Did I just forget to post a Perspectivespost that was done, like, a month ago? Yes, yes I did.
"Spearheading the Trend" Macrodelphinus/Pelagornithid Neogene, 20 million years ago, Jewett Sand Formation This was posted a few weeks back on my Patreon, available to $10 supporters!
Macrodelphinus was a large long-snouted dolphin the size of an orca. It was one of the eurhinodelphids, all of which had these distinctive noses, convergent with those of billfish and likely used in a similar way, to dice up shoals of fish. One individual has gotten its snout tangled in kelp one day, and it has become a trend to do so amongst the pod. Dolphins are intelligent creatures, and this behavior may be a form of play. Orcas have also been seen experiencing cultural transmission with salmon hats. Kelp forest ecosystems are something that's relatively newly evolved during the Miocene, and some of the earliest kelp forest fossils can be found in California, in the Monterey Formation. This piece was an experimentation with new brushes from Visign. Check out #perspectives on my blog for more of this 4-billion-year journey through time!
