iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Maija Karala

Hot off the presses! I reviewed the history of early ray-finned fishes, with a focus on their morphology, fossil record, and taxonomy. My principal goal is a guide for other workers to make the rich record of early actinopterygian evolution more broadly available. dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor...

dx.doi.org

The Evolutionary History of Early Ray‐Finned Fishes (Pan‐Actinopterygii)

Ray-finned fishes, the most diverse living vertebrate clade, include over 600 extinct early actinopterygian species whose evolution is an enigma.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Science center @heureka.fi ’s new exhibition The Evolution of Dinosaurs is open! I had the pleasure of being involved in several roles with the exhibition, including illustrating the info screens. Here’s the undisputed star of any dino media: T. rex. #SciArt

An illustration of Tyrannosaurus rex walking towards the viewer with its mouth open, looking threatening. It is coloured brown, pale blue and cream, wading through orange wildflowers. There are silhouettes of palm trees against the dusky blue background.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

What I'm reading on maternity leave (an updating thread) 1. Terry Pratchett: Muks! (English original Thud!, 2005) One of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch books, this one explores racial tensions, religious fanaticism and parenthood. All themes that hit quite differently today compared to years ago.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

So me and @villesinkkonen.bsky.social made a new human. She’s the most amazing thing, but obviously also quite a handful. For the time being, I’m probably quite bad at responding to anything and new artwork will be few and far between. Will be back once she grows up a bit!

A close up photo of a baby’s feet held in my hand

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 8: Ruby Cuckoo wasps are like tiny living jewels. As nest parasites of other wasps, they are high in the food chain and sensitive to environmental change. A study from a few years ago showed they have declined sharply in Finland.

Illustration of a cuckoo or enerald wasp, not depicting a specific one of the 3000 or so species. The tiny wasp has a bright emerald-bluish head and thorax, and a ruby-coloured abdomen.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 10: Woad Convergent evolution can produce similar body shapes from different starting points, when animals adapt to the same ways of life independently. These are four iterations of otter: a true otter, rakali or water rat, otter civet, and giant otter shrew, related to tenrecs.

A children’s book style illustration of four swimming animals on a blue background: top, Eurasian river otter, then rakali, an aquatic rat with brown and orange fur, then an otter civet with bluish black fur and a grumpy-looking face, and bottom, the giant otter shrew with tiny eyes and a forest of whiskers.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 7: Fawn Xenokeryx amidalae, a strange species of ruminant that inhabited what is today Spain, some 15 million years ago. Miocene was a time of wonders. #SciArt

An illustration of Xenokeryx, a vaguely okapi-like animal with three short horns - one of them an elaborate structure between the ears - and small saberteeth protruding from its mouth. It is fawn-coloured with a white mask and stripes, on a round forest green background.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

SciArtSeptember 4: Coral Mirasaura grauvogeli, one of the fantastic Triassic oddballs known as drepanosaurs.

Illustration of Mirasaura, a lizardlike ancient reptile, making a threat gesture

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 4: saffron Brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae) resting on an oak sapling in evening sunlight. A fairly common species, though rarely seen since it spends most of its time in tree canopies, I found the colouring of the undersides of the wings gorgeous.

Illustration of a brown hairstreak butterfly painted in soft colours

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 4: Azure. The coelacanth, a long-extinct creature that was accidentally discovered alive. Though it may look like just another type of fish, it is more closely related to us than other fishy inhabitants of the ocean. #SciArt

An illustration of an azure blue coelacanth, a large lobe-finned fish on a dark green background.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 3: sanguine A simplified muscular diagram of a domestic rat (my cranky little Elmo, to be specific). Despite wildly different sizes and proportions, mammals share a similar basic anatomy, to the point that the same physiotherapist might be able to treat rats, horses and people.

An illustration of a Siamese, dumbo-eared rat with main body musculature drawn and labeled on him. #SciArt

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

#SciArtSeptember 2: violet A recently described specimen of Sinopterus dongi showed, for the first time, evidence of iridescent colour in pterosaurs. There were also traces of horizontal stripes on the soft tissue crest. The Mesozoic world is getting more and more colourful. #SciArt

Painterly digital portrait of an iridescent purple pterosaur

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Oops, it’s September already! #SciArtSeptember 1: Malachite. A Columbian mammoth wading through aquatic plants. Originally a sketching practise, referenced mainly from the beautiful Eofauna figurine. #SciArt

