red and why does it have a metallic smell? This graphic explains! https://ift.tt/31XdIKJ https://ift.tt/3jK2ak4

pnat secret santa 2023

Hi everyone, we're back for another year! Make sure to read through this post for the introduction, application form, and schedule!

What Is Paranatural Secret Santa?

Paranatural Secret Santa is an event that takes place during the holiday season. You get assigned to a person to make a gift for, you create that gift, and you also receive a gift! This secret Santa is themed after the webcomic Paranatural, so if you are a fan of it and create fan content, this is perfect for you!

Gifts can be fanart, fanfic, panel edits, graphics, ect! Whatever you feel like creating.

Application Form

You can apply for the Secret Santa here! (x)

Schedule

November 20th - December 6th: applications open

December 7th - December 10th: applications closed, assignments created and sent out

December 11th - December 24th: working period

December 25th - January 21st: posting/receiving/extension period

Since the event got up and running later than usual this year, we're extending the posting period into late January. Make sure to tag this blog in your post and also use the tag pnatsecretsanta2023 so your gift can be reblogged!

If you have any questions/comments/concerns feel free to contact us! Thanks everyone, and let's have another awesome Secret Santa!

Hooray! It's always a blast to discover more jurassic species! And this one's a crocodile ancestor!

Jurassic-Period Crocodile Ancestor Unearthed in Chile

http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/burkesuchus-mallingrandensis-09929.html

I thought this was super cool! Also helpful reference for something to attempt later.

If there are any spelling mistakes, no there aren't. I just can't read or write.

The continuation of my clouds tutorial from last week.

The merit of your writing.

So, you’ve read something that has resonated with you. It’s everything you’ve wanted in terms of characters, prose, plot and pace. It’s the best you’ve read in years. You reread your favourite lines. You have to take a break just to absorb every meticulously crafted line. You are in awe of how something so small can seem to take up so much space.

And in a perfect world, it would inspire you to go out and create. To work on that story that is languishing in your save files, to pick up that WIP you abandoned, to make you want to write something different and new and better. 

Instead, it makes you feel inferior. The words are too good. You could never write like that. The characters are too perfect. You don’t have that insight. The story is too captivating. Your ideas are boring, cliche, plain. The insight is remarkable. You can barely string a thought together coherently. 

Why even bother, you think.

Don’t fall into that trap. I have been there so many times. I have abandoned writing for years because of “why even bother”. I have let it destroy my confidence, only to patch it back up in a cheap imitation of what it once was, just to let it invade my thoughts again. I have questioned every thing I’ve written, every choice, every line, because why even bother if someone is so much better. 

YOUR WRITING HAS MERIT. What you don’t realize is that it’s not in terms of better, but different. Different style, different story, different interpretation, different mind.

Someone out there will love the way you describe the night sky in poetry. Someone out there will love the way you describe the look on someone’s face when their heart breaks. Someone out there will love your idea, that strange one that seems impossible or already done, because it’s new and exciting or they love endless amounts of that same story. Someone out there will love your interpretation of that character, whether more gentle or bitter or broken or healed. Someone out there will love the words you write, the grandiose use of adverbs (my guilt) or the minimal scattering of dialogue. Someone out there will love your abundance or lack of something you saw in that story you so loved, the one that rendered you speechless and snuffed out your fire. 

Someone out there will love your words. And you need to share them. 

Speaking as a writer, no one sets out to create something to discourage others. No one wants to dominate their corner and be the only one there. No one wants to be alone in their craft. If they do, they are doing it for the wrong reasons. Speaking as a writer, I would never want you to read my writing and think, why bother. 

I want you to think, why bother waiting?

Your story matters. Your writing matters. It’s beautiful and defined and gorgeous and a work in progress and growing and already there and insightful and mysterious: it all has merit. 

Never stop. Never stop writing and practicing and doing and creating and learning and loving the words you weave.

You may think someone has done it more beautifully or better or too many times or never because who wants to read it? 

They maybe have done all those things, but they lack one thing: they haven’t done it like you have.

GIMP too works as a great substitute for Photoshop! Also super vouching for LibreOffice, Writer is fantastic and I don't see much of a difference between it and microsoft word at all.

It used to be that when a company released hacky, closed-source, propriety software, those facts alone would make them an object of ridicule amongst mean nerds on the Internet for years. Now we just kinda performatively bitch about Adobe every couple of months.