big look with the lip ring & things

Look at these!!!! Applin drawstring bag!!!! Klefki earrings!!! Komala hair clip!!!

An interesting paper (Vermeij, 2015) on the "empty phenotypic space", i.e. the forms and adaptations that we do not see in the living world, possibly relevant to the convergence vs. contingency debate.

Some examples:

Wheels: some curled-up arthropods can roll around, and bacterial flagella and some parts of weevil legs rotate on their axis, but macroscopic wheels with a free axle do not exist, probably because smooth surfaces on which they'd be useful are rare and it would be difficult to grow them through embryonal development.

Animal-provided pollination and dispersal do not exist in water, with the possible exception of one species of fish-pollinated seagrass (which is a descendant of terrestrial plants). Presumably water is already good enough at carrying gametes and propagules that buying the services of an animal is a useless expense.

Mineral reef-building does not occur on land nor, more surprisingly, in freshwater. The reason for the latter is not clear, since there are enough mineral ions in freshwater to build shells. Boring of rock, shells, and wood in freshwater is also extremely rare though common in the sea.

Gelatinous plankton like salps or jellyfish (with few exceptions of the latter) is also not found in freshwater, probably because they can't survive dispersal between separate water bodies.

Endothermy ("warm blood") is generally not found in small aquatic animal, probably because water leeches away heat much faster than water, so aquatic endotherms (tunas, sharks, seals, whales) need to be bulky. On land, however, endothermy is found among tiny vertebrates and even insects.

There is no passive air-floating plankton, since air is not dense enough to support living tissue or dissolved organic matter by buoyancy. For that reason filter-feeding is also rare outside of water, while carnivorous plants are not found in the ocean (the water already carries enough nutrient). Aquatic plants do not produce wood as buoyancy is enough to keep them upright.

Large terrestrial animals do not specialize as scavengers (all mammals famous for scavenging also hunt actively); large carcasses are too spread out. All specialist scavengers on land are either very small, or flying.

Herbivory is rare among active fliers, because plant matter has a low energy density and takes a long time to digest. Herbivorous birds and insects are poor fliers or flightless, and the best fliers, like geese, are the ones that can take shelter in water.

Many more examples are only excluded from specific groups (e.g. live-bearing, despite being very common in reptiles, never appeared in birds, probably because the bird egg-shell is too mineralized to be retained in the womb as transition toward full live-bearing).

Even though the author calls them "forbidden phenotypes", only some of them are actually impossible (because they cannot evolve in the first place, or because they cost more energy than they're worth), and others simply never happened to evolve. At the end of the paper there is a list of phenotypes that would have been "forbidden" in the aftermath of the Cambrian Explosion and Ordovician diversification, but which appeared later, and they include

cutins, suberins, lignins, flavonoids, alkaloids, vascular systems, roots, leaves, rigid frameworks of stems and branches, nutrition complemented by animal matter, and basal growth in land plants; nitrogen-fixing symbiosis on land; animal-mediated dispersal/pollination; silk-producing, sound-emitting, flying, eusocial, terrestrial herbivorous, wood-boring, terrestrial shell-bearing and endothermic animals; embryos nourished within the body of an animal or plant parent; mineralized phytoplankton; and rock-excavating marine herbivores. [...] photosymbiotic and chemosymbiotic molluscs, the bivalved condition in gastropods, terrestrial life in gastropods and vertebrates, complex septa within the phragmocone of externally shelled cephalopods, internalization and loss of the shell in cephalopods, cementation to the substratum with a glue of calcium carbonate and organic matrix in several animal groups (gastropods, brachiopods, bivalves and barnacles), spines on shells of several groups (brachiopods, bivalves and brachiopods), mineralized tubes in polychaete annelids, mobility in bryozoans and pelmatozoan echinoderms, jaws and teeth in vertebrates, and vascular systems in brown and red algae. A vast diversity of potent venoms also lay in the future as part of the defensive and aggressive arsenal of many gastropods, cephalopods, aculeate Hymenoptera, vertebrates and land plants.