A digital illustration of a large grey elephant - a columbian mammoth - shown from above, wading through a mat of floating plants and leaving a swirly pattern of dark water behind.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Still doing this personal project of finding, photographing and illustrating the geometer moths of Finland. About 70 of the 300 or so species done. Not likely to ever be completed, but a lot of fun regardless! #SciArt

Digital illustration of riband wave (Idaea aversata), mutkakulmumittari

Digital illustration of ochraceous wave (Idaea serpentata), serpentiinimittari

Digital illustration of sandy carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata), keltanauhamittari

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Ichneumonid wasps A few wasps I've seen in recent years. These parasitoid insects are incredibly diverse, yet poorly known with possibly as little as a quarter of living species even named. They're famous for making Charles Darwin doubt the existence of God simply by existing in nature.

A collection of seven parasitic ichneumonid wasps of different shapes and sizes, drawn with white on a black background. Most are of unknown (to me) species, though the large one in lower right corner is a sabre wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria), a parasite of large wood wasps and longhorn beetles.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Rat Portrait 8 & 9 of 9: Atlas & Apollo These baby brothers arrived a few weeks ago and have just about been accepted by all the adults. I asked the breeder for something easy and brainless, and these two certainly seem to fit the bill. They love playing, exploring and humans even over food.

Digital drawing of two young rats play-wrestling while looking at the viewer. The rats are blue-grey with large white variegated markings.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Rat Portrait 7 of 9: Rufus Rufus is the oldest of the bunch and it shows. He's skinny, his fur is thinning and hindlegs weakening, but he's still as lively as ever, rarely walking anywhere if running mindlessly is an option. He has an endless nervous energy that reminds me of my late great aunt.

Digital drawing of a cinnamon-coloured rat. His untidy fur and thin tail are signs of age, but he's keenly interested in something and just about to start running. Though he's a male rat, he has no visible testicles because he has a hormone-blocking implant.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

Liz Butler @lizlagomorph.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In one month! #SciArtSeptember returns for a 6th year. Open to all who are curious about the places where art and science connect. Make new work, post works in progress, or share old favourites. Post when and what you like. 🐡 #SciArt #SciComm

A banner image promoting the art challenge Sci Art September. The image features text and a drawing of a trout on an off-white background. The text includes the title, Sci Art September, month-long art challenge. The text also includes a list of weekly categories and daily prompts. The first category is colour. This category covers the first 10 words of the month. The daily words are: Malachite, violet, sanguine, azure, saffron, coral, fawn, ruby, ivory, woad. The second category is shape. It covers the 11th through 20th words. The daily words are: Heart, teardrop, diamond, crescent, honeycomb, scallop, eyelet, almond, star, meander. The third category is medium. This category covers the last 10 words of the month. The daily words are: Kaolin, silk, copper, down, jade, cedar, quill, linen, pelt, carbon. At the bottom of the image there is a description. It reads: Year 6, 2026; from nature; hosted by @LizLagomorph.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Sailed Away Russian archipelago frigate Svjatoi Nikolai, which in real life sank in a battle in 1790, has somehow ended up in the Jurassic, on dry land, and with enough force to fell trees. It seems like it's been there for a while. I wonder what happened to the crew?

A storybook-style illustration showing a historical sailing ship stranded on dry land in a forested landscape. There are two dinosaurs, a flying pterosaur and a volcano in the background.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I wrote about the Nolan Odyssey for the LRB. I'll summarize some of my main points below, in case you don't feel like reading all that. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Rat Portrait 6 of 9: Hukka Hukka's name is a word play: it's an old word for wolf, but more often used to refer to being lost or confused - which he often seems to me. Regardless, Hukka has his priorities in life in order: food first, then friendly socializing, then just hanging around relaxing.

A digital drawing of a friendly-looking black and white rat.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

WIP of a couple of the more famous inhabitants of the Triassic Chinle Formation, about 210 million years ago. Coelophysis (bottom) was an early predatory dinosaur, but despite appearances, Effigia (top) was more closely related to crocodiles. Would be fun to depict the entire fauna, eventually. 🐡

A digital illustration of two bipedal animals in side view: a scale-covered beaked Effigia and fluffy, sharp-toothed Coelophysis. They are to scale with each other and a 170 cm tall human figure standing next to them, with a scale bar at the edge. This shows the animals to be about 2.75 to 3 meters long from nose to tail - but because they are long-bodied and gracile, they look more or less dog-sized.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Rat Portrait 5 of 9: Vohveli Vohveli means "Waffle", referring both to his beautiful colour and his very soft temperament. He's just a poor sweet little thing who never really grew a spine. Most rats have very dark brown eyes. Some are dark blue, but Vohveli is the only green-eyed rat I've met.

