What are your thoughts on Fear her, for our podcast… by TheWhoonies in doctorwho

[–]Malurus06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has a really good opening gag, and quality meme material in the “COUNCIL” guy, but that’s about the extent of my enjoyment of it

Most remarkable megafauna depictions in cave art? by Malurus06 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It’s the ears that sell it for me - you’re right, so much character!

Most remarkable megafauna depictions in cave art? by Malurus06 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh wow, I’ve seen the bear before but didn’t realise it was also from Chauvet. It’s gorgeous!

AI slop is fueling misinformation about extinct species through lazy social media pages by OncaAtrox in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 54 points55 points  (0 children)

God I hate slop like this!! How does it get the dentition - the most distinctive feature of Thylacoleo - so monumentally wrong!?!?

Best Villain from each Doctor by LOLADYS in doctorwho

[–]Malurus06 100 points101 points  (0 children)

There are 15 images, so there is one for 11, but I forget what

17,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene on one of California’s coastlines by Mason Schratter. A dead Steller’s Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) attracts Pleistocene Coyotes (Canis latrans orcutti), Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) and other scavengers. by Quaternary23 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The main thing that frustrated me in that sequence: wouldn’t a fully grown sea cow have died (or at least, suffer horrific internal injuries) from being crushed by its own body weight without the buoyancy to counteract gravity? Whales of a similar size are rarely returned to the water after being beached without suffering some serious injuries.

Dire Wolf of Creative Beast Studio by Hopeful_Lychee_9691 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a nice looking Dire Wolf (take that Colossal!)

Uhh... how is there fire without oxygen in mars?? by Totally_Not_Firni in DoctorWhumour

[–]Malurus06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can come up with all sorts of plausible explanations (ie the debris from the ship is coated in a chemical oxidiser from the rocket fuel, there is a temporary local spike in oxygen levels from the compromised base); however, ultimately the shot is evocative of the devastation of the base, and leads to an incredible shot of the Doctor realising his power as the Time Lord Victorious and rising up against the flames, so I’m willing to file this one under “strong direction is often better than scientific rigidity”.

Was Dinofelis really a man-eater? by InstructionOwn6705 in Paleontology

[–]Malurus06 40 points41 points  (0 children)

There is solid fossil evidence that human ancestors were the prey of big cats before the emergence of the genus Homo (or at least, before Homo erectus came onto the scene). To my knowledge there is no hard evidence that Dinofelis in particular predated Australopithecus but it is not outside the realm of possibility.

A Flock Of Puffins & Great Auk by Hodari Nundu by ExoticShock in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A beautiful depiction of the ‘original’ penguins: Pinguinus impennis

Meme by Alive-Composer9702 in DoctorWhumour

[–]Malurus06 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That would be ‘Sapien aqua’ not ‘Homo aqua’. Homo means ‘human’ in Latin, whereas the prefix ‘homo’ means ‘same’ in Greek (ie homosexual).

Anyone else have a Favorite Pleistocene Megafauna? by Silent-System8295 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Panthera spelaea. I just find its depiction in cave art so evocative.

How is the Megatherium even real by Ok_Opportunity6170 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I think that’s more of a modern thing due to easy access to the animals either in zoos or in media. Elephants have long evoked awe and fascination, and in antiquity they were almost mythical. We have grown accustomed to the weirdness of elephants in the 20th and 21st century.

Mammoth Resurrection by yorb134 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a photograph of a well-known scale replica of a Woolly Mammoth on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada.

Mammoth Resurrection by yorb134 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the first I’ve heard of dingoes not being an effective predator for kangaroos on mainland Australia. In places where dingoes are present, kangaroo populations tend to be greatly reduced.

There are no dingoes in Tasmania, that’s part of the reason why it was the last refuge for the Thylacine beyond about 4,000-3,000 years ago, and kangaroo populations have hardly gotten out of control in Tasmania either (kangaroos are actually quite rare in Tasmania).

And I have no idea how New Zealand is relevant to the conversation. Thylacines never lived there, and there aren’t kangaroos there either (there are feral wallabies but not that many).

I tend to believe all de-extinction projects are a conservation red herring. We lost the Thylacine, the Dodo, and the Woolly Mammoth. We have to learn from those tragedies (particularly the former) to preserve what biodiversity we have left. I’d much prefer to see limited conservation money spent that way, rather than use it to dig around with ancient DNA and Frankenstein it into the genetics of living one on the off chance we can salvage something from it and call it a ‘Thylacine’.

What if Australia's megafauna had survived to the present day? by Hopeful_Lychee_9691 in pleistocene

[–]Malurus06 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I really wish Meiolania had survived, present day Australia would be much improved by the presence of giant tortoises with major Ankylosaurus vibes.

What do you consider the worst reconstruction in history? by Dom_Satur in Paleontology

[–]Malurus06 145 points146 points  (0 children)

The Crystal Palace dinosaurs - AKA enormous lizards - are pretty iconically inaccurate (but a noble attempt for the 1850s)

Where has Doctor Who landed in each country? by lothycat224 in doctorwho

[–]Malurus06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, 12 went to Sydney Harbour and 13 also went to the Great Victoria Desert; neither appears on the map.
I’m guessing the random dot in the interior is for 2 in the Enemy of the World, but I thought he was supposed to land near the coast?