(I love @paleopinesofficial and Amber Isle from @ambertailgames, I do, but the fact that there's Dimetrodons and Postosuchus-es and Thylacines and no dinosaurs closer to birds than Archaeopteryx is so infuriating I'm on the verge of tears)

sincerely

Like why aren’t people more concerned with consistency? For real?

I know you specifically asked for Cenozoic, but I'm also going to take the time to highlight some great Mesozoic Avialans, because they also never get any attention

Mesozoic Avialans Worthy of Attention:

I know they bounce back and forth a lot because there isn't actually a dividing line between "dinosaur" and "bird", but I have to mention the Anchiornithids - Things like Caihong, Serikornis, and of course Anchiornis itself are really cool fluffy friends that really showcase the variety of feather adaptations

Jeholornis is amazing, we know so much about it and its ecology! It ate seeds, it had a rad tail, it just is aesthetically pleasing

I love Sapeornis because it was essentially the first "bird of prey" if we don't count Microraptor (which admittedly we could)

Confuciusornis is possibly one of the best known Mesozoic dinosaurs of all time. Where the hell is it. Why isn't it in literally anything. Amber Isle even has the tail of Confuciusornis as an option for your character, but gd forbid having an NPC be one I guess

Enantiornithines. There are so many of them. It's kind of insane. Like, these non-Neornithine dinosaurs were essentially *the* birds of the Cretaceous period. I can't even cover all the ones that deserve attention, not fairly anyway. Off the top of my head - Shanweiniao is a great one, as is Bohaiornis, and Gobipteryx, and Avimaia is a wonderful specimen, and Avisaurus is a big hit for Hell Creek fans, and Falcatakely is literally the Tooth-can, and Imparavis was toothless and that's cool, and Lectavis was very like modern shorebirds, and Parvavis is the smallest known Mesozoic dinosaur, and Chiappeavis had a cool tail fan, and I should really stop before this gets too long

On the line to modern birds, Patagopteryx is an early example of a bird that re-evolved flightlessness! I mean yeah things like Utahraptor are too but shush

Yanornis is just such a cool transitional species

Gansus is actually well known for a reason - it was aquatic!

Can you really go wrong with Apsaravis?

Literally the entirety of Hesperonithines

Ichthyornis is just Platinum Tier

And then we have the earliest "modern birds", which are Mesozoic! We've got Vegavis (probably) and Asteriornis! Showcasing how even in the Cretaceous, we had Chickens (ish) and Ducks (ish)

Cenozoic Avians Worthy Of Attention:

Gastornis. Gastornis. Gastornis. Gastornis.

PELAGORNITHIDS. these weirdos responded to the problem of "birds can't reevolve teeth" with "LETS JUST MAKE OUR BEAKS LOOK RIDICULOUS" and they were successful throughout the Cenozoic and just died out bc of the ice age and thats the only reason we don't have any?????? and NOTHING USES THEM??? besides ark which is a travesty

There's a whole score of interesting birds that are in the Passerine-Parrot group but not proper Passerines or Parrots that I've dubbed "Pass-Parrots of Prey" (formerly Parrots of Prey) because they're all raptorial! parrots and passerines come from raptor ancestors!

apparently frigatebirds did the Gull thing before they were frigatebirds and before gulls existed and that's Limnofregata

PENGUINS. They show up RIGHT after the end-cretaceous and have a detailed Paleocene fossil record (a rarity, I assure you) - so we have a great transitional sequence and then on top of it some are HUGE

I deeply love presbyornithids

Sandcoleids are little weirdos I love them

LITHORNITHIDS. They are the base from which Paleognaths evolved and they were flying friends!

Terror Birds. They show up early in the Cenozoic and only died out at the end of the Ice Age. they were a HUGE component of South America's ecosystems and were extremely successful. Also, badass.