Digital drawing of a light golden brown rat with little white socks on his paws. He is very round, with a slightly nervous expression.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

disgruntled lesbian of Minneapolis @phoenix-rights.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

really thinking about this tweet as i’ve been struggling to breathe through nausea for the last 5 hours

climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you're the one filming it

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Rat Portrait 3 of 9: Nöyhtä I'm making portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities. Nöyhtä's name means 'Lint' as his fur looks and feels exactly like the stuff you find on a laundry machine's lint trap (or someone's belly button). He's a bit of a grumpy old man.

Digital drawing of a large, dark grey rat with curly whiskers and a chonky build. His pink skin is showing a bit through his balding fur.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Rat Portrait 3 of 9: Basil I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities. Basil is hard to fool and seems to know way more human words than he should. He's generally vary and suspicious, which makes his trust in me feel extra special.

A digital illustration of a small brown rat in a hunched pose, seeming to look suspiciously at the viewer.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Rat Portrait 2 of 9: Lumo I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities. Lumo is cheerful but not very bright. His head is permanently cocked due to an inner ear infection. He loves meeting people and giving kisses and is pretty much the perfect pet.

A digital drawing of a black-and-white pet rat, looking directly at the viewer with his head cocked to the side. He has a happy, if a bit brainless, expression.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Rat Portrait 1 of 9: Elmo I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities and quirks. Elmo is hot-tempered and rather dramatic, often puffing up his fur for the mildest annoyances. However, he's also a giant cuddlebug and demands lots of attention.

Digital illustration of a Siamese-coloured pet rat with dumbo ears. He's standing on tiptoe, fur puffed up and eyes wide, clearly upset about something. Regardless, he's very cute.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Queen Fire Lizard Lately, I have been rereading parts of Anne McCaffrey's classic Dragonriders of Pern scifi-fantasy books and got the idea to draw a fire lizard as they are described in the books. The books, written between 1968 and 2018, haven't always aged well, but I'm oddly fond of them.

Digital illustration of a golden fire lizard, a small dragon-like alien. The creature has smooth skin, jewel-like compound eyes and breathing holes on her back, as well as a forked tail, all anatomical features mentioned in the books.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

Liam Elward Paleoart 🇵🇸 @paleobyliam.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This incredible graphic is by @maijakarala.bsky.social and is an excellent crash-course in bird (and honestly animal) color/pigmentation. Check it out! I’ve continually come back to this for reference and always love sharing it with others 🐧🐦🐤🏳️‍🌈

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Pet rat update! This spring and early summer have been quite eventful (which is also why I haven't been posting much). On the rat side of things, most important news is that nobody has died: it seems we did get rid of the horrific lung epidemic of last winter. A little 🧵 of cute rats:

Lumo, a black and white rat, looking at the camera with his head tilted.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

Abbey @abbeyarletto.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

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Reposted by Maija Karala

Judith Mank @judithmank.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

It turns out all that screen time disrupts brain development...in guppies. Now out @royalsocietypublishing.org royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article....

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Dawn of Agriculture Last of three landscape illustrations for my recently published article in the Finnish magazine Tiede Luonto. This one depicts southern/central Finland about 5,000 to 3,500 years ago, time passing as we go from left to right. A little thread on what's there. 🧵 #SciArt

A panorama landscape illustration depicting prehistoric southern Finland. On the left side, there is a mixed boreal borest with spruce, birch and mossy earth, with a male capercaillie looking over. In the middle part of the illustration, there is a small bog with shallow water and right from there, a meadow with a few cows grazing. In the foreground, there is a clay pot depicting an early type of pottery found in Finland, and a small patch of cereals, which were just starting to be farmed.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Some 40 million years ago, northern Europe was covered by what is known as the Baltic Amber Forest, now known only from pieces of amber found on the coastline. An illustration from my recent article in the magazine Suomen Luonto, based on research by Dr. Eva-Maria Sadowski. cara.app/post/6e6ed80...

