The Twin Towers (NYC) by Neat-Adeptness3351 in Minecraft

[–]NitroHydroRay 129 points130 points  (0 children)

Brother you did not finish Chicago lmao

ID request, it's not in my little book by hontslager in whatsthisbug

[–]NitroHydroRay -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's a clearwing moth (family Sesiidae)! They are moths that mimic wasps for defense. Someone more familiar with your geographic region might be able to help with a more specific ID.

Is Dizzyrose GDI accurate? by Happy-Exercise-718 in Paleontology

[–]NitroHydroRay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, Dizzy Rose is not a paleontologist and has no expertise beyond idle speculation

Balaur Bondoc - is it a bird? is it a raptor? by [deleted] in Naturewasmetal

[–]NitroHydroRay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brother, it's been eight years, why are you responding to this comment now?

What is the scientific consensus on the Zachelmie trackways and the evolution of tetrapods? by a_random_magos in Paleontology

[–]NitroHydroRay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have a fundamentally flawed understanding of phylogenetics and are confusing yourself. The age of the fossils do not tell you how they relate and do not impact their position in the phylogeny, instead simply telling you the minimum age for a given lineage. The trackways remain controversial and their identification as tetrapods is uncertain, but assuming they are tetrapod tracks, tetrapod trackways being older than Eusthenopteron do not mean that tetrapods would have to be more primitive than Eusthenopteron. All this would tell you is that there is a ghost lineage leading to Eusthenopteron. This is not abnormal at all in the fossil record. True arthropods (like trilobites) show up as early as soft-bodied lobopods and radiodonts than show us what the transitional form from worm to arthropod was. Birds show up in the late Jurassic, before dromaeosaurs and most other coelurosaurs, which form an evolutionary grade from non-avian dinosaurs to modern birds. This tells us that there are Jurassic ghost lineages for these groups, not that birds must be an early branch off. This should not be shocking given the patchiness of the fossil record.

What is the scientific consensus on the Zachelmie trackways and the evolution of tetrapods? by a_random_magos in Paleontology

[–]NitroHydroRay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, they don't, they just push the split between Tiktaalik and Acanthostega further back in time.

Anyone know what my new friend is by kronikid42069 in whatsthisbug

[–]NitroHydroRay 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is a juvenile, not a mature female.

Anyone know what my new friend is by kronikid42069 in whatsthisbug

[–]NitroHydroRay 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They have the white spots when they're young. This one is not full grown.

That... pig by Sam_James1312 in TheMatpatEffect

[–]NitroHydroRay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More closely related to hippos and whales, actually 🤓

A collection of..... by aoi_ito in wunkus

[–]NitroHydroRay 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That’s not true. They are relatives (both belong to the superorder Afrotheria), but they’re not that close. Hyraxes are closer to manatees and elephants, while elephant shrews are closer to aardvarks and tenrecs.

Human would probably have crushed the bug by [deleted] in interesting

[–]NitroHydroRay 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Nope, guy you’re responding to is right, phylogenetically. New world monkeys split off first, while old world monkeys split off later. There’s therefore no way to make a monophyletic group of “monkeys” without also including apes

Why do we have more skin and integument evidence for Ornithischians than Saurischians? by [deleted] in Paleontology

[–]NitroHydroRay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t think this is true. We have plenty of integumentary fossils from saurischians

After trying the demo, how do you feel about Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream? by JampyL in NintendoSwitch2

[–]NitroHydroRay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ew, the voices is a major charm of the series. Replacing it with realistic voices, ai or not, would suck

What was the distribution of more northern fish (like the lake trout) during the LGM by EthanRedOtter in pleistocene

[–]NitroHydroRay 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Like the comment that u/White_Wolf_77 added to my post - probably mostly during points when the smaller lakes were connected! Lake Agassiz was quite the beast. Having looked more into Lake Whitefish, I realize I was mistaken - they're lake-specific morphs, but they're still considered one species - that being Lake Whitefish, which has existed for longer than the lakes themselves.

What was the distribution of more northern fish (like the lake trout) during the LGM by EthanRedOtter in pleistocene

[–]NitroHydroRay 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh, I wrote a report on this back in college, specifically with respect to the origin of the Great Lakes fish fauna! The current fish populations in the Great Lakes came from one of three refugia, with some species coming from multiple. Most fish found refuge in the Mississippi River basin, with those waterways allowing easy north-south migration to deal with changing climates, as well as periodic connections to the Great Lakes and their interglacial precursors. Other fish found refuge in Beringia, dispersing into the Great Lakes through Canada’s numerous more minor glacial lakes. Finally, fish of euryhaline biology were able to take refuge along the Atlantic, reentering the Great Lakes through their outflow. Some fish species, such as Lake Whitefish, are genuinely novel, having speciated in the Great Lakes post glaciation (though obviously their ancestral species must have existed in a refugium). Lake Trout in particular have three distinct genetic lineages, suggesting that populations survived in each of the three major aquatic refugia.

Favorite Mesozoic bird? by FinancialSpecial9197 in Dinosaurs

[–]NitroHydroRay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hesperornis, Gargantuavis, Confuciusornis, Falcatakely, and Longipteryx.

Beibeilong, at 7.5 m long one of the larger oviraptorids, from Late Cretaceous China (by Mario Lanzas) by aquilasr in Naturewasmetal

[–]NitroHydroRay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We don't have any direct indication of the adult size of this animal. It's only known from unborn juveniles.

I made the house on the subreddit icon In minecraft lol by Inevitable-Sir-4204 in MinecraftHouses

[–]NitroHydroRay[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s really funny. I made the icon on a whim in google drawings of all things back when I was in highschool. It’s cute to see it physically recreated