Alberta Claw

Photograph of a very small honeyeater perched vertically on the side of a Banksia flower. The entire scene is backlit. The flower is yellow/green, ovoid, and covered in anthers so it looks furry. It is larger than the bird. The bird is dull in colour compared to adults of its species, in shades of desaturated brown and fawn, with black eyes and a pink/black beak that hasn't reached its full length yet.

I was taking the bins out today when I noticed a juvenile Eastern Spinebill in the garden. I rushed back inside to grab my camera and was happy to find the bird still there when I returned.
#birds

The Dodo in Life — Tetrapod Zoology dodo, Dodos, Raphus, Raphus cucullatus, Raphidae, extinct birds, birds, ornithology, pigeons, dodobird, extinct bird, bird extinction, flightless birds, flightless pigeons, Erroll Fuller, Julian Hume,...

Yes, there were early plans to feature the Dodo (and the Solitaire) in Prehistoric Planet Ice Age.... What do we know about the life appearance of this remarkable bird? Actually a surprising amount, check this out... tetzoo.com/blog/2020/7/... #dodo #birds #ornithology

🥳 New paper in Emu - Austral Ornithology!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

In this study, I review the available evidence for hybridization in ratites. Most cases are linked to human activities, suggesting that natural hybridization among ratites is exceptionally rare.

#ornithology

WORLD-RENOWNED AFRICAN ELEPHANT EXPERT, DR IAIN DOUGLAS-HAMILTON, DIES AGED 83 Nairobi, Kenya – Tuesday, 9 December 2025: It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, renowned Scottish zoologist and founder & president of Save the Elephants.

Famed elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton has died, aged 83. Founder of Save the Elephants and accomplished author, researcher and mentor... savetheelephants.org/news/world-r...

What evolution means for you➡️

1. We’re all one big family⁠—share the❤️:
 🌻🌳🦑🦗🐢🐘

2. A continuous🌈of variation is natural in a species:
 🧑🏼—🧑🏿
 ♂️—♀️
 👬—👫
 …& everything in between…

3. You weren’t created to fill a role, but🆓to be anything:
 👷🏽‍♀️👨‍⚕️👨🏻‍🎤👩🏼‍🎓👨🏾‍🚀👩🏿‍🏭

What are🇺?

Dust of a🌟

Mostly💧

A🧬longer than any📘, in more copies than all the📚on🌎

Cousin to🐬🦢🦋🌳

More🧠cells than # of👥alive

A🧰that can make🖼️🚀🌉🥘🗽or💣

A🦠after billions of version updates

A🧳made of🥩filled with💩

Among the few⚛️⚛️⚛️in🌌that can🤔🥰😢😆…

🐨🐱🦇🦊🦘fur
🐱🦇🦊placenta
🦇wings!

🐍🐊🕊️🦖🦎waterproof eggs
🐊🕊️🦖four-part heart
🕊️wings!

🕷️🦀🐝🦐🦂exoskeleton
🦀🐝🦐mandibles
🐝wings!

🌲🌴🍁🌵🎄seeds
🌴🍁🌵flowers
🍁wings!

Common but unhelpful wording:
"Are🐳related to🦭?" (yes, but also to🐞🌺🍄🦠…)
"Are🐳closely related to🦭?" (yes, but also to🦁🐷🦇🦨…)
"Are🐳in🦭family?" (no, but even🐬&🐳in different families)

Better framing:
"What are🐳more closely related to than to🦭?" (🐬🦛🐄🦒…)

# penguin species by latitude (°S)
0°🐧
5°🐧
10°🐧
15°🐧
20°🐧
25°🐧🐧🐧
30°🐧🐧🐧
35°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
40°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
45°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
50°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
55°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
60°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
65°🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
70°🐧🐧
75°🐧🐧
80°🐧
85°🚫
90°🚫

Mostly made from grass:
🦘🦣🐴🦓🦏🐏🦙🐄🦬🦛🐇🐹🐼🦁🐱🐶🦉🐓🤷

Mostly made from trees/shrubs:
🐨🦥🦒🐐🐪🦌🐒🦧🦫🐿️🐯🦜

Mostly made from phytoplankton:
🐻‍❄️🦭🦦🐋🐬🦞🦀🦐🦪🐙🦑🐠🐟🐡🦈🦅🦩🐧

Ichthyosaur relationships are very poorly understood. Recent large-scale studies generally lean towards them being part of an "extinct marine reptile" group (along with plesiosaurs, nothosaurs, etc.) that is more closely related to archosaurs than to turtles, but the evidence is not conclusive.

