Generative & Evolutionary Art
View allAll Photos Tagged evolutionary
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.
The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta. Similarly, the relationships of the genera in the family are not completely resolved. However, one species formerly considered to constitute a separate monotypic family, the Cochlearidae or the boat-billed heron, is now regarded as a member of the Ardeidae.
I gatti non obbediscono al padrone per cause evolutive. Se discendeste dalle tigri, nemmeno voi ubbidireste ai pronipoti delle scimmie!
Cats do not obey their master due to evolutionary causes. If you descended from tigers, you wouldn't even obey the great-grandchildren of the apes!
These birds exploit a very interesting evolutionary niche. They roll the eggs of another species out of the nest, and replace them with cowbird eggs. This may seem sad, but nature will always take advantage of shortcuts for survival, and the cowbird does this very effectively.
"[...] viruses [...] since they are the basis of the evolutionary progression of the whole biological system where viruses and their hosts are constantly adapting to each other, either
gaining certain advantages or suffering considerable
losses. This is a continuous, ongoing process with a
varying rate [...]"
Blinov et al., Viral Component of the Human Genome
Molecular Biology, 2017, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 205–215
.......................
"Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on earth, and recent estimates suggest more than 380 trillion of them (10 times the number of bacteria) inhabit us – seemingly without causing much harm at all."
microbiome.mit.edu/news-events/newsletter/#:~:text=Viruse....
.....................
"The truth is we have an entire universe of flora and fauna inside of us that [...] Living inside every person are trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi [...]"
Dr. Zack Bush
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Music:
"To and Fro" by Rebecca Saunders
The immortal words of Sir Edmund Hillary, following his ascent of Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, came to mind when young Brian made an error in his testing climb of Mount Improbable.
For Smile on Saturday theme 'Balancing Act'.
Climbing Mount Improbable is a book by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The term test refers to the hard shell of a sea urchin.
No snails were harmed in the making of this photograph.
To retreat from a wintry day I went to a greenhouse that keeps plants for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. I has two rooms for tropical plants, and two for desert plants--they are a pleasure to visit when the snow is swirling outside. This one, in particular, caught my eye.
Tom Lemieux, retired manager of the greenhouse, informed me that this is a cultivar of Gasteria that goes by the common name Little Warty.
The dragonfly was not apparently bothered by the damselfly. Male damselflies frequently attack egg laying Emperors, even appearing to bite them, but to little effect. I have no idea why they do this - can't think what the evolutionary benefit of this behaviour would be.
With their extraordinary haunting song, and obscure evolutionary relationships to other birds, kōkako evoke the forests of ancient New Zealand/Aotearoa perhaps more than any other species. More likely to be heard than seen, North Island kokako have persisted in small populations particularly in the central North Island from the King Country through to Te Urewera. They typically inhabit tall native forest dominated by tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), singing from tree-tops but often feeding in understorey layers.
All mainland North Island populations persist only with sustained control of key pest mammals (ship rats and brushtail possums). All unmanaged populations are extinct.
nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-kokako
© Dominic Scott 2023
Lock down photo shoot#
The Italian sparrow (Passer italiae), also known as the cisalpine sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in Italy and other parts of India as well!
Similar to House and Spanish Sparrows. Males have a brown crown and white cheeks like Spanish Sparrow, but a restricted black throat and upper breast like House Sparrow. Females essentially inseparable from the other two species and voice also identical. Habitat preferences similar to House Sparrow; rarely strays far from urban areas and is a highly social bird.
An evolutionary intermediate between House and Spanish Sparrow following historical gene flow.
The more you read /understand about the parts of a flower - in this case the rose, the more you can appreciate the incredible design and important role each plays in its lifetime .... many 'evolutionary' scientists now admit there is an 'Intelligent Design' at work here ....
Any way - it's the aesthetic beauty that is our main attraction as photographers isn't it?
The physical sun is the realm of the higher souls of the more pure and evolutionary in the Cosmos. Your soul has to be very pure and high evolutionally to be able to enter the heavenly realms of the Sun. All the other angelic souls go the Moon realm and planetary realms and the non so evolutionary souls go to the Nether worlds below Earth, to the Patala underworlds or Ades of the ancient Greeks. Below Ades or Patala is Naraka what we call Hell worlds or Tartara in ancient Greek.
