Had A Dream Where There Was A New Species Of Shark Found, It Was A Very Very Large Deep Sea Shark With

Gather round, children, and let me tell you the tale of the sturddlefish. In the year 2019 in the mythical land of Hungary’s Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture, some scientists were trying to save some endangered fish. The Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish are distantly related species that are both endangered. The scientists were trying to induce gynogenesis in the sturgeon. 

This is a type of parthenogenesis (single parent reproduction) where sperm triggers the embryo growth, but doesn’t contribute genetic material. In any type of parthenogenesis, the offspring is basically a clone of the mother. 

The scientists needed to have sperm interact with the eggs without inseminating them. So they used paddlefish sperm. Since paddlefish diverged from sturgeons 184 million years ago, the scientists figured that there was no chance of insemination. 

Much to their surprise, the paddlefish sperm did fertilize the sturgeon eggs, creating the hybrid sturddlefish. This was not expected at all due to his distantly related the parent species are. There were two sturddlefish populations from the same breeding. One that was 50% sturgeon and paddlefish and one that had twice as much sturgeon due to chromosome doubling. Only about 2/3 of the sturddlefish survived longer than a month and only about 100 survived past a year. Hybrids often have health problems that limit their lifespans. Given how long-lived the parent species are, a healthy sturddlefish could live for a long time. 

The sturddlefish will live out their lives in the research institute and the scientists have no plans of making more. I don’t know if any of them are still alive. For a brief time, a new lifeform will have come into existence by sheer accident and will soon be extinct. May they Rest In Peace 

Image from a to d: Russian sturgeon, mostly sturgeon hybrid, even hybrid, American paddlefish

Trying to prove a point to my transphobic parents

Reblog if trans men are REAL, VALID AND HANDSOME MEN, NO MATTER HOW THEY CHOOSE TO PASS

Reblog if trans women are REAL, VALID, AND BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, NO MATTER HOW THEY CHOOSE TO PASS

And finally, because it's a part of my argument for this point, and also because they are,

Reblog if nonbinary and genderqueer people in general, are REAL, VALID, AND GORGEOUS PEOPLE, NO MATTER HOW THEY PASS

cosmos s2e1 “ladder to the stars” / l2g / “waltz of the 101st lightborne” joanna newsom / from the wikipedia page about the fermi paradox / 17776 / are we there? poor william’s almanack / “time, as a symptom” joanna newsom

i love drawing serious rain world content

I think my aquariums haunted

How to kill an iterator- summon the spooky white eye guy from the funny block game and watch your world burn i guess

https://twitter.com/shannonsharpeee/status/1630568238630461441?s=46&t=PGv7U5gYKFFvlwSQLEGoZw this has SO MANY likes and retweets how do you even go about combatting the misinformation :(((

Link for everyone - it's a video of a young alligator getting brushed with a toothbrush. The alligator's body is very tense, and they close their eyes and open their mouth.

Yeah, this isn't cute, and this isn't what a happy alligator looks like. This is one of those cases where it's really easy for people who don't know about reptiles to anthropomorphize - it can look to the untrained eye like the alligator is "smiling."

I think the best way to combat misinformation like this is to provide people with the tools to tell on their own if a crocodilian is feeling content. This video is actually a perfect example of what to look for in a stressed crocodilian - tense body, open mouth, leaning the head back, and clenching the eyes shut are all signs of stress and fear in crocodilians.

A content crocodilian will look much different! They'll be laying loosely, often with their limbs splayed out. The mouth will usually be closed (though they might open their mouth to thermoregulate) and their body will look very relaxed.

Another thing to look for in videos like this - is the crocodilian's mouth taped? No real professional will ever handle a crocodilian without taping their mouth shut, because of the danger crocodilians can pose to humans. Taping the mouth doesn't hurt the animal, and it helps keep everyone safe. Even small crocodilians should always be taped when they're being handled.

In short, this video combines a misreading of crocodilian body language with a lack of common-sense safety precautions - it's an accident waiting to happen!

You guys on your lore discussions vs everyone else @melodyofthevoid @shandzii