Bathornis is basically the North American terror bird (ignore Titanis) so that too

qianshanornis is a cutie with a sickle claw

PLOTOPTERIDS! some booby relatives were like "we want to be penguins" and then they did it! in the northern hemisphere! they were all over the Pacific!

Dromornithids (Mihirungs) are super cool Australian megafowl

I'm a little biased, but I think the screamer-duck I helped described (Anachronornis) is pretty cool

I love Palaelodids (Swimming Flamingos) because they just look Weeeeeeird

I have a soft spot for Zygodactylids because they're basically the usual passerine body but with parrot feet. that's rad

Teratorns were cool vulture-relatives that got REALLY big

There are a handful of terrestrial raptors related to falcons that were notable in the Eocene like Danielsraptor

I deeply appreciate Moa and Elephant Birds for being big friends

Haast's Eagle is one of those things you shouldn't think about too hard

GIANT SWAN OF SICILY

Xenicibis and your club-wings my beloved

Heracles was a Giant fucking Kakapo/Kea/Kaka type parrot and it was RIDICULOUS

I'm ignoring a lot of transitional birds - early members of different groups that tried out unique niches or ecologies that their modern relatives don't do - because if I listed them all this post would get ridiculous. just trust there's tons of interesting small birds that require more text to show how they're interesting than I feel like writing at 5am

STILT OWLS

Sylviornis was another excellent Megafowl

z''l dodos and great auks

Talpanas, aka, the Reverse-Platypus

Carina Song closet inspo ☀️🌸

I wanted to make some posts of what I think the Moonspell girls might end up looking like fashion-wise (or maybe what I hope they look like) based on some alleged description leaks before we get our first look at them

Here’s Carina! The leaks said her hair colour but I imagine her entire colour scheme is this sunset, pink lemonade, peachy, lesbian flag vibe. She’s kinda giving Zara Larsson vibes

Layla Stone closet inspo 💎🪩

I made some closet inspos for the Moonspell girlies just before the dolls were revealed so that I could try to predict what some of their vibes would be, now that we know what the girls look like I wanted to make revamped closet inspos for them. Because they only have one look (so far 🤞) I tried to take note of some key elements but one look isn’t always a lot to capture the entire closet so some things are my own interpretations <3

Honestlyyyy read Mr Money Mustache. Ignore his own overly optimistic tech pro economic politics, and just dive into his whole stoic way of living to give you a sense of how far it can go, then tailor to what you can manage. Like, you don't have to replace your gym membership with a set of free weights in the back yard that you use even in 10 degree weather, like he does, but you could maybe start doing free weight exercises in your living room instead! or switch to a local park district gym or ymca! You can replace all your cleaning supplies with vinegar & dish soap and be pretty well set. A lot of MMM's advice is about not allowing lifestyle inflation creep to unconsciously happen to you simply because every middle class person around you is spending ridiculously and consuming a lot of things wastefully.

A lot of the big money-hemorragers are things you are probably aware of like car payments, cell phone payments, monthly membership services, food delivery, and so on. Eliminate that shit as much as possible. Nobody imo should be leasing a car or a phone, it is a complete scam. There is NO reason to pay for ANY media of any kind really if you're in need of tightening your budget significantly. F movies, Z Library, SteamUnlocked, Archive dot org, Libgen, Sci Hub, etc etc etc.

The Poverty Finance and LeanFire subreddits are great, the piracy subreddit is too. Start with things you won't even miss, or that have really easy workarounds, and then build your way up. use libraries. join some buy nothing groups in your area. go thrifting. it's easier than ever to get access to free/cheap used stuff, and find people who know how to make things or DIY various processes and services on their own. I grew up with the assumption that nothing should or could be paid for, and so my default approach the second I need something new is to try and figure out how I can weasle my way out of paying for it -- though I did take this way too far for a long time and am now practicing how to actually spend money on things like household items or doctor's appointments. So the pendulum can swing too far, to the point where it's just costing you more in the long run anyway.

context: grew up in an abusive, controlling home, escaped to uni, had a prolonged mental breakdown, became a teacher and worked in a dysfunctional school with amazing kids and nightmare management for years. I did not realise I have adhd and autism for a long time. (You might even be able to scroll back through this blog to find the time around which I did realise lol.)