A large panorama illustration of four separate forest habitats separated my thin white areas. It features numerous different kinds of trees and undergrowth. The first habitat is a brackish coastal area, the second a peat bog, third a floodplain forest, and the fourth a non-waterlogged mixed forest with meadows. #SciArt

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Wonderful news! Our comic book The Mind of a Dog is finally available on Amazon (US and UK). Find it by searching "arador mind dog". #SciArt Made by @arador-innovations.bsky.social, myself and @villesinkkonen.bsky.social, it's a mix of storytelling and cutting edge animal cognition science. A 🧵

Front cover of our science comic book "The Mind of a Dog", with a painting of two dogs playfully leaping across the cover.

A single panel of our comic book depicting a yellow labrador dog running across a green field with a toy in his mouth.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

A Golden Age Second of three landscape illustrations for my recently published article in the Finnish magazine Tiede Luonto. This one depicts southern/central Finland about 8,000 to 5,000 years ago, time passing as we go from left to right. A little thread on what's there. 🧵

A large panorama illustration of a temperate forest environment. On the left side, there are birch and pine trees and a moose peeking from behind a great dead pine. The right-hand side seems to depict a more humid and warm time with many different decidous trees such as oak and hazelnut, with a wild boar and her piglets.

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IKEI art studio @ikei.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

It's also called Nature Amnesia. There is a Dutch book about this that is a really heartwrenching but important read: Natuuramnesie by Marc Argeloo delevendenatuur.nl/nieuws/net-v...

delevendenatuur.nl

Net verschenen: Natuuramnesie

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Ville Sinkkonen @villesinkkonen.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Lazy sunday sketching. Deinotherium and some funky bipedal apes in a watering hole somewhere in east africa #sciart

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Reposted by Maija Karala

World Meteorological Organization @wmo-global.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Europe is warming >2x as fast as the global average, reducing snow & ice cover. High air temperatures, drought, heatwaves & record ocean temperatures affect regions from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. European State of Climate #ESOTC2025 Read more: bit.ly/ESOTC2025pr Full report: bit.ly/ESOTC2025

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

After the Ice Age First of three landscape illustrations for my recently published article in the Finnish magazine Tiede Luonto. This one depicts southern/central Finland about 11,500 to 10,000 years ago, time passing as we go from left to right. A little thread on what's there. 🧵

A panorama-type landscape illustration of a tundra environment in summertime, with remnants of a glacier and bare earth on the left side. On the right side, there are two reindeer, small birch trees and an abandoned campfire.

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Emily Higgs Art @emilyhiggs-art.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Ammonite Rock ~ 🐚🦑🦀🪸 . For years I’ve been curious by all the different ammonite shapes and types, I knew I wanted to create a design that brought them altogether! . #paleoart

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Hey artists, if you see this, post a dog. Portrait of Pimu, my dad's now long-gone English setter from when she was already an elderly lady. She had the most soulful eyes I've yet seen on a dog (or any other species).

A front portrait of a red-and-white English setter dog, looking at the viewer with large and somewhat judgemental eyes. It's a digital portrait with a simplified colour palette.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Pet rat update! After a deadly pneumonia took several of the boys during the winter, we've been in a long quarantine. Luckily, everyone has been healthy for nearly three months now and I'm starting to hope the epidemic has run its' course. A little thread on what's been going on with their lives 🧵

Close-up photo of Lumo, a black and white rat sleeping in a green hammock, resting his incisor teeth on the edge of the hammock.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

A portrait of the newly described early dinosaur Ptychotherates, from the amazing Ghost Ranch locality in the US. Though hiding a row of formidable teeth, the short snout combined with large eyes makes this little guy both unusual and very cute.

A watercolor-type illustration showing the upper body of a small predatory dinosaur, peeking out from among leafy foliage to look at a passing damselfly.

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Claude ✡️🦖🦕 @cascoclauda.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

LOOK AT THE BABY LYSTROSAURUS

the first two images show the specimen and a CT scan of the specimen; the third shows a reconstruction of the specimen in its egg

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John Tweedie @johntweedie.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

@elsa-panciroli.bsky.social talking about mammals in the time of the dinosaurs. There's also a cool and slightly weird image of a human skull showing our baby and our adult teeth together which I'd never seen before! www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrF2...

youtube.com

Discovering Mammals in the time of Dinosaurs

YouTube video by Geological Society of Glasgow

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

If a squirrel is just a rat with better PR, then maybe a rat is just a squirrel that hasn't yet found a pinecone. The boys have spent a week or so carrying this pinecone around the room and chewing it. Like cats, they often ignore expensive stuff bought for them and enjoy the most mundane objects.

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