Volunteers — DinoCon

Applications to volunteer at DinoCon 2026 are now OPEN! If you would like to help us make DinoCon the best it can be, apply now! www.dinocon.co.uk/volunteer

An oil painting of a Carolina Wren. The wren's feathers are fluffed up into a round shape, and it is sitting on a rock, with strong sunlight illuminating it. The artist watermark reads: copyright 2025 Jennifer Miller "Nambroth" featherdust dot com

"Morning Light on a Carolina Wren" 5" x 7" Oil on panel

I just think they're neat

From the movies community on Reddit: Hi r/movies! We're the team responsible for bringing Apple TV’s Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age to life. We are Russell Dodgson (Production VFX Supervisor), Dorothy Ba... Explore this post and more from the movies community

I just bet you have questions about #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge, right? Reddit is doing an AMA on the series tomorrow, in which I'm joined by my excellent colleagues Dorothy Ballarini and Russell Dodgson from @Framestore See you there! www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...

A Winter Wren bopping along the edge of a fallen log. I find these birds to be the cutest of the wrens we have here in Michigan due to their spherical shape.

The people in charge of beating you down will say art is frivolous, cut budgets for the arts, replace artists with AI, but art keeps people GOING. You never know when a piece will touch someone’s heart at just the right time.

Fossilized skeleton of a bird-like dinosaur with feather remains preserved around its body.

New enantiornithean ("opposite bird") Chromeornis funkyi: palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025... Seems to be a close relative of Longipteryx, preserved with an unusual cluster of stones near its neck. 🪶🧪 (📷O'Connor et al.)

Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.

Fan art of the character Shizuka from Doraemon wearing the outfit of Frieren from the series of the same name. She is situated in the lower right of the drawing, looking up against a light blue background.

I've already drawn Shizuka cosplaying Frieren, so why not... #doraemon #frieren #ドラえもん #葬送のフリーレン

Fossilized foot bone of an extinct flightless seabird.

Plotopterid (extinct flightless relative of boobies and cormorants) tarsometatarsus (foot bone) from the Yamaga Formation (Oligocene of Japan): www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/prps... 🪶🧪 (📷Mori)

A systematic review of interspecific breeding in woodpeckers Hybridization is a common phenomenon in birds. Woodpeckers (Picidae) are no exception, as approximately 20% of species are known to hybridize and, for many others, interspecific mating is suspected. ...

A systematic review of interspecific breeding in woodpeckers | Ibis
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

"Hybridization plays a substantial role in woodpecker evolution and ecology; therefore, this phenomenon deserves further study using genomics and citizen science."

#ornithology

A fluffy precious little white tern chick laying on a branch

PSA!!!!!! 🚨

White tern chick!!!!!! 🪶

A great summary on the dire situation for Geology/Palaeontology at @uniofleicester.bsky.social by Jan Zalasiewicz. Please sign and share the petition: www.change.org/p/save-geolo...

YouTube video by They Might Be Giants - Topic Mammal

#Geol104playlist Mammals
youtu.be/14jjo7MtSzE?...

UMD paleontology professor turns childhood fascination into professional endeavor By Rory Cahill Thomas Holtz was just a toddler when he received two toy dinosaurs from his mother. One, a long-necked plant-eating Brontosaurus. The other, a carnivorous, two-legged Tyrannosaurus. …

That guy looks familiar...

umdsbs.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/u...

Renge Miyauchi
#NonNonBiyori • #のんのんびより • #宮内れんげ生誕祭2025

Post by @joanjournal · 5 images 💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · Can Modern Cave Art Tell Us About Prehistoric Cave Art? · Depiction of Woolly Rhinos at Chauvet Cave, Ardèche, France (Patilpv24, SS BY-SA) One of the most familiar and well-regar…

Next on Joan's Journal: what is the nature of prehistoric cave art in Europe? Can the rock art of modern peoples give us any insights? 🪨🎨
www.tumblr.com/joanjournal/...

‘Short-eared Owl over Saltmarsh’

gouache, 32 x 20 cms

Unlike most other species of Owl in the UK, Short-eared Owls may hunt during the day. In winter, birds arrive in variable numbers from the Continent and may be seen over saltmarshes, as well as inland over rough grassland.
#owls #birdart

‘Great Grey Shrike’
acrylic, 18 x 26 cms
This species is a regular winter visitor to the U.K. from the Continent in small numbers. Birds seem to return to favoured haunts on heaths and moors. In recent years even lower numbers may indicate milder winters on the Continent. #greatgreyshrike #birdart

Illustrations of a flamingo and a caiman alongside visualizations of their internal bone structure.

Loss of air-filled bones in diving birds and other aquatic archosaurs: academic.oup.com/iob/advance-... 🪶🧪 (📷Byrne et al.)