The souls that live now in the Sun realm we may call them gods for they are responsible and guardians of the Earth and the planetary worlds. The fate and destiny of the Earth is in their hands and they control its fate.
Now we enter the Solar maximum when we have many explosions of the sun in the form of flares bombarding our Earth and its (magnetic) atmosphere. These flares now have significant power and energy energising the Earth and its inhabitants. The flares that hit the Earth in this period of Solar maximum will have a great spiritual and energetic and purifying effect in all beings now living on Earth. The physical beings now living on Earth even the plants and animals will have to be purified in order to withstand these higher energies coming from the Sun. Not everyone will manage to withstand these purifications waves coming from the sun and many will succumb to them not being able to withstanding its energies for they have not been prepared by God to handle these high elevated energies. Many will suffer from illnesses and various karmas not being able to handle these purifying energies. The purification of the energy of the sun will continue non stop through this year and the next till all that remains on Earth is purified.
Many souls knew this coming and had prepare themselves by purifying their bodies with pure sathwic foods and purifying their minds and heart with godly thoughts and sentiments loving all Gods creations. The Avatar of the Lord also descended on Earth and gathered the lovers of God beside Him the previous decades and gave them the instructions and teachings necessary to purify their souls and bodies to be able to withstand the purification rays coming from the sun this solar maximum.
From this purification that is now happening from the Sun rays and flares all the consciousness on Earth will rise to an unprecedented level heralding the Golden Age of humanity and closing the Kali Yuga of wars and strife and vengeance among the souls now living on Earth.
The Earth and its inhabitants are now entering a new Era of peace and love and truth and justice after this purification ends in the next two years and only those who will withstand this purification happening now will continue to live and inhabit the Earth.
Only deva, that is God like people will walk on the surface of the Earth during this Golden Age of humanity called by the Veda as the Sathya Yuga, the Age of Truth.
So do not be afraid and in panic for the gods living now in the Sun realm know what are they doing and how they will use the flares that are ejected by the sun. They hold the destiny of Earth in their hands trusted by the almighty God fully in unison with Him. At the right time a big flare will emanate from the Sun that will finish the purification process and then Earth and its inhabitants will shine in a new splendour, the splendour of the Golden Age of Truth !
The Bleeding Hearts in Brueckner Gardens are in full bloom. I liked the grouping of these particular flowers, so I thought is was worth a capture.
Although this was taken with a macro lens, it is not a macro shot. I did have to use focus stacking, as I could not get parallel with the branch without disturbing the composition or damaging the surrounding other plants.
This is a synthesis of two photos taken by me. The first one is a little beautiful figurine exhibit, which is presented in the Aiane or Aiani Archaeological Museum, near Kozani city, west Macedonia, Greece. The second is a photo of a painting, taken and edited by me. It is a work of Vangelis Gokas in the context of the exhibition “omnia caritatis”, in Athens, Greece.
The pictured exhibit of the clay figurine is a find, showed at the archaeological site of Aiane, an important cultural heritage, consisting of the ancient city and its magnificent cemetery. There are some information about the site at: www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?ID=14528
The ancient Greeks used clay to make little statuettes, or more properly figurines. Terracotta figurines were manufactured throughout Antiquity, from the Neolithic to the Roman period.
The ancient figurines are characterized by a wonderful diversity. They usually represent gods, heroes, mythical beings, humans and animals, either singly or in groups. The surface of the clay is very often painted with vivid colors, which render the details and heighten the decorative effect.
Figurines are found in excavations of sanctuaries graves and houses. In sanctuaries, they were presented as votive offerings to the deity. In graves they were deposited as grave goods, which are personal objects belonging to the deceased and gifts accompanying him or her to the next world. In the home, they were used either as dolls and toys or for devotional purposes In the family shrine.
The earliest figurines were fashioned by hand, but the technique of the mould was invented as early as the geometric period. Subsequently both techniques were used concurrently, with one often complementing the other.
The Archaeological Museum of Aiani displays the history of ancient Aiani, capital of Elimiotis which was one of the most important kingdoms of Upper Macedonia.
Important collections include finds of the Late Bronze Age (1500 -1200 BC) and the Archaic and Classical periods (600 -500 BC), which provide an important insight into the formation of the Doric-Macedonian peoples in the region and the civilian and political development of Aiani, particularly during the Sixth Century B.C.
