Eldritch Bastard

after finishing this one I cut like 2 dozen more and have assembled half so far, whatever I don't sew will become precut+pattern kits (which I'm writing I promise! but I still need to workshop some parts of the assembly I think could be made easier)

Result from the Florissant Formation #paleostream! While it doesn't look like this this has been one of the most intensely researched pieces of the whole series, but more on that later. On this a late summer evening a Megacerops steps onto a clearing to take a sip from a...

puddle, but two oreodonts are already here. The clearing is the product of a volcanic avalanche, a lahar, that ripped through this part of the forest. These hot mud slides are the reason for the biggest claim to fame of this formation: huge well preserved redwood tree-stumps.

Today they form the center of a national monument that preserves the incredible natural heritage of this late Eocene formation. Redwoods might make you think of the Californian forests but the climate around this time was much warmer and so you might be faced with some cognitive...

dissonance when one part of the flora looked like Redwood Forest and the other like modern day Florida. The plant preservation form here is exceptional but not only that, it carries over to other organisms as well.

Beeches and oak relatives are among the most common plants here with tons of tree but very few preserved herbaceous plants. Subsequently the lowest tier of plants here is filled by seedlings of the tree Cedralospermum that take advantage of the sudden opening of the canopy.

When it comes to vertebrates the assemblage isn't as diverse as other Eocene localities and we have an interesting lack of amphibians and reptiles so far, but all of that just meant that we where able to focus more on the real stars of the show:

The invertebrates! So far more than 1500 species have been described, with many more still waiting. We have whole families here that didn't even get one member in. With the size and time given less than 10% of all animals known from Florissant made it into the final piece. The...

preservation here is incredibly beautiful, with complete specimens being common and color preservation not a rarity. I have to give an enormous thank you this week once again to everyone involved who helped with the research and especially the size charts!

Huge shout out goes to Montana (who did the plants), Gnath (who did the vertebrates and parts of the inverts), JW (who did a portion of the inverts) and Avery (who ALSO did parts of the inverts!).

Have you guys seen that clip

The muppets usually work by improv rules. And the golden rule of improv is that you basically never say "no." It shuts down the scene and ruins the fun. It's always "yes, and," to help keep the energy going.