ANYWAY, things that have helped me because my body can no longer handle any kind of stress without flaring up:

If you’re doing anything that requires you to do a lot of prep before you begin the actual thing (e.g. cooking, deep cleaning a room, moving house), mise en place. That’s a fancy french way of saying get everything ready before you begin. So if I’m cooking idk spaghetti carbonara, that means fry and chop the bacon, separate the egg yolks from the whites, put water in the kettle, put dry spaghetti into a pan. Once everything’s ready, it reduces the mental load and means I can focus on the actual cooking and any clean up that I can do along the way. H/t to @ms-demeanor for this, you changed my life!

the Might As Well rule. This one works really well for me but you gotta be careful otherwise you’ll get sucked into the Vortex. Basically, let’s imagine you’re in the bathroom, brushing your teeth. You notice that the extra roll of toilet paper has been used. instead of thinking, “I’ll get to that later”, and then forgetting about it until you sit down on the bog (no judgement, we’ve all been there), you think “Might As Well put an extra roll while I’m here!” This tends to help with the little tasks that build up over time. This Does Not Work for big tasks.

Leading on from no.2, Do It Immediately/ASAP really helps me too. My current boss will email me on a Friday and say, ‘don’t reply to this now! Leave it til monday!’ But she and i both know that if i leave it til monday, I will forget and get stressed and this will make me Very Ill. So, instead, the moment i receive the email, I’ll either schedule in replying to it as soon as I’m done with my current thing, OR I’ll reply to it immediately.

Anything that can’t be actioned immediately, i mark as Unread. Anything Unread in my inbox is a future action, and i check those Unread emails/texts/whatevers Every. Day. To make sure whether today is the day i have the info to action it. (This also means i have to stay on top of my inbox. I read all my emails and then mark them accordingly. I’m also brutal with unsubscribing)

The House Always Wins. Both in a literal sense, because i am in a constant battle with keeping my house clean, and i know now that I’ll never get it as clean as i want it. It’s impossible, i no longer have the energy or stamina to vacuum and scrub everything. But also just in a life sense. I’m never going to achieve things to perfection, and perfect is the opposite of done. And getting things done is that much more important when you have limited energy and strength. Accept that you often have to half-arse life in order to Full-Arse the few things that really matter to you.

Have multiples of everything, everywhere. I wear support gloves, so i need to have handcream at every sink and everywhere i sit down in the house. I try to keep it unobtrusive, but it means i don’t have to trek upstairs just to moisturise my hands. Gum, phone chargers, pens and pencils, water bottles, hand sanitizer, whatever you need.

Work with people, even if it’s online. Body doubling actually works. Also I’ve found that if I’m working on assignments, taking myself to a library or study area that isn’t my bedroom helps so much.

Show off! Tell people on here or elsewhere in your life about the fact that you’ve just written 100 words! Or that you’ve cleaned the fridge and that’s a really big deal for you. Celebrate your wins, no matter how small.

Basically, you’re aiming to reduce the mental load as much as possible. Wear the same types of clothes all the time to minimise the amount of laundry. Eat the same three lunches so decision fatigue doesn’t take over.

For anybody looking for resources from someone dealing with actual ADHD, I have an incomplete but ever growing list of ADHD tips, tools, and suggestions on my website.

A lot of the pages on that site are adapted from my tumblr posts, for instance I'm adapting this post about car repair projects with ADHD into a guide on project management and completion with ADHD.

inexplicable dread

inexplicable relief

certainty that this was not the only way things could have gone

bone-deep knowledge that one's actions can change the world

existential terror due to the above point

vivid dreams that feel like false memories