The exhibition omnia caritatis is a selective flashback to the painting by Vangelis Gokas. It includes paintings from the last decade, focusing mainly on his recent work, a series of large-scale charcoal drawings. Studies, drafts and oils on postcards are also presented. As a whole, the exhibition attempts to show the evolutionary course, the personal idiom and the obsessions of the painter. The images of Vangelis Gokas -especially in his latest drawings- exude a sense of peace and reverence.
Vangelis Gokas was born in Korinthos, Greece in 1969. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from the Aristotle University of Thesaloniki, Greece and two Masters degrees in Fine Arts from the Athens School of Fine Arts and the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, Spain. To date he has had seven solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group shows both in Greece and abroad, including the Athens Biennale of 2011. Works of his form part of important private and museum collections including the Van AbbeMuseum in Eindhoven. Gokas is currently assistant professor at the School of Plastic Arts of Ioannina, Greece.
Hey there flickr-friends,
everything's alright?
As an sequel to the last episode a hint, that the evolutinary fires of our Shroomington citizenry are still burning. If you look closely, you can see the fume dancing merrily in the Bokeh!
With this picture I decided to try something new and present some originals or making-of collages every now and then. In todays photography and thanks to computer engineering you can hardly tell which parts of a picture are real / not staged and what isn't. The most prominent example surely are swapped skies of landscape images. Looking at my picture you might think that I cheated regarding the bokeh. Please check out the original, convince yourself how it came out of camera and what led me to my edit.
To put a stop to possible smarty-pants a precautionary note: Yes, of course every picture from a camera is merely an interpretation of the szene, which got finetuned directly or indirectly by many (software-)parameters. It's not different from the film choices of old days. :P
[Deutsch / German]
Hallöchen flickr-Freunde,
läuft alles bei euch?
Als Folgebild auf die letzte Episode ein Hinweis, dass die Evolutionsfeuer unserer zahlreichen Shroomingtonbürgerschaft noch immer brennen. Wenn man genau hinschaut, sieht man den Qualm fidel im Bokeh tanzen!
Mit diesem Bild habe ich entschieden, dass ich etwas Neues ausprobieren und öfter mal Originale oder Making-Of Collagen zeigen möchte. Mittlerweile kann man dank Computertechnik kaum noch unterscheiden, was an einem Bild echt / nicht gestellt ist und was nicht. Das prominenteste Beispiel sind sicher ausgetauschte Himmel bei Landschaftsaufnahmen. Bei meinem Bild könnte man vielleicht denken, dass ich beim Bokeh geschummelt hätte. Aber überzeugt euch gerne am unbearbeiteten Original, wie das Bild eigentlich aus der Kamera kam und was mich zu meiner Bearbeitung verleitet hat.
Um möglichen Schlaubergern vorsorglich einen Riegel vorzuschieben: Ja, selbstverständlich ist jedes Bild aus einer Kamera lediglich eine Interpretation der Szene, die direkt oder indirekt über viele (Software-)Parameter gesteuert wird. Nicht anders war es damals mit den verschiedenen Filmen. :P
29. Evolution
122 in 2022
The apparent evolutionary success of Grevillea (Proteaceae family) might have been triggered by the highly efficient use of key nutrients. Research suggests that Grevillea plants have a selective advantage in nutrient-poor ecosystems and that this property likely contributed to Grevillea’s evolutionary success.
This could explain the rapid diversification over a relatively short evolutionary time period of Grevillea, an Australian plant genus with 452 recognised species/subspecies and ‘only’ 11 million years of evolutionary history.
[Source: www.nature.com/articles/srep17132]
Carpintero Bolo,Carpintero de Sierra / Antillean Piculet ( Nesoctites micromegas )
Status:
Residente Local Comun (Rlc)
Endemico (E).
