Im The Friend

this dude actually found a large fossil deposit that was created not just close to, but actually DURING THE K-PG EXTINCTION EVENT.

IT’S LITERALLY A WINDOW BACK IN TIME TO THE CHICXULUB IMPACT, AND TURNS OUT IT WAS WORSE THAN ANYTHING WE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE IMAGINED

- chicxulub is the given name for the meteor that struck/initiated the event

- the paleontologist within is described as making groundbreaking discoveries of multiple species every day, but many of his peers discount him because they’re grouchy old dudes he accidentally had a fragment of a turtle bone involved in a larger reconstruction of a fossil this one time and they won’t let him live it down.

- the extinction event was so fast and so destructive, this guy describes this particular dig-site as being so densely layered with dead and dying creatures, there is a lot of organic tissues that have been preserved, and he is able to even discern that many of the marine and freshwater fish may have still been alive as they were buried due to molten glass being found in their gills, implying they were still attempting to breathe.

- they looked into exactly when and how this could have happened, having freshwater and marine animals stacked on top of mammals and larger dinosaurs (including an amazing deinonychus forearm discovery he was able to match to feather fossils he was finding atop the pile), and rather it being the initial tsunami, they are fairly sure that it was caused by a seiche of catastrophic proportions, which would have been set off within the first hour of the event. denser and larger creatures sunk to the bottom, leaving lighter debris like leaves, small fish, feathers, and molten glass on the surface.

A

In anticipation of being able to clean a dolphin skull I’ve been thinking a lot about how completely FUCKY dolphins and other cetaceans are anatomy wise… Like they are some of the strangest, most alien mammals out there. Specifically their skulls and heads. 

So this is your typical dolphin, a smooth round head with a cute smiling beak. You would think their skulls would be shaped like their heads, that’s usually how skulls work. Something like this….

But In reality their skulls actually look like THIS flat alligator thing…

I’m sure you are thinking… “Where is the forehead”??? What if I told you that entire big lumpy forehead isn’t actually its “forehead” but rather something called a “melon” which is actually part of the NOSE or nasal apparatus.

Its essentially just a big gross fluid/jelly blob masquerading as a decent forehead. The melon has evolved as a way of amplifying and detecting vocalizations used in echolocation. Other terrifying facts:

They have no ear holes, most sound is picked up by a combination of the melon and vibrations through the jaw bone. 

They can’t breathe through their mouths. There is something called a  laryngeal plug completely separates the respiratory and digestive tracts. Cetaceans have been known to drown if their blowhole is obstructed.

Their breathing is not automatic. They must constantly think and chose when to take breaths. 

I am very concerned about how many people are willing to give up their fingers to Monty.

She, however…