El carpinterito antillano (Nesoctites micromegas), también denominado carpinterito de sierra y carpintero bolo, es una especie de ave piciforme de la familia Picidae endémica de La Española. Es la única especie del género Nesoctites. La especie procede evolutivamente de una rama distinta a los demás carpinteritos por lo que se emplaza en su propia subfamilia, Nesoctitinae. Se ha encontrado en la República Dominicana una pluma fosilizada en ambar que se atribuye a su género, lo que indica que los ancestros de la especie se aislaron en La Española al menos hace 25 millones de años.
es un piciforme pequeño, aunque dobla en tamaño a otros carpinteritos, que mide unos 14–16 cm y pesa alrededor de 30 g. El macho tiene el píleo amarillo con una mancha roja en el centro. El plumaje de la espalda, parte posterior del cuello y alas es verde oliváceo, mientras que sus partes inferiores son flanquecinas con mutas pardo verdosas. La hembra tiene un aspecto similar al macho excepto en que carece de la mancha roja en la parte superior de la cabeza. The Los juveniles son similares aunque tienen un plumaje de tonos más apagados a los adultos.
El carpinterito antillano ocupa diversos hábitats de isla de La Española y la aledaña la Gonâve como los bosques de pinos y bosques secos de hoja ancha, además de las zonas semiáridas de matorrales y espinos
l carpinterito antillano se alimenta de insectos, siendo las hormigas y los escarabajos la base de su dieta. También consumen gran cantidad de frutos en comparación con sus parientes.
################ENGLISH#####################
The Antillean piculet (Nesoctites micromegas) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is monotypic within the genus Nesoctites. The species is evolutionarily distinct from the other piculets and is afforded its own subfamily Nesoctitinae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. A fossil feather in amber attributed to the genus has been found in the Dominican Republic, showing that the ancestors of the species have been isolated on Hispaniola for at least 25 mya.
The Antillean piculet occupies a number of different habitats within Hispaniola, including humid and dry Pinus and broadleaf forests, as well as semi-arid scrubland and thorn-forest.[4] It will also occupy stands of mangrove forest and occasionally orchards and plantations. It occurs from sea-level to 1800 m, although in pine forests it is more common below 300 m.
The Antillean piculet feeds on insects, with ants and beetles forming a large part of the diet. They also consume a lot of fruit compared to other piculets. Individuals and pairs forage rapidly through the understory of their habitat, mostly on small branches, twigs, vines and stalks, and less commonly on trunks
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Lugar de Observacion / Taken: Fondo Paradi, Parque Nacional Aragua, Oviedo, Republica Dominicana.
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Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Piciformes
Family:Picidae
Subfamily:Nesoctitinae
Genus:Nesoctites
Hargitt, 1890
Species:N. micromegas
Binomial name
Nesoctites micromegas
Piculet_QtaEspuela_03122021-IMG0011-
“Nothing snubs quite like a cat. What evolutionary purpose did it serve, this inherent disdain, this artful blanking?”
― Will Wiles, Care of Wooden Floors
Κάποιος που ξέρεις πως πραγματικά σε νοιάζεται, αν σε δει ΠΟΛΥ θλιμμένη θα ρωτήσει τρεις φορές για την αιτία της θλίψης σου. Ο ίδιος, πάλι, αν σε δει ΠΟΛΥ χαρούμενη, το πολύ να ρωτήσει μια φορά ή και καθόλου για την αιτία της χαράς σου. Πόσο παράδοξο! Η χαρά θεωρείται δεδομένη. Δεν είναι. Πάντα μου έβγαινε αβίαστα να ρωτάω κάποιον τους λόγους που τον κάνουν χαρούμενο, το θεωρώ πιο σημαντικό σε πολλά επίπεδα, χωρίς αυτό να σημαίνει πως δεν ενδιαφέρομαι και για τη θλίψη του.
Πολλές φορές, οι άνθρωποι δίνουν περισσότερη αξία στο "τέλειο" αποτέλεσμα μιας δράσης ή στον "τέλειο" άνθρωπο κι όχι στην εξελικτική πορεία της δράσης ή του ανθρώπου.
Δεν νομίζω πως το κάνουν γιατί δεν νοιάζονται πραγματικά, αλλά πιθανόν γιατί μεγάλωσαν σε μια κοινωνία που η χαρά θεωρείται δεδομένη και σημασία, τελικά, έχει μόνο το άψογο αποτέλεσμα.
Σκέψεις της μέρας...
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We all have someone, who we know that he really cares about us. If he sees that you are very sad, he will ask you three times about the cause of your sadness. Again, if he sees you happy, he will ask you once or not at all for the cause of your joy. What a paradox! Joy is taken for granted. It is not. I always ask someone the reasons that make him happy, I find it more important on many levels, and that doesn't mean that I do not care about his sadness.
Many times people place more value on the "perfect" outcome of an action or on the "perfect" person, rather than on the evolutionary process of the action or person.
I don't think they do it because they don't really care, but probably, because they grew up in a society where joy is taken for granted and the most important is the "perfect result" in every level.
Thoughts of the day ...
Early offshoots of an evolutionary line that led to modern crustaceans, the so-called anomalocaridids looked sort of like modern shrimp. This replica is created based on fossilized remains. Seen in the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Great Blue Heron gaining speed for liftoff
Perhaps it's my imagination, or perhaps it's the influence of the Jurassic Park trilogy. This running heron looks remarkably primitive, almost like a theropod dinosaur. It's astonishing how some of their features and movements seem to echo their dinosaur heritage. The long legs, streamlined bodies, and agile, predatory-like movements are evolutionary traits that remain discernible in modern-day birds.
It's intriguing to live in an era where we can understand how these adaptations have persisted and evolved over millions of years.
Teilhard imagined himself standing at the Evolutionary Front, at “the final boundary between what has already been achieved [by Evolution] and what is striving to emerge,” at the “edge of chaos,” the critical point that is available to the Human community at each and every moment of its evolutionary history. Riding on “the ‘front of the wave’ [that is] carrying the world… towards its new destiny,” he had “an over-all view of the whole forward [movement] of the human mass,… an underlying stream of clarity, energy, and freedom… found hardly anywhere else in ordinary life” (MM, 203–5). This gave him hope.
-Teilhard's Struggle, Embracing the Work of Evolution, Kathleen Duffy, SSJ
With some squally winter weather keeping us indoors today - not to mention the ongoing pandemic restrictions, we are well and truly stayed at home. What better time to dig into the archives and see what I can do with older images. I've had this one for a year but didn't know what to do with it until recently. The edit was inspired by one one of my Flickr friends, flic.kr/ps/j3pnr whose work I greatly admire.
It isn't easy to be original in your own photography and the last thing I want to do is copy others. However, one cannot help but be influenced on some level by what you see. To that end, I think any art form becomes an evolutionary process and when I look back at my own attempts, it also seems to be true of me.
- Veiled Bae - Floppy Hats @TheHeatEvent
- Veiled Bae - Haven pose Set @TheHeatEvent
- Vegas Tattoo - Gold Flower @UberAnniversaryHunt
- Stories&Co. Signature Band Top @Mainstore
- LEN$[- 79 @Mainstore
- HOLY EVOLUTIONARY - "Viv Earrings and Necklace Set" @Marketplace
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks. Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises, spoonbills, and cranes, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. They are also one of the bird groups that have powder down. Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, while others, notably the bitterns, use reed beds.The herons are medium- to large-sized birds with long legs and necks. The herons are a widespread family with a cosmopolitan distribution. They exist on all continents. 54291
Can you tell you more about this waterbird and why one long head feather?
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 74 recognized species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus Botaurus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami FL
*Working Towards a Better World
Looking back, there is nothing wrong with that peace, love and equality that the hippies espoused. In many ways, we have regressed because they were into organic food, back to nature, make love not war, be good to all men, share and share alike - which is what many are talking about now. -
Imelda Staunton
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! xo💜💜
I enjoy the BBC quiz programme Only Connect and last night Kestrel got a mention on the "connecting wall". This is where you have to find four groups of connected words on a wall of 16, but there are red herrings. Last night I immediately spotted falcons, but there were five; Kestrel, Hobby, Merlin, Peregrine and Lanner. Peregrine was the red herring as it was connected with three obscure words for "wanderer". The team eventually solved the wall and when asked to explain the connection (for an extra point) they said birds of prey. Victoria Coren hesitated then said she would give them a point, but they were actually all falcons. I suspect the reason for her hesitancy was that she would be aware that DNA studies have shown that falcons are unrelated to other birds of prey, but were previously placed in the same family because of striking similarities. It is a bit like the similarity between Auks and Penguins which have evolved along similar lines due to similar lifestyles and similar evolutionary pressures. But falcons are much more closely related to parrots than they are to hawks.
This is another photograph of the confiding Kestrel at Spurn this autumn. It was so close at this point I had to turn my camera for a portrait shot to get the bird in frame.
I had planted them for the pleasure of it; I grew them without ever thinking of painting them.
Claude Monet .
NO PHOTOSHOP.
Water lilies are a well studied clade of plants because their large flowers with multiple unspecialized parts were initially considered to represent the floral pattern of the earliest flowering plants, and later genetic studies confirmed their evolutionary position as basal angiosperms. Analyses of floral morphology and molecular characteristics and comparisons with a sister taxon, the family Cabombaceae, indicate, however, that the flowers of extant water lilies with the most floral parts are more derived than the genera with fewer floral parts. Genera with more floral parts, Nuphar, Nymphaea, Victoria, have a beetle pollination syndrome, while genera with fewer parts are pollinated by flies or bees, or are self- or wind-pollinated Thus, the large number of relatively unspecialized floral organs in the Nymphaeaceae is not an ancestral condition for the clade.
The Huntington Library and Botanic Gardens. San Marino. California.
On Her:
Hair: Platinum - "Carmilla" Hair
Hairbase: Platinum - "Dawn" Hairbase 6
Glasses: HOLY EVOLUTIONARY: Vintage Shades
Top: ROULY :: Hottie Bikini Top
Pants: ParexPox.Yani Cargos - Brown
Boots: Semller Untied Nubuck Boots Classic
On Him:
Hair: Vango. Theo /NEW@ALPHA
Glasses: [Traume] Deformography Glasses
Necklace: RAWR! Spartan Necklace /NEW@ALPHA
Tattoo: Not Found - JF 1993 Tattoo /NEW@ALPHA
Pants: GEO - Kai Denim
Boots: Semller Untied Nubuck Boots Classic
You ain't got to say "Thank you", the pleasure is all mine
Look in the mirror, you're so fine
No, we don't care what they talkin' 'bout online
The one on the left is a Mandarin Duck, and the one on the right is a Muskovy Duck. One is a strikingly handsome petite bird while the other...., well you get the point. Yet in nature each has its purpose. The Mandarin duck is an escapee and now enjoying his freedom amidst a group of mallards in a stream in Newmarket, Ontario. I understand that he has so far evaded traps set out for his capture. The Muskovy duck photo was taken by the side of a pond in the outskirt of Las Vegas in Dec of 2013.
Outfit: Kimi body tape (black) by Holy Evolutionary *Get this item at the Level event now!* www.flickr.com/photos/racto/
Boots: Cavaliere Boots (silver) by Holy Evolutionary *Get this item at the Level event now!* www.flickr.com/photos/racto/
In some dive sites black durgons are relatively common. They tend to school and they propel themselves like other triggerfish, moving their dorsal and anal fins. Very fun to watch.
They have no trouble being a bit distant from you, but they are annoyingly hard to get into close range. Even if you approach carefully, and don't blow bubbles, they move quickly to just a bit too far for an image.
Although they usually just look black underwater, if you are lucky to get close and with the right light, you can see that they have an array of colors. Hit them with strobe light and the magic of their pattern really emerges. To me, the most interesting thing about the pattern is that it is not the same throughout the fish - there are several regions with the pattern blending at the boundaries. Not sure if that gives them an evolutionary advantage - if you know why the pattern shifts, please let us know in the comments.
- SEKA - Pumpkin Head @Shop'nHopHalloweenGift
- AsteroidBox - Zoya Dress @Anthem
- Vegas Tattoo - Destruction @DarkStyleEvent
- Sapa poses- 159 @SatanInc.
- Yomi - Ambrosia Hair @SatanInc.
- Holy Evolutionary - Dahlia Cross Earrings @CAKEDAY
The Chevrolet Corvette (C7) is the seventh generation of the Corvette sports car manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet from 2014 until 2019. The first C7 Corvettes were delivered in the third quarter of 2013. The racing variants include the C7.R, which won the GTLM 24 Hours of Le Mans.
GM executives began planning the next-generation (C7) Corvette sports car in 2007. The car was originally planned for the 2011 model year, but was delayed. Mid-engine and rear-engine layouts had been considered, but the front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive platform was chosen to keep costs lower.
The lead exterior designer of the C7 Corvette was Hwasup Lee, whose team completed the design between 2010 and 2011. The design director for the C7 was Kirk Bennion and the design was approved by the division's design director, Tom Peters, in 2011.
The 2014 Corvette debuted on Sunday, January 13, 2013, in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show. Chevrolet also showed the new crossed flags logo for the Corvette.
While overall the C7 attempts to provide an evolutionary redesign to an iconic theme, the car's designers incorporated aggressive angular elements. The C7 received criticism for some of the more styled elements of the car. "The rear contains what will surely be the C7's most controversial styling elements. It's all creases and vents back there, with aggressive trapezoidal taillights similar to those found on the current Camaro and quadruple-barreled tailpipes lined up in a neat row in the center of the rear valance", wrote Jason Kavanagh for Edmunds. Functional aerodynamic aids are tacked on or cut into every body panel of the C7, often juxtaposed against sharp creases. This is a radical departure from the prior generations of Corvettes, whose styling had no spoiler, few body panel creases, and only semi-functional gills for front brake cooling. In addition, past Corvette models minimized the size of headlamps or even hid them altogether. The C7 reverses that minimalist styling language with intricately styled headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights (DRL).
The C7's all-new LT1 6.2L Small Block V-8 engine develops 460 horsepower (340 kW) and 465 pound-feet (630 N⋅m) of torque. This comes with the performance exhaust package, which is already included in the Z51 Performance Package or the level-up model, the Grand Sport, but is very common to see the standalone performance exhaust package being paired up with the base model. Without the performance exhaust, the powertrain produces 455 horsepower (339 kW) and 460 pound-feet (620 N⋅m) of torque. With the performance exhaust, the car can accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.7 seconds when paired with the eight-speed automatic gearbox. The C7's suspension consists of independent unequal-length double wishbones with transverse fiberglass mono-leaf springs and optional magnetorheological dampers, similar to its predecessor.
Hoplophoneus primaevus was an extinct carnivore that lived in North America during the Early Oligocene, approximately 34 to 30.5 million years ago. It belonged to the genus Hoplophoneus, which ranged more broadly from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene (~37 to 30 million years ago), and was part of the Nimravidae family—often referred to as “false saber-toothed cats.” Despite their feline-like appearance, nimravids formed a separate evolutionary branch within Carnivora. The name Hoplophoneus comes from the Greek words for "weapon" (hoplo) and "murder" (phonos)—a fitting name for an apex predator equipped with elongated saber-like canines.
Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: †Nimravidae
Subfamily: †Nimravinae
Genus: †Hoplophoneus
Key species within the genus Hoplophoneus:
Type species:
†Hoplophoneus primaevus (described by Cope in 1874).
Other species:
†Hoplophoneus occidentalis – larger size, with more robust canines.
†Hoplophoneus mentalis – more ancient form, present in the Late Eocene.
†Hoplophoneus dakotensis – characterized by a more elongated skull.
†Hoplophoneus oreodontis – likely specialized in preying on oreodonts.
The skull of H. primaevus presents many of the hallmarks of the genus: prominent upper canines, flanged lower jaws to protect those teeth when the mouth was closed, deep zygomatic arches for strong bite musculature, and a shortened snout. Its limb proportions—short and sturdy—suggest it was an ambush predator, capable of short bursts of speed but not extended chases. Like other nimravids, it likely hunted from cover, quickly overpowering prey with a powerful, slashing bite.
This cast was produced from a remarkably complete original specimen, with only 15% restoration and a unique, naturally occurring coloration. The replica faithfully preserves the most iconic features of Hoplophoneus—its extended saber canines, recessed eye sockets, and muscular jaw contours—capturing the lethal elegance of one of the most specialized predators of its time.
Black squirrels are the result of "interbreeding" between their grey cousins and the North American fox squirrel, a study has concluded.
Research published in BMC Evolutionary Biology found the black fur emerged from a faulty pigment gene.
The study by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge says the difference between black and grey squirrels is simply the color of their fur.
Author Dr. Helen McRobie said grey and fox squirrels share the "same root".
There are thought to be around 25,000 black squirrels in the UK, with numbers largely concentrated in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.
The first wild black squirrel was recorded in Woburn in 1912 and was believed to have escaped from a private zoo having been imported from the United States.
The new findings build on earlier work by Dr. McRobie which found that the black fur in grey squirrels is caused by a missing piece of DNA in its pigment gene.
Squirrels take part in "mating chases" and a male black fox squirrel "most likely" mated with a female grey, Dr. McRobie said.
Dr. McRobie, a senior lecturer in biomedical science, collaborated with researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Virginia Museum of Natural History in the United States.
She said people have mixed feelings about black squirrels with some regarding them as a "menace".
"The most likely explanation for the black version of the gene being found in the grey squirrel is that a male black fox squirrel mated with a female grey squirrel," she said.
"The fact black grey squirrels have become so common right across North America is possible because black fur offers a thermal advantage, helping them inhabit regions with extremely cold winters.
"This may have contributed to the expansion of the grey squirrel's range during the past 11,000 years, following the end of the most recent ice age, helping them spread further north into Canada." ( www.bbc.com/news/uk-england )
spiker jacket by scandalize
spikecore collar by astara
clip chain by harakiri
spiked chain link earrings by suicidal unborn
kimi body tape by holy evolutionary
bebe belt by MERCH
spike boots by neutral tones
Not sure what evolutionary advantages Mexican Fan Palms get with the interesting 'strings' attached. Unless it's the super nesting material for birds.
Number 2 in an ongoing series themed on the idea of "strange attractors" central states that have a pull on the past and present toward which events move. Attractors have a kind of "gravity" and power that pull developing things toward them.
As an extra layer I'm using the names of key figures, scientific, spiritual and philosophical who, by the power of their revolutionary and profound ideas, caused new movements and developments to crystallize for the first time. Their ideas are also "strange attractors".
This image is dedicated to Rupert Sheldrake and his revolutionary, scientific proposals of a developing, evolutionary and living universe that remembers, learns and grows.
Pano-Sabotaged Autumn scene and straight shots of dead leaves and flowering shrubs, mirrored, layered and colour processed.
Image created in April, 2017.
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Music Link: "A Cool, Dry Place" - System 7 ( Orb Remix ), from their album "777". I was surprised to find this particular video very nicely matching with what I've done here statically.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJfE1-LK9XU
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© Richard S Warner ( Visionheart ) - 2017. All Rights Reserved. This image is not for use in any form without explicit, express, written permission.
* - See my Galleries featuring some of the best of Flickr's purely Abstract Art at:
ophrys insectifera (Orchidaceae) 100 25
The Fly Orchid can never be described as pretty, but it is one of the most bewitching of the Ophrys species displaying, as it does so perfectly, the highly evolved deception mechanisms that the genus of bee orchids uses to attract pollinating insects. The part of the flower which demonstrates most visibly the results of this evolutionary process is the lip which can be velvety or hairy with a speculum (mirror) in the center that is hairless and shiny and looks just like the wings of the insects that it hopes to attract.
Ophrys insectifera is so distinctive that it is very easy to identify. The flowers closely resemble little flies - the lip forms the body of the insect, the mirror is shiny like the folded wings of a fly and there are even two glossy depressions at the base of the lip which represent the insect's eyes.
The Fly Orchid is a European plant that can be found as far south as Spain and Greece but, unlike other members of the genus, extends its range into the north as far as Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic States.
On Friday
I'm taking
my daughter
to go into the city
to see a cover band
Winter wanted
to go too
so I let him
dress up in this outfit
gave in to his demands
FR though if you knew me back in the late 00's then you knew I spent a lot of time at Seven Nightclub, and I always made poor DJ December play my theme song, Dead by My Chemical Romance. I ground The Black Parade CD down twice because it was on constant rotation in my car, and now 19 years later my daughter is as obsessed with them as I was. (She's hot gluing plastic skulls and roses onto a cage skirt as I write this.) I can't see that I'll ever get to see the real thing live, but The Black Charade, a cover band from the UK are doing a gig in my town so we are going together and I'm hoping I'm not going to be the only pathetic 40-something in the crowd.
Sakari hair by Monster, Bones gasmask by Schadenfreude (old gacha item,) Military tailcoat by Hotdog, Pentaskinnies pants by Krankhaus, Crucify boots by Holy